Co-workers who think out loud at the nursing station

banditrn · Apr 9, 2008

What is it with co-workers who constantly chat and basically think out loud, with a constant stream of words coming out of their mouths in a tight, crowded nursing station with others all around them who are diligently and seriously trying to get their own work done?
I mean, I sit there just trying to THINK -- and the nurses all around me just walk around YAPPING out loud about what just happened with her patient, or what she still needs to get done for the shift, or what she is doing at the moment, needs to do next, etc, etc. It's like diarreah of the MOUTH of some of these people. And then there are just the socializers who never, ever stop talking about things not even related to the workday.
I feel a nursing station should be a place of "relative" quiet. Of course, it also is a place where communication has to take place - but if you are one of these folks who "thinks out loud" all day long -- please be aware and realize this could seriously be disturbing your co-workers.
How does anyone cope with this? When I tune it out, then all of a sudden, people are calling me, buzzing me, and it seems I'm not paying attention - and well, because I'm not -- I'm trying to tune out the noise!

It IS maddening!! :bugeyes: I used to work with two of them at noc that used to talk to themselves and I had to learn to tune them out or go nuts. Then when they'd try to talk to me - and I wouldn't answer them, cause I was tuning them out......... :banghead:

leslie :-D · Apr 9, 2008

i love being tuned out.

it saves my breath for more important things...

like self-dialoging and singing.

heh.

leslie:nurse:

kayla123 · Apr 9, 2008

My father always said when you talk to yourself you meet a better class of people!! :lol2:

Nurse_Newbie · Apr 9, 2008

I'm sorry but I am guilty as well. I think some of us just think a little to loudly about what we have to do, what we did, what we refuse to do, who's going to help us do it (aids etc.) and can you do it on your shift. :confused:

For me, it's more like "the things I would l would like to say to the patient/family" (must read that thread, it will definitely make you laugh :chuckle) but can't so I say it in the nursing station. I could see how it could be distracting, but I think it becomes more like a coping mechanism. On a positive note, another nurse may say something out loud that's incorrect and someone else could stop them from making an error :nono: I will be more conscious now :saint:

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 9, 2008

I once read in a book that there are two types of people: Dead Seas and Babbling Brooks. Dead Seas take in and take in and take in, and let very little out. Babbling Brooks, well, everything just sorta passes through.

I'm a Dead Sea. I can go hours, very comfortably, without talking much at all.

Guess which one my husband is?

Sometimes, the man just drives me crazy. Especially when he gets mad because I answer him when he's talking to himself, or don't answer him when he's talking to me, because I never know the difference.

I actually get along fairly well with people. I can be friendly and personable. It's something that I've learned. Expressing feelings, expressing caring and concern, does not come naturally to me. Communicating, especially in person, does not come naturally. It's not easy, and it takes effort, and it can be exhausting.

For some of us, coping with constant noise can be just as difficult as trying to be quiet and not talk might be for some of you who think out loud.

For myself, I've coped by working in small units, usually on "off" shifts such as 3-11 and 11-7. I usually had "hiding places" I could go for just a minute or two when I'd get overwhelmed. I tune people out. (The one word guaranteed to get my attention is "Mom!") I've worked several jobs, including my current one, that involved fairly long commutes. I listen to music, I read, I soak in the bathtub with a book. I have constant internal dialogue going on; I write stories in my head. I go shopping, by myself.

Thinking back, I suppose I've just unconsciously chosen places to work that weren't going to be more than I could cope with!

AlabamaBelle · Apr 9, 2008

I just re-read the OP. I don't mind the "talking to oneself" as I've already stated, I'm guilty. I do not, however, like incessant chatting - I really don't care if you got so drunk you couldn't remember what you did at that party and then finding out from your BFF for the day the really dumb, stupid things you said and did. So unprofessional. Or their endless phone conversations - where do they get the time for all this nonsense?

Where there are people, there will always be a certain noise level, unless you work at a library or a morgue.

Oh, and like some others, I have a bad habit of singing (not very well), but it does help with the stress. I don't sing loud, it'd scare too many kiddos into asystole.

leslie :-D · Apr 9, 2008

Oh, and like some others, I have a bad habit of singing (not very well), but it does help with the stress. I don't sing loud, it'd scare too many kiddos into asystole.

i know, right?

i had a hospice pt whose biggest regret was living an unscrupulous life, and where she was going afterwards.

i was going on w/my day, obliviously singing, when i heard a tremulous voice ask, "did i die and go to hell?":rotfl:

hmmph.

and i thought i sounded like an

leslie

iwanna · Apr 9, 2008

I am sorry, but I had to chuckle reading this thread. I was always guilty of talking to myself. I didn't even realize that I was doing it, until my co-workers would catch me. Then, we would all enjoy a good laugh. They would joke to put on my chart, "talks to unseen others". :wink2:

1TachyRN, RN · Apr 9, 2008

The main time endless chatter bothers me is when I'm getting/giving report. I work 12 hr nights and by the time 0700 rolls around I'm ready to get home and go to bed. Stop interrupting report to say "Good morning!" and chitchat with everyone that walks by!!!! Any other time, I can pretty much tune the other stuff out. And if the chatter is directed at me and I'm busy, I don't look at the speaker and only barely acknowledge what's being said.

And I do occasionally mumble to myself, thinking out loud.

Ok. That's all I got.

Oh, and sometimes I whistle too. But I'm trying to stop. I swear.

AlabamaBelle · Apr 9, 2008

i know, right?
i had a hospice pt whose biggest regret was living an unscrupulous life, and where she was going afterwards.
i was going on w/my day, obliviously singing, when i heard a tremulous voice ask, "did i die and go to hell?":rotfl:
hmmph.
and i thought i sounded like an
leslie

:yeah: :roll:dncgbby:LOVED THAT ONE!!!!!!!!!!

mizfradd, CNA · Apr 9, 2008

Lets see a show of hands for how many here not only talk to themselves, but actually answer themselves? :bdyhdclp:

BlueRidgeHomeRN · Apr 9, 2008

lets see a show of hands for how many here not only talk to themselves, but actually answer themselves? :bdyhdclp:

:up: :up: :up: :up: :up:

all day, everyday...

once had someone tell me i was being rude calling someone an "idiot"..

had to admit it was me talking to me!!! :lol2: