Confront or do a slow burn!

[rich5clark]

Asking for advice. I am an RN and work in a local hospital. The other day I was talking to our head nurse on the phone. A co-worker was nearby and asked if it was the head nurse and then asked for the phone after I was done. I handed it to her but stayed in my chair to finish my charting. I overheard the whole conversation. The head nurse asked a few mundane things and then asked if anyone had lay down for their break. My coworker responded yes and then added but not who you think. The head nurse asked who and my coworker responded that she was working the floor with A and that I was in the nursery with D. She emphasized the D. As you can guess, D had in fact laid down for her break.

Now, the co-worker is a staff RN and is even a union rep for our hospital. I am not a person who is comfortable with confrontation but I wished I had said something immediately. I work with this nurse quite often. I am upset because:

I wish I had said something immediately

The head nurse actually asked a staff nurse to supply information in a sneaky way

The staff nurse supplied the information

This came from a union rep

I think that I should tell the staff nurse that I overheard every word and how sad and disappointed I am. I am quite used to this staff nurse being bossy and acting superior. I just don't know if I can comfortably work with her knowing she is playing both sides of the fence, pretending she is a union rep but actually being a tell all to management. I want her to know that all of the rumors circulating about her being our embedded spy suddenly became true to me after I heard her!

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

I guess I don't see answering a direct question as tattling.

Exactly my thoughts. The union rep was asked a direct question, he/she gave a direct answer. Unless safety is involved, I am not going to my NM to tattle on someone, but if the NM asks me a specific question--well I can't lie to her.

[toomuchbaloney]

It seems, in the OP that the union rep asked to speak with the superviser on the phone and then responded to the question. It is difficult to know what the exact relationship is between the two but from this post I do think it sound like there is some cooperative supervision of the staff occurring. I have concerns about a union rep reporting that a nurse was laying down and resting during break time...EVEN if asked, as it is really none of the business of the supervisor what the hourly staff do during their unpaid break.

[SionainnRN]

It seems, in the OP that the union rep asked to speak with the superviser on the phone and then responded to the question. It is difficult to know what the exact relationship is between the two but from this post I do think it sound like there is some cooperative supervision of the staff occurring. I have concerns about a union rep reporting that a nurse was laying down and resting during break time...EVEN if asked, as it is really none of the business of the supervisor what the hourly staff do during their unpaid break.

But again we don't know if it was an unpaid break or what the policy is even on unpaid breaks. And if you're breaking policy you have to deal with the consequences.

[MunoRN, RN]

Again it depends on what type of break, on or off clock, and what hospital policy is. I would imagine some hospitals have a policy stating employees cannot sleep on the premises regardless of being off the clock. And as I've said before, we don't know that information for this specific situation so saying it's not right is just speculation.

As for what Europe does, that honestly doesn't matter, unless we are discussing a European hospital, which I doubt we are. Japan also allows employees to nap during the day, that has no baring on this discussion.

It's certainly not just Europe, I've worked 5 different facilities (in the US) and all of them actively encourage naps. I'm still astounded that a facility would be that ignorant of basic knowledge related to better work performance.

An example of a recommendation from an article (from the US) Strategies for Nurses to Prevent Sleep-Related Injuries and Errors

Managers can work toward moving their organizations to make use of naps during work shifts. This

includes policies to allow naps during the work shift, good nap environments, systems to schedule naps

and awaken napping workers, and adequate staffing to cover the work.

[SionainnRN]

It's certainly not just Europe, I've worked 5 different facilities (in the US) and all of them actively encourage naps. I'm still astounded that a facility would be that ignorant of basic knowledge related to better work performance.

An example of a recommendation from an article (from the US) Strategies for Nurses to Prevent Sleep-Related Injuries and Errors

If it were one of those facilities then this would be a moot point. As I've said, ad nauseam at this point, is that we don't know what type of break it was and what the hospital policy is.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I don't see how it's "playing both sides". If my manager asked me if I saw someone napping I would give an honest answer. Was your coworker supposed to lie to cover for someone? This is why I try to not get involved with these type of things, but when asked I will be 100% truthful.

I fail to see the "playing both sides" as well. Being the union representative does not necessitate lying to your manager.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

but this one was ACTIVELY working with manager, apparently. Therein lay the problem.

I fail to see the "playing both sides" as well. Being the union representative does not necessitate lying to your manager.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Yes, exactly - it was clear from the words of the conversation that they had discussions about this in the past, and the union rep was actively watching the staff on behalf of the manager. She SOUGHT OUT the manager in order to report her findings.

[klone, MSN, RN]

And why would anyone want to take home a flush?

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I would suspect that was simply a way to get of some one they already had an eye on.

And why would anyone want to take home a flush?

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I don't think it's appropriate for the manager to ask any coworkers about what someone else does on their break. If there's a problem, or questions about anyone's practice, the nurse involved should be approached directly. The ideal response from the union rep would be that given her position she would be more comfortable if the manager asked someone else.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Why can't a person lay down on an unpaid break if the patients are covered? Our doctors used to use OUR breakroom for naps all the time, forcing us to be quiet and eat in the dark. I understood their exhaustion, but I don't see the difference. MYOB anyhow. Not your circus, like the other poster pointed out. PS this is a divide and conquer tactic that burns everyone involved. My answer would have been, "why don't you ask her"?