Coworker rant!

SionainnRN · Sep 16, 2013

What exactly are you complaining about? You were very vague. Do you honestly believe that the entire 1900 shift is out to kill their pts? I work nocs and yes we are different than days, usually a little more inappropriate, help each other more and have a little more fun. BUT we take our job seriously and do our best.

daviex · Sep 16, 2013

I work 3p-3a and personally I can't wait for 1900! Day and night shifters are very different. I appreciate both for what they are. Your coworkers can make or break you no matter the shift, I'm sorry you feel night shift at your place doesn't want or care to work, the opposite is true for my ER.

Sassy5d · Sep 16, 2013

True, it was really vague.

Tension maybe? Where I'm used to everybody just helping everybody and then a curtain comes down.

No, I didn't mean I think they actually want to kill their patients.

Things are just different. If it's my turn for a squad, I take the squad. I don't come in, answer 3 phones and then book them for 1 person.

I don't complain and demand that every task is completed on every patient before I take report.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Sep 16, 2013

Opposite for me. I work 11-11 and find the 7-3 folks generally make me nuts. It's more a personality thing. For whatever reason, the folks that work that shift in my facility tend to be more uptight and prone to stressing out then other shifts. And it's not due to inexperience as these are veteran er nurses. Burnout perhaps?

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

I used to work in a large ED, and yes, I did notice that different shifts had a different "feel" to them. I started out on swing shift, and the feeling was very different depending upon who was in charge. When a particular charge was on, things were very cliquey; if you were not one of her pets, your shift could be extremely difficult. If you did not fit in with her clique, watch out! When the other charge was on, things ran how I *thought* an ED should be run, and even though there were little cliques, they were pretty benign. This charge did not let the cliques run things; he was In Charge. When we came on in the afternoon, we were prompt and had to hit the ground running *every single day*. When the early night shifters came on, they'd saunter in, coffee in hand, take their sweet time getting report, and maybe check their email before checking in on their patients. When the regular night shifters came in at midnight, they were often ten to fifteen minutes late, but other than that they were ready to take report and get to work, and I often ended up getting out a few minutes early. I switched to a mid shift, where I'd come on a few hours after the day shift had arrived. What I liked about being a mid-shifter was that feeling of being a "free agent". I wasn't caught up in shift politics. I was usually stuck down in one of the distant zones, opening it up in the morning just in time for the morning rush. When my day shift zone mates went home and the swing shifters took over, it didn't affect me too much- I just kept doing what I'd been doing all day, and they pretty much left me alone, which is how I like it. I'm all for team work, don't get me wrong, it takes a team to handle some of the stuff that rolls through the door, but when things are flowing just fine and nobody has a critical patient, I like to be left alone to just do my work in peace. I hate unit politics.

ekramona · Sep 16, 2013

I've worked with really great teams and I've worked with dysfunctional teams. It is the people, not the shift, that sets the tone. Ive had the amazing experience to work with a group that always works together to get the job done, and has a great time doing so. Another group spends the majority of their energy trying to avoid tasks and consistently argues over what are and are not their responsibilities. I have worked with groups who teach one another and build eachother up, and I've worked with groups who back stab and set each other up to fail. These conflicting attitudes are all highly contagious - one or two strong people can influence the rest of the team. I find this phenomenon to be common throughout nursing.

I have learned that the best strategy is to keep my focus on being a good nurse and a team player regardless of the group with whom I'm working.

Altra, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

I have learned that the best strategy is to keep my focus on being a good nurse and a team player regardless of the group with whom I'm working.

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in today, but I find it amusing that nurses can legitimately discuss, at length, the extreme demands on their time/attention in their workday and how they are stretched to their absolute limits ... AND SIMULTANEOUSLY ... discuss at length the mood, the vibe, the tone, the gesture, or the words of coworkers.

Seems like a contradiction, doesn't it?

I am not immune to or unaware of social "vibes" or undercurrents - I just simply do not let them impede my work. I greet everyone uniformly professionally and courteously, even if I do not get same courtesies returned. I listen politely to conversation but do not contribute to or comment on gossip except in the most generic noncommittal way possible, just to acknowledge that I am in fact listening to conversation. And if I have a complaint I formulate the right strategy to bring it up with a management person who is in a position to be able to do something about what my issue is -- otherwise I do not *itch or moan.

There's an active thread over in the Career - Nursing & Professionalism forum right now:

https://allnurses.com/nursing-and-professionalism/professionalism-101-a-855738.html

IMO, nursing culture could use a little more formality and professional boundaries. When I worked in the corporate world before becoming a nurse ... among those who worked together there was likely to be a certain amount of familiarity - you knew who was married/had kids/had some really interesting hobby/what general area of town they lived in/etc. Certainly any group of human beings are going to be aware of one another's personality quirks. But it wasn't discussed, ad nauseum.

That is something I dearly miss from my corporate days.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2013

I agree that professional behavior and on the job conduct should be the default. But when cliquish behavior has a negative impact on patient safety, and certain co-workers, your charge, and your manager are all friends both at and outside of work, it can feel very isolating. My conclusion was that I could either be prepared to go to war, or I could keep my head down and do the best for my patients that I knew how. But, to pretend that how co-workers conduct themselves has no impact on my ability to do the latter is unrealistic, IMO.

zmansc, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2013

I can't speak for all "shifts", but I can say anytime you get a group of people together you will find a different dynamic from group to group. BTW, until recently I worked a 10A-10P shift, so I get to see both day and night crews. At my facility, there are definitely different dynamics from one "team" to another. The perception often is that night shift has teams that are a little more wild than the day shift teams, as they don't have management around. I don't find this to be true. I have found that it's more individual. Many/Most of my teammates on both days and nights are very strong nurses (new and experienced), and we all work very well as teammates. I think part of this is an institutional or group dynamic in that we really don't want people working in our ER who are not team players, and they will not stay for very long if they don't adjust and play as part of our team. Yes, we do have a few who are not the strongest link in the chain, but in general we try to keep them from being scheduled together and make sure that there are a couple of strong RNs to help them if need be.

VICEDRN, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2013

I've worked days nights and mids in a couple of different facilities. I have seen day shifts that refuse to come together, complain about everything and throw each other under the bus. I have seen night shifts where everyone there seems to be there just to avoid as much work as humanly possible and I have seen the opposite at different facilities.

Whatever it is you are trying to describe, you might find it completely different at another facility.

Sassy5d · Sep 19, 2013

I didn't mean to 'pick' on 3rds. I was just venting.

I guess, at my place, I just notice the work avoiders seem to be bunched into 7pm'ers.

I walked out of work with my jaw on the floor.. I can't imagine what it's like to stomp around like an angry person all the time. And once again, snide comments 'cuz I didn't wrap my assignment up in a bow for my replacement