Crazy co-workers?

[TurtleCat]

So I'd posted about my new CNA job and how it had been going splendidly. I was having some problems with the nursing home, but liked this new job a lot more. It's less of a nursing home and more of a group home for the elderly. It currently houses 3 residents and in addition to the typical work of a CNA, I also cook meals, do housekeeping and laundry, pass meds and participate in activities. It's real low-stress and I like it a lot.

Now, one of the biggest problems I was having with the nursing home was the co-workers giving me a hard time. I actually ended up leaving because I was being bullied so much. I thought that I wouldn't have that problem here since I'm mostly working by myself, however apparently I was wrong. I went in for my shift Sunday evening and upon entering the house, the aide I was relieving was VERY angry and said to me "Girl, I've got some words for YOU." She proceeded to go off on me because apparently, the other day I'd accidentally put too much laundry in the washing machine and she had to re-do the load because it didn't get washed properly due to being over-filled. She had even taken photos of the laundry and was showing them to me, and was really grilling me about it, saying that people were "furious" with me and asking what I'd used each piece of dirty laundry for, saying I shouldn't even be going through that much laundry on the night shift. Well, I had given 3 baths that morning, as I was instructed by my supervisor to bathe/shower the residents as I'm getting them up in the morning, so that's several towels right there; plus, one of the residents wet his clothes a couple of times and I had to put them w/ the dirty laundry, I can't just put the guy back in wet clothes. Trust me, if I'd known it would be such a BIG DEAL I would have been more mindful of the laundry I used up. Plus, when I first started, I was told I didn't really have to do laundry on the night shift and to just leave whatever had accumulated for the day shift to do. She was just really really angry and being very rude to me, saying she was running behind in her work because she didn't check the laundry until her shift was almost over and she had to hurry up and do a lot of laundry in a short period of time. Well, my first thought was... why did she wait until so late to check the laundry, anyway? Even on the day shift, I found enough downtime to check up on and do the laundry as needed. But I digress...

After she left, I started crying and I called my supervisor to ask if I was in trouble. She said that no, that everything was okay, that the whole thing with the laundry was just a mistake and part of the learning process, and to next time simply divide it up into 2-3 loads. I was so relieved, from the way the aide went off on me and said that people were "FURIOUS" I thought I was in big trouble and about to lose my job. Afterward, I started thinking about it, and like... am I the only one who feels that the way she went on about the laundry was a bit ridiculous? I mean, really, taking pictures of the laundry and interrogating me about it, as if I committed some unspeakable crime? I mean, as a CNA, there ARE mistakes you can make that are serious, that could actually harm or even kill someone... accidentally overloading the washing machine is not one of them. Stupid mistake, yes, but not harmful. If I had done something that could have actually harmed a resident, I would've maybe understood this type of reaction, but given the circumstances it really seemed like making a mountain out of a molehill, and like this particular aide was, well, a witch. (No offense to witches, I just know we can't use the other word here)

So anyway... When my supervisor came in to relieve me, she told me that I'm still working that week and said that overall she'd been very pleased with the work I've been doing and that I've been taking good care of the residents, which made me feel a bit better. Later that day, I was called to sit with the residents for an hour while the supervisor went to run errands. I happened to find out a few things about that one aide. I learned that apparently, SHE'S the one about to get fired over some major mistakes she made. See, one of our residents is in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's where he's prone to wandering and frequently trying to escape; as a result, we have to make sure to keep an eye on him and keep the doors locked at all times. While this aide was working her shift, there were apparently TWO incidents where he nearly escaped. The supervisor told me that the other day, she pulled up and saw the aide out in the front yard, talking to someone who'd come to see her. Which normally wouldn't be a big deal other than, while she was in the middle of doing this, the resident had left the house and was wandering around the front yard. The second, my supervisor and I had gone out in the backyard sometime that day, and found the guy's walker out there by the back gate. Put 2+2 together, what do you think happened there? This made me even angrier that she would go off on me like that for a relatively minor thing, when she had a resident almost escape TWICE on her shift. I mean, what do you think is a bigger deal -- making a mistake with the dirty laundry, or a resident escaping and going missing, or hurting himself, etc. etc.

[mstearns09]

Looks like she's trying to get the heat off her by putting it on you. I had that happen to me at my former job. Karma came to visit on the person who went after me, though.

[mvm2]

I can maybe see her talking to you, and asking you not to load the washer that full again, and explaining what she had to do extra. But she totally made it more then it was, and there are so many better ways to bring things up. People make mistakes and if you talk nicely to people they might just have a great reaction to it and say oh so sorry I'll make sure that won't happen again and leave it at that. Why is it that it seems that socity has totally lost how to talk to eachother to resove issues.

[CNAkat31]

Wow feel bad for you, u have to do laundry as a cna?! Where I work we have laundry aides do laundry. Us cnas just bag up the dirty linens and clothes and send them to the soiled linens holding room oh we do have to rinse bm off clothes and linens in the hopper soiled utility room I work with some jerks too but I'm here to do my job not get into drama but bullies are a drag sorry to hear that

[mskrisCNA2bRN]

Usually it's the ones that are the most mouthy that get so set in their ways that they make frequent mistakes. I just started a job and the girl who orientated me is a mouthy little thing that irks the entire hell out of my nerves apparently she thought that she could talk to me a certain kind of way and get away with it because she thought I was quiet and couldn't stand on my own. Her mistake. I let her have it the first time she tried to get into it with me. She's left me alone ever since. I don't deal with bullies in any way at all. I'm just as mouthy if not more seeing as I have a ton of stuff on my plate already and I don't need her adding to my stress.

Anyways I say that to say this. Don't worry about how others tend to approach you with their attitudes they do it because they believe they can. Stand on your own two feet and let them have it the same way they dish it out. If they believe they can run over you they will so don't let them.