crying abuse when being written up for neglect of patients

[adrienurse, LPN]

deleted

[ktwlpn, LPN]

In my experience if you just sit there calmly this person will "dig their own grave" Take your notes-start your statements with a concise example of the problems you have been having and she'll be off to the races. I've been there-and still can't believe some of the ridiculous things that come from people's mouths.

I would certainly give a written statement to the manager prior to the meeting and make a visit to HR.Find out your p and p for conflict resolution. You are the subordinate and your admin has to make that clear to this person. Abuse of power -baloney! Ask your manager what she or he sees as the goal of the meeting.Make it clear you won't participate if this person is permitted to play games. I bet many people are hoping to see the end of this troublemaker and will be thanking you.

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

hang tough, my friend!!

you need to present "just the facts, ma'am!":smokin:

"i asked susie q to assist mr. jones to the bathroom, and she stated she was "busy" while checking her myspace account. when i repeated my request, she said to **** off, b****, and took a smoke break".

then just sit back, wait for her to get rabid and ugly, and repeat yourself...as often as necessary. if needed, feel free to add that "i am the nurse responsible for mr. jones, and i am unwilling to have him fall due to the failure of an individual i am supervising."

do not get into names, blames, or games!

it'll be fine..bullies back down when cornered (but only after they snarl, growl, bite, and attack)!!

i have been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt....

do not back down!!!

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

grrrr...I hate that noise.

I agree with the above. State just the facts...bring your notes with you if you have any. Stand tall!

Let us know what happened, Okay?

Ohhh. As far as abusing your power...as a supervisor, you are in charge of that cna. They have a job description......

[squeakykitty]

Everyone here has good advice, so there's not much else I can add. Except bring up the pt. safety issues during the meeting, and how important it is to meet the pts. needs and what could happen if they are neglected. And don't let the CNAs accusations and belligerence derail you or throw the meeting off. I'm not exactly sure how the CNA neglected the pt. Please let us know what happens.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Do the CNAs in your hospitals have a union? If so, there may be some difficulty, but do what you have to do.

Close to New Year's 2008, a CNA was caught on camera punching a patient holding her baby in the face twice in front of the hospital pharmacy. Two pharmacists and two housekeepers broke it up, hospital security was involved. This woman was suspended for 30 days pending a hearing and she is back and stronger than ever. This was very discouraging to me. I understand that this film made it to the DON, CEO, all administrators and even the arbitrator's office off of the grounds. This CNA has threatened most of the nursing supervisors, staff and patients. Here was clear cut proof of what this woman is capable of doing, but she got off scot free, basically...because of the union. I am a union member myself as an LPN and while I advocate for unions, they have a tendency to keep 'problem children', by ordering anger management, the Employee Assistance Programs, drug programs, etc. These people stay for YEARS after their behavior and continue them.

Just keep your facts together, present them, and that is it. This, unfortunately, is a good way to see how management really deals with and supports their nurses. If it becomes a character assassination to do what you are sworn to do as a patient advocate, then, you know that this is not the place to be.

[CHATSDALE]

like the advise

i have been there myself and if you find someone who is aggressive they will take over the floor if you let them

you are paid to work and they are paid to work..part of your job is to make sure that they do theirs

good luck

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

My thoughts are with you my fellow nursing colleague. How frustrating to be subject to such review. Everyone's advice on this matter that I've read is helpful.

I see that you are from Winnipeg, Canada, and while there may be subtle nuances in different laws, there remains one significant constant; advocacy for our patient/s.

All I can say is; please try and go to a happy place mentally when your character assassination begins, and then remain calm and consistent in your responses. Everything should focus around "Patient Impact" as in "How did the actions affect the patient/s involved, directly or indirectly".

My best wishes to you.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I have to agree, give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves. Let them blow off and then you can calmly, in single sentances state what your grievance is with them. When in the meeting they see they are getting personal, and you are keeping it to professional they will know where the truth lies. M

My question is if this person gets this way with you, im sure they are abusive to patients, and your managers should see that too.

[DeLana_RN, BSN, RN]

Oh, how I hate meetings "mediated" by the manager. Most managers are not good at doing this, and it usually becomes very ugly with little or nothing accomplished. I have had suffer through a few such meetings due to problems with insubordinate dialysis techs in the clinic where I used to work... things did not get any better as a result, quite the opposite.

Instead, a written description of what happened by you and any witnesses (and the aide's version of the story) should be sufficient.

That said, if you dont' have a choice but to participate in such a meeting, pp have given you good advice. Stick to the facts, let her do most of the talking (and all of the accusing )!

I wish you the best of luck, let us know what happens.

DeLana

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Before I became a nurse, I had a conversation with my sister in law, who is a nursing administrator. She told me that she really hated unions, and being naive, I basically argued with her. She told me that she witnessed employees do blatent, horrible things to patients (I never agreed with that, through), and whenever she took it through the proper channels, things were switched to make it appear that she was the one in the wrong.

Now, I know what she meant. I have aides that refuse to do their jobs, even the simplest tasks. We work in a clinic, and aides in the clinic do not work nearly as hard as the floors. They argue about doing simple tasks like going to the pharmacy, stocking the printers with the new computerized prescription papers, placing vital signs and glucose sticks in the computer, making appointments, even embossing labels for specimen collections. They give the nurses hell, and because we know that nothing will come of their behavior, and management turns their backs, we just do it ourselves to keep the flow going.

I still say present the facts, see how management supports you and think from there. At my clinic, most of the nurses stick together, so, we support each other...making the rest of the injustice sort of worthwhile. A shame, because this is not what we are taught in school.

[AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Adrienurse, completely off topic, but WHERE did you get that avatar? I just spit my Mountain Dew all over my screen! That's the funniest thing I have ever seen. I want a shirt like that.