She's loud and outspoken. Markedly unattractive and overweight, in her mid 40s, she describes herself as having been in the ICU "forever." She's large and in charge, and everyone knows better than to argue with her because she's always right, and there's only way to do everything. An adult learner, she was a former waitress or CNA before "gettin' her RN" now attending an online-for profit school for her BSN or, more likely, refusing to further her education at all. She has been uplifted from a low income upbringing to "professional status" and for years has been drunk on an artificial sense of authority as an RN. Her particularly favorite hobbies include talking endlessly about her experience, describing the problems she has with "today's young nurses," and behaving rudely toward float nurses and travel nurses and medical interns just getting out of school because "they should know how to do all this without asking." She also makes frequent trips to the manager's office to pester and annoy.
I transitioned from my hospital's float pool to the medical ICU about 6 months ago, and we have one of these in my unit. I don't think I've ever met anyone with as rotten a personality as this individual. Luckily I have never been one of her targets.
"Anyone who takes a dump in the lounge bathroom is going to taste my shoe heel for a week! No one better be doing THAT." (Dictating the rules of the use of the staff bathroom, believing that any nurse or tech with the urge to empty their bowels need do so in a different part of the hospital)
"You could literally get FIRED for eating that. That's considered STEALING. That may have flown over on such and such floor, but not here!" (To a float nurse who didn't have time to break and took a package of two saltines to eat)
"Guys, you see that traveler Jen who started last week? She's always in her patients rooms, and you can never find her when you need help. It's because she has nothing to do so she stays in her patients rooms so she doesn't have to come out and help. Just watch you guys, that's how she's going to be all day." (Spoken at 730AM as being are just finishing getting report. Great way to start the day!)
Do you have (or are you one of) these dips running around in your unit? What do you think of these types? This person also orients people, thankfully on a very seldom basis because she's not a preceptor of choice. I have made reference to her in my other threads about bullies, and people have said she is not a bully.
What do you think? Use this thread to talk about "veteran bully queens of the ICU" or any med-surg floor.
