I am kind of a new nurse only a few months into a job at a busy community hospital ER. It may be busy in part because the senior staff tend to be unfriendly and unhelpful to newbies. That being the case, we lose A LOT of new hires, fast. Lost half a dozen or so in 2 months.
One of the patient care coordinators has taken a disliking to me. She has embellished and even made up half truths about me, trying to make me look bad, then gone to our Unit Manager, whom I very, very rarely see or talk with.
This particular patient care coordinator is supposed to help all staff with the intake of squad patients, and other things, and yet I can't seem to find her when I have a patient(s) coming in by squad. She gets snippy with me, then projects issues on to me (who is calm by nature). She yelled at me, then had the nerve to come back, hours later, and said I seem angry.
I'm quite sure she's emotionally unbalanced. My unit manager is too, and listens to her for some reason and gave me a terrible performance review I surmise largely based on this supervisor's input.
It was a terrible review, out of nowhere, with no suggestions for improvement. Stuff like 'you administer medications safely, but you struggle with iv starts sometimes, so you are not progressing as expected.'
I reported hostility and racial tension/slurs (which make me uncomfortable) and the retort was: you come off as stand-offish.
What should I do? I have another job, I can get by with if need be, but I won't be bringing in the same amount if I quit this place, thereby reducing my hours by that much.
"It was a terrible review, out of nowhere, with no suggestions for improvement. Stuff like 'you administer medications safely, but you struggle with iv starts sometimes, so you are not progressing as expected.' "
This seems odd to me. "You struggle with IV starts sometimes, so you are not progressing as expected." Hell, that's very common for new nurses. They see this as "not progressing as expected?" I've known new grad baccalaureate RN's who have never done an IV start. I've worked in surgery and this was so common with new nurses... they were mentored and helped. This sounds a bit of a toxic environment. Life is too short and it sounds possible that they are preparing their records to have ammunition to let you go. Curious about the racial slurs? Do you mean co-workers make racial statements and slurs toward you? And no support from mgmt? If that's the case I'd get the heck out for sure. Management sets the tone and the tone there sounds toxic...
Yes, really....only, mental illness and emotional instability are not quite the same thing.
If we aren't splitting hairs I kind of think the two are definitely along the same lines. Chronic emotional instability would certainly raise a red flag for an underling mental health diagnosis in my opinion.
"emotionally unbalanced" or whatever. You can label however you want. This is a power tripping duo that is not going to change. You are not in with the in crowd, get out while the getting is good.
Not everyone will like you but you must do your very best. You may find that if you go from place to place you will deal with the same thing if you don't figure out what the real issues are. I can't say if it is you or them, heck it could be both. It could very well be that the place is chaotic and stressful. I previously worked at a place that was crazy chaotic. You would literally hear people yelling out when their last day would be. I would always try to remain professional in all situations but I would not let my self be abused or bullied. There is a proper way to address people when you have issues with them (you need to let people know this). Anyhow I stayed at this place for long enough to get my experience. I have a new job that is less chaotic, closer to home, and pays more. I work on a ICU unit. I am thriving. The last place I was at more than prepared me for my new position. I started taking patients day 2 of my training. I guess what I am saying is don't run, try to improve on your skills, don't let yourself be disrespected and hopefully all will be better. Nursing requires tough skin. If you have the right attitude, gain experience and push forward difficult times, things will improve for you as you will be an experienced nurse and people will be less likely to question if you know what you are doing etc. People on your unit are probably very stressed about the high turnover rate and instead of supporting new staff, they end up running them off because they may figure that you won't stay anyway.
This is true. I was thinking about it and still am. There are aspects of this job that I like, but unprofessional/inadequate management makes it tough to stay sometimes. I have made my best efforts. I'm just shocked, because I hadn't received any feedback whatsoever until a few weeks ago. Ironic, because that's when I told a few co-workers I started a second job.
It wasn't to get away from this job per se, it was to have additional employment. Many have changed their attitude toward me since then, even if slightly, and I don't see why it's perceived as so wrong to get a second job in another nursing specialty. If someone told me they'd gotten a second job I'd say 'oh, cool. how do you like it?'
Do Not Tell Your Personal Business At Work.
Do Not Tell Your Personal Business At Work.
Do Not Tell Your Personal Business At Work.
Repeat 150 times every day for the rest of your working life.
Why not tell? Because people are jealous, bored, looking for some way to feel superior, looking to make points with whoever by having something to gossip about, because the moon is full, because it's a new moon, because water is wet. Just keep your personal life private.
Repeat 150 times every day for the rest of your working life.
Why not tell? Because people are jealous, bored, looking for some way to feel superior, looking to make points with whoever by having something to gossip about, because the moon is full, because it's a new moon, because water is wet. Just keep your personal life private.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
You are so right. In the back of my mind, I already knew that... but I let my guard down and told (a little bit) anyways. I just didn't see how it would be that big of a deal. At my new job, they don't mind that I have another position at all.
If we aren't splitting hairs I kind of think the two are definitely along the same lines. Chronic emotional instability would certainly raise a red flag for an underling mental health diagnosis in my opinion.
I truly see emotionally unbalanced as an imbalance due to say- chronic high stress/ ineffective stress management, unhealthy patterns/relationships, etc. Also, personality issues /disorders / tendencies. Histrionic, for example.
"emotionally unbalanced" or whatever. You can label however you want. This is a power tripping duo that is not going to change. You are not in with the in crowd, get out while the getting is good.
This rings true. So does Workitinurfava's comment. I don't know what the best thing to do is. I've been at this place for 9 months. There is a lack of support and like I said, no one (manager or otherwise) told me they have a problem with any thing I've done until right after I said I'd gotten a second job. I didn't get a post-orientation review, or a 90 day review.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I'm just shocked, because I hadn't received any feedback whatsoever until a few weeks ago. '
You had received feedback prior to December 8, when you started that last thread, no? That was six weeks ago, and you said you've only been at this job a few months. So it sounds to me like you received feedback very early on in your role there.
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
A coworker that has specifically targeted you that is buddy-buddy with management, I've never seen this scenario turn out for the positive. This person has already affected management's opinion of you for the negative. It feels like going to work and beating your head repeatedly into a brick wall. My recommendation is to leave. Maybe if you can hold out for around 2 more months then give 30 days notice you'll be able to get your year? Again in my experience, once you give notice they will leave you in peace and let you finish out your time more pleasantly (because they got what they wanted). Take the high road and let the two of them roll around in their own muck, life is too short to take such BS.
Doumbia
18 Posts
"It was a terrible review, out of nowhere, with no suggestions for improvement. Stuff like 'you administer medications safely, but you struggle with iv starts sometimes, so you are not progressing as expected.' "
This seems odd to me. "You struggle with IV starts sometimes, so you are not progressing as expected." Hell, that's very common for new nurses. They see this as "not progressing as expected?" I've known new grad baccalaureate RN's who have never done an IV start. I've worked in surgery and this was so common with new nurses... they were mentored and helped. This sounds a bit of a toxic environment. Life is too short and it sounds possible that they are preparing their records to have ammunition to let you go. Curious about the racial slurs? Do you mean co-workers make racial statements and slurs toward you? And no support from mgmt? If that's the case I'd get the heck out for sure. Management sets the tone and the tone there sounds toxic...