Ever had a older nurse treat you as a lowly new grad?

[<3Nursing07]

I'm having an issue with one of my co workers. I'm currently off of orientation on my floor and everything is going great but I just can't stand working with this one woman. She literally treats me as if I'm her personal tech. I know it sounds bad but I am a NURSE if there is three techs sitting there waiting for work do not ask me to get your vital signs for you. She continues to ask me to get her vital signs for her in passing and I have just completely ignored her and then she finally asks a tech but she continues to do it and its not vital signs alone she "orders" me to get her stuff for her, she tries to get me to do admissions when its not my turn, basically she just wants have an authority over me and I'm sick of it. I've only been working three months and you know I don't know if the best thing to do is go to my manager, I feel like I've been here for only a short period and I don't want to have "drama" starting with me b/c I think it will make me look bad. Funny thing is she has only been on the floor for a couple months also but literally all the nurses are just tired of her. I just want advice on what to do about this situation because I'm not sure how to confront her about this and I'm not sure if i should bring it up too management.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

If she's only been on the floor a couple of months too, I'd say it's fine to go to management. If she were really senior, with established relationships, it would be a little harder.

I myself am terrible at confrontation, but do you think you could talk directly to her? Or just say "no". She's not the boss of you. If all the other nurses are tired of her too, it's not like she'll be able to recruit them to make your life miserable.

[Lovely_RN, MSN]

Do you really need to confront her to prove your point? I would just say no or walk away whenever she asked me to do something that was inappropriate. What can she do if you say no? Nothing that's what...she will just ask another nurse or tech to do what she wants.

The reason why I suggest you handle it this way is because you have only been there for 3 months. Why haven't any of the nurse's with more seniority confronted her or gone to management? Could it be because they understand the culture of your particular work environment better than you do as a new comer?

[Freedom42]

How about just pleasantly pointing out that one of the techs is available and moving on?

[<3Nursing07]

Trust me I've done the "no" thing. Last time she kept on trying to push an admission on me and I kept on saying no. Its just a matter that she keeps on doing over and over no matter how many times I say no and I'm pretty tired of it. For some reason she is targeting new grads, all us new grads have been told something or another by her. I've actually told my orientation overseer that she was like this and she told me "you think maybe she was trying to teach you?" Who knows maybe just staying quiet and sucking it up is best if thats the response I'll be getting.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

Yeah, as much as I hate to say it, if that's the response, I'd just keep saying no each and every time.

[Lovely_RN, MSN]

I don't think that you should suck it up and take it. This woman is a typical bully and she is testing you and all the other newbies to see who is going to play the sucker for her. I've meet these types in every line of work I have ever been in. Trust me, she knows exactly what she is doing and she knows who to pick on and who to leave alone.

People like her tend to think in terms of "stuff" rolls down hill and for some reason believe that their seniority means they have some sort of honorary supervisor title or something.

I wouldn't go to management unless she made some sort of threat or is doing something unsafe with the patients. Think about it...when you go in you are going to say this woman asks me to do stuff that the techs should be doing. The person in charge is going to be like and so do you do it? Then you will say no and they will look at you like you have two heads. It's happened to me so all I am saying is that this is something that you are likely going to be better of handling yourself. Sorry if you don't like confrontation but you are going to have to be more assertive with this lady and tell her to back off.

[<3Nursing07]

It sucks but the best way really is to hit this thing head on basically this post was about me trying to avoid "confrontation" but the more and more I think about it and read these comments I feel thats the only way it will really end. I'm just going to have to bring her off her high horse.

[SarasotaRN2b]

Actually, when it comes to new admissions, isn't it the charge nurse who assigns the new patients? If she was assigned a new patient, it is her responsibility to do the admission work up, not you. You have your own patients to take care of.

Kris

[<3Nursing07]

The way our floor does admissions is going by an admission log book, it depends on whoever is on the floor and between however many nurses there are who did an admission recently and who did an admission a while back which makes that person first admit. The problem with this nurse is that when I'm last admit or any other number she tries to push first admission on me constantly. She isn't even the charge nurse which is a whole different issue all together.

[scrubsnhugsRN]

You need to have thick skin and be direct. Ask her the next time she does this why she is asking you to do it. Also if she is not the charge she cannot be delegating work to you. There is a difference.

[aileenve, ASN, RN]

Ha ha we have the opposite problem where I work, most of the nurses on our unit have +10-30yrs experience as RN's, then we get a nurse with a year experience..she "delegates" her responsibilities to others such as " I'm busy with an admission, go get my vitals, check on my pt. in room 23, one of my pt needs a pain shot" you have to say, I have my own assignment to keep up with.