I am done with evil nurses who absolutely do not want to help new (in terms of experience) nurses. I have a co-worker who refuses to answer any of my questions and turns me away but she has the nerve to gossip about what possible mistakes I could do at work for being so new and handling the sickest patient! Really?! All I can say is *.*. You are not hurting me, you are hurting the patient. If you think, I should increase the profopol, then tell me, not tell someone about it! UGH! Anyway, is it ok to give someone the middle finger at work? Haters gonna hate! And I know why this evil lady is a hater: she is butt ugly inside and out!
I'm so sorry you are dealing with such a difficult co-worker. I've experienced this as well especially being a new hire and new grad. Though there is no excuse for your co-worker to treat you poorly, she may just be an "evil" person who could care less about others and even delights in being mean or she could be a very unhappy women who is treating you as poorly as she has been in the past. Always take the "high road". You will be proud of yourself for you doing so when you look back upon this experience. Treat her kindly-I'm not saying suck up to her or allow her to abuse you. Stick up for yourself, but don't ever stoop to her level and talk behind her back or flip her the bird,lol. Ive never had the courage to address someone's poor treatment of me to their face or to a supervisor as others have recommended here that you do. I wish I had and hope I'm strong enough in the future because although you may soon no longer work along her either at your current employer or you may decide to move on with a different employer-this nurse's' negative behavior will continue unless it's addressed and she faces consequences. Unless stopped you and your patients are a step on her making people miserable ladder.
Well, thank God that I can vent a little bit in this forum because quite frankly, I hate any kind of drama and taking everything to the supervisor really doesn't make anything better. I will be labeled as a whiner quite possibly too so I schedule my days with people I know I can ask questions. I do not hold grudges and from time to time, I make the mistake of asking her a question and she would just basically tell me to go away. Ugh. It drives me nuts I forget that I need to avoid this person!
Sounds like you're working in critical care. About to embark on the same journey but have some good mentors in my unit. So sorry for you. This should NOT happen. We should support each other. Why?!?!
I am not suggesting that the nurse in question could be a bit more professional. With that being said, OP, did you have an orientation? A preceptor? Were you given direction on where it is you could find resources to assist you? Are you given the sickest patients with no support? Do you have a charge nurse? An in house supervisor?
There are nurses who don't want to take on giving advice and direction to new (or even not so new) nurses. It is not within the realm of their job. It could be that they don't know. Profophal? REALLY? That is such a high alert drug that I would be one thousand percent sure what I was doing with it before I did a thing.
Are you a new nurse in the ICU? Or a new grad in an ICU. That can be dangerous. And yes, passive aggressive on the part of the other nurse to voice displeasure on unprepared new grads in a specialty, however, it is the thought process of number of nurses--brand new grads unprepared for clinical nursing skills out of school, with little to no precepting or orientation put in critical ICU care with little resources.
I would be sure that you know exactly who it is that you are to speak to regarding direction, OP. Where your resources are and how to use them. Policy specific guidelines on when and how to use critical drugs, how they are to be titrated and documented.
Now that you know that Nurse Happy isn't about to assist you, then you need to stop asking for assistance from her. With that being said, you need to specifically know who it is you are to ask.
And I would start the process of reading up and studying on ICU/Critical care certification. The study book will assist you, and the certification will benefit you and your patients.
As a new grad to critical care I was a part of an internship. 3 months in critical care Ed with resources given to study on my own days off. Then precepted for three more months. I wouldn't even consider going into this field without the proper resources. You also must be willing to study hard for at least a year until you're comfortably independent. You will always need a mentor because you see and learn something new everyday. It never seems to become routine. Certification is such a good idea. You're going to have to learn it anyway. Why not be compensated for it? My best to you.
This is a small MS ICU and I only got 6 weeks of preceptorship! Since I have been a step down nurse, this is all I get and everyone knows this and as a unit they are supposed to support me but a few nurses do not care. I am getting better day by day and taking on sicker patients. To be honest, there are a lot of resources out there that will teach you how to be a better ICU nurse. This forum is one example.
I have been a nurse for a long time and there was a statement back when I started that "Nurses eat their young.". What a horrible representative of our "caring" profession these miserable people are! That being said, it is hard to be a new nurse and feel terrified to ask a question. When we have nursing students in our unit, we always give them the best experience we can, and they always thank us profusely. My last words to them are to always remember to be as kind,in the future, to young nurses as we were to them. And sadly, I say it for exactly the reasons you wrote...miserable women that I met in my younger days who did all they could to undermine your confidence....Bullies. But of course, that being said, the majority of nurse I have met in my career have been wonderful, supportive co-workers.
It's wonderful to have the education needed, but isn't the drug name propofol? As a nurse, I feel being able to actually spell the drug names correctly is important because so many of them are very similar, with completely different uses.
Specializes in Psych, Substance Abuse, Case Management.
I'm so glad we all get along where I work. Night shift rocks on the psych unit! However, when I was a student my worst clinical was pediatrics. The day shift nurses at that hospital were very indifferent. One student asked a nurse a question and she just kept casually walking down the hall, totally ignoring her. Another nurse looked in my direction and said, "Are you Ok?" When I said yes she snapped back in a nasty tone, "I wasn't talking to you." Another nurse with a very heavy accent would get so peeved every time we asked her to repeat herself. I can laugh about it all now, but those 12 hour shifts were horrible, mentally.
My husband is nearly finished going through an accelerated 2 year associates degree program for OTAC and is doing the last 3 weeks of his clinical rotation. His first facility was a excellent experience in a beautiful facility, working with genuinely wonderful people whom he learned a great deal from. They encouraged him to return and apply once he passes his state boards.
This is the 2nd facility and the experience couldn't be farther from a 180 degree U-turn experience wise for him. Here he has been put under the supervision of a OTR whom is about half his age and just out of school herself. She treats him with scorn and discourtesy on a daily basis, and humiliates him at every opportunity available. She yells in his face in front of staff, patients and pt families. She won't use his name - instead preferring to refer to him as "the student" while talking about him as if he's not even there while speaking to other staff. Many of the staff has told my husband they don't like how the OTR is treating him, because it is embarrassing for everyone. She takes him out into the hallway and actually yells in his face, so everyone can hear what she is saying. She rips his charting to shreds when it is comparable to other therapists at the facility, and will not allow him to ever use the same therapy more than one time (even on other pt's) so he has to constantly come up with new treatment plans every single time. My husband is 51 and being treated like a child. Pt's have also complained that she has yelled in their faces and threatened them.
This OTR was talked to about her bullying behavior and stopped for one day, then resumed worse than ever. Now she sits in a pt wheelchair in the pt room and while my husband struggles to do therapy with a pt that really needs 2 people, not helping or teaching, and sings verse: "Under Pressure" over and over.
So, bully behavior in the work place is alive and well all over unfortunately. I feel for my husband, and I feel for you too as well. We were all students once (or new to our particular career) and needed a friendly face to mentor us. Work can be hard enough at the best of times - adding childish behavior into the mix is unprofessional, and can have detrimental consequences for pt's. Treating others with respect and courtesy costs nothing.
I'm so glad we all get along where I work. Night shift rocks on the psych unit! However, when I was a student my worst clinical was pediatrics. The day shift nurses at that hospital were very indifferent. One student asked a nurse a question and she just kept casually walking down the hall, totally ignoring her. Another nurse looked in my direction and said, "Are you Ok?" When I said yes she snapped back in a nasty tone, "I wasn't talking to you." Another nurse with a very heavy accent would get so peeved every time we asked her to repeat herself. I can laugh about it all now, but those 12 hour shifts were horrible, mentally.
Ugh. This is how I get treated! Dang! What is wrong with people?!
Treating others with respect and courtesy costs nothing.
Yep. It is sad some people act this way at work. We should all help each other! It is awful that your husband had to go through that! Despicable! I hope these people would grow warts on top of their noses - to go with their witchy attitude!
LaJollalove
18 Posts
I'm so sorry you are dealing with such a difficult co-worker. I've experienced this as well especially being a new hire and new grad. Though there is no excuse for your co-worker to treat you poorly, she may just be an "evil" person who could care less about others and even delights in being mean or she could be a very unhappy women who is treating you as poorly as she has been in the past. Always take the "high road". You will be proud of yourself for you doing so when you look back upon this experience. Treat her kindly-I'm not saying suck up to her or allow her to abuse you. Stick up for yourself, but don't ever stoop to her level and talk behind her back or flip her the bird,lol. Ive never had the courage to address someone's poor treatment of me to their face or to a supervisor as others have recommended here that you do. I wish I had and hope I'm strong enough in the future because although you may soon no longer work along her either at your current employer or you may decide to move on with a different employer-this nurse's' negative behavior will continue unless it's addressed and she faces consequences. Unless stopped you and your patients are a step on her making people miserable ladder.