HAve you noticed an increase in your coworkers on facebook, or texting CONSTANTLY on their cell phones?
So much that when you have a pt. going bad, and in front of your coworkers ( who are on the computer, giggling and texting too) and you are asking the unit sec. to place orders for a STAT stuff while you are on the phone with the doctor....that these coworkers ignore you, only to ask you later " You had a pt going bad, why didn't you ask for help??" The same coworkers who have no obligation for teamwork, and are too busy to help you when they seem to have PLENTY of freetime to help out? What is the appropriate way to handle this? I have already mentioned several times that they are too loud at the nurses station, and suggested they are on facebook way too much. Now I am the bad guy because I reported above incident to my supervisor, and now one of the nurses is playing the "i'm-not-talking-to -you" game. I feel bad she got singled out, and yes it should have been handled better, but spending 4 hours a nite on facebook is ridiculous. And it sets an example for our new staff! Plus I am so embarrassed when pts family members come to the desk and my coworkers are watching you tube and laughing loudly. And my favorite, texting while in a pts. room. Sigh......
Specializes in ICU of all kinds, CVICU, Cath Lab, ER..
This goes on all night at the facility where I work.....no amount of complaining to administrative has really stopped them. It is them versus us..... the professionals answer the phones, call lights and alarms while the "newbies" play on the ipods, blue tooth and cell phone textmessaging....their attitude sickens me. Our administrators prefer the newbies because they can pay them peanuts and push us to "retire". A few large law suits should do the job....
To the OP....your coworkers are not mind readers...yes they shouldn't be texting/facebooking while at work but if you didn't ASK for help, how did they know you needed any?
Are you kidding me????!!!! I guess if the coworkers didn't have their nose stuck in texting/facebook they would be able to see there were issues going on. What about their patients, by the way, God only knows what was going on with them. At least the OP was paying attention to their own patients. We have the same issue on my floor. Luckily, they have cracked down on the cell phone usage, however, people on nights seem to get away with more than they should. To the OP, YOU DID NOTHING WRONG!!! I can't believe some of the other responses insinuated that you should have done something different. WOW!!!
You are right OP, texting and playing on the computer are not compatible with work. Just look at it this way, you are there to do a job, not to make friends. And if your coworkers are goofing off at work then the supervisors need to know about it. The administration and IT can track who is on the computer too much, and they can block certain sites. The texting thing is a bit harder but again the administration has to follow through and write up offenders. I'm sorry that you have to be the one to rock the boat but I understand. It really pisses me off when other people don't pull their weight at work.
I think in this time with tight jobs, the administration will be cleaning house, so to speak. And those people who don't want to pull their weight will be either asked to leave or fired. I know it's begun at my facility, and it's about time!
To the OP....your coworkers are not mind readers...yes they shouldn't be texting/facebooking while at work but if you didn't ASK for help, how did they know you needed any?
Are you kidding me????!!!! I guess if the coworkers didn't have their nose stuck in texting/facebook they would be able to see there were issues going on. What about their patients, by the way, God only knows what was going on with them. At least the OP was paying attention to their own patients. We have the same issue on my floor. Luckily, they have cracked down on the cell phone usage, however, people on nights seem to get away with more than they should. To the OP, YOU DID NOTHING WRONG!!! I can't believe some of the other responses insinuated that you should have done something different. WOW!!!
I still stick by what I said. If they weren't texting/facebooking..they could easily be reading a magazine or a book or knitting/crocheting.
We have to learn to ASK for help when we need it. Again, people aren't mind readers.
Hello what part of team player do you not understand? Yes I agree people do need to speak up, but at the same time as part of a team, you should be paying attention and helping out your coworkers.
I mean really if your co worker looks stressed out and is running around answering all the lights, etc ... shouldn't that be a clue? We all have to be responsible for our actions. And as a professional I would hope that I shouldn't have to remind my peers to go check on their own patients, and answer their own beeping IVs and lights!
If that happens at my job then I do speak up but there are always going to be the ones who take advantage of the hard working nurses. So your choices are this, you speak up and then everyone is ****** at you, or you shut up and just do it, or you find a better place to work.
Yes there are still good places to work where the nurses actually give a hoot about their patients.
What the heck is wrong with some of you? That you think its OK to goof off at work and ignore your patients and their needs?
Obviously the facebooking coworkers WEREN'T paying attention to the OP. Where was the charge nurse in this situation? I've been accused of not helping my coworker when she was busy, but then I was busy with my OWN work that she couldn't do for me. The situation was NOT an emergency.
If I have a pt going bad, I know enough to ask someone for help. I agree the people shouldn't be facebooking, but they were so the OP should've opened her mouth to ask them for help when she needed it. Some nurses are SO wrapped up with their own assignment that they don't pay attention to what is going on around them. I've worked with a few of those kinds too...she was the one who was NEVER given a 3 pt assignment in a very busy surgical/trauma/cardiac ICU because she couldn't handle it.
I'm not sure if the OP is a new grad or not but I've noticed over the years that sometimes a new grad is afraid to ask for help when they are drowning. I tell my preceptees to not be afraid to ask for help. Pt's lives depend on it.
Or is the OP the kind who is always running around like a chicken with her head cut off no matter what the situation is...never gets out of work on time...never is caught up and resents the nurses who have a few minutes of down time. We don't know the whole story here.
I will agree though that the texting at work needs to stop. And I am the FIRST one to offer help when I see my coworker is drowning. Where I work now, my coworker gets offended if I offer to help her and cops and attitude so generally, unless it's an emergency situation, I leave her alone because that's the way she wants it.
I carry my cell phone at work...it is in my pocket and set to "Alarm Only." I set the alarm to remind me of things like unclamping catheters after irrigation or giving a certain CNA a wake-up call since that seems to be the only way to get her to work on time. We also have resident who has a snack ordered at 0115, which for some reason, I have a hard time remembering. We used to have little digital alarm clocks that we could use but they all disappeared...so I use my phone.
I have no issue with people carrying their cells and using their cells when they are not busy with residents. One CNA plays games and sends text messages all night. But...she answers her share of lights and she does more cleaning and stocking than the rest of them, so it isn't a big deal to me. She also leaves her phone on the desk whenever she is with a resident.
I take my iPod to work (iPod touch...not a phone) and play games when we have down time. Since I am the only nurse in the building, I don't clock out for a break...I am supposed to take time to be away from the floor but still available if needed. I don't see that as any different from the other night nurse who reads a book or watches TV or does crossword puzzles.
I do have a MAJOR issue with staff that passes along resident information via text message. Even if they are only using initials or room numbers or whatever, it could still be a HIPAA issue. Also, I know of one time when a reisdent died and CNAs were texting about it...before the nurse was able to reach the family. TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE. I also hate the fact that some of the staff seems to spend a lot of time talking about what goes on when they are off...so...they know who fell and who is on antibiotics or whatever even when they are not at work. It make it pretty hard for people like me because they don't pass those things on in report...they somehow think I should already know...but that is another thread...LOL.
They are cracking down on texting/cell phone use at my hospital too. Grounds for immediate dismissal seems a bit harsh to me though.
I will admit that I do facebook from my iPhone on breaks and occasionally at work but I am not ignoring my patients and only after I am caught up on all my work. We don't have lockers where I work and I will NOT risk having my $300 cell phone stolen out of my purse because there's no where to secure my belongings. I do not take pics on my phone while at work. Plus I have numerous reference materials on my iPhone as well(epocrates, Kathy White fast Facts, etc) I don't have listed on my facebook profile where I work either.
Yes, I have had coworkers texting while I am giving them report!! I did report them to the DON and apparently she spoke to them about it and it has decreased.
To the OP....your coworkers are not mind readers...yes they shouldn't be texting/facebooking while at work but if you didn't ASK for help, how did they know you needed any?
I feel exactly the same way. We seem to all play from our phones at work. ONLY when there are no parents in the pod, NO ONE needs help, etc. We are in a NICU in a pod environment so yeah we have conversations and goof off if all is going well. You can only scrub the counters so much.
flipping wrong just don't do it how would you like the nurse working with your family member to be doing this? THE YARDSTICK FOR BEHAVIOR IS.... HOW YOU WOULD WANT YOUR FAMILY TO BE TREATED!!!!!!!
the nurse that needs the jaws of life to pry the blackberry from her hands is the same one that is probally not even washing them !!!!!!!!! as you see this really peeves me off...........texting driving /texting caregiving oil / water get it ........:flmngmd::banghead::banghead::flmngmd:somethings just don't mix.
I honestly don't care what nurses do on the computer or on their phones as long as they get their work done and respond to call lights and help coworkers when needed. I have a problem with nurses who are on the computer or on the phone but ignore the call bells or patient needs. I also can't stand nurses/aides that answer their phones in the patient's room. If its an emergency please step out and answer the phone elsewhere. And please put your phone on vibrate if you are going to carry it around!!!
I also don't understand why some nurses write about patients on their facebook status...not cool. I saw a nurse write about her patients being "crazy" that day and another nurse went on to advise her to knock them out with some narcotic and she responded in affirmative...seriously? I was mortified:eek:
I still stick by what I said. If they weren't texting/facebooking..they could easily be reading a magazine or a book or knitting/crocheting.
We have to learn to ASK for help when we need it. Again, people aren't mind readers.
I agree with you. If you need help you got to ask! Nobody is a mind reader, even if she was not on facebook or on her cellphone, lets say she was working on her charts or something, she wouldn't know that you needed help unless you asked. If a fellow nurse looks distressed/swarmed, I always ask them if they need help but I also expect them to ask me if they need help because I may not have noticed that they are swarmed.
:banghead:
walk6miles
308 Posts
This goes on all night at the facility where I work.....no amount of complaining to administrative has really stopped them. It is them versus us..... the professionals answer the phones, call lights and alarms while the "newbies" play on the ipods, blue tooth and cell phone textmessaging....their attitude sickens me. Our administrators prefer the newbies because they can pay them peanuts and push us to "retire". A few large law suits should do the job....