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Discussion

favoritism in the workplace

I work in a 41 bed unit. Favoritism runs rampant and is blatantly obvious on our unit. The associate director of nursing (ADN) is very very biased. Her favorites are the lazy RNs who don't do anything. They will get away with everything. One time, a lazy RN assessed a patient as "alert and oriented x3" whereas the patient was actually a nonverbal, bedbound patient on a mechanical ventilator. That RN did not get in any trouble. The RNs that are honest and do the work, they will get in trouble.

The assignments are done by the charge RN. The charge RN is lazy also. How did that lazy RN get into the position as charge RN? I don't know. The assignments are not done fairly. Sometimes I end up getting an assignment with 6 or 7 high acuity patients while the other RNs get away with 4 patients that are not high acuity. How is that fair?!!

Who did I complain to? There is no one. ADN does not care. Charge RN does not care. The nursing supervisors do not care. I guess to go to the director of nursing but then the ADN will get upset and will make things worse. I believe the director knows some of the issues that are happening but it seems that she is powerless to do anything. The ADN is a vindictive person.

It is not a good place to work. I would not entrust the lives of my family members to the hands of some of these RNs that work on my unit.

Any advice on how to deal with this?

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    Managers identify with and favor people who are most like themselves. This is why there are units in which knowledge experience and technical skills are belittled.

    You are in a low level facility with even lower standards.

    Management has decided to drive you away with an unfair workload.

    Do not take report.

    Make a copy or take a picture of the board.

    I would say "i am not accepting this assignment" get my things and find whomever is in charge of this circus and say you either change it or I am leaving. They will change it and not pull that nonsense again.

    Really you need to find a better place to work.

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    If you are always getting the highest acuity patients you can simply say no these patients need to be split up. Stand your ground.

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    I would leave. Sounds like a gnarly place. Keep in mind that with those types of nurses, the place you're working could develop a bad reputation and could cause trouble down the line for you when looking for another job.

    For instance, I'm sure there were some good nurses working at Blackwell's Island in the late 1880's, but after Nellie Bly's piece I bet they took pains to distance themselves from the institution.

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    Take it to your parent company. They usually have employee relation and/or corporate compliance areas of the website where you can report patient safety issues. Report to risk management. This is a patient safety risk due to the acuity of the patients being given to 1 RN to care for.

    I would not take pictures of anything. That is against most facility policies, and could be used against you. In other words, they would focus on the picture taking as opposed to your issue at hand with staffing patient/nurse ratios.

    I would not, under any circumstances use "lazy" nurses as a descriptive wording for why you are complaining. Take the emotion out of it. The bottom line is that you are given an unsafe assignment.

    Also, check before you complain. There are Joint Commission standards. I believe (and please do check) that 5 is the max assignment on days for a medical surgical unit....up to 10 on the night shift. But again, check.

    Best wishes!

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