Something good

[Altalorraine]

I work in a stressful unit where there are days that we don't eat lunch, get a break or get to go to the bathroom. We nurses are getting it from every angle, from stressed residents, to arrogant attendings, to needy patients and demanding families to hostile ancillary staff, to snarky nurses from other floors. The really terrific thing about where I work is that our nursing staff is truly a team. We all have each others' backs. No one sits unless everyone has help. We all try to make sure that there is nothing that needs doing before we take 5.

The other day day charge nurse noted that the oncoming night shift was going to be short. She made it a point of asking each of us to stock our rooms, stock the linens, stock supplies, get patients fed, get triages and transports set up, and leave the place ship shape for the oncoming shift.

We hear so much about nurses "eating their young" and about places where there is hostility and back stabbing that I thought you'd like to hear about a place where that isn't happening. Somehow, on our unit we have built a culture and a community where it would be considered a disgrace to leave work undone or to burden someone else or to let one person struggle alone. I don't know how this happened, but it's contageous and hopefully self-perpetuating. Perhaps on units where there isn't such a culture, one or two nurses can take it upon themselves to try to get one going. You may not be able to change people who are set in their ways, but you can set the tone for the new people who join the unit. Maybe something good can be built if one or two nurses decides to meet (and beat) indifference and hostility with helpfulness and teamwork.

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna, but I'll tell you, I have seen the best that nurses can be, and I feel so grateful.

Altalorraine

[christvs, DNP, RN, NP]

What a nice place to work! :) That is awesome. I really like my job too and feel like everyone is nice & we all help each other out too. It makes work a nice place to be when you work with great people like that.

-Christine :)

[KiwiChick]

I currently work at a McDonalds to fund my upcoming years of nursing training and the same team ethic is aimed for, although not always achieved. Thanks for sharing that the same teamwork I love in my current job is possible in nursing. I'll definately work to carry it over.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Awesome!

That nurses eat their young, are backstabbing and catty is true, but only to to small extent. While not all nursing units work as such a chosive team, most nurses not eat their young, etc. But a bad few give us all a bad name.

[grentea]

Awww. I feel the same way about my floor. I just started on my unit and I know that things can get hard but my coworkers help each other out and work so well together. At first I was worried because of all of the action of my unit, but the other nurses have made me feel a lot better and a lot less scared.