How To Deal With Difficult Coworkers?

[1RECROOMRN]

I Have Been A Pacu Nurse For 7 Years Out Of My 10 Year Nursing Career, I Have Worked In 4 Different Pacu's(moving) I Love Being A Pacu Nurse I Am Cpan Certified And Proud Of It, I Also Love The Hospital I'am Working At Now....the Problem Is I Have No Idea How To Deal With The Most Difficult Co-worker I Have Ever Worked With!!!! He Is The Only Male Nurse In Our Perioperative Area, He Gossips Worse Than Any Women Ever Could, He Is Rude, Loud, Unprofessional And Leaves Our Unit Continuously. He Takes Care Of One Pt If We Are Lucky In A Ten Hour Shift. I Have Written Him Up One Time For A Patient Safety Issue, Leaving A Patient Unattended To Gossip In Second Stage Recovery, The Pt's O2 Sat Dropped To 82% , I Helped The Pt, When He Finally Came Back He Was Defensive And Rude, Calling Me Fat And Stupid. (he Also Comments About The Pts Weight Or Looks While They Are Sleeping And Defenseless) He Keeps His Pts In Pacu While They Are Wide Awake For 2-3 Hours If They Are Interesting To Him.(non-stop Talking About Absolutely Nothing!) If You Are Unattractive Your Stay Will Be Brief.i Discussed This With The Director Of Our Dept. With Him Present, He Lied During The Whole Confrontation. Then Made My Life A Living Hell For One Year, Gossiping About Me Telling My Co-workers That They Would Be Fat Like Me If They Ate A Piece Of Cake Or Candy..you Get The Point.i Only Speak To Him If I Have To, And I Would Never Compromise Pt Safety Because Of Him. I Can Not Understand Why Our Director Has Not Fired Him Yet, Although When Ever He Is Confronted He Turns Red And Starts To Throw Charts Around, One Almost Hit Me One Day. What Should I Do? I Love This Hospital, I Love Being A Pacu Nurse, But I Am Seriously Thinking About Taking Another Position In The Hospital. And To Make Things Worse One Of His Gossiping Lazy Friends Was Hired To Work In Our Pacu. Please Help.

[medsurgnurse, RN]

Each and every time he does soemthing document it. You can keep a small notebook in your pocket. Do not let him know you are doing this. When you go to risk managment you will have information about hisd antics. This perosn is compromisig patient safety by sending patients out of PACU before they are ready because he doesn't "like" them. This offense is serious enough to report to the BON. Keep medical record numbers documented when he compromises pt care. We all work with personalities we may not get along with but this sounds dangerous.

[AfloydRN, BSN, RN]

I know what you mean. I'm sorry that one person can make your life a living hell. I will tell you what my mother told me when I was little- People who are rude and ugly to you do so because they have a horrible home life and that is probably their release. Do not take it personally. It may sound corny, but it has helped me. He probably is very confrontational and your boss is not. That could be part of the problem.

[irmaRN]

yes, my friend.... write it all down... it means nothing unless you do... its a shame that your boss would even put up with such nonsense!!! unfortunately, some people have no b---s!!

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

He is creating a hostile work environment for you by calling you fat and telling others they will be fat like you if they eat cake. This is reason for termination in most work environments and not to be tolerated. Start to document everything and try to get the support of a witness who has heard the "fat" comments. Then you need to turn this guy into human resources. His treatment of you is called "horizontal workplace violence" you can do a web search on this and find all kinds of information. Good luck to you and let us know how this turns out. I had a nurse that was terrorizing me one time and was able to have her terminated with enough documentation.

[TrudyRN]

Document. Let me say it again. Document.

And do obtain witness statements, if possible. Don't be surprised if your "friends" on the unit suddenly develop amnesia and become HOH. Most people are afraid to get involved.

But if you keep detailed records of dates, times, exact quotes, patient names and numbers, details of who he took care of, what they chatted about, what their vitals were while they chatted for several hours while the rest of you handled lots more pts than he did, etc., you will have some ammo.

Or you could try going mildly on the offensive overtly. I once shut up a

jerk I worked with by inviting him for a beer. When he declined, I handed him the money for the beer and told him to have a couple for me next time he went to a bar. He was totally embarrassed - it was a guy thing, taking money from a female embarrassed him. He left me plum alone after that, I'll tell you what. Made a very wide berth around me. It was worth the few dollars.

[puggymae]

What a jerk! I would not let anyone talk to me like that - that is harassment and you do not have to put up with that for a minute. And as far as treating patients like that I think that is horrible. I would tell the every administrator in the building at the top of my lungs about this situation. Please don't let him get the best of you!

[MsLady06]

He does not sound like a real man to me. He may need to seek another profession. You can not sit and talk about patients. Appearently they are there because they are sick. seems like you have an immiture nut case on your hands. Silence is golden and yes write every incident down.