Just Wondering.....

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello everyone. I am just a little curious about something, so I thought I'd start a post here and see what you guys come up with. I am a RN on the telemetry unit of the hospital I work at. It has occured to me that nurses on other floors, particularly the medical and surgical floors are not particularly fond of us telemetry nurses. When we get pulled to thier floors, they treat us rather badly and always give us the patients that nobody else wants. I have even seen where they told a nurse from my floor that she had 5 patients (they all had 5) and she was also responible for all admissions to the floor....now that just isnt fair.

The hospital I worked at before, I worked on a medical floor, and I

admit that the nurses I worked with always made comments about the telemetry nurses, and the ICU nurses too, saying that they were stuck up, and snobby and worse words that I can't repeat. I never understood it, and now that I AM a telemetry nurse, I really dont understand it. We're the same nurses as any other nurses, just we take care of pt in need of cardiac monitoring. Has anyone else noticed this kind of thing happening in thier hospital? What do you think about it? :)

Tele nurses stuck up? New one to me. Overworked, yes, like everyone. I wonder why many hospital job lists have looooong lists for tele......mmmmm

We NEVER float (chronically short staffed like everyone else) so I've never experienced any bad treatment you've described.

When I did tele I noticed the same thing!Crap, crap assignments!

They floated 3 of us once and gave us all complete pts. We three bound together and did tearm nursing that day. Supervisor was very impressed.

They liked me on Neuro though because I would only get three pts and would always help out.

And boy, did the ICU nurses get pissy when they were floated! I remember when one nurse threw her backpack at me when she came to the floor at 2330 and I asked if I could give her report!

I told her it wasn't my fault she was here! And she had a really peach assignment too! All self care, no labs. She apologized. Seems there was a fight on who's turn it was to float and she lost.

I'm sure everyone has horro stories of being floated though.

Specializes in Everything except surgery.

I think this is done to anyone who is floated, new, agency, or a traveler. I once took a late call as the hospital had waited till the last min to call the agency. I came in as soon as I could, and when I got there was given report. I was running, running, running,...and I started noticing I was the ONLY one running!

Everyone else was at the nurse's station having a grand old time.

Hmmmmmm.....I went and checked the cardex....guess what??

I walked up to the Charge Nurse, and asked to see the assignment sheet....Come to find out...I had TWICE the amount of pts. they had...and I told her....change this now....or I'm giving you report NOW!

Last time I accepted an assignment on THAT unit! It seems some people have this thing....that since it was done to me.....it's ok to do it to someone else!:(

I also rarely take late calls anymore...and only if I know the unit I'm going to!

I listened to a college basketball player who had been awarded "player of the game" being interviewed after winning the final playoff. He thanked God for giving him the skills necessary to be able to play and then he gave props to the rest of his team saying that he would not be there talking about being the best player had he not had such a good team. This was a wonderful thing to say and it is the correct and healthy way to think. We need to start being nicer to ourselves in spite of how others treat us. Look within for encouragement and strength. We need to open our eyes to the strengths of our fellow nurses and offer to help when we see a need. We need to keep our eye on the goal of our profession which is the patient's welfare and not our egos getting stroked. Can't we just all get along?

Being a critical care nurse, I haven't heard about us being "stuck up". I have heard that we're intimidating. I think a certain breed of person gravitates toward telemetry and intensive care -- strong personalities, pro-active, etc. Sometimes we can come off as being stuck up because we are either impatient or thinking eight steps ahead. Who knows. We give and take report differently, we do assessments differently, both of which may come off as seeming "superior".

I have to say that the few times I've floated to floors, I've been treated extremely well.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Totally unrelated comment, but I had a male friend who worked ICU who LOVED to ride me about being a lazy L&D nurse. He would joke with me that they were on the top floor (that's where ICU was located) because they were closer to God!

I'm sure he was just kidding.....right???

Originally posted by Susy K

Totally unrelated comment, but I had a male friend who worked ICU who LOVED to ride me about being a lazy L&D nurse. He would joke with me that they were on the top floor (that's where ICU was located) because they were closer to God!

I'm sure he was just kidding.....right???

Heh! Next time he says that, reply with "Closer to God so your patients don't have as far to travel!" ;)

Actually, closer to God so the physicians feel more at home. :chuckle

Good for you Brownie....

The fantastic nurse that was my preceptor when I graduated nursing school and started on the surgical floor of the local hospital floated to the Medical floor one night. She was given 8 patients, one who was crashing all night, another that needed blood twice that shift, another who was getting K+ boluses, 2 who were disoriented to everything, all the patients were two-person lifts for bathroom and weighing purposes. I went down on break to see if she had time to grab some lunch and was floored to see the other 5 nurses sitting at the desk playing cards, while my beloved preceptor ran around like a maddened banshee. We had a light load on our floor that night, and plenty of staff, so I called back to my floor....in front of these card-playing mean-spirited women, and asked my supervisor if I could stay and help my preceptor for awhile. I described what the rest of the nurses were NOT doing in DETAIL to my supervisor. She agreed that I could help out and Michelle (my preceptor) and I did as we always did and kicked BUTT on that assignment, getting it under control in SHORT order. My supervisor in the meantime contacted our nursing coordinator, who spent quite a bit of time in the security station downstairs watching those women sit on their butts via the security cameras. Needless to say those were 5 unemployed nurses by morning.

I've been really lucky whenever I've had to float, whether to OB, ICU, Psych, etc. I'm always treated with respect, and made to feel appreciated for whatever help I could supply. But then again...if I float to ICU, and they have 15 patients that are all in trouble, and the thing that I can do is be a medication nurse for all of those patients...or give all of the baths, take all of the vitals hourly, and free up the nurses who are experienced at this sort of thing...I don't mind. I just do what is needed.

I've never met a stuck-up ICU nurse. I'm sure there are some out there, I've just never met one yet.

Ann Barry RN

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