Nobody Likes A Tattle Tail

blueyesue · Feb 10, 2010

Who ratted you out?

sassyrn333 · Feb 10, 2010

hehe None-ya did

zuzi · Feb 10, 2010

Hey nice social phenomen..."tattle tailing" in nursing world, why and for what?

Could you debate the subject a little???

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 10, 2010

i am wishing that (seeing as we are all educated professionals and adults) more people would approach the individual they have an issue with, rather than running to the manager for every little indiscretion they find. imho, the manager should not be bothered with petty bs. unless someone dies, is injured, is given a wrong med, or a nurse is diverting drugs, the manager shouldn't be bothered. speak with the individual, or go to the charge nurse. we are all grown ups and we all make mistakes--even you tattle tails out there!
maybe its because nursing is predominantly a female profession, because i never encountered this problem in the military. tattle tailing was seriously frowned upon by everyone, including high leadership (i believe you might get your ass kicked for tattling in some military circles). it deteriorates team cohesion and morale. it also shows your superiors that you are too incompetent to handle your team's problems internally.
one could even go as far as saying that tattling creates a hostile work environment....

i agree with you that tattling is a bad thing, and in the absence of extenuating circumstances, one ought to deal with the problem on one's own, rather than running to the manager. i disagree with your assumption that this problem exists because nursing is predominantly a female profession. and i'm tired of the female bashing posts we get on here attributing everything that anyone thinks is wrong with nursing on the idea that it's because it's a predominantly female profession.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2010

I agree. Unless the circumstances are extenuating, I hate being around a known snitch.

People need to learn to address their issues using the proper chain of command. In other words, if you've got a problem with a coworker, the emotionally intelligent thing to do is to handle the problem with that person while using the utmost tact. Running to management for piddling bull crap is nothing short of childish.

sassyrn333 · Feb 10, 2010

It was quite dumb really. My patient's ekg leads hadn't been changed out in >24 hours. In the unit we change the leads every day or as needed to prevent skin breakdown and keep the tracings legible. He was a really independent guy/walkie-talkie in the ICU, did all of his own hygiene, changed his own hospital pajamas before I could even get in there in the morning. He was only in the unit because of his high O2 requirement (needed 10-15L oxymizer). Between the nurse on night shift and myself it managed to slip through the cracks, but it was easy to miss on this guy because we weren't doing bed baths on him, listened posteriorly for lung sounds as he was always sitting up in the chair, and his tele tracings were good. Let me also add that I managed to walk this patient twice both days, and take him on a trip outside to see his son and dog, as he had not been out in the light of day for over a month due to his long hospital stay (which was made possible because I did not take a lunch). The nurse on days who picked up the patient after I had him noticed that the leads were 2 days old (we date the ekg pads when time permits) and said something to my manager.

That goes to show you, no good deed goes unpunished!

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2010

Funny you'd post this!

Had a manager tell me, "I don't like to micro manage, don't like it, really I don't"

Later on that year he pulls me into his office for a review. You guessed it...

Complaints brought to his attention, rather than the complainers confronting me at all, backstabbing at its worst!

Well, all those petty complaints add up to when you find yourself canned.

What? I only complained to management once following an incident I didn't feel was handled adequately by my coworker, this followed after my confronting my coworker.

I don't find myself quite honestly running to management over anything; I try to stay below the radar.

caliotter3 · Feb 10, 2010

Most snitches engage in that behavior because it is beneficial to them. If it were not beneficial to them, they might stop it.

voraciousj · Feb 10, 2010

I too was in the military and it surprises the heck outta me to see the amount of "adults" who run crying to the manager every time something happens that they don't like. I'm used to a culture of not airing you"dirty laundry" and speaking to the person that screwed up. *sigh* I miss it so....

questionsforall · Feb 10, 2010

I think that it is only done because it is condoned by the manager. It is the manager's issue. The manager should tell the rat to talk it out with the person they have the issue with instead of interjecting. Also, if something so silly is not done such as a ECG lead being changed they should just change it and quit complaining.

Nobody likes a rat.

caliotter3 · Feb 10, 2010

I think that it is only done because it is condoned by the manager. It is the manager's issue. The manager should tell the rat to talk it out with the person they have the issue with instead of interjecting. Also, if something so silly is not done such as a ECG lead being changed they should just change it and quit complaining.
Nobody likes a rat.

This reads as the rest of my post.