See if I offer to help YOU again...

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in NICU.

So okay, we got a bunch of snow overnight. About 0600 one of the other staff RNs mentions to me that there were NINE sick/weather calls already. That's almost a full third of our staff. So I figure, hey, I'm only here one night before I'm off ten days, so why don't I offer to help out? So I call my charge nurse and let her know that if they need people I'll be happy to stay late. I see her at about 0630 and ask if she thinks she'll need me. She proceeds to go OFF at me about how she's going to find out who told everyone about the sick calls and "rip her a new one". Apparently this nurse told everyone on the floor about the sick calls and a bunch of people called her asking if they were going to be mandated to stay. She continues on in this vein for some time, ranting about how if she needs that kind of help she'll ask for it, and she was in the bathroom when I called, etc, etc, etc.

Um, I'm sorry. I believe I offered to help so there would be one fewer grievance filed if they mandated people. Our union contract says they can mandate when necessary but that we have the right/responsibility to file a grievance if we are made to stay. And you're going to yell at me?

What. The. Hell.

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Wow nice person....will you offer again next time?????

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Ugh.

Is that one of the items in the "No good deed goes unpunished" category?

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chalk it up to a lesson learned

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Specializes in NICU.

Seriously. I keep a mental tally of which charge nurses I'll help out in a jam. Their favorite thing to do now is ask you to either take a really horrible assignment or do overtime in exchange for a more favorable assignment the next day or during said overtime, and then totally not give it to you. My list is dwindling fast right now.

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Their favorite thing to do now is ask you to either take a really horrible assignment or do overtime in exchange for a more favorable assignment the next day or during said overtime, and then totally not give it to you.

When I worked as a CNA and we were going to be short staffed during my shift and someone offered to either come in on their day/night off or stay past their shift and work ours too. The majority of the CNA's who were scheduled to work would offer up the easiest assignment to the person coming in or staying late. Sort of a big ol' THANK YOU for helping us out of a jam. Then people who were asked to work would be more willing to do so knowing we would offer/give the easiest assignment even if the charge nurse had been a PITA to the worker in the past. That way she/he didn't leave us short because of a beef with the charge :)

Sorry you had been chewed a new one just for trying to help out! That is SO wrong of your charge to be up one side of you and down the other because she's upset with someone else!

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Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg/Oncology.

Um, if I have a horrible assignment, am I really going to want to see the place again for awhile? ("Good" assignment or not.) Sheesh! Great way to burn out staff, no?

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1) I hope you didn't stay late.

2) Turn off your phone for the next 10 days.

Enjoy your time off :)

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Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.

Wow. I would have given her really big eyes and walked away with a shocked look on my face.

So much for helping people out.

(BTW, is everybody from New York that rude?)

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

(BTW, is everybody from New York that rude?)

No...

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

This is why people usually get second jobs before they help their facilities out...sometimes, you are more appreciated elsewhere. I would never volunteer those fools a drop of my energy unless it is of benefit to ME.

Please, please, please have a wonderful 10 days off!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I can certainly understand why you are upset, elizabells. You were being nice and yet, you got chewed out because the Charge Nurse was so stressed out that she exploded all over you.

Maybe it would help you cope with the situation if you think of it from the Charge Nurse's perspective. The Charge Nurses in my hospital's NICU are repeatedly having the same problem that your Charge Nurses seem to be having. Staff nurses are calling them every few minutes with staffing and assignment questions -- so much so that it is making it difficult for them to get any work done. It was just discussed in a recent staff meeting and they are asking the staff to "back off" and let the Charge Nurses do their jobs. The staff RN's are calling asking questions such as ...

"I'm on call tomorrow. Do you think are going to need me? I know you don't know how many people are going to call in sick yet, but ..." "Hi, I know I called you 6 hours ago, but do you have any idea yet as to whether or not you are going to need me tomorrow yet? I know you don't know yet if you are going to help from the Float Pool yet, but what's your guess." "Hi, it's me again, I know you won't know for sure whether or not you're going to need me for another hour or so, but what do you think? I'm trying to make plans in case you don't need me." -- All of these calls from the same person during the same shift.

"What's my assisgnment going to be tomorrow? I really don't want to work with so-and-so."

"Who is going to be working in the same room with me tomorrow? I want to work with so-and-so. I don't want to take care of .... baby."

"I'm the second person on call tomorrow. Do you think think they are going to need me?"

These constant phone calls are getting to be a real problem in our NICU. I can imagine that the Charge Nurse in your unit was faced with a shift full of calls from staff calling out, asking if they would be needed, asking for updates on the staffing situation, etc. It sounds to me as if she just got overwhelmed and exploded -- and you just happened to be the person who was there when she did. Was it right? NO ... but maybe you can understand where she was coming from and cut her a little slack. I'm sure you've gotten over-stressed some time in your life and said something that wasn't kind etc.

Perhaps you can get an apology from her if you give her an opening to do so. Simply say, "I'm sorry if my phone call was one more stress you didn't need. I was only trying to help. I thought I was doing the right thing by volunteering and staying in touch." If she is a decent human being, she will probably respond by saying something like, "I know you were trying to help, but I was really overwhelmed at that moment. It was a really tough shift for me. I'm sorry I blew my stack. You didn't deserve that." Then you can go on and probably have a better relationship than you did in past. That's a much better outcome than retaliating or "punishing" the unit by not helping out in the future because of this incident. That won't help anybody. That only adds more problems to an already stressed unit.

From your previous posts, I believe you are a good caring nurse, with a lot of potential to be strong neonatal nursing leader. Be "bigger" than this incident and rise above it. Don't let it turn you into someone who holds a grudge, seeks revenge, acts childishly, etc.

Good luck!

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