Burnt Out and showing it

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Today I went on a clinical rotation to a PEDS floor that I have never been to before. I had heard stories about the nurse there who was absolutley nasty to children but I HAD NO IDEA! She called all the children brats, looked at a baby and said "Your F$%^&", every other word she used was a curse word, and when an alarm would go off she would say "Oh Jesus Christ what the #*$(@ now!.":uhoh3: I felt like a deer caught in headlights. Then she tells me and another student " Hey watch the floor I gotta run down and talk to the police about my kid for a couple minutes." When she gave meds she stuck the needle cap in her mouth to pull it off and then left the med bottle sitting on a low counter on the PEDS floor! My teacher I think got her written up before for her bad language in front of students. I never expected to see anyone who was this burnt out, not to mention on a peds floor!

Hi Ivory,

Wow, what a heartbreaking thing to hear about a Nurse left in charge of people's most precious gifts "their children"!!!! Have to wonder how on earth this person still has her job? Just curious, did your Instructor happen to mention what you should do when she talks & acts like that - or are you just supposed to smile and deal with the situation? Take Care, Sue

I really was caught off gaurd by this woman. I really tried to avoid her most of the day and was with the children and their families. My instructor ask me to write a letter to her after clinical telling her about how she acted, or thats why I'm assuming she asked me to write a letter to her. The last time students were with her Im pretty sure my teacher got her written up by the facility which was last week. After I tell her what happened yesterday I think they might just stop sending students there period. This woman was beyond unprofessional. As a nursing student you always try to be on your best behavior so I really didn't know what to do when I was faced with this situation. I felt like screaming at her for being so mean and uncaring for the kids, but I really don't want to be kicked out of nursing school so I kept up the smile. But I am going to talk to my instructor today about what she was doing, i'll post when I get home. But my teacher never really explains things like this to us, however untill last week I'm not sure if she had any idea how this nurse was acting.

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Hello, IvoryLena,

When I read your post, my first impression was not burn out.....it was sheer lack of compassion and a neglectful attitude. This woman needs to leave this profession.

I really am aghast at this individual. Reading your post, I,too, felt like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and mouth open :uhoh21:

ditto!

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I take care of chronically ill pedi patients and this infuriates me.:angryfire :angryfire We just had an inservice on the cursing thing. If a nurse OR aide curse in a childs room, whether the child is responsive OR not, we are to report them immediately, no excuses. It is considered ABUSE!! Good luck telling ur instructor. I would definately do it. Let us know how all goes it...

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Specializes in Palliative, Geriatics.

omg, scary! especially in peds! :uhoh21:

you know what bugs me about this whole thing? the fact that there is such a long waiting list for wonderful people trying to get their foot into nursing school. most of these people don't have all the prereqs, but yet can't into the door. meanwhile, 'academically'(perhaps) intelligent nurses like the one you pointed out managed to get through. i think academics should play a part in deciding who gets into nursing school, but compassion and a positive attitude should place high on that list as well. needless to say this nurse may have been around for a while, but i've seen my share of them who definately need to choose another profession.

kudos to you for caring! i know you'll make a fine nurse. :)

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Today I went on a clinical rotation to a PEDS floor that I have never been to before. I had heard stories about the nurse there who was absolutley nasty to children but I HAD NO IDEA! She called all the children brats, looked at a baby and said "Your F$%^&", every other word she used was a curse word, and when an alarm would go off she would say "Oh Jesus Christ what the #*$(@ now!.":uhoh3: I felt like a deer caught in headlights. Then she tells me and another student " Hey watch the floor I gotta run down and talk to the police about my kid for a couple minutes." When she gave meds she stuck the needle cap in her mouth to pull it off and then left the med bottle sitting on a low counter on the PEDS floor! My teacher I think got her written up before for her bad language in front of students. I never expected to see anyone who was this burnt out, not to mention on a peds floor!

Geez Louise!! What did the other nurses think about her I wonder? I would tell my instructor and maybe the instructor can observe her in action and have her written up again.

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we had a tech like this at the children's hospital that I work at. She was loud, mouthy and just really unpleasant to put it nicely. one night she got into with an ED nurse who reported her behavior to his sup. A bunch of us were also required to document what happened. She got sacked thank goodness. Kids are stressed out enough in the hospital without worrying about people taking their crappy attitudes out on them.

A

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Specializes in Operating Room.

This is really sad. I can only imagine what a child would be going through with this nurse on the floor.

I'm thinking many children would rather suffer in pain than to ask this nurse for more medicine. Many are probably too scared to tell her they are hurting, or thirsty, etc.

That is abuse!

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

The thing that's really disturbing me about this is that this nurse HAS been written up for this before.

So why is she allowed to continue to DO this.

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Specializes in Medical.

That's just not right :(

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This is child abuse. Pure and simple. If the hospital administration doesn't want to deal with it, then maybe your BON will. This woman should not be working around children. Period.

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UPDATE!!!

Ok this is my update, I talked to my instructor the day after this happened. Turns out ALL of the students who went there complained about her, and my instructor did report her even before I went there. After she was written up by her supervisor she kept on being not so nice. So I guess my teacher asked me to wrtie her the email saying how my day went because she is gathering a list of complaints from students so she can go back to the supervisor again. Come to find out the nurse is now trying to get students (who she doesnt like that left clinical because she was so offensive to them) in trouble:nono: ! Of course the instructors are not taking any of her claims seriously and are still going to report her.:w00t:

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
I had heard stories about the nurse there who was absolutley nasty to children but I HAD NO IDEA! She called all the children brats, looked at a baby and said "Your F$%^&", every other word she used was a curse word, and when an alarm would go off she would say "Oh Jesus Christ what the #*$(@ now. . .Then she tells me and another student " Hey watch the floor I gotta run down and talk to the police about my kid for a couple minutes." When she gave meds she stuck the needle cap in her mouth to pull it off and then left the med bottle sitting on a low counter on the PEDS floor! My teacher I think got her written up before for her bad language in front of students. I never expected to see anyone who was this burnt out, not to mention on a peds floor!

This is worse than burn out! Take her as a good example of what NOT to become. I don't understand how a facility can permit someone like that to continue working and using that kind of language. I hope your instructor has reported her.

I just had to mention the bit about this nurse sticking the needle cap in her mouth to pull it off. This is a bad habit I and I'm sure many, many other nurses have had for years. It's a hard one to break. I'm not saying it's right, but it does free up your two hands to be doing other things. The good thing about it is that you don't have to go looking for the needle cap because it's between your teeth. I hate seeing needle caps lying all over the floor or the patient's furniture. What's worse is re-capping the needle while still holding the needle cap in your mouth. :nono:

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