Harassment?

[ltnjffrs]

All feed back is welcomed!!

I recently started a job in April as a RN Charge nurse, which i do love. The issue is the night supervisor. Since day 1, she has been picking with me, which ive been told is not uncommon for her. During my first night shift meeting, she began to scold another nurse in front of all the staff, in which that time, i politely said that this was an inappropriate time for this and that she should do so in private. After the meeting was over, she said that she needed to speak with me in the office. I asked a fellow nurse to sit in as a witness because her tone of voice already let me know she was upset. When we walked in the office, she told him to leave and at that time, i stated that i felt we should speak with the DON in the am because i didnt feel comfortable speaking to her by myself. She then grabbed my wrist and tried pulling me into the office, in front of the other nurse. I asked for her to let go of my arm and she repeated the tug to my wrist and them let go. I reported her to the DON and she repeatedly said she was fixing the the situation. I received an apology letter from her saying "im sorry for pulling your arm, i was merely trying to get you to talk about your negative behavior"! Weeks have gone by and she still find little things to pick at with me. 2 weeks ago, they were waxing the floor and the wax caused me resp. distress...sats as low as 83% and HR of 147...i was allowed to go home. Last week, they were waxing the floor and i told the same supervisor that i cant work around the wax because of my last incident and volunteered to work the other end of the hall until they were done and them come back to my unit...she said no and told me to go home! Tonight, we only had 2 conversations and she pulled me into the office and asked what was my problem. I was clueless!!! She said she didnt like my attitude and told me to clock out and go home. In my opinion, this is harassment! Thoughts on what i need to do would be great. I called the DON and she stated she was mad i woke her up out of her sleep. So confused. I would like to switch shifts or facilities. I also plan on calling corporate in the am.

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

Sounds like hostile work place behavior, document, forward to DON, and corporate compliance if in reasonable time does not handle situation, but give your DON, time to resolve, try not to go over her head if possible.

it is easy for me to set communicated boundaries, but that is with over four decades of experience and multiple DON experience myself......right now you just don't have that time in grade, But you are not powerless, document documment as in a log.....just don't let your pre occupation with this situation, get in the way of your own work....you want to come out as the good guy, not the trouble maker.......

i will ill help you all that can

unfortunate situation at early part of your career, best wishes

sally

[ltnjffrs]

I do feel like the trouble maker, because i keep going to the DON and nothing is done. Ive documented everything and sent emails to the DON, ADON, and Human resource manager. They said they would fix the matter and im not sure exactly what was done. I called the DON after this incident and she said she was angry that i woke her up. So now that i feel like i have no support from her, i feel corporate is the next best thing.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Did you call when someone would typically be sleeping? Perhaps you should have waited until she was in the office as it was not emergent. Going over DoN head to corporate could be career suicide. You have no idea what is being done in personnel matters and you don't have a right to those specifics.

[ltnjffrs]

I am aware that someone else reprimand is non of my business. Thats why i said, im not sure what was done, if anything at all. And yes, she was sleeping, but we were told to call if there is something the on site supervisor cant handle, which we have done in the past. I guess to me, being sent home for allegedly getting smart with someone whom ive come in contact with only twice in that night, thus loosing pay, was emergent to me.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I am aware that someone else reprimand is non of my business. Thats why i said, im not sure what was done, if anything at all. And yes, she was sleeping, but we were told to call if there is something the on site supervisor cant handle, which we have done in the past. I guess to me, being sent home for allegedly getting smart with someone whom ive come in contact with only twice in that night, thus loosing pay, was emergent to me.

I doubt the DoN felt it was emergent. Sending an email and following up in the morning would have been a more prudent choice. You may have now rubbed the DoN the wrong way and going to corporate will likely make things worse. You weren't threatened. You weren't harmed. You weren't hurt. I don't doubt you felt it was emergent but you may need to take a step back and look at the situation objectively. Clearly you have emotions involved in your reactions and feel persecuted. If you go over the DoN without giving her a chance to evaluate the situation and develop a course of action within corporate guidelines you may find yourself without a job due to insubordination. You were sent home for allegedly being "smart" which is insubordination so this could be construed as a pattern. Tread carefully

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Nursing supervisor is crazy. ( with power) Next time she grabs your wrist call the police, it's assault.

Stop! feeling you are the troublemaker. You do need to let the disciplinary process continue.

You have an allergic reaction to the wax. Have a doctor's statement to support that. You need to know the waxing schedule so you can be off on that day. Better yet, request day shift in order to away from those chemicals and crazy supervisor problem will follow.

[ltnjffrs]

Well thank you for responding.