I've been working at my current job for almost 3 months. Just a few week off orientation working independently.
Last night I worked with 2 other nurses. One happened to be another new nurse. The nurse that had been there longer had the nastiest attitude I've ever seen. From the moment she saw the assignment posted on the board you could just tell she was upset. I'm not sure why, maybe because she would be working with the two newest nurses? She complained, rolled her eyes, made us feel like she didn't want us to be working with her, made it clear that a certain area was hers, very unhelpful as well. It was completely unprofessional.
I notified the nurse manager. Apparently they are good friends, so that wasn't very helpful with the plan that the two of them had come up with. So I sent an email to someone one step higher than my nurse manager. We'll find out today if anything has changed. Apparently this wasn't the first time that this has been an issue with this nurse. Almost makes me feel like I found the wrong job because of this one employee. Advice? Opinions? Similar situations? Please share, thank you.
Specializes in POST PARTUM/NURSERY/L&D/WOMENS SERVICES.
Now-now people...lets not throw sand in the sandbox!
Perhaps the original poster is a new nurse, and is new to the world of backstabbing and flying fish...welcome to the shark tank my friend!!
You will work with all kinds...some awesomely nice, some sweet as pie and many as nasty as lions...don't take any of it personally...once you work with a really great bunch of folks you will know what an awesome team is...
the thing is you may work with a bunch of bad teams and nasty people along the way...
you can not control how other people act...but you can control how you do or do not respond...
Honestly it take years to become confident and concise in your practice...and you don't want to make enemies along the way
when you start a new job, keep your eyes open, your mouth shut and listen to everything that is said. But don't ever believe everything you hear!!. Odds are you will learn very quickly who to trust and who not to trust...
While what happened may seem innocent enough to you, the damage has been done. You could likely go to the nurse and tell her you went to the nurse manager...and explain to her that you thought that was appropriate, but in the future you will go to the specific nurse you have an issue with...sometimes swallowing your pride and admitting you made a mistake will earn you mountains of respect...
After reading another thread by OP, this is clearly something she does often. She reported techs for taking too long on break without talking to them first.
OP, the first step in the chain of command is to talk to the person you have a problem with first, before you go to management. I think it is important for you to learn this before you go running off and tattle on anyone else.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
After reading another thread by OP, this is clearly something she does often. She reported techs for taking too long on break without talking to them first.
OP, the first step in the chain of command is to talk to the person you have a problem with first, before you go to management. I think it is important for you to learn this before you go running off and tattle on anyone else.
Specializes in Oncology, Rehab, Public Health, Med Surg.
Be more supportive and a person with a nasty attitude is a bully. Please go somewhere else with that subjective stuff. No one here is assessing a patient!
Sounds to me as if someone's a little bored on spring break and trying to stir the pot!
(Because an arrogant, assine statement like this can't be for real----- can it?)
Op at this point you can't take back what you have done, so I would focus on damage control
however, if there was more that the other nurse did that you did not mention, maybe you did have a reason to react so drastically.
In this case patient negligence, or endangerment that was 1st brought up the nurse herself, then to NM if the issue was dangerous and ongoing. AND then if the 2 of them stuck to the plan despite this, then going over their head would make sense.
If what you wrote though, was only what happened, be prepared to humble yourself.
Maybe you are new, or your old job had a very different dynamic and structure than usual.
But we have all had these co workers, and much worse ones. And unfortunately we will continue to meet them until we retire, and then we will have them when we are patients lol.
you cannot react so drastically over minimal things.
If and when you are approached about this, you need to take responsibility for overreacting. Maybe it was an extra hard shift and things seemed worse when you wrote the email, but you realize you handled it completely wrong. Assure them you will not be reacting like this again.
You are part of a team. A good team member knows when to let things slide or when to have them addressed by supervisors.
But it like others said, keep your head down for now. Learn the dynamic of your new team. Just grin and bear it for a bit until things become more smooth.
i suggest you learn some conflict resolution skills.
and just in case, wether they'll want to get rid of u or you just won't like this job.
You are always going to come into contact with these types of people. It's unfortunate but you have to have a thick skin, learn what you can and do your job. If you can't learn from her that would be something to speak with your NM about. I think it's important to go directly to the nurse first...be direct but professional.
This is not an example of being bullied. This is an example of a brand new nurse who was treated with a less than effusive, thank God you're here now attitude, and she ran crying to mommy. When that didn't get her the reaction she wanted (or expected) she cried to mommy's mommy.
Is the other nurse a *****? Possibly. Maybe she just doesn't have real good people skills. Maybe the elastic in her pantyhose was shot. Whatever, eye rolls and staking out her territory don't constitute bullying.
Honestly, the word has become so overworked and misused, it does disservice to those who actually have suffered at the hands of a bully.
Even though OP has been on the job for 3 months, she still hasn't really begun to learn the culture of the unit as a full fledged member, rather than as an orientee.
She may have shot herself in the foot with her actions. If she's lucky, the other staff will give her a second chance to prove herself.
And that's what she's going to have to do. Prove herself to be a competent nurse and an adult who can work with difficult personalities. You don't have to be friends with co-workers. You do, however, have to earn their trust as the new kid on the block.
Oh, and to answer the question posed in the title? More times than I can remember. Sometimes it worked itself out, sometimes it didn't. What I remember NOT doing was trying to drag management into it.
Can I get a love button for this??? And, OP, if you ACTUALLY felt this was bullying, you should have brought it up to the House Sup (I give you a guess what I would have said).
My advice is to figure out how to work with the colleagues you have, because if you act like this every time someone rolls your eyes, you are going to be in perpetual job-hunt mode.
Ummm, Ruby?
Wouldn't it be physical abuse if people were to go around rolling HER eyes??
rnnluvnit2006
41 Posts
Now-now people...lets not throw sand in the sandbox!
Perhaps the original poster is a new nurse, and is new to the world of backstabbing and flying fish...welcome to the shark tank my friend!!
You will work with all kinds...some awesomely nice, some sweet as pie and many as nasty as lions...don't take any of it personally...once you work with a really great bunch of folks you will know what an awesome team is...
the thing is you may work with a bunch of bad teams and nasty people along the way...
you can not control how other people act...but you can control how you do or do not respond...
Honestly it take years to become confident and concise in your practice...and you don't want to make enemies along the way
when you start a new job, keep your eyes open, your mouth shut and listen to everything that is said. But don't ever believe everything you hear!!. Odds are you will learn very quickly who to trust and who not to trust...
While what happened may seem innocent enough to you, the damage has been done. You could likely go to the nurse and tell her you went to the nurse manager...and explain to her that you thought that was appropriate, but in the future you will go to the specific nurse you have an issue with...sometimes swallowing your pride and admitting you made a mistake will earn you mountains of respect...
I wish you the best...