I can't give report to this nurse anymore !!

Nurses Relations

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Hi everyone ! So this may come across as ranting but I am fed up with a nurse I have had to give report to recently and I need some advice! So I work in an icu and I have been off orientation for about a month now so I am still very new , but I know report is one thing I have down pat . But when I give report to this nurse , I know I will be there at least an hour past my shift and I can't take it anymore . Everybody fights over who has to give report to her and I always lose because I'm new . She will just not let you begin report until she's gone through the entire room and inspected it with a magnifying glass and normally she will start her patient assessment while you're standing there waiting to start as well. She will then open the computer and go through every single order and question me on it , then scroll through my assessment and tell me things she doesn't agree with in it. She also asks very irrelevant questions at times. I understand she is trying to be thorough but literally nobody else does this and it takes a full hour to give her report . Since I'm new and kind of naturally quiet I don't know how to speak up, or if I'm wrong and this is acceptable practice . I also don't want to cause any kind of problem or make her think I'm incompetent or be talking about me badly but I cannot stay an hour late every time I have to give her report . Is there something I can do? If you have been in this situation what did you do? Sorry for the long rant I'm just very frustrated ! Thank you !:)

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True, but you know she is following a "good in theory, not in practice policy" that mgt has. So how is she going to say "I'm traumatized that I'm zeaolously following a rule that that you set and want everyone to follow"?

Hey OP? How is the mgt at your job? Do the CN and DON foster a negative atmosphere between nurses and shifts?

I understand what you're saying and have some 'devil's advocate' tendencies myself. I suppose I just don't think that's really the issue in this particular case, as told. There are a lot of "us" (raising hand...) who can be particular - - but we're just looking to make sure things are "copacetic," not trying to find fault - two very different things.

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While I think giving her a taste of her own medicine is hilarious I'm not sure its what I would do. Especially If she is annoying but your current relationship isn't outwardly adversarial. If you know in advance she is following you, start writing your report (the parts that aren't in the computer.) Maybe print lab results/orders/etc. That way when you power through her questions and she asks something you've already answered you can assure her its there for her to read once you're gone.

What would happen if you told her you can't stay while she reads the whole chart but she can text with questions only you can answer (no identifying pt info of course). It takes you x minutes to drive and you'll be up for x minutes after that (i suggest giving her no more than a 15-30min window.) This takes effort from her, could force her to consolidate her questions instead of draw them out and she has to check for reply. Many people just won't bother. You'll have to judge if she would or not.

If your employer has a book or form to fill out explaining unusual payroll changes (left early, stayed late, computer class or whatever) make sure you complete this every time this happens. If they don't have a system like this email whoever does payroll on every occurrence. "I punched out 36 minutes late because the oncoming nurse requested a complete joint review of the chart, joint patient assessment and joint environments rounds." Do not mention her name. If she follows you as often, and keeps you as late, as you say they will figure it out soon enough. Encourage others to do the same.

If this fails then bring management in. If you want to try to salvage your relationship with this nurse just say "They keep insisting on bedside report and all these double checks and I just can't seem to do it and leave on time so when I spoke with Manager about all my incidental overtime I asked her to observe report to help me do better."

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
While I think giving her a taste of her own medicine is hilarious I'm not sure its what I would do. Especially If she is annoying but your current relationship isn't outwardly adversarial. If you know in advance she is following you, start writing your report (the parts that aren't in the computer.) Maybe print lab results/orders/etc. That way when you power through her questions and she asks something you've already answered you can assure her its there for her to read once you're gone.

What would happen if you told her you can't stay while she reads the whole chart but she can text with questions only you can answer (no identifying pt info of course). It takes you x minutes to drive and you'll be up for x minutes after that (i suggest giving her no more than a 15-30min window.) This takes effort from her, could force her to consolidate her questions instead of draw them out and she has to check for reply. Many people just won't bother. You'll have to judge if she would or not.

If your employer has a book or form to fill out explaining unusual payroll changes (left early, stayed late, computer class or whatever) make sure you complete this every time this happens. If they don't have a system like this email whoever does payroll on every occurrence. "I punched out 36 minutes late because the oncoming nurse requested a complete joint review of the chart, joint patient assessment and joint environments rounds." Do not mention her name. If she follows you as often, and keeps you as late, as you say they will figure it out soon enough. Encourage others to do the same.

If this fails then bring management in. If you want to try to salvage your relationship with this nurse just say "They keep insisting on bedside report and all these double checks and I just can't seem to do it and leave on time so when I spoke with Manager about all my incidental overtime I asked her to observe report to help me do better."

See I don't think she needs to make herself available for work-related things once she leaves. I also don't think she should bide her time waiting for the pattern to be reflected in her paycheck and for management to get involved... all the while having her own personal time infringed upon.

She just needs to make really clear that going forward, report will only take 30 minutes total (or however long the shift overlap is.)

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Specializes in Cardicac Neuro Telemetry.

You need to get your nurse manager involved. This is excessive and ridiculous. She is costing the hospital money by keeping nurses over by an hour. I guarantee that in and of itself will be an area of interest for you.

Report is supposed to be the "meat and potatoes" information about the patient. It's not for the oncoming to do their assessment and check every order. She needs to be stopped. I'm honestly wondering if this is a form of lateral violence.

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See I don't think she needs to make herself available for work-related things once she leaves. I also don't think she should bide her time waiting for the pattern to be reflected in her paycheck and for management to get involved... all the while having her own personal time infringed upon.

She just needs to make really clear that going forward, report will only take 30 minutes total (or however long the shift overlap is.)

I agree that generally once one is off the clock that is it-they're done. I suggested giving her number and leaving as a short term trial-hopefully the nurse, having to wait to call until OP is home and taking the effort to call, will simply take the easier path and find the info herself. Plus if OP ends report "too soon" for this nurse she cannot be accused of insufficient handoff etc if she is available should the nurse have legit questions.

If this other nurse ends up calling OP every night with multiple questions then I agree OP should no longer use that route. I have found though that nurses like this often will badger you endlessly if you are a captive audience but will find the info on their own if they need to put more effort into contacting you.

Also from the way the OP sounded she shouldn't need to wait for this to show on payroll-it already has unless OP is off the clock in report. If that is the case that should be discussed with manager, put in for back pay and it shouldn't happen again! It sounds as though this has happened enough for a pattern to already be present.

Some people including me have difficulty with confrontation like that-if she pushed back i would have a difficult time standing my ground. I have seen people get in trouble for cutting report off when the oncoming shift doesn't feel prepared. Also this behavior is very inconsiderate but I personally hate to burn bridges and start a full on war with this person-i would rather try a gentler approach. To each his own though.

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As a student, wondering how she can start assessment before you give report? Doesn't your report contain necessary information on which she should base assessment? Also, how can she disagree with your assessment? Was she there at the time? Did she see the patient as they were then? How could she possibly know patient wasn't tachycardic (or cyanotic, or confused...) if she wasn't there?

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Sounds like she needs to arrive early to check everything out....report starts at 0701 and you better be ready! I myself (Also a new nurse - been working for just over 1 year) typically get to work 20 minutes early to look through the chart and feel prepared. I give myself this extra time (not clocked in of course) because report is supposed to be the broad strokes. Also it helps me catch issues early when report may have missed something.

Do let us know what happens next time you give her report!

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