I can't stop crying... need encouragement...

rn/writer, RN · Nov 23, 2005

she's doing this on a company computer during her work time. look at the time of the postings. it takes time to type up post. i'm all for giving encouragement, sharing my expertise, and giving sympathy but not with someone who is breaking rules of conduct to solicit it. i don't know about you, but when i'm at work, i'm working. there is always something to do. we owe that to our employers. if it gets quiet, i make work. this young lady would recieve such a harsh evaluation from me if she were under my management that she would be embarassed to talk about it. she'd be in major hot water for the time spent on the computer. (it had occurred to me that the reason the computer might be in an office is to keep staff from playing around on it. guess that backfired on administration. if they only knew. . .) i've been in supervision and management for awhile and i know very well how easy it is for someone in a leadership position to take advantage of it, hide, and sit around doing nothing (or play around on a computer) until some problem comes up that requires them to get up and go attend to it. it's cheating the employer, the patients, the staff. i try to put myself in the time and place of the poster and this one just smells of employee misconduct to begin with.
meanwhile, there are plenty of nurses out there who complain that the supervision and management people never help them out or totally ignore the problems they're having. here's one very good example of why that happens. do you think the lpns at the facility where this nurse works would be extending warm fuzzies if they knew this person was holed up in an office during the shift posting to a forum on a night when everything is going to the dogs on the nursing unit? i very much doubt it. in fact, i'd be willing to bet that their attitude toward her would change drastically and that they'd be angry as anything.

for lori's sake, i am glad you are not her supervisor. i'm glad you're not mine either.

as for the lpn's becoming angry with her, i kind of doubt that they would object when she said she had already dealt with the situations and was trying to find a way to regain her composure. might they not also need emotional support? certainly and it sounded like lori tried to provide some of that. but remember, each of them had a piece of the big picture to deal with. lori had it all.

your loaded phraseology--hiding in the office, playing around on the computer, sitting around doing nothing--suggests a cynical attitude and a serious distrust of others. i don't know if you really have those things, but the "guilty until proven innocent" tone and your demonstrated willingness to view everything in the worst possible light sound more like bullying and ruling by fear than sound management principles.

i'm fortunate that every supervisor i've ever had has led by example and treated her staff in a manner that was firm, fair, and kind. sounds like lori has someone who operates this way as well. i'm glad.

mar326 · Nov 23, 2005

It amazes me that people actually think Internet use on resident care time is ok. Employees of LTC facilites are paid to be care takers of Residents not to surf the internet. That is like where I work, the supervisor thinks its ok for a CNA to study for a classs she is taking if her work is done.This is on the PM shift so no administration is aware of it. A CNA's work is never done,there is always something to do. I believe a person is paid for 8 hours of work and they shouldWORK that 8 hours.

GLORIAmunchkin72 · Nov 23, 2005

Whether or not you should have been on the internet is a matter of company policy. Some companies allow employees to go online during their lunch hour. Many don't. But regardless, you had to unload and it was the closest thing. This forum is always there, ready to help, and you knew that. That is no crime.:)

Thank you so much! I really needed that! It's so tough to get flamed like that, I totally wasn't expecting it. But like I said, the support of the people who reached out to me was worth the snide comments of others. I really appreciate you standing up for me like that. I really did need the support that night/morning... and I received it. Thank you again... you really brightened my morning (and I'm grateful it's been a GOOD morning this time! No falls, no sharp declines, no callouts!)
Lori

gypsyatheart · Nov 23, 2005

Lori, I have not read all of the posts but I just want to say how sorry I am for the awful night you've had! What a responsibility! And, God Bless You for the work you do. I truly think it takes a special person to work LTC, it is so good to know there are such caring people like yourself. Thank you!

I hope you are feeling better when you get back online.

P.S. OK, Lori, I have just read through the other posts and I still stand by what I posted above. It is difficult to get people, especially people who give a c*rp to work in LTC. There are always cynical management types who forget what it's like to be "in the trenches"....just keep on keepin' on!

Cute_CNA, CNA · Nov 23, 2005

Somehow, I doubt very much that the boss would approve of what is going on regarding the Internet. There are lots of things to be done during quiet periods. Refrigerators need cleaning, cupboards need cleaning and rearranging, med cart drawers can almost always use a washing and straightening up. Somewhere pages are falling out of charts that could use hole reinforcements. People can go from room to room looking in on the patients just to make sure they are OK. How many patients could have been taken to the BR instead of left to pee in a diaper? Did all the MARs and TARs get checked for missing signatures? For all the time spent here on the forum, the facility might as well get rid of it's supervisor. Doesn't seem like there is anything for her to do for the facility.
By my count there were 27 posts generated since about 12am (that's the time showing on my computer, but I'm in a Pacific time zone) and there is at least one post every single hour up to now. That's more than just looking for advice--that's goofing off on the job. Someone doing this deserves to be fired.

:smackingf :smackingf

My goodness. Are you saying that Lori is not allowed to be human at times?

Furthermore, HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU EFFECTIVELY TEND TO PATIENTS AND OFFER SUPERVISION TO YOUR SUBORDINATES WHEN YOU'RE THAT UPSET?!!

When I'm upset, it incapacitates me, and I cannot do as good as job as when I'm calm. Sometimes it's extremely hard not to overtly react in an emotional way when something distresses you that much, and I think it's a good sign that she is distressed when something bad happens.

My goodness. Lori is not Wonder Woman and she isn't perfect (no one is). People AT ALL LEVELS need encouragement at some point or another. No one is on top of things 100% of the time.

Good grief.

:smackingf

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Nov 23, 2005

It amazes me that people actually think Internet use on resident care time is ok. Employees of LTC facilites are paid to be care takers of Residents not to surf the internet. That is like where I work, the supervisor thinks its ok for a CNA to study for a classs she is taking if her work is done.This is on the PM shift so no administration is aware of it. A CNA's work is never done,there is always something to do. I believe a person is paid for 8 hours of work and they shouldWORK that 8 hours.

I realize that this is a rather informal BB in this particular area of this website, but in other areas of the allnurses website are valuable links, news and information that nurses can and do use daily on a professional basis. This information is a resource that I find easier to use than many paper references.

I "surf" the web quite frequently to get information about a drug, a disease process, or other information regarding nursing judgment calls. I also heavily use the online translator for foreign patients, MedWeb, Wikipedia and others. For instance, I had a patient who had a gastric surgery and for the life of me, couldn't recall exactly what the surgery entailed. I found it, printed it, and made sure the information went into our nurse's report.

I'm not looking at Media, I'm not playing solitaire, I'm not chatting or goofing off.

It's more like reading the AJN in the break room, except that online I can find the article I want a lot faster.

PS Our facility is enlightened enough to realize that the Internet is a huge resource, and we have permission to use it as such.

mtnmom · Nov 23, 2005

I realize that this is a rather informal BB in this particular area of this website, but in other areas of the allnurses website are valuable links, news and information that nurses can and do use daily on a professional basis. This information is a resource that I find easier to use than many paper references.
I "surf" the web quite frequently to get information about a drug, a disease process, or other information regarding nursing judgment calls. It's more like reading the AJN in the break room, except that online I can find the article I want a lot faster.
PS Our facility is enlightened enough to realize that the Internet is a huge resource, and we have permission to use it as such.

I agree - to be certain there is always the potential for misuse, but the Internet is a valued resource when faced with needing information on, for instance, a patient with a rare condition. My current facility does not provide internet access for employees, and there have been many times irecently in the middle of the night when I would have liked to access a little extra info to help me better understand and care for particular patients. Even my PDA does not encompass everything I might need to look up.

People who are going to goof off are going to do it with or without a computer (if Confucius had been computer literate I'm sure he would have said that).

I have found allnurses to be an excellent resource and way to network with colleagues all over the world. We all bring to the table our individual strengths and also our weaknesses. I believe that with all the trials and tribulations we as nurses endure, our responsibility to each other is to be supportive. Sometimes this support, by necessity, includes constructive criticism. But it should not be destructive - and there is a difference.

I'm not trying to take any sides here. Everyone who has posted on this thread has my utmost respect.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2005

II "surf" the web quite frequently to get information about a drug, a disease process, or other information regarding nursing judgment calls. I also heavily use the online translator for foreign patients, MedWeb, Wikipedia and others. . .It's more like reading the AJN in the break room, except that online I can find the article I want a lot faster.

I'm willing to bet that it doesn't take you 27 posts over a 7 or 8 hour period to get that information.

Your loaded phraseology--hiding in the office, playing around on the computer, sitting around doing nothing--suggests a cynical attitude and a serious distrust of others.

It comes from many years of experience in supervision. You'd be surprised what people will try to get away with on the job if they think they are not being watched. A supervisor is being paid to prevent this from happening.

My goodness. Are you saying that Lori is not allowed to be human at times? . .Furthermore, HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU EFFECTIVELY TEND TO PATIENTS AND OFFER SUPERVISION TO YOUR SUBORDINATES WHEN YOU'RE THAT UPSET?!!

It's nearly impossible to offer supervision (and help) to your subordinates when you are on a computer surfing and posting messages on the Internet. I never criticized the OP for crying over her situation although I did make an admittedly snide comment that was meant to mean that I've experienced worse stress at work. My comments have primarily been directed at the misbehavior of using the employer's computer equipment for personal entertainment during a time when a person is supposed to be working. Check out the number of posts made last night alone--all done on the employer's computer since it's been mentioned that her personal computer at home isn't working. What would you say to that if you were her boss? As a CNA I can't believe that you would be very happy about an RN, supervisor or charge nurse, sitting on her behind surfing the net or reading Avon catalogs while you were elbow deep in BM and a host of other patient problems. I don't believe you wouldn't be upset by it. These are the kinds of nurses who contribute to the bad reputation that LTC has. I guarantee you that you won't find many acute hospital staff RNs able to surf the Internet for hours and hours during their work shifts. I would so love to hear from the LPNs who are supervised by this OP. I think they would be singing a much different tune, particularly if they really knew what was going on.

rn/writer, RN · Nov 23, 2005

It amazes me that people actually think Internet use on resident care time is ok. Employees of LTC facilites are paid to be care takers of Residents not to surf the internet. That is like where I work, the supervisor thinks its ok for a CNA to study for a classs she is taking if her work is done.This is on the PM shift so no administration is aware of it. A CNA's work is never done,there is always something to do. I believe a person is paid for 8 hours of work and they shouldWORK that 8 hours.

Shouldn't this be a matter for individual facilities and units to decide?

Every place I have worked, there have been crazy times when you're running your legs off, answering call bells, answering the phone, meeting patients' needs at warp speed. Many nights, I go without a break. Conversely, there are less hectic nights. In my current hospital, we are allowed to, no, encouraged to use the down time for looking up learning links on the computer and studying various online inservices. We have access to a number of medical resources and these have been invaluable for looking up new meds, new treatments, side effects, unusual conditions, etc.

Employers can and do look at an individual's computer habits. If they see problematic usage, they can certainly take the person to task. For this reason as well as out of general respect, employees would do well to abide by any limits set by the facility/unit manager and be grateful for whatever opportunities they have to improve their skills and their knowledge.

If you have a complaint about the CNA on your unit, by all means, take it up with someone in charge, but, please don't assume that everyone who uses a computer on the job for anything other than charting is goldbricking.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2005

rn/writer. . .you're wavering on your position. You know I'm right.

rn/writer, RN · Nov 23, 2005

rn/writer. . .you're wavering on your position. You know I'm right.

How do you figure I'm wavering?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2005

How do you figure I'm wavering?

You said:

Employers can and do look at an individual's computer habits. If they see problematic usage, they can certainly take the person to task. For this reason as well as out of general respect, employees would do well to abide by any limits set by the facility/unit manager and be grateful for whatever opportunities they have to improve their skills and their knowledge.

You now mention limits and general respect. That wasn't part of your earlier posts.