So, I'm a Float pool nurse, and last night, I was pulling meds when a Staff nurse comes up to me. Without so much of a "hello", he snaps, "How many patients do you have?"
My eyebrows raise. "Are you Charge or Resource nurse?" I ask.
"No," he answers
"Then it's none of your business," I respond.
"I have five patients tonight. How many do you have? Are you taking any admits?" he continues to press.
"Again, it's NONE.OF.YOUR.BUSINESS. Take it up with Charge if you have a problem," I retort.
"Oh, I'm just making conversation," he sneers.
"No, you're being nosy. And I don't have to deal with it!" I reply.
I told the Charge nurse about her Staff nurse's wildly inappropriate questioning. Charge said that "she would deal with it. At the end of the shift, Staff nurse had not apologized for his behavior, so I emailed his manager about the incident. The manager did not email me back.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
What?!? Where is this agency thread! Here I thought 4 hrs of orientation was a bit rough for my first travel assignment so the second one when I got a full day I thought it was amazing!
You do realize that men communicate in a different way. Sounds to me like he is also one who just gets to the point. Some people communicate that way and others like a little small talk first.
Sounds like miscommunication due to communication styles.
Had to laugh. Most of my friends are men and THIS is the reason why! It drives my husband crazy but look, I deal with THIS crap at work, give me some peace off the clock....
As agency, I got 15 minutes before the shift. I think it was in part to see if I was going to show up. I got pixis access and a tour as to where to find "clean" stuff and where to put "dirty"...the rest..one, two, three, WING IT!!!
this was supposed to quote mi vida loca's post about agency assignments earlier but didn't. I don't know what happened
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
What agency nurse gets 5 weeks of orientation?! Hell, there were some jobs I got as a staff/floor/charge nurse & didn't even get a *week* of orientation!!!
How about "Here're your keys; there's your hallway. Bye!"
Shoe on the other foot, I would never had approached a complete stranger on the floor and started an inquisition on their assignment without a proper introduction first. Also, everyone's assignment is written on the board and it's on a piece of paper handed out to everyone at the start of shift. If I have a bad attitude towards my assignment, I certainly wouldn't take it out on a new Float nurse. Usually, when I was a Staff nurse when I'd see a new face, I'd have the decency to introduce myself and ask if they needed any assistance.
So, if ever again someone comes at me brusquely while I'm doing my med pull, which is supposed to be a non-talk zone anyway (there are signs all over the medication room), I'll tell them again where they can put their bad attitude, and even do it with a smile!
Wow.
Ok.
I'm new at my job. New grad nurse. New employee. New new new. Not everyone I meet has the time/ opportunity for a "how do you do?" before they ask me a question. Some people aren't even so inclined. One of my coworkers has yet to do much more than grunt that he acknowledged report. Another questions every.little.thing I mention in a rather rough manner.
Just their personalities. Not great people skills for these two.
Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
Was his approach less than ideal? Yes.
However - I am wont to think that perhaps there were extenuating circumstances at play. Perhaps in that department, it's common for permanent staff to receive more patients that float staff. It's frustrating if that happens often and perhaps that's why he was asking. I probably would have answered, then asked him the same in return. It could be that he had more patients than you did and was receiving an admission.
I try not to assume, but as a nurse who's been burned out and treated poorly by my own permanent coworkers, I wonder if this was happening here to a degree.
Not everyone is up for small talk. I know a few people who honestly are irritated by it. There is no reason to be so rude because someone asked you how many patients you had. *You* are the one with a bad attitude OP, not the other nurse. They were blunt but not rude. Telling someone to shove their perceived rude attitude up their rear end is very clearly rude. If I was the NM I would make sure you were not floated back to that unit.
But I'm starting to think you're pulling our collective legs.
No, small talk would include at least some sort of introduction of "Hi how are you?" Launching of into questioning a total stranger, especially during med pull, comes across as very blunt.
I actually like meeting new people on my Float job. That was one bad instance. Very presumptive, are we?
OP, I think the poster you were responding to meant that the other nurse might not be a fan of small talk. Not you.
If I were the manager, my response to your email would have been to tell the agency you were not welcome back.
More than once over the years, we've let staffing know that a registry/float nurse was now persona non grata. Usually it's because they were still performing poorly even after a few trials, but we've also let them know if someone was too much of a drama queen/king to work with.
The wrong attitude can really can compromise teamwork and morale among the unit. IMO, I'd rather have the teamwork and morale strong even if it means working a little short, than have everyone stressed because they have to deal with a special snowflake with an attitude.
Maybe it's the Demerol I just got (since I'm in the hospital after my surgery) but where in this thread was anyone rude or out of line with the OP? Have you read any of the OP's responses?
I have actually read the whole thread. I did NOT say OP wasn't wrong. I just think that so many responses have nailed her to the cross. I don't really want to go into detail at this point.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I have actually read the whole thread. I did NOT say OP wasn't wrong. I just think that so many responses have nailed her to the cross. I don't really want to go into detail at this point.
Hope you have a speedy, uneventful recovery.
Thank you. :)
Well the fact that the OP keeps coming back & being rude & ignorant as in her first post I don't feel as if we are "nailing her to the cross". If users were bringing up the OP & reiterating the same point over & over, then I would agree with you. But the OP has come back & made herself look bad multiple times.
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~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
What?!? Where is this agency thread! Here I thought 4 hrs of orientation was a bit rough for my first travel assignment so the second one when I got a full day I thought it was amazing!