Is this what nursing is about?

[russianbear]

I'm still fairly new, a few months into my first RN job, but it seems like everyone is constantly ratting on each other to the manager for every little thing. Aides, secretaries, other nurses, etc. It's like it's everyone's mission to jam up other people. Is Thai backstabbing BS typical of nursing? Sadly I have to wait until I've been here a year to transfer out.

[sjalv]

I have not experienced this. It's an issue with where you work.

[Sassy-RN]

No- this is not what all nurses are like.

This is what all catty, immature, "I'm not happy with my life" people are like, and they are everywhere, in all professions.

Just your best to not get sucked into all the drama!

[CamillusRN, BSN]

Thai backstabbing?

Slightly more violent than regular backstabbing and takes years to master.

[CamillusRN, BSN]

NOADLS?

Yep, as in "No ADLS" as in "Let the CNA Do It." He (or she) has been one of our favorite trolls.

That being said, don't feed the troll.

[CamillusRN, BSN]

Many years ago, when I transferred from ICU to ER, there was a similar nurse who did that to me, adding, "the nurses here will eat you alive." My response was, "ooh, baby, ooh!" I then realized she or somebody would probably file a complaint or "write (me) up" for sexual harassment.

I just thought about how boring and depressing work would be if everyone wrote up everyone for every instance of "sexual harassment" at my facility. Not to mention HR's desk would probably break under so many complaint forms!

[NOADLS]

Yep, as in "No ADLS" as in "Let the CNA Do It." He (or she) has been one of our favorite trolls.

That being said, don't feed the troll.

I am not trolling. Seriously, let the CNA do the work that they are trained to do while you sit back and enjoy. Or if that doesn't sit well with you, you can be "doing paperwork" or you could legitimately be busy with another patient.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

Occasionally we end up lucky with a great team of wonderful coworkers and supportive managers...and then there are the times when we get a lousy set of adults that cannot play nice in the sandbox and could use a few lessons from some toddlers at a preschool about how to respect and help each other out in order to achieve a common goal. Children do it for the sake of a sandcastle. Nurses need to do it for staff retention, better patient satisfaction, and better outcomes overall.

A transfer to another unit may seem like a good plan, but who's to say that it won't be the same situation with a different set of people (I saw this a lot when I worked agency. Staff gossiping and bickering back and forth. Trashing the shift before them, stating how horrible and incompetent that shift was (and having that shift do the same about them 12 hours later). I wouldn't rush to transfer unless it was known that the new position was in a better atmosphere. The grass always looks greener on the other side and then the disappointment is that it's pretty much the same crappy grass if the unit isn't ran differently than the first one. The best thing to do sometimes is to stay out of the gossip, don't engage in the negativity, and provide excellent care to your patients. If you become the target then that's something different entirely. That's when things need to shape up or a new position may be necessary.

[quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN]

Working as a CNA in one facility it was like that. I dreaded going into work. You never knew what was going to happen. When I earned my nursing license, they did not have any nurse positions open at the time. IN the end, that was a good thing. I now work in a facility where, for the most part, we work together. Yes, there is some drama and such, but generally we are able to get past that.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

I stay out of the gossip. I find that if you stay out of the gossip, the gossip doesnt affect you. Really I could care less about the percieved failings of my coworkers. I was never a gossipy person. My family and friends are not the gossipy type. When I started nursing the environment did affect me at first and I found myself being caught up in the gossip. I had to consciously pull myself away from it. Its easy to get sucked in.

[russianbear]

It's not the gossip, it's the constant tattling over stupid crap trying to get people in trouble.

[Nonyvole, BSN, RN]

From the position of somebody who probably does seem like a tattler:

I was told to. By my nurse manager. For very, very specific situations, that can/will/have result/ed in poor patient care and outcomes. Am I out to get them in trouble? No. They're amazing people, just a bit, oof. Overwhelmed? Oblivious? Not quite sure how to describe them as nurses. And with some of them, I can stand there talking to them until I'm hoorifice and they won't respond, just keep on playing Candy Crush.

Usually I'll just shrug and take care of the issue myself by that point in time, but there are times that I can't, or won't be able to. And it's frustrating for me, because I do have my own patient load and here I am, picking up after them. I get enough of that at home, thanks.

I just want them to pick up their heads once in a while and realize that when an alarm is going off and somebody says that it's their patient, that they need to get up and go see what the issue is. Or why the call light is going off, or their patient is screaming. It creates bad habits and poor nursing judgement to simply say "well, somebody else will take care of it for me."

That's why I report to the NM of my department. And I'd expect people to do the same about me, if I'm getting into bad habits. People have, I've been talked to, and I've tried to fix it.

I suspect that's partially why people holler "NETY!" so often. People probably do about me - but I'm there to look out for the patients. And for the first mistake, I try to sit down with them and coach them through the problem, which is usually well-received. There are some that take everything as a personal attack, though. Nothing gets through to them. Nothing.

[russianbear]

From the position of somebody who probably does seem like a tattler:

I was told to. By my nurse manager. For very, very specific situations, that can/will/have result/ed in poor patient care and outcomes. Am I out to get them in trouble? No. They're amazing people, just a bit, oof. Overwhelmed? Oblivious? Not quite sure how to describe them as nurses. And with some of them, I can stand there talking to them until I'm hoorifice and they won't respond, just keep on playing Candy Crush.

Usually I'll just shrug and take care of the issue myself by that point in time, but there are times that I can't, or won't be able to. And it's frustrating for me, because I do have my own patient load and here I am, picking up after them. I get enough of that at home, thanks.

I just want them to pick up their heads once in a while and realize that when an alarm is going off and somebody says that it's their patient, that they need to get up and go see what the issue is. Or why the call light is going off, or their patient is screaming. It creates bad habits and poor nursing judgement to simply say "well, somebody else will take care of it for me."

That's why I report to the NM of my department. And I'd expect people to do the same about me, if I'm getting into bad habits. People have, I've been talked to, and I've tried to fix it.

I suspect that's partially why people holler "NETY!" so often. People probably do about me - but I'm there to look out for the patients. And for the first mistake, I try to sit down with them and coach them through the problem, which is usually well-received. There are some that take everything as a personal attack, though. Nothing gets through to them. Nothing.

i have thought about what is motivating these people to do what they do. I do not believe their motives are as you describe, i.e., in the best interest of the patients. I think they like causing drama.