just another vent, unhelpful co-workers

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A co-worker never ceases to amaze me. Over half the time I work with her it seems like she is sitting at the nursing station doing nothing or looking through her purse, no matter how much other nurses are rushing around. The other day I had a difficult patient with several things going wrong with her. I asked my co-worker (as she was sitting at the nurses station next to me as I was trying to catch up on my narrative notes) if she could check my patient's blood glucose. She said no and sat there, I said what, she said I have to watch my patient (a stable patient who had been out of OR for several hours.) I honestly thought she is joking right? I said ha ha I will watch your patient (we could see her from our chairs at the nursing station) and you check my patient's glucose. She got the lancet and glucose strip and set them on my patient's table and walked away!!!!! :mad: Never ceases to amaze me how lazy and unhelpful some co-workers can be. I know this isn't just in nursing, anyone in any job can come up with similar stories!

Specializes in ED.
Ok, I have to say something about this from the R.N.'s stand point. I have no idea what your unit is like. On my unit the P.C.A.'s have responsibility for about 5 % of the documentation. I have a hard time with emptying every urinal I come across ( I do empty most) when the P.C.A.'s always manage to get out on time and I always manage to be doing charting when I should be in my car headed home. Sorry but that just isn't cool

I totally appreciate what you are saying.

The urinal situation was just one example of how this particular RN operates. It is constant with her and not just with PCAs. What I take issue with is her paging me and expecting me to respond immediately to empty a urinal, take out trash, etc. when I am taking another patient to the restroom, taking vitals, helping another nurse, or other things that are a priority when she is actually IN the room and can empty it herself if it is THAT urgent. Sorry, but that is just not cool.

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Specializes in neurotrauma ICU.
Ok, I have to say something about this from the R.N.'s stand point. I have no idea what your unit is like. On my unit the P.C.A.'s have responsibility for about 5 % of the documentation. I have a hard time with emptying every urinal I come across ( I do empty most) when the P.C.A.'s always manage to get out on time and I always manage to be doing charting when I should be in my car headed home. Sorry but that just isn't cool

I've been a PCA and now Im a nurse. I just figure it takes more time to call the PCA in to do a 20 second task like empty the urinal than to just do it myself. Forget how it looks to the PCA or other staff, it makes me look lazy in front of the family if I have to call someoneelse in to do a simple task. Just my :twocents:

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I've been a PCA and now Im a nurse. I just figure it takes more time to call the PCA in to do a 20 second task like empty the urinal than to just do it myself. Forget how it looks to the PCA or other staff, it makes me look lazy in front of the family if I have to call someoneelse in to do a simple task. Just my :twocents:

:yeah: Couldn't agree more

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

How would you like working with the "best nurse ever in the whole world? She makes fun of everyone from housekeeping to dietary to other nurses. She is very detail oriented but her people skills sure need work.She is young and her view of the world is very black or white.She believes she has all the answers-she is always right and seldom asks for input into the resident's plan of care. She is also very unhappy although she seems to have exactly what she wants personally and professionally.I guess putting others down re-inforces her sense of self worth which really must be low and all of her bravado is actually a shield. It gets to me somedays.I told her today "It's a good thing we all aren't as perfect as you-you wouldn't have anything to do" I hope she got the message. Don't forget the "martyr" The co-worker that is going to do it all,all day...At the end of the shift half was not done and a quarter of it was done wrong and there you are fixing it....Makes working in a cubicle look better and better...

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
I'm just a PCA right now but in my senior year of NS. We have one RN on our floor that is like this. We have a great LPN on our floor and he had to ask her to give a med the other night and she said, "Ok. Now let me find something for you to do for me."

When I've had a few of her patients she will page me from a patient's room while I'm doing my Q4 vitals or blood sugars to come in there right away. I drop everything to go in there thinking she really needs help but all she want is for me to empty the patient's urinal or take his trash our or something like that. Really? You are already in here with gloves on and you can't empty a urinal? :uhoh3:

She has no concept of team work whatsoever and it is very frustrating to us all. Management knows how she is but what can you do? It frustrates the you-know-what out of me!!!

I think we have worked with the same nurse! Because that would just be so sad if there was more than one out there like this.

When I was a CNA in a LTC home, I was in a patients room getting ready to put the patient to bed, when the RN paged me to the room next door, now in order to overhead page me she had to walk all the way down the hall to the nurses station, she then walked backed to the room. I went in the room to see what was needed and the patient had knocked over his EMPTY urinal on the floor, and she did not want to pick it up :eek:

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