Why do nurses threaten to "write up" every one for every little thing? I have been at my current job for 8 weeks, and have been threatened twice, for doing absolutely nothing. (I know, you never do anything to get in trouble, but I was taking care of my pts my other preceptors had shown me.) Todays threat, I guess she perceived me being a little rough on my baby, and yes I was frustrated with MYSELF, the kid wasn't taking the bottle well from me, but being rough on a baby I would never do. I didn't jerk, pull, shake drop etc. I pulled her bottom up a little higher on my leg so she would be sitting straighter, and in a slightly more comfortable position. I had her head supported and support behind her neck and shoulders. She snaps when I do something that isn't entirely correct, or not the way she does it. But then a little while later, she will say that I am doing great, and doesn't have any corrections to my practice.And its not the correction that bothers me, its the tone that she uses telling me that I am a complete idiot, sometimes right in front of family or coworkers.... Yes, I'm new to nursing, but doesn't the fact that I am an RN (BSN, passed NCLEX...) grant me some (like a minute) amount of professional respect, even though I don't have experience? I am still in orientation and my current preceptor is good, but not that great of a teacher. I know my time management is going to stink because she goes ahead of me and does half of the work....which is great, less work for me, but she wont be there once I'm off orientation. I even asked her to kinda sit back and let me do everything, and that request was ignored. I dread going in to work some days, and feel like quitting some days. I am so ready to be off orientation, but then terrified at the same time. I know this is long, but I had to get it off my chest.
Too bad nurses can't seem to act like professionals. They seem to delight in causing problems for one another. Management perpetuates it (of course they do - they don't want nurses to work together. They are much weaker as a group if they work against each other). Instead of telling the "tattletale" - "you are an adult - you need to solve your interpersonal problems in a mature manner rather than resorting to pathetic passive-aggressive tactics", they say "ooohhh what a gooood patient advocate you are." This is exactly what immature people with low self-esteem want to hear, thus it encourages them to continue the behavior.
Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..
Maybe it's a US thing but "writing up" colleagues is a thing we don't do (maybe the UK hospital based nurses can comment on this) and God knows sometimes we come across plenty of mistakes! If we notice a colleague has omitted something we usually point it out to them quietly and it gets sorted ,there's no great drama about it, unless,of course it is something really major.
Where I work only charge nurses and managers are able to write employees up. We don't write each other up. So far this year I've given one verbal warning to a coworker and haven't written anyone up. In fact in four years of charge nursing I've written up one person.
I think rather than being a profession of people with low esteem that rat each other out.............sigh.......never mind I give up. I'm getting low self-esteem just reading about my beloved profession here at Allnurses and am getting weary of myself constantly defending it. :)
The way I see it, and we had this discussion in class, we meet the definition of a profession on paper. But as The Commuter stated, we (as a whole) don't support each other, we look out for only ourselves. Which is sad because if we worked together, we would have some serious power.
The way I see it, and we had this discussion in class, we meet the definition of a profession on paper. But as The Commuter stated, we (as a whole) don't support each other, we look out for only ourselves. Which is sad because if we worked together, we would have some serious power.
Are you looking for job satisfaction or are you looking for power
I am sooo sorry to hear that this is happening in some working environments out there. I want to assure you that it is not universal, however. I work in a culture where I have only seen nurses write themselves up! Or sometimes we will write up an incedent report to point out a systems breakdown and not particular to any one person. It is just not part of the culture where I work. Mistakes or errors are handled in a much more mature and direct manner and the person is supported in extra education or other non-punitive manner. I work in a hospital where employee satisfaction is a major focus. It isn't perfect and there are of course conflicts and other issues, but I don't see women with low self esteem trying to control each other where I work. I am sure that it could and does exist out there, but maybe there are other factors at play... perhaps it is a punitive environment to begin with from management on down. People are insecure because of the ongoing unhappiness and systematic dysfunction...kind of like a dysfuctional family...none of us are more powerful than the system we are a part of, unless the entire system is committed to change.
I think it is blatantly unfair to say it is because nursing is run by women. Have you ever seen the way some Docs treat each other?? OMG, check out conflicts between Intensivists and Cardiologists?? Talk about power struggle!!! I think one needs to look deeper to variables not so easily categorized such as gender...
RN4NICU, LPN, LVN
1,711 Posts
Too bad nurses can't seem to act like professionals. They seem to delight in causing problems for one another. Management perpetuates it (of course they do - they don't want nurses to work together. They are much weaker as a group if they work against each other). Instead of telling the "tattletale" - "you are an adult - you need to solve your interpersonal problems in a mature manner rather than resorting to pathetic passive-aggressive tactics", they say "ooohhh what a gooood patient advocate you are." This is exactly what immature people with low self-esteem want to hear, thus it encourages them to continue the behavior.