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Discussion

My First Write Up

Hello all! I have been a nurse for 3 years and I received my first write up a few shifts ago. I'll summarize what happened.

I was notified by my shift leader that I was going to be getting a patient (I work in critical care) who needed a warming blanket since out floors are not allowed to have a patient on a warming blanket. I prepared my room and was waiting for the nurse to call and inform me when she was bring the patient down. Over 45 minutes go by without any call. I am busy helping another nurse who has a patient that is crashing when my new patient rolls through the door. I said "oh you didn't let me know you were bringing him down." she replied "I thought you knew you were getting a patient" I told her that I was aware but nurses typically call to make sure it is okay to bring the patient up in case that nurse happens to be off the floor. The tech handed me my patients clothes so I tossed them over so I could help move my patient to the new bed.

A few hours go by and the nurse from the floor called to inform me that she was writing me up because of my "unprofessional attitude" because I, apparently, was rude and threw the patients clothes very aggressively. I had our tech and another nurse in the room at the time that can back me up and saw that I did not do that. I may have snipped at her when I mentioned the not calling thing so I apologized for coming across as rude.

I have already discussed it with my manager and she said that I did the right thing by coming to her. She told me that it seems like a petty write up and that nothing more would come of it. I am just worried since I've never had any issues before. Any advice would be helpful.

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    • Featured Replies

    Where was the patient coming from?

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    20 minutes ago, berrynurse said:

    the nurse from the floor called to inform me that she was writing me up because of my "unprofessional attitude" because I, apparently, was rude and threw the patients clothes very aggressively

    "This phone call is inappropriate" and/or "thank you for letting me know" and/or "I'm sorry you didn't find it reasonable to speak with me about it in person." :blink:

    This person has a problem vis à vis exaggerating about a situation (with the effect of lying to vilify someone) and I would not talk with them any further about it.

    That said. I don't chastise anyone for anything. I don't try to inform them of anything or say one damn thing about what they do. I would've kept my commentary about the usual pre-arrival call to myself to begin with, knowing that this ^ is exactly how these things play out more often than not.

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    It sounds as though another nurse submitted a complaint about you, but you didn't get 'written-up', since that usually refers to punitive action taken by one of your superiors.

    I would agree that the other nurse's complaint about you was petty, but at the same time if we're talking about a bag of clothes then I usually wouldn't 'toss' those since you don't know what else (breakable) might be in the bag. If the patient is coding and the bag is in the way, then sure, toss away, otherwise I can see how it might be interpreted as being at least a little passive-aggressive.

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    • Author
    7 minutes ago, MunoRN said:

    It sounds as though another nurse submitted a complaint about you, but you didn't get 'written-up', since that usually refers to punitive action taken by one of your superiors.

    I would agree that the other nurse's complaint about you was petty, but at the same time if we're talking about a bag of clothes then I usually wouldn't 'toss' those since you don't know what else (breakable) might be in the bag. If the patient is coding and the bag is in the way, then sure, toss away, otherwise I can see how it might be interpreted as being at least a little passive-aggressive.

    I can see how it would come across as passive aggressive. And the patient had his phone, wallet, and keys in the bed so I guess I just wasn’t thinking when I did it. Lessons are learned everyday! ?

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    • Author
    1 hour ago, JKL33 said:

    "This phone call is inappropriate" and/or "thank you for letting me know" and/or "I'm sorry you didn't find it reasonable to speak with me about it in person." :blink:

    This person has a problem vis à vis exaggerating about a situation (with the effect of lying to vilify someone) and I would not talk with them any further about it.

    That said. I don't chastise anyone for anything. I don't try to inform them of anything or say one damn thing about what they do. I would've kept my commentary about the usual pre-arrival call to myself to begin with, knowing that this ^ is exactly how these things play out more often than not.

    You’re right. I can only control what I do so I’ve learned from this to just keep quiet unless patient safety is at risk.

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    • Author

    Thank you everyone for the advice. I just received another call from my manager saying the issue was resolved.

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    1 hour ago, berrynurse said:

    Thank you everyone for the advice. I just received another call from my manager saying the issue was resolved.

    In that case this was an excellent way to learn this lesson.

    Take every single situation as "it is what it is" and your work life will be much happier in the long run than that of people like this other nurse who is wasting valuable time and emotional energy based on having immediately taken personal offense. As soon as we start getting disgruntled about coworkers (or patients), it's all over. Coworkers are working in the same conditions we are. Who knows why she didn't call first or why someone didn't get x, y, z done before shift change or why they didn't speak with the perfect tone of voice.

    Every single one of us can make our respective workplaces a more (or less) petty and miserable place to work.

    Anyway - glad it's resolved.

    ??

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    This is not a formal write up, it's a formal complaint by an egotistical co-worker. Your manager is correct that it isn't going to go anywhere.

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    • Experts

    Not to be a Debbie Downer but you’re going to need to watch your back for awhile. If this person was petty enough to write you up you can be sure she ran her mouth amongst her colleagues. They will be looking for anything negative to report in their future interactions with you. It isn’t your fault. Often there is this weird dynamic when one nurse is told “she” isn’t capable of taking care of a patient so she has to hand them off to another nurse. Even if it has nothing to do with the nurse and is strictly policy it is hard to not take it personally. It’s a bit of a blow to the ego. As a result anything said even slightly less than supportive is perceived as an additional attack on their capabilities. Very often this is all subconscious. CCT/Flight nurses deal with this phenomenon on a daily basis. It can be a difficult situation to navigate. Going forward just be kind and uber-professional, especially with the staff from this unit.

    And yes, I know there are plenty of “those” kind of ICU nurses. The ones who grill you and try to make you feel stupid. The ones who overtly act superior. I’ve worked beside them. They do it to their own as well. But that’s a topic for a different thread.

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    • Experts

    In three and a half decades I've had my share of being tattled on for really stupid reasons. A wise nurse manager will chalk it up to pettiness. Others will be reeled in. Not much you can do either way.

    The thing not to do is stew over it and second guess yourself. Maybe you were not as nice as you could have been - so what? Everyone has to deal with the stressors of their work day; everyone is human. Petty people are pathetic and usually get their comeuppance at some point. Blow it off.

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    I know it’s resolved but I’m curious on where the patient was coming from? Did you get report?

    I had a similar situation when I had patient transferred to my unit (I’m a step down unit). The nurse attempts to call report and the secretary stated that the RN (me) was in a situation and needed about 10 mins and would call back. Within seconds the patient was being wheeled over by the charge RN and tech. They were then upset that I wasn’t ready to take over at that moment. It was inappropriate for the patient that was being transferred and my other patient that I was helping at the time.

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    From the sound of it, this does seem petty.

    It sounds like you were helping an unstable patient. I use to work as a tech in hospitals. I have heard of nurses receiving verbal warnings for not working with their assigned patients if there is enough staff working with unstable patients. I'm just guessing.

    Nurses have very different personalities and ethics. Just be careful who you work with.

    Hope things turn up.

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