New nurse getting yelled at by supervisor nurse

[Nurse128]

As a new nurse of 3 months, how do I deal with supervisor nurse yelling at me?

[wondern, ASN]

Yelling or raising her voice? Hmmmm. Isn't that the very definition of yelling? Do we have to measure the decibels? Tell her to back off. Yes, 'Back Off!' or maybe 'Quiet down please!', or ask her, "Are you trying to embarrass or humiliate me in front of my coworkers and/or patients?!" Go above her, in order of the chain of command, of course. You don't want to go against that chain whatever you do. That's your boss writing you up for whatever...

From Cambridge dictionary:

yell

verb [ I/T ] US ​ /jel/

​

to shout words or make a loud noise, often when you want to get someone's attention or because you are angry, excited, or in pain:

"Come back," they yelled.

[ I ] Snyder heard a woman yell for help.

[rnjp]

the anger is in front the message is behind it....lol. but i doubt there is a message of true value as someone who can formulate such would most likely have the decency of acting like an adult in the first place.

[River&MountainRN, ADN, RN]

I had a supervisor like that. I was a brand new grad in subacute on the 11-7; she was my only coworker on the subacute side AND the house supervisor. I was constantly berated over things I did not know that I did not know I needed to even consider/research (like with your Roxanol issue, these were total blind spots). When I would ask, I truly would be screamed at. There was no one else I could ask, since she was the supervisor/resource person for the entire house as well as my coworker.

I lasted a total of four months before I just couldn't hold on to my mental health anymore and had to leave. I don't mind tough love (and actually rose to the occasion when the doctors gave it), but this was outright sabotage. I'd be going through the supply room, trying to find an essential piece of equipment for an urgent issue, approach her to say I couldn't find it, be sent back multiple times over by her to look again and again, until she finally got up from her nap (yes, she got to nap on the overnights (!!!) only to find I was right---it was missing...and then, somehow, it would be my fault that she had to go down to central supply (only the supervisors had the keys/permission to do so) to get it so that I could render care for my patient. Or, she'd walk by my workstation, knock one of our super-thick paper charts off, and turn around and say "well, I guess you'll learn how to put a chart together now, won't you?". She would complain and complain about the facility being short-staffed, but would try to run off every nurse (experienced new hires and new grads alike) she came across.

Why did I share this story? To let you know that you're not alone. There is a steep, steep learning curve in transitioning from student nurse to practicing nurse. And not everyone who is in the position to do so will actually help you. Some will actually try to belittle you, break you down, and make every shift miserable, even at the expense of patient care. Hang tough! Try to make it to 6 months, a year if you can, but also know when to prioritize your own mental wellbeing.

[Libby1987]

Yelling/raised voice in of itself isn't an issue for me but a techibka HR issue and it can be unnerving when you lack confidence.

I'd (and this is me who grew up at a time when being scolded by a senior nurse was practically a rite of passage) be more interested if there was a hard lesson in there for me.

Did the actively dying patient miss a dose or under dosed?