angry co-worker

Nurses Relations

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I have a situation at work that is very frustrating and turning my insides out. I work the night shift along with 3 other RNs on an 11 bed PCU. One of the day shift RNs is very angry because she feels that there is too much work "left over" for her to do when she starts her shift. One of things she has c/o is that she would wants things on the over the bed tables, like pitcher of H2O, tissues etc. pushed to one side because if there isn't any room, when the kitchen aides come to deliver the breakfast trays they leave the trays on chairs and the pt's don't get their meal until she walks in and gives it to them. Alright, that's reasonable enough and I do do this. I can't stand stuff scattered all over either. She also feels that she shouldn't have to pull pts. up in bed when she enters a room, or fix their blankets etc. This should already be done. We have tried to explain to her that pts. do move around on their own. I mean how many times have you just done up a pt. and you go back to the room 15 or 20 minutes later and the bed is wet and it looks like no one has ever been near the person? The other night my co-worker was having difficulty with a confused pt. He was grabbing her and scratched her, so I and the clinical co-ordinator were in the room helping restart an IV and genarally fixing him up. A little later I assisted her in straight cathing him and we fixed him up again. We both proceeded to continue with the rest of our pts. as it was near the end of the shift and we still had meds to pass and finish charting. When she went into the room she was very angry because he had slid down in the bed so that the pads underneath him were now under his neck and because he had squirmed around, a corner of his sheet was hanging down. She paged the vice president of nursing and my clinical co-ordinator as well as the day shift one. Fortunately my clinical co-ordinator was able to verify the problems we had with this pt. as she had helped us out. The day RN had said that no one had touched this man at all. We then thought that if we did pt. rounds when the next shift comes on we could rectify any of the things that are aggravating her. She refused to do this asking what that was supposed to accomplish and feels that it's the job of the clinical co-ordinators. ("I told them the problem now it's up to them to do their jobs"). When asked point blank, she said that none of the 4 of us night RNs are doing our jobs well and we need to learn to manage our time more effectively. She knows there is a lot of down time on nights (which we acknowledge) and plenty of time for "chit-chat". She doesn't feel she should have to do orthostatics, wgts, all transfer sheets should be done, whether pt. going to another facility or to the med-surg floor, (we should be able to anticipate this). We do these things but sometimes it's not done because we've had heavy pts. or emergent situations. (pt. transfered from floor with profuse nasal bleeding, tachycardia, needed few units of FFP/blood given and pt. vomiting and frightened. No, I didn't get a chance to do the transfer sheet on someone going to the floor probabaly that day because I spent all my time with this pt. and MD phone calls etc. BTW we have electronic charting so when doing the transfer sheets most info. is re-called from other assessment sheets. The only thing needed is a brief pt. summary). Plus most of the transfers to another facility for cardiac caths. occur on my shift. Pts. usually leave around 5 or 6 am. It's very difficult to talk with her. She doesn't acknowledge anything we say or respond to our explainations. She has made it quite clear that she is the best nurse on the floor and always does her job well. We all know what the day shift entails, docs coming in, dx. tests, two meals, families etc. I understand that and empathise. But exactly when are my pts. supposed to sleep? When I go into my pt. rooms, I do their assessments, straighten out furniture (basically because you can't get to the pt.), untangle IV lines from the phone cords and call bell, get fresh ice water, clean off tray tables etc. I'm not perfect and I don't pretend to be. But how do we deal with this person? My clinical co-ordinator is bringing this to our manager because she doesn't know what to do with it anymore. We come in to messy rooms etc. but I know that the evening shift is busy with tx., d/c, adm. etc. so I just do it. If they leave something left over like an IV start or late meds on an admit, I don't care I just do it. I know they are busy. Mnagement has acknowledged that the day shift probably could use an aide for the whole shift. Right now they have one that works from 8am to 5pm to cover a little of both shifts, and thay have been trying to float one down from one of the floors but this isn't always possible. Any suggestions? Has anyone had similar situation? Whew!! Long winded I know but had to vent.

Doey, sounds to me like you are dealing with an adaptive obsessive compulsive personality. Twenty Five years ago I read about them for the first time in a book by a guy called Cammer called Up from Obsession. It saved my marriage. It also helped me in my work. There are other names for this type of person, anal rententive, control freaks or type 1As. It is a milder form of the obsessive compulsion disorder we are taught about in psych, unlike a true OC a AOC functions very well in the real world, at least in the work world. They are usually beloved by managment and have long careers, they are also excellent when self employed. However, they tend to wreak great misery on the more easy going people around them,(like me), they frequently make bad bosses, they usually have personal lives that are a mess, broken marriages, drug addicted children who are in and out of trouble. The real source of their need to be in control is the sever anziety they feel when everything is not exactly the way they want it all the time. They actually feel as if the universe is going to come undone, it was a great source of relief to me when I realized that they probably have the same feelings of inadequacy I suffer from but manifest them in different ways. MANY, MANY people in health care are adaptive obsessive compulsives, it is strange because it is not a healing attribute. Helping a person heal emotionally and physically requires unqualified love and acceptance, this is one thing a AOC cannot offer. There are many physicans and nurses who are AOC whose fanatical attention to task and detail contribute much to medicine but they are not healers.

I think this problem is universal. One shift thinks that the other is not doing enough and so on. I frequently come in to things left over and realize that this is due to time constraints of the day shift. I try to be understanding about this. I have worked all three shift at our hospital and have heard the complaints and such. I do understand that each shift has their own special times that they are busy and I don't like the fighting between the shifts. I try to have everything done, but it is not always possible.

This person however does not seem to want to fix problems that there are, she just seems to want to blame and hold onto anger.

This does not sound like a night shift problem, it sound like one persons problem.

I feel that someone in management needs to confront this person with her unrealistic expectations.

Are we forgetting that the nursing care we give is 24 hours? There are three shifts here......we can't ALWAYS get all things done before the next shift.. most of us are very concientious by nature and don't intentially leave work undone on purpose!!!

Specializes in CV-ICU.

I think complaints about the previous shifts' unfinished jobs are universal in any 24 hour health care facility. I don't know if this is a problem in any other type of place that is open 24 hours, but WE all seem to complain about it a lot. I think things are getting worse as the acuity of patients increases, too. I don't know how to fix it either. I try to anticipate what the patient needs ahead of time, and always try to keep the rooms in order to the best of my ability-- I work nights in an ICU and I try to have my rooms set up "in case of a code"--- how can you get a code cart in a messy room? We do have to remember the patient does need sleep. But there are times when the patient is awake and if you can do the weights, etc. while they are awake, it does make the next shifts job easier. We are all supposed to be a team, a team that helps the patient get well. The co-worker you described in your post, Doey, doesn't sound as if she remembers that. There really isn't anything that can help in this situation. If the patient is really squirrely for you on your shift, ask her the next day how she did with that patient, and if she doesn't have problems, ask her what tips and technics she had to keep the patient in bed and neat all of her shift. I NEED TO KNOW how she does it!

HI! Who hasn't dealt with angry co-workers? I work days 7-7 and I don't get angry about things left behind, unless it directly involves pt. safety or pt. care. I must say though, yesterday the night nurse told me it was a nice night and was actually bored. When I went to my med cart, it was almost empty. It took me 20 minutes to fill it with saline and heplock flushes (you need a million of those things to flush central lines), syringes, med cups, alcohol wipes, etc. When she came in today, I asked her nicely to try and do that on "boring" nights so that I can get in and see the patients. She was angry at first, but we talked and I told her that we both knew that when you leave things behind, they boil over to the next shift. As for your co-worker, she will never be pleased by you. As long as you have a good excuse for being busy, management and fellow staff should back you. Good luck.

Ah yes, Doey. Another shift problem. I agree with JillR and timonrn. I also think that this nurse may have a personal problem. Many of your co-workers complaints as recorded in your post seem very minor in the grand scheme of nursing activities. Is she burned out? Maybe a problem at home? Could it just be her personality? Type A perhaps? Do any of the nurses that work 2nd shift c/o about her care? What about her patients? Hang in there. Best wishes.

[This message has been edited by Mijourney (edited November 15, 2000).]

I guess my complaint is/was similar, but different. Our patients are young females with problem pregnancies and I work 3 to 11. The night shift comes in at 7 or 11. The night shift was always asking/telling me to put the patients on the monitor for them or asking why I didn't do thier tubing and site care for them. Their reasoning is that if I do these things for them, I am really helping the patient because the night shift won't have to bother the patient so much and they will get a better nights rest. They would see me sitting at the desk "doing nothing" and ask me to take care of their 11 to 12 o'clock meds. I told them if I was 'doing nothing', it's because I have just wrapped up my 8 hours and am waiting for them to get it together so I can go home. I complained to the nurse manager about all the requests for monitoring/meds/IV changes, and thankfully she supported me. She said if the shift comes in at 7 and wants the patient monitored earlier than 11, THEY can put the pt on as they'll have about 4 hours to figure out what pt the want for the night. If they come in at 11, too bad. Honestly, I didn't mind putting a pt on the monitor or even tubing and site care changes if appropriate, and I do realize that night time proceedures disturb the patients, but I'm sick of nights expecting that days/evenings do their jobs for them. One night one of the night shift girls was painting her toe nails at the desk, and another nurse hid her shoes!

Specializes in CV-ICU.

I just realized that about 6 months ago, I let a co-worker "have it" and confronted him about leaving a messy room and patient for me to fix. I was upset because I had 2 messy patients (1 from another RN, then this one) and rooms, both were "fast tracks" (pts. who have open heart surgery one day and transfer out of CV-ICU by 9AM the next morning) and both needed bathing, dangling x2, labs, weights, up in chair x1, TCH & IS qhr.; etc, etc, etc (all of this on an 8 hr. night shift). Anyway, my co-worker became very defensive and started telling me off. I reached the point that I realized that I just needed to vent; so I told him that, and he understood what I was saying to him: mainly, that the job is hard for all of us, the patient is supposed to be our primary focus; and occasionally we do need to vent. I think that our work relationship improved from this, and I think that we are better friends because of it. His getting angry at me made me realize what I must have sounded like also.

Since your co-worker doesn't want to do walking rounds with you, she may be justdealing with her own issues-- it's much easier to b***h than it is to work at fixing a problem.

[This message has been edited by Jenny P (edited November 16, 2000).]

Originally posted by Doey:

I have a situation at work that is very frustrating and turning my insides out. I work the night shift along with 3 other RNs on an 11 bed PCU. One of the day shift RNs is very angry because she feels that there is too much work "left over" for her to do when she starts her shift. One of things she has c/o is that she would wants things on the over the bed tables, like pitcher of H2O, tissues etc. pushed to one side because if there isn't any room, when the kitchen aides come to deliver the breakfast trays they leave the trays on chairs and the pt's don't get their meal until she walks in and gives it to them. Alright, that's reasonable enough and I do do this. I can't stand stuff scattered all over either. She also feels that she shouldn't have to pull pts. up in bed when she enters a room, or fix their blankets etc. This should already be done. We have tried to explain to her that pts. do move around on their own. I mean how many times have you just done up a pt. and you go back to the room 15 or 20 minutes later and the bed is wet and it looks like no one has ever been near the person? The other night my co-worker was having difficulty with a confused pt. He was grabbing her and scratched her, so I and the clinical co-ordinator were in the room helping restart an IV and genarally fixing him up. A little later I assisted her in straight cathing him and we fixed him up again. We both proceeded to continue with the rest of our pts. as it was near the end of the shift and we still had meds to pass and finish charting. When she went into the room she was very angry because he had slid down in the bed so that the pads underneath him were now under his neck and because he had squirmed around, a corner of his sheet was hanging down. She paged the vice president of nursing and my clinical co-ordinator as well as the day shift one. Fortunately my clinical co-ordinator was able to verify the problems we had with this pt. as she had helped us out. The day RN had said that no one had touched this man at all. We then thought that if we did pt. rounds when the next shift comes on we could rectify any of the things that are aggravating her. She refused to do this asking what that was supposed to accomplish and feels that it's the job of the clinical co-ordinators. ("I told them the problem now it's up to them to do their jobs"). When asked point blank, she said that none of the 4 of us night RNs are doing our jobs well and we need to learn to manage our time more effectively. She knows there is a lot of down time on nights (which we acknowledge) and plenty of time for "chit-chat". She doesn't feel she should have to do orthostatics, wgts, all transfer sheets should be done, whether pt. going to another facility or to the med-surg floor, (we should be able to anticipate this). We do these things but sometimes it's not done because we've had heavy pts. or emergent situations. (pt. transfered from floor with profuse nasal bleeding, tachycardia, needed few units of FFP/blood given and pt. vomiting and frightened. No, I didn't get a chance to do the transfer sheet on someone going to the floor probabaly that day because I spent all my time with this pt. and MD phone calls etc. BTW we have electronic charting so when doing the transfer sheets most info. is re-called from other assessment sheets. The only thing needed is a brief pt. summary). Plus most of the transfers to another facility for cardiac caths. occur on my shift. Pts. usually leave around 5 or 6 am. It's very difficult to talk with her. She doesn't acknowledge anything we say or respond to our explainations. She has made it quite clear that she is the best nurse on the floor and always does her job well. We all know what the day shift entails, docs coming in, dx. tests, two meals, families etc. I understand that and empathise. But exactly when are my pts. supposed to sleep? When I go into my pt. rooms, I do their assessments, straighten out furniture (basically because you can't get to the pt.), untangle IV lines from the phone cords and call bell, get fresh ice water, clean off tray tables etc. I'm not perfect and I don't pretend to be. But how do we deal with this person? My clinical co-ordinator is bringing this to our manager because she doesn't know what to do with it anymore. We come in to messy rooms etc. but I know that the evening shift is busy with tx., d/c, adm. etc. so I just do it. If they leave something left over like an IV start or late meds on an admit, I don't care I just do it. I know they are busy. Mnagement has acknowledged that the day shift probably could use an aide for the whole shift. Right now they have one that works from 8am to 5pm to cover a little of both shifts, and thay have been trying to float one down from one of the floors but this isn't always possible. Any suggestions? Has anyone had similar situation? Whew!! Long winded I know but had to vent.

Nursing is a 24 hour job!

Have you ever worked with this nurse?

How about each of you working a day and night shift together.

Nursing is a hard enough job with enough problems without nurses turning on each other.One would think that nurses,(supposedly beind CARING, non-judgemental and RESPONSIBLE ADULTS) would be able to discuss their difficulties and come to an amicable agreement.

Thank you all for your replies. I know this is not an unusual problem but I guess I just had to vent. Management is dealing with this issue and they seem to realize that there is more to this than meets the eye. Oramar I think your post hit the nail on the head and I appreciated your input greatly. It did make me see things in a different light. You know how it is, when you're in the middle of something it's hard to be rational sometimes and to see something that is right under your nose. I realized that I felt my nursing care was being attacked and that is part of who I am. I now feel that the behavior that I and my co-workers have witnessed is a symptom of deeper issues. It's not just what is being said but how it's being said. (body language etc.) Thank you all for your input and support.

To Oramar- great input.

To MJourney - HOW do you deal with these neurotic, obsessive-compulsive control freaks? Especially when she's the charge nurse, has worked there 20 years and mgmt. just looks the other way, stating, "Oh, she'll get over it". She is such an energy zapper... Truly, the nurses are intimidated by her outbursts. I do Charge on her days off. I've had it out with her a couple of times and she has tried to control herself but it's like working with a pressure cooker. Again, how do you deal with this?

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