Lazy, demanding staff

Nurses Relations

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l.rae

772 Posts

wonder where the original mngmt posters went....just figures doesn't it?????

Tilleycs

146 Posts

wonder where the original mngmt posters went....just figures doesn't it?????

Sounds like the proverbial "seagull" type of boss - flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over everything, then flies away. :)

txsugarlvn

47 Posts

:confused:

WOW! How did this original post go from a vent over a loss of work ethics to complaining about sorry management???

I have to say that I have worked with nurses, management and support staff ranging from housekeeping to maintenance staff that have gone the extra mile and worked very very hard. I always tried to do my absolute best and go beyond the "job description".

However, I have also worked with people (nurses included) who have complained about how they don't get paid enough to do what's being asked and refuse to do it, staff who says "that's not in my job description" when asked to maybe change a bed or escort a patient or take a message, and management who was absolutely clueless and believed that a floor is run straight from the book without any real world experience.

I know nurses, for the most part, work very hard. Long hours. Low pay. No time for a bathroom break much less a lunch break. Sore feet and backs and headaches. Stacks of charting, patients all wanting you at the same time, and a supervisor who wants to know why you can't get it done all in 8 hours is FRUSTRATING :( to say the least.

I think we should step back and cool our emotions and realize that not all co-workers or staff are top gun hard working people. There ARE lazy people out there who do the bare minimum to get by and complain about their checks while doing it. THOSE are the ones I believe the initial poster is complaining about. It isn't about a specific situation it's about an ongoing atmosphere and general work ethic that's the problem. Regardless of whether the original poster is an administrator or a CNA, the same type of problems affect each level of employment.

Just my two cents and I'm sure I'll take some heat from it but that's alright. :chuckle

bagladyrn, RN

2,286 Posts

Specializes in OB.

My question to the original poster ( and any other administrators) is: How often do you throw on a set of scrubs and jump in to help on the floor when things are slamming? The adminstrators I've seen get the most respect and the best performance from their staff are the ones that do so.

ChainedChaosRN

117 Posts

From Management:

I give bedside care daily, throughout the day. How often do I work an entire shift on the floor...rarely. If I'm doing my job keeping the place staffed...I have no need to cover a shift. I assist throughout the day with physician's orders, admissions etc., and physician rounds. I honestly wish I had more time for this. But it was not why I was hired. I was hired to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

It is our policy at our facility, that everyone answers call lights. So I'm in and out of residents rooms all day long toileting, repositioning etc.

BUT...I'm also in my office doing scheduling, ordering, staffing, admission referrals, talking with union stewards, counseling to patients and staff, organizing ancillary services, speaking to families about issues - mostly helping them adjust - interviews, writing quality assurance action plans, and dealing with last but not least corporate BS.

I'm sure the larger the facility, the less time any management person has to spend with direct patient care. At least that's been my experience with ranging from 50 bed facilities -which allowed a ton of time- to facilities over 200 bed - to much less time. My current facility is 160 beds.

I work an average of 50-55 hours per week, of course I'm paid for 40. My usual hours are 8a - 6pm, and I try to make it in on 11-7 shift at 5a at least once per week. I'm on call 24/7, I've been at this facility 21 months now, and I'm rarely called now. It took a long time to get here. Things were slammin on a daily basis back then....now it just seems to be on Fridays :)

Oh well...you just got a glimpse of my life.

Peace

zuchRN

44 Posts

I hear you Chained. I just started at my facility about 6 months ago. It is tough going. No matter what I do, there are those people who say, "she can just get on the floor and do it herself." Or you have those who ask for help....CONTINUALLY. or you have those nurses who just don't care.

I never get a thank. I do not expect them. What I do not expect is to work the floor, do the DON position and then still have those nurses who say that it is not enough. What is enough? I work uncovered shifts, I answer call lights, I round with the Physician, I deal with the difficult families. I do these things so the nurses won't have to.

When I hear other nurses talk about what bad managers there are and blame management for everything, it makes me angry. There is some very poor management, just as there are very poor nurses. @What ever happened to everyone being on the same team and working together. To the antimanagement people, I ask, what are you doing to help to make the situation better? Or are you just complaining to hear yourself talk?

mattsmom81

4,516 Posts

I believe many managers go into their jobs with the goal of making things better. I understand the pressure to conform to 'bottom line' financial and upper level politics is overwhelming.

Tried management once and the sharks just get bigger and meaner up there so I stay down with the smaller ones. ;)

KC CHICK

458 Posts

Most of the staff I work with do an EXCELLENT job. There are a few bad apples, RN's and Aides alike, that seem to do everything in their power to get out of work. Irritates the heck out of me!

Stargazer

859 Posts

Mattsmom hit it on the head.

Some of us consider it a challenge to learn to beat the bigger sharks at their own game to get the staff what they need. ;)

baseline

581 Posts

Middle management is NOT for the weak or wimpy! the vise tightens ever tighter from staff and administration. Atlas himself would have trouble !

l.rae

772 Posts

Originally posted by zuchRN

I hear you Chained. I just started at my facility about 6 months ago. It is tough going. No matter what I do, there are those people who say, "she can just get on the floor and do it herself." Or you have those who ask for help....CONTINUALLY. or you have those nurses who just don't care.

I never get a thank. I do not expect them. What I do not expect is to work the floor, do the DON position and then still have those nurses who say that it is not enough. What is enough? I work uncovered shifts, I answer call lights, I round with the Physician, I deal with the difficult families. I do these things so the nurses won't have to.

When I hear other nurses talk about what bad managers there are and blame management for everything, it makes me angry. There is some very poor management, just as there are very poor nurses. @What ever happened to everyone being on the same team and working together. To the antimanagement people, I ask, what are you doing to help to make the situation better? Or are you just complaining to hear yourself talk?

How convient to pass the buck....you already admit you can't handle your own staff, and those of us who point that out are anti- management???...l don't think so....we are ANTI-POOR-MANAGEMENT...ie:those who pass the buck, drive their hard working staff harder instead of addressing the lazy...want more for less.... if you will chek my earlier post you will notice l compliment my NM......what have l done about poor management in the past???....l moved on and left my NM with one less dedicated hard working nurse......and if l recall correctly....this thread is addressed to lazy nurses.....not lazy management....so who's complaining?.....just stating facts........LR;)

Specializes in Oncology, Cardiology, ER, L/D.
Originally posted by JMP

Recently I came across a problem in this field.

Another RN who was not "doing" the job. I work in ICU and patients can not sit up and say, "hey, no one bathed me, no one has turned me". You see what I am getting at. The bare minimums NOT being done. This action, by this RN, puts into questions EVERYTHING. Is this RN giving meds? Is this RN doing treatments? You see what I am saying here???

Others have also noted this lack of minimum care. But I was the one who talked to the RN. I told this person I knew that things where being charted that HAD NOT been done. I am giving them THIS chance to change. HOWEVER, if this person continues, my nurse manager is my next stop.

I have NO IDEA in the world why this person is not doing the job. Because they are quite capable of doing the job.....IF THEY actually do it. Much of this RN's time is spent chatting, on the computer, on the phone....... and it is the patient who suffers.

I think work ethic plays a role here, obviously. This person, when confronted did not say much. They mostly changed the subject and I found myself bringing them back to the subject at hand more than once.

It is problem. I will not ignore it. I have to be the patient's advocate....no matter what.

:eek: :eek:

How in the hell is this nurse assigned to a unit like the ICU? Thank God there is someone like you that is there to protect the patient. You should report her to your nurse manager. What a loser! Good luck

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