Nurse competitiveness in the workplace

[joyrochelle]

Hello all-- I suppose this is mostly a vent- and certainly a request for advice-

I started working at a new practice about 3 mths ago- there is one other RN and about a handful of MA's that work with the Dr's ( approx 5 at this time). There is a LOT of autonomy placed upon the RN and the MA's and i thought that this was a good attraction for me when interviewing, nevermind the prospect of staying on as a NP once I finish grad school.

There has only been interim management and there have been a lot of transitions recently with Dr's/RN's/MA's leaving, another ( hopefully not so interim) manager coming on (that is completely non-clinical- non nursing) and so therefore the only nursing leadership role has been this one RN that has been responsible for my training. She has taken it upon herself to pull rank on me by having me make beds for her, ( which i would never ask anyone to do...my mess, my patient, etc), fax things for her, run this down to so and so's office, etc. It has been a real bum chapper.

Now she and I are at odds with one another. I have tried to talk to her about working with one another, not against. I have asked her to meet with me and our manager to talk about these things, she refuses. It is very uncomfortable, because I know she has senority, but she and i are in the same role. it has just been very tense and its really uncomfortable.

I am happy to say that the manager will be from now on building the schedule, at least that is what she has told me, and I am hoping that that will level things out a bit, as this was the other RN's task previously. it will be nice if first thing when i come in she doesnt start telling me what to do before I can even say good morning.

I just feel kinda beat up and annoyed. argh. its so juvenile!

[SCRN1]

Sounds to me kind of like you're being bullied. I wouldn't let her. If you are both RNs, you should share in the SAME responsibilities. Instead, she's treating you like you're her personal assistant and giving all the dirty work to you. Put your foot down!

[joyrochelle]

Yes-- that is what it appears to be. yet no one seems to care- and I have been doing my best to do just that, put my foot down. For all intensive purposes I am still training somewhat-- i mean it's not like you master a position in three mths...so perhaps i am meek because of that.

I had a horrible weekend there cuz i forgot to call a patient back which could have had large implications for her care, and so after that i was so affected I kept making mistakes all day. I felt like an ass, and I was very upset about it.

So now i am toggling between feeling like i have been trained poorly, dont have a good resource, and am being pushed about by this nurse who is more or less threatened by me, by my best guess. And because I have brought it to peoples attention how crappy this whole thing, now I feel like I have raised holy hell for this nurse bwtween her and i.

Is this complicated or what?

[SCRN1]

What kind of facility is it where you work? I'd think by now, you're pretty well trained in making beds, running errands and faxing paper. Since you're still in training, you are probably missing out on so much more that you will need to know how to handle on your on once you're off training. So, how are you going to know how to do it if you're spending all your time doing the things she doesn't want to do? You've done the right thing in going to her about it first. Since she apparently refuses to change, I think it's time to go above her and let them know what you've told us. JMO.

[joyrochelle]

I work in OB/GYN/ REI /IVF practice. I have spoken with the manager about this and she seems right on board with me, however nothing is getting done. I will be posting more as this continues. One of my best friends is starting there with us this week, so it should be interesting. I am feeling stronger just talking about it, actually. Thanks!

[dmarie (GA)]

She must feel threatened by you.

[SCRN1]

Good luck to you, hun!

I started where I'm working now this past May. Since I was not a new grad and I have hospital experience, I had a horrible orientation! New grads sometimes get about 3 months orientation. However, I only got a few weeks. Six shifts on days & six shifts on nights. I was pretty much shown around and then left to do the work on my own with no explanations of anything unless I asked. I see the new grads getting lots of hand-holding and everything explained to them. I've tried telling my NM that even though I'm an RN and I have worked in a hospital, I've never worked Cardiac before and there's a big difference in that vs L&D, Orthopedics, & a Peds office. That pretty much fell on deaf ears. I have learned a lots since I've been there, but it's mostly been because I had to ask so many questions and do so much research on my own. I feel like I would've learned so much more if I'd had similar orientation as the new grads & I regret that I wasn't more forceful in asking my preceptors to teach me more instead of just accepting assignments and handling things the best I could on my own. I hate to see someone else miss out on things like I let myself do.

[joyrochelle]

I hear ya--I have had about 5 years of hospital experience, which was in OB, however the REI and IVF stuff is a WHOLE new ballgame. I ask questions certainly! Its this juvenile crap that i cannot handle however- it feels like the republicans and the democrats or something....north and south. east side, west side...ok you get the idea.