Most of the nurses I speak with are nice. A few are kind of rude, but not enough for me to really care.
Today, the ED was beyond busy. I don't ever expect the nurses to chat with me or anything. I ask them simple questions(Can so-and-so have a visitor?), only when necessary. I also don't expect them to be chipper or anything. Just answer my question as good as you can. That's all I ask.
However, this extended triage nurse was just flat out rude. We (the ED visitor services employee and I) went into the extended triage area to try and locate a patient. This was only after 1 hour, and his family had been up every 15 minutes. They really wanted to know where he was or what was going on. Understandable.
Typically, patients don't get visitors in the extended triage. We wait until they get a room. But considering how busy we were, there was a good chance they weren't getting a room. Their triage room was going to be there room. So the nurses had been letting us bring visitors.
We never ask a nurse questions when they are with a patient, we wait until they are out of the room. We ask this nurse if they knew where Mr. Jones was. She goes, "What do you mean? Is he in triage? Is he in minor care?" My co-worker states that he was in triage, not minor care. She says, "Well I don't know. Are you sure he isn't in minor care?" She just had this real snarky tone. Just flat out attitude. Condescending and rude. She was clearly talking down to my co-worker as if my co-worker didn't know anything. My co-worker has been there for years. She knows what she is doing. We walked away. I know it's hard to see an attitude through text, but she was just beyond rude and nasty. I don't know how else to put it.
My co-worker is so sweet and beyond polite to this chick. The funny thing is, we were in the room next to this nurse before we asked her the question, and she was so polite to the patient, yet she talks down to us.
So my co-worker says that nurse is like that all the time. What the heck. Isn't there someone she can be reported to? I'm sorry, I just don't think it's acceptable to talk down to a co-worker. Ever. I don't think employees should have to put up with that crap. I don't care that we aren't nurses. We're all on the same team here.
How would you approach someone like that and what would you say to let them know you will not accept their condescending attitude? I think she needs to be approached before being reported. What would you do in this situation? It's obviously going to keep happening. She isn't going anywhere, and neither am I, nor my co-worker. She needs to act like a professional, not a b****.
Your question was a reasonable one ...she was likely a bit short because she was concerned with more important stuff.
Really ...when the nurses are this busy...you need to be asking the clerk about these sort of questions. I would have politely directed you to ask the clerk.
We have a couple of volunteers that irritate the hell out of us.
When p'ts are waiting a long time to see the Dr on very busy days ... these volunteers come tell us the p't is ansty as they are STILL waiting to see the Dr...they do this every 10 mins.
Yes we know that ... our chest pain/CVA/bleeding etc are being taken care of ....those are our less ill p'ts complaining.
Before reporting her, pls consider how difficult her job is.
Is it really the end of the world if an overworked core medical worker is a little short with you? Flip it around .... how unhappy would you be if a nurse reported you for asking a silly question and wasting her time? Is your demeanour 100% perfect all the time?
Also pls reflect a little here ... if this were a doctor, would you consider reporting he/him?
Is this person an easier target because she is a nurse? I bet she is.
I didn't expect to get flamed, but okay.
Every nurse is busy and so are the doctors. And the PCA's, and the cleaning people. We had 10 car accidents come in within 2 hours. I know busy. We are busy as well.
We don't have a "clerk" to ask.
She was beyond short. I don't care if they are short. I even said I don't care if they are a little rude. You are misunderstanding. She was talking down. Not just rude. This is beyond rude. She was talking to my coworker as if she was an idiot. I'm sorry. I don't think that's acceptable. At all. I'm sorry you think you do.
I don't take care of the patients or check on when they will be getting back. I take visitors back after the patient has been seen by a doctor. I understand your volunteers may annoy you, but I rarely have to speak with the nurses.
Did I say it was the end of the world? I guess we really can't get on allnurses and rant, can we? What a shame.
What the heck is your last comment supposed to mean? I would feel the same if it were a PCA, MD, ARNP. I don't care about title. I would feel the same if it was a fellow volunteer.
Every nurse is busy and so are the doctors. And the PCA's, and the cleaning people. We had 10 car accidents come in within 2 hours. I know busy. We are busy as well.
We don't have a "clerk" to ask.
She was beyond short. I don't care if they are short. I even said I don't care if they are a little rude. You are misunderstanding. She was talking down. Not just rude. This is beyond rude. She was talking to my coworker as if she was an idiot. I'm sorry. I don't think that's acceptable. At all. I'm sorry you think you do.
I don't take care of the patients or check on when they will be getting back. I take visitors back after the patient has been seen by a doctor. I understand your volunteers may annoy you, but I rarely have to speak with the nurses.
Did I say it was the end of the world? I guess we really can't get on allnurses and rant, can we? What a shame.
What the heck is your last comment supposed to mean? I would feel the same if it were a PCA, MD, ARNP. I don't care about title. I would feel the same if it was a fellow volunteer.
Bet my bottom dollar you wouldn't consider reporting a doctor for being curt with you
It sounds like you're in the position of being shat upon by someone higher up the totem pole. The current "in" name for it is horizontal violence. Normally I'm all for approaching a person directly before going up the chain. In your case I think you'll just catch a batch of it, so is there a charge nurse you can discuss this problem with? If this isn't do-able, I'd go to either the nurses (Dept?) supervisor or your own supervisor. You'll be doing this nurse a favor by making him/her realize that she has a problem that needs to be fixed. Sound good?
Actually, we have a computer system that tells us where they are. But we have to call back (hospital policy) and ask the nurse if they are permitted visitors after they have been in there at least 20 minutes. If we cannot get ahold of a nurse on the phone, we have to go back there and check.
There is a also a whiteboard that assigns rooms to nurses, but not in triage. No whiteboard. So we ask the first available nurse we see. It's a simple question. All they have to say is no. Not talk down to us.
However, when they are in triage, we typically do not go back there. But today was a really busy day and they were using the triage rooms as regular rooms as well.
I'm not saying the way she treated you is OK because it's not, but I can definitely see how busy and overwhelmed nurses could be frustrated with this system, leading to the snippy attitude. While it may seem like a simple question with a simple answer to you, it's a disruption to the nurse. When the nurses are busy, they have a thousand things that needed to be done 5 minutes ago, their patient might be on the verge of going into cardiac arrest, they have patients, doctors, RRTs, techs asking them questions from every angle... it's stressful! The last thing they care about is visitors. Not trying to be harsh, just trying to put it into perspective. Maybe your ED needs to find a better system that is easier for everyone.
I should've never started this thread because none of you will ever understand the level of rudeness. It just can't apply in text form. This wasn't an attitude. This wasn't snippy. This isn't rude. This is beyond rude.
This is talking to a person as if they are the lowest of the low or the scum of the earth. My coworker does avoid her at all costs because she always treats her as if she is below the bedbugs.
I'm not saying the way she treated you is OK because it's not, but I can definitely see how busy and overwhelmed nurses could be frustrated with this system, leading to the snippy attitude. While it may seem like a simple question with a simple answer to you, it's a disruption to the nurse. When the nurses are busy, they have a thousand things that needed to be done 5 minutes ago, their patient might be on the verge of going into cardiac arrest, they have patients, doctors, RRTs, techs asking them questions from every angle... it's stressful! The last thing they care about is visitors. Not trying to be harsh, just trying to put it into perspective. Maybe your ED needs to find a better system that is easier for everyone.
I do understand how overwhelmed they are. Today was a very overwhelming day for everyone. It was a strangely busy day. For the most part, the system works out great. But we all have a job to do and I know they don't "care" about the visitors, but it's hospital policy. The hospital cares about what the patients and families think. They do more here for the visitors than they do at any other of the area hospitals. Probably something to do with patient satisfaction or whatnot.
Further, you came to a place where you should receive help, support, and respect. I feel I should apologize for some of the stuff people have said above. I'm not sure why you're getting a hard time. I've worked in enough ambulances, ER's and Trauma Centers where people were shot in our front door that I can confidently say I know what busy is. I also know that all employees are part of a chain. All must work together and respect each other. No link is more or less important. There's just no excuse to treat a fellow employee like this. Now they can flame ME!
I do understand how overwhelmed they are. Today was a very overwhelming day for everyone. It was a strangely busy day. For the most part, the system works out great. But we all have a job to do and I know they don't "care" about the visitors, but it's hospital policy.
That's what makes it tough. Hospitals make these policies that end up making more work and stress for the nurses to deal with. Who knows though, this nurse could be rude by nature. Just trying to give her the benefit of the doubt :). But regardless, try not to take her comments to heart because I'm sure it's not just you she's mean to!
You don't need to apologize. I just think some people misunderstood what I had said. I don't take offense to most of it, though some things are unnecessary and really serve no purpose to the thread. You had it right. She has an attitude as if we are not worthy of talking to her.
As I had stated many times, I don't mind rude, curt, short, whatever you want to call it. I still don't think that's right because despite how busy there are plenty of polite nurses. But it doesn't get to me.
I don't like seeing a fellow employee talked down to as if she's the scum of the earth for asking one question. All she needed to do was answer no and we would have tried to find him another way. It's not our fault the ED was overflowing and they were using the triage as regular rooms. We were in a hall too so there were patients within ear shot, I'm sure they heard it as well.
happy2learn
1,118 Posts
I didn't expect to get flamed, but okay.
Every nurse is busy and so are the doctors. And the PCA's, and the cleaning people. We had 10 car accidents come in within 2 hours. I know busy. We are busy as well.
We don't have a "clerk" to ask.
She was beyond short. I don't care if they are short. I even said I don't care if they are a little rude. You are misunderstanding. She was talking down. Not just rude. This is beyond rude. She was talking to my coworker as if she was an idiot. I'm sorry. I don't think that's acceptable. At all. I'm sorry you think you do.
I don't take care of the patients or check on when they will be getting back. I take visitors back after the patient has been seen by a doctor. I understand your volunteers may annoy you, but I rarely have to speak with the nurses.
Did I say it was the end of the world? I guess we really can't get on allnurses and rant, can we? What a shame.
What the heck is your last comment supposed to mean? I would feel the same if it were a PCA, MD, ARNP. I don't care about title. I would feel the same if it was a fellow volunteer.