Nurse-Tech Wars

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

On one of the units I float to there is a significant nurse-tech war. People are quitting over there. Nurses and techs alike.

There have been tech meetings which the nurses call "nurse bashing sessions".

On another unit there is nurse-tech tension building.

I have a good rapport with a few of the techs and have had open discussion about this. I was surprised to hear that mental health techs feel that taking vital signs is not in their job description. So doing VS is perceived as a favor. But there is literally no way that morning meds will get done if the nurse has to do it all. No way. RNs have to do blood glucose checks in this facility also.

Clearly there are serious issues concerning expectations about job description.

Anyone have strategies for solving this problem?

[Sour Lemon]

On one of the units I float to there is a significant nurse-tech war. People are quitting over there. Nurses and techs alike.

There have been tech meetings which the nurses call "nurse bashing sessions".

On another unit there is nurse-tech tension building.

I have a good rapport with a few of the techs and have had open discussion about this. I was surprised to hear that mental health techs feel that taking vital signs is not in their job description. So doing VS is perceived as a favor. But there is literally no way that morning meds will get done if the nurse has to do it all. No way. RNs have to do blood glucose checks in this facility also.

Clearly there are serious issues concerning expectations about job description.

Anyone have strategies for solving this problem?

It has to come from the top down. If the techs are allowed to choose their own duties, they're going to take advantage of that fact. From my experience, short-staffed facilities have the most tension and the most conflict because everyone's in "survival" mode.

One job I worked at actually had "chain of command" postings on every unit. If a CNA went to the nursing manager, the nursing manager would refer them to discuss their concerns with their direct supervisor- the nurse.

It worked well because everyone knew what was expected of them and who they were expected to take direction from. In extreme cases, I assume a direct supervisor could be passed over in favor of someone higher up.

[operations]

Lol how often do you have to do vitals on MH floor? Like once a shift... And they are really complaining? Sounds like passive management. Unfortunately where I used to work, nurses thought that delegating as much as humanly possible at all times was appropriate. And then, I would complete all their tasks only to find out that they told my manager I wasn't doing those things at my review... everything I did was DOCUMENTED. I had the boss look it up and catch them in their lies!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

There is absolutely nothing you can do about this. Management would need to address it.