I supervise 2 nurses that I really feel are past their prime. These two nurses are older and have a lot of experience(none of which they would share with a new nurse today:cry:) But I think that 25 years ago, they were just as mean and nasty as they are today.
One nurse is the RN 11p-7a supervisor( I dscribe her as "Sour and bitter" and the other is a 3-11p direct patitent nurse. I am old enough to be their daughter or granddaughter. And in the past they have been very disrespectful to previous DON's and ADON's. I have spoken to each about improving patient care, internal and external customer service. These are also long time employees of the company. I do believe that they are valued employees but they are very resistant to change.
I hold all nurses accountable for their work and in the past they were not held to any standards. OLD habits are very hard to break but I have to think about quality patient care(Which can become poor or lacking when not checked).
I am very mindful about the nasty nurse types and I want to do what I can to get rid of that stereo type. But are some nurses just past their prime?
Does anyone work with nurses that are simply just Grumpy and Nasty ALL of THE TIME!
How do we help these nurses? Are they beyond help? We have begun progressive dicipline actions and re education with all nurses. I believe in rewarding those that are a team players. I just don't want the negative attitude to continue to spread.:typing
I am not sure if the OP using the word 'prime' was meant to be offensive. Sometimes, when we express ourselves, and it is a passionate or emotional subject at the moment, we tend to use the first word that comes to mind. At first glance, I did believe it could have meant older nurses, but after reading it, I began to think that it meant disenchanted nurses. Now, why many nurses are disenchanted can make a list a mile long. But, I want to give it a chance to begin discussing what can be done to bring nurses together...a thing that has plagued me.
you could be right, pagan.
maybe we're reading it too literally?
maybe, op was referencing a longtime nurse who has peaked then burned out.
afterall, she did state that it was likely these nurses were grumpy in their youth, which would make their age irrelevant anyway.
I was just in the same situation - managing 7 lpn's. The info I got from upper management was warning me "they don't like change", etc, etc.
So, I was sent to management classes to study generational work personalities. We had a journal club to study the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. I made schedules more flexible, gave staff more weekends off, streamlined the way the unit functioned. The end result? Most staff really appreciated it. One staff who was allowed to behave badly long before I got there - continued to behave badly and I got NO back up to do the sucessive write-ups needed to take her behavior to the next level with HR.
I think "prime" has nothing to do with it. Old or young, no one has permission to take out thier emotions on people around them. That's vertical violence - and it's another form of workplace harassment. The nurse I dealt with thought that she had permission to be rude and short with people because she had no consequences from it before. She had no desire to look at why she did that, and told me where to go. I also struggled with how much she contributed in knowledge vs how much she held back everyone with her negative attitude.
At some point, her and I had the "this unit is going a different direction and I need you on board with me" talk - and she had no intention of going my way. Without backing from my bosses, it was a waste of my time to burn myself out for her. all that fancy management stuff taught me that!
Over all, a great story. You took a place with a group of bitter, discouraged staff and through effective management and professional empowerment, managed to turn all but 1 of them around. That last hold out of negativity may be so wounded be the previous managements-"they don't like change" label and the lack of professional respect that came with it, that she is going to live up to the expectation that was foisted on her long before you got there. Writing up attitude is difficult-I wouldn't expect it from peers.
It sounds like you are doing a great job!-I think you have been far more sucessful than I would have thought possible. As for your hold out, don't give up- It's hard not to sing when you are standing in the choir-she may just take a while to learn the new songs.
All I can think of is what I told another nurse when we were having to deal with the meanest 95 year patient I've seen (or could imagine). Mean, nasty and vicious young people sometimes grow up to be mean, nasty and vicious old people (or middle aged people, for that matter). And unfortunately, some of these people also grow up to be nurses.
i'm one of those nurses in their prime .. actually i'm over the hill and startin up a new one... anyway , yes there are bitter older nurses and there are young bitter nurses,,, people are only human.. and you will meet these type of people in any profession. i have worked for almost 23 years and thats just how life is... i've worked with all types and have even had my days where my nerves were shot and i just not sure if i could do it mentally.. and i get really quiet and i pray to make it through the shift .. sane...lol... just treat everyone wiith love , because you don't know what they are going through inside their lives .. or the stress they feel at work
I used to work with a nurse that was 75 yrs young. She ran circles around the rest of us and was always willing to help out the next person. I've also worked with nurses that were in their 20's & 30's that were "crabby and mean". It is not age alone that determines someone's attitude.
Years ago, the nurses were able to give more hands on care and spend more time with the residents/ patients. These days, it is all about documentation (paperwork), to the point of being an assembly line. I understand why they wouldn't want to change anymore. They were taught to give their all to the person they were caring for and not the dotted line to please the state or federal gov't.
I have found that when I need to change something, I try to explain the reasoning behind it (new regs). I have also said that I will not bring out new forms or policies unless that means it will end with an easier why of doing things for the nurses.
wait, let me get my spectacles and see if i can find the keyboard....i do take offense at the "nurses past their prime" phrase...we have (and i am one of them) nurses in our hospital that can out work any of the younger nurses...and do !!! we have gone through many changes in our years working and are usually ready to adapt...
sure you are going to see some "ole grumpy ones" but, let me tell you, i have seen many "young, nasty ones", too.
amen to that. i'm sort of right in the middle age wise, and i must say i feel a lot more comfortable around the older nurses than the young ones, generally speaking. young girls nowadays have to deal with a lot, and seem really hardened. they just seem extremely sarcastic and not genuine -- and i feel uncomfortable around them.
i don't understand how any nurse that was pulling his/her weight could be considered "washed up" or past their prime. um, we have a nursing shortage going on, don't we? isn't it great to have a nurse you can staff who can do the job and do it so well? i don't follow this logic at all.
Please do not write off the older nurse. Many are valuable members of the team and their years of experience are an important resource. The older gals I work with are wise wonderful nurses that have important lessons to pass on if you listen.
after seeing the title, i was definitely drawn to this topic, although my take on it is dif than the OP's experience.
the RN on my shift (nights at a LTC) is 60 and she is very, very nice and she'd help you if you asked her to but she cannot hear and she can barely walk.
coming from a busy med-surg floor at a large hospital, when i was new i turned to her for advice.
i was trying to figure out what a certain medication was (hydroxyzine) so i asked her by the generic name because our only med books did not have it listed.
she looked it up on her PDA (she's very tech saavy, as it happens) and helpfully announced the drug was aka phenergan.
now, i'm only aware of two names for that drug, neither of which is even remotely close to hydroxyzine so i politely asked if she was sure and she showed me her pda, which confirmed that i had not gone stupid.
i asked her a few more questions and thanked her.
after several other conversations w/her, it is very clear that she cannot hear to the point of not even understanding what you are asking. how on earth does she talk to the residents?
as for walking, one time the med cart got away from her and she actually fell. another time, a full-code arrested and it was on her hall, and by the time she got to the resident's room, EMS was already there.
ack!
now i realize her health problems have a lot to do w/that. but i seriously have to question the safety of her continuing to work. but she is needed since she is the token RN for the shift.
there is no polite or good way to say "your health issues negatively impact your patients and put them at risk and therefore you should retire"
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i supervise 2 nurses that i really feel are past their prime. these two nurses are older and have a lot of experience(none of which they would share with a new nurse today:cry:) but i think that 25 years ago, they were just as mean and nasty as they are today.
one nurse is the rn 11p-7a supervisor( i dscribe her as "sour and bitter" and the other is a 3-11p direct patitent nurse. i am old enough to be their daughter or granddaughter. and in the past they have been very disrespectful to previous don's and adon's. i have spoken to each about improving patient care, internal and external customer service. these are also long time employees of the company. i do believe that they are valued employees but they are very resistant to change.
i hold all nurses accountable for their work and in the past they were not held to any standards. old habits are very hard to break but i have to think about quality patient care(which can become poor or lacking when not checked).
i am very mindful about the nasty nurse types and i want to do what i can to get rid of that stereo type. but are some nurses just past their prime?
does anyone work with nurses that are simply just grumpy and nasty all of the time!
how do we help these nurses? are they beyond help? we have begun progressive dicipline actions and re education with all nurses. i believe in rewarding those that are a team players. i just don't want the negative attitude to continue to spread.:typing
i look forward to your coments:wink2:
i'm not quite sure what your problem is -- is it the age of these nurses? are they competent? or you don't like their attitudes? your post is skirting age discrimination -- actually, it's discriminatory!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
you could be right, pagan.
maybe we're reading it too literally?
maybe, op was referencing a longtime nurse who has peaked then burned out.
afterall, she did state that it was likely these nurses were grumpy in their youth, which would make their age irrelevant anyway.
leslie
but the original post was quite focused on the age of these nurses as a problem. i find that extremely irritating. if the grumpiness is the issue, why not focus on that?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
thanks for your reply.
your response is our current plan and we are giving this plan some time. we understand that we are all getting to know each other and building a new trusting relationship. but i am really concerned about the next nursing generation that are working under very negative conditions. i know that nursing eats its young, i just dont want the next generation of nurses to become discouraged or repeat the same negative behaviors that they are seeing. their are so many wonder things that i am looking forward to rolling out for all of the staff. i am looking for very strong, motivated nursing leaders that take pride in the art of nursing .
boy, you're on a roll here -- first ageism and now the equally offensive "i know nurses eat their young! i'd advise you to check your attitudes before you start attempting to correct someone else's!
all that fancy management stuff taught me that!
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
you could be right, pagan.
maybe we're reading it too literally?
maybe, op was referencing a longtime nurse who has peaked then burned out.
afterall, she did state that it was likely these nurses were grumpy in their youth, which would make their age irrelevant anyway.
leslie