Nurses rat on nurses

[rscarlatti]

I have noticed a disturbing trend amoung nurses. I am new to nursing so maybe I am wrong. Nurses seem not to have any loyality to each other. I have seen many nurses sell out, tell on, rat out, or whatever other description you would like to use. I am a male RN who has spent the last 7 years as a firefighter / Paramedic. I realize that the Fire service is not a fair comparison. Within the service there is a very strong tradition of not giving up your brother/sister firefighter. In nursing there seems to be no control on this behavior. The loyality to each other is stronger than any loyality to a system because you place your life in your fellow firefighters hands and the system can't do that for you. I have had feedback from others who attribute it to the fact that nursing is a female dominated profession but that does not feel right. Female firefighters adhere to the standards of silence as strongly as their male conterparts. I have also heard this tradition blamed on The Sisters of Mercy. That they began the tradition of loyality to the system over your fellow nurses and that it as well as eating our young is a legacy from them. I would like to here from other nurses male and female on this topic as well as some suggestions for change.

[Nadine RN]

I have worked in a couple of hospitals and I have to say that as a relatively new grad (3years ago) I have been appalled at the lack of solidarity nurses show each other. I am disillusioned beyond belief. Everyone is so busy watching their backs that patient care suffers. No one trusts their co-workers and with good reason. In a profession where we need to support each other with the political work climate what it is, I find this extremely disheartening.

[nurseJLoo]

MALE NURSES ARE THE BOMB!

[sjoe]

JLoo shouts: "MALE NURSES ARE THE BOMB!"

But what's the target? (Or is this some kind of youth slang I'm not familiar with?)

Norbert writes: "Health care in general and nursing in particular will never attain the camaraderie & brotherhood you elude too. There is no one with benevolent intentions watching your back but you."

Sad to say, all too true in most cases. There ARE small, isolated, functional pockets here and there, scattered thinly across the country. Of course, nobody quits jobs in these pockets, so there are rarely any openings there for the rest of us! And, of course, when these places are bought out by larger concerns whose managers quickly take note that people are loathe to leave, you can bet that cuts in pay and benefits and increases in workload will be soon to follow.

Nadine writes: "No one trusts their co-workers and with good reason. In a profession where we need to support each other with the political work climate what it is, I find this extremely disheartening."

I agree, and I reiterate--This is a MANAGEMENT problem! Where are the competent managers and supervisors, let alone leaders? Where are the training programs for those promoted to these positions who do not have the skills or training (99%+)? THIS is what is wrong with nursing, IMHO.

[askater11]

My concern regarding ratting on "each other"....I worked on 4 different units.

2 units I worked you never seen nurses "ratting" on one another. They worked together. It was a relaxed environment. We worked as a group. We were there for each other. We felt comfortable asking questions to one another. If there was a concern regarding another nurse we'd discuss it one-on-one...if need be discuss it with supervision and see if we could work out the situation.

The other 2 units there were nurses out to get your neck. It was not a relaxed unit. You had to watch your own back. One time I got in trouble for asking a question...it was regarding policy...and the manager came to me the following day...and said..."I should not be asking questions...I should know that" Come on I'm a new R.N.

[ohbet]

Somewhere ,from someone,I was once told that some of us need to put down others so they can feel good about themseves,self esteem issue.

Do fire men have a healthy self esteem and do nurses have a low self esteem,hence the put downs?

[Disablednurse]

Reminds me of where I used to work, instead of helping each other, everybody was so intent on reporting everything to get each other in trouble. Never could get people to work together and not "tell on" each other. Just like a group of first graders with the "I'm gonna tell" attitude.

[baseline]

One thing I would like to point out. An incident report should not be deemed punative. It is a report of an unplanned, or unexpected event. As one who used to review these reports, I looked for trends.

Did one nurse make the same or similar mistakes several times? If so, I would talk with that nurse, and often some remedial work or suggestions would solve the problem.

Was there a systems problem? In one circumstance, we changed the way abx were delivered to the units. It solved the problem almost entirely.

I also noted the "frivolous" reports, and discussed them with the unit manager and risk manager and treated them with all the respect they deserved and filed them accordingly.

Although I cannot speak for all hospitals, I know that in many, there would be a similar system in place.

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Oh! That it shoould ONLY be a case of "Protecting the Patient". I recently worked in a large ICU which had a habit of employing mostly new grads and had a culture of "By the numbers nursing" Patients had second hourly eye care given whether or not they required it but because it was "What should be done!" Any nurse not following this regime was suspect and gossiped about. As a consequence few staff who had experience elsewhere stayed there and they certainly would not be given any opportunities for advancement. In this way it became self rewarding. Even the nasty attitude toward agency staff became rewarding as more "double shifts" were available at mass overtime for staff. Strangely this wasn't entirely conscious but an adaptation to the prevailing culture of eat or be eaten. Various strategies were used including unrealistic expectations - one nurse was "told off" for not checking the safety equipment within 30 minutes of the staert of her shift and her defence that the patient was very unstable and required emergency interventions were dismissed as her not trying hard enough. Interventions which were quite reasonable were questioned on whim with the "goalposts" continually being moved i.e. One day you would be in trouble for ceasing oxygen on a young patient with So2 of 97% on room air the next day you would be in trouble for not ceasing oxygen therapy on a patient who only had an SAO2 of 94 % on 4 lpm! Could go on but this is real and has NOTHING to do with protecting patients!

[BrandieRNq]

Question: What would you do in this situation?

I came on shift and was reviewing am vitals. Mrs. A had b/p of 178/106. Went to assess her, no other acute signs, no HA, visual disturbance, etc. HR, RR normal, no pain or any other distress... Reviewed her meds...still searching for a reason...just about to call the Doc when something tells me to check out the Clonidine patch to her chest. I peeled of the white "covering" to the patch and what do you know, there is no Clonidine patch! The nurse who applied the patch 3 days earlier clearly did not realize that the white "cover" is not the medicine (despite the fact that it is clearly written on the label). I immediately applied the dosage, rechecked the b/p 1 hour later with a result of 140/88. What would you have done regarding the nurse who made the mistake?

[fab4fan]

I would have written an incident report describing the above, and given a copy to the nurse manager (or however you handle incident reports in your facility).

[Disablednurse]

I would also have spoken to the nurse responsible for the error, to help her learn from her mistake.

[sunnygirl272]

ditto disable and fab4...