I nearly had a meltdown last night. You don't have to read this, I'm just venting, but by talking about it now I can let go and move on. I'm off for two days. I'm moving to my new unit on Sunday and hopefully will be alright.
I come on at 6:45 and I'm in charge. We have no secretary, which is the normal. Phone is ringing off the hook, family members all lined up at the desk with questions, get through report. Call staffing "where is the agency nurse we were getting." Answer "we cancelled him in favor of another nurse and left a message on her maching" Me: "You cancelled a confirmed nurse and don't have confirmation on her replacement". "She'll be there, I'm sure". Day shift nurse wants to leave graciously stays but vents her anger at me. Call supervisor "Please, if I'm f*cked let me know right now, I'll take the patients and there will be no charge nurse for a while".
They send me an ICU that was in the ER to take care of ICU patients in my intermediate unit and I pull one of "my" nurses out. She literally cusses me out one side and down another. Seriously pissed, and I understand. Sorry. ICU nurse isn't happy either. Sorry.
Phone still ringing off the hook. Radiology transportor screams "I've been waiting for help with this patient and none of you want to help me". "I NEVER HEARD YOU ASK FOR HELP AND WE AREN'T SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING!!!!!!!". Charge nurse helps tranporter.
Recovery room calls wanting bed they've been waiting on. I explain when the patient in their is discharged, as you already know. 15 minutes later recovery room "we're still waiting", me "yes patient is not through with her IV med, AS I SAID I WILL CALL YOU". 15 minutes later recovery room on the phone again "we've been waiting....blah blah blah" I literally scream in to the phone "STOP HARRASSING ME!!!!" and hang up on her. She calls back "Did you just hang up on me". Me "Yes, CLICK SLAM".
I'll spare you the rest, but it went on like this for a few more hours.
I took a deep breath. Walked to recovery room and apoligized in person for my behavior and that I was very sorry and wrong and she shouldn't have gotten the brunt of my anger. She said she talked to her coworkers who know me well, and got the felling it was not the real me and was willing to let it go. But at that point I wanted to beg her to write me up so I could get fired.
I've done this job for 10 years, I can do it. But I've never hung up on anyone in that kind of anger and frustration before. I'm famous for my serenity and it takes A LOT to get me frazzled.
Am I loosing it? Burning Out? Need a vacation? Need to get out of nursing? Shut up and quit my whining, you get paid to do this job? Sigh.
I don't understand. You pulled one of your nurses "out" to do what?.... And WHY would she be cussing you out up one side and down the other??? And you say she is justified?? and you understand her behavior??
And, you say to supervisor, "if I'm Farq** , let me know now, ."
It sounds like you lost it right there on the 1st presumption.....
presuming super is a dolt......for making a crummy decision. But, they came thru with a nurse for you. What you did next: was your choices for pulling your nurse and where you assigned the ICU nurse...........a part of the problem? Is there anything you could have done to avoid pulling your nurse.?
Sounds like no teamwork.
Have you been working overtime shifts? Burnout usually comes with overtime. How many hours a week do you work?
I don't understand. You pulled one of your nurses "out" to do what?.... And WHY would she be cussing you out up one side and down the other??? And you say she is justified?? and you understand her behavior??
And, you say to supervisor, "if I'm Farq** , let me know now, ."
It sounds like you lost it right there on the 1st presumption.....
presuming super is a dolt......for making a crummy decision. But, they came thru with a nurse for you. What you did next: was your choices for pulling your nurse and where you assigned the ICU nurse...........a part of the problem? Is there anything you could have done to avoid pulling your nurse.?
Sounds like no teamwork.
Have you been working overtime shifts? Burnout usually comes with overtime. How many hours a week do you work?
I've known the supervisor many years, we have that type of relationship that I can talk to her like that. It was a staffing/agency blunder the supervisor wasn't involved in that, but I was letting the super know of my situation and asking her to intervene if she could to provide an answer for me. It was one hour into our shift and we were a nurse short on the med-surg side of the unit I was in charge of. I was tired of waiting for an answer, I needed to know was I or was I not getting a nurse. If I was f***ed and not getting a nurse, tell me now so I can go to plan B (which would have been for me to take a full assignment, which doesn't bother me, but I wanted to get busy, the patients needed caring for). Let's not drag it out.
We also have an intermediate unit. In that unit were two ICU overflow patients (nonvented but 2:1 critical care). One of "my" med-surg nureses was taking care of them.
The only solution for getting me a nurse was for the supervisor to pull an ICU nurse from the ER to relieve my nurse to come to the floor.
So one hour into the shift the nurse that was in overflow (who happens to have ICU credentials which is why she was taking care of them, but is one of "my" staff) has to come out and change her assign to med-surg and gets a late start. She's angry. I understand her anger. I would be angry too if my assignement changed one hour into my shift. But of course her behavior I don't condone at all.
Does that make it any more clearer? It was just a bad night. I've had those before. Sometimes people "no show" and you just have to adjust. We are in Florida, so winter is always our "season" and it slows down in the summer. Winters are always stressful.
Teamwork? What's that?
I've been working 3 12-hour shifts a week for the past month because that's all I can stand. I would like to work more, but don't dare.
I understand what you're saying 3rd shift guy. Thanks for taking the time. It is too bad the ICU nurse didn't simply take the med-surg patients. And leave the other nurses where she was with her two patients. It seems the ICU nurse pulled from ER had her own demands/requirements. That's why I asked, Teamwork? In our hospital, when you're into the shift, the nurse being pulled goes to wherever the charge nurse sends her...no control freaks allowed....she would not be permitted to pull any "preferential status" crap simply because she is ICU most of the time. The agency nurse would have taken the med-surg and so should the ICU nurse.
I see why the nurse taking care of the two threw such a fit...;after all, if she needed any help with the two patients, there was a charge nurse available as a resource person.
3rd shiftguy, can say it any better than what's been said, but I just wanted to add that I know just how you feel! And ,unfortunitately, we have all been there. I hope your new unit works out better. Take care, and let us know how you are doing. Hugs from me. zudy:kiss
Hey 3rd shift guy. I sure hope that your new job works out. If not it might be time to look outside of hospital nursing. Seems like no matter where you work in a hospital it is a variation on the same theme--mega stress.
Im just back at work this week after being signed off by my doc for 6 weeks due to stress so I know where your coming from.
Hopefully going to your new unit will be enough of a change for you to get your head together again, if not you really need to take some time,be it sick time, holiday(vacation) time and get away from it all. I was totally ready to just pack it all in and go work behind a bar somewhere before my time off, but now Im back after putting things in perspective a much calmer and saner person.
Hope your doing ok, enjoy any time off that you get.
Even though I do not work in acute care, I am so relating to what you people are talking about. I'm feeling burnt out lately too. I'm getting very impatient with my co-workers and I just can't stomach the stupid short-sighted decisions that admin has been making recently.
I hope I'm not burning bridges, but during a meeting this week with my peer representitives, I called the VP of nursing out on recent staffing decisions made. I was congratulated by my peers for being brave and for sounding diplomatic, but I am worried that I am crossing a line here. Not a good idea to get into the bad books of the VP (in a perfect world, it would be okay to assert ones self, but I work with people who hold grudges).
A policy was made before Christmas to recoup budget overages by no longer approving OT or agency staff during day shifts and forcing the unit staff to "make do with reduced staff". This decision has had a direct bearing on my unit and there are a lot of very unhappy people. I told the VP that I could not see how they could justify purposely forcing a unit to work short. I admonished her for allowing such a short-sighted policy to be approved. She, of course, passed the blame on to middle management, but I think I got my point across. She tried to justify the decision by saying she has not seen any impact on morale. This just frustrates me further because I definately have been vocal to my manager on how I think the decision is effecting morale -- but of course as usual, this is dismissed as whining. So frustrating!
Better stop before I hurt myself . Thanks for listening.
. Thanks for listening.
P_RN, ADN, RN
6,011 Posts
All of the above. I want to tell you how impressed I am that you went to the PACU and apologised in person. That says a LOT about who you are.