I know this is by NO MEANS a new topic...but I am at the end of my rope. I am over the griping, bickering and all-out bitterness between ER/ICU/Floor nurses. I have been a nurse for 12 years and in doing so have covered all areas. I am now a per diem (working full time hrs) ER nurse and simply stated. I am tired. I am exhausted, hungry and ****** after 12 hrs, but the icing on the shift? Hearing that others have the time to BADMOUTH the ER during their shift--while they fix our mistakes, blah, blah, blah.
Fastforward to speaking with our new manager who states she wants to work on the division that exisits between the different areas. Her idea didn't really impress me, no need to elaborate. But here I sit at 0100, not sleeping, reading old blogs about team building and conflict resolution...which leads me to ask, "Does anything work? Is there anything that I can do to remedy this situation?" I think there is too much talk, not enough focus on why we are there--to take care of the patient. I could go on for days. I beg...any thoughts? Ideas?
It's an issue without a resolution and there never will be a resolution, in my opinion. There is animosity between any two types of nursing that are different. Hospital and LTC, ER and floor, some people even make ADN and BSN a topic. While I personally have had plenty of moments where I was mad at the ER as a floor nurse or the floor as an ER nurse, I'm generally laid back and let stuff just bounce off me. I think that's the best way to handle, well, anything in the ER. Whether it's a floor nurse being unprofessional or a patient calling you every name in the book, just realize they're being stupid and don't let it ruin your day.
I am really intrigued by your hospital's implementation of this concept, NO50FRANNY. :)
Hi there,
Just wanted to post a quick response about how our rotation system started. I asked my educator for you. She said that years ago they were trying to bring in strategies to improve communication between ED + the wards and address the US Vs Them mentality. They tried an "adopt an ED nurse" program, so that each ward knew a staff member and could exchange shifts and so on which failed miserably because although the ED nurses would go to the ward the ward nurses wouldn't come to ED (which I get). So, they thought they would start a crit care swap. The nurse managers (writers of rosters) and nurse educators from both ICU and ED got together and figured out that a 3 month swap was a reasonable option, then started encouraging people to do them. My educator said she was really surprised at how many nurses wanted to go "upstairs" so it just took off from there. It started with good managers and educators working together, like any good system I guess.
brainkandy87
321 Posts
It's an issue without a resolution and there never will be a resolution, in my opinion. There is animosity between any two types of nursing that are different. Hospital and LTC, ER and floor, some people even make ADN and BSN a topic. While I personally have had plenty of moments where I was mad at the ER as a floor nurse or the floor as an ER nurse, I'm generally laid back and let stuff just bounce off me. I think that's the best way to handle, well, anything in the ER. Whether it's a floor nurse being unprofessional or a patient calling you every name in the book, just realize they're being stupid and don't let it ruin your day.