Performance Evaluation

[Guest1165913]

Hi, I have been a nurse going on four years now, and on the unit where I work, there is a "senior nurses vs. newer nurses" dynamic going on. Every year for evaluations since I have been employed, there is a senior nurse who does my performance evaluation which leads to my overall rating being an "inconsistent performance" (with the exception of one year where she was on family medical leave and another nurse did my evaluation, which wasn't a bad review). Just as a note, performance evaluations are done by two of our peers, one that we choose, and one that management chooses. I also want to note here that I work on an epilepsy monitoring unit that is small (9 patients max). No one is evaluated by more than two people.

The items that were listed leading to this rating is that I am "slow to rescue patients" meaning, if a patient is having a seizure, my response time is slow, which is not true, and the other comment made is that I "don't offer to help unless someone asks me to help" Any time there is an alarm or an emergency, I am prompt to respond and I help out my co-workers. If this were an issue, which is literally a patient safety issue, it should be addressed at the time that it happens and not thrown into an evaluation at the end of the year. I cannot recall a single time where patient safety has been of a concern under my care, but in 3 out of the 4 years that I have worked on this unit, there is something added to my evaluation that would generally be a red flag, something to addressed in the moment if it occurred and not in an evaluation at the end of the year. I have never had patient complaints against me, never had a write-up, and I feel blindsided, I am at a loss about what to do. The wording used in my evaluations each year have been identical, and denying that these claims are impossible since it is a literal she said/she said situation. I have not been in any hazardous situations involving patient care, and I don't feel my performance evaluation is accurate.

When I asked my manager what I can do to prove that these statements are false, or to prove to her that I am not slacking with patient care, especially in potential emergent situations, her answer is that I have to "have better time management" and that "towards the end of 2020 you are moving in the right direction" which doesn't really help me at all. I can be the fastest person on the unit, offer all the help in the world and all it takes is for someone to put in my peer evaluation that I didn't do it and there is no follow up, no question, and it is placed in my evaluation.

The particular nurse that I feel has been my "management chosen evaluator" every year is a senior nurse that questions everything that I do whenever we work together. She will ask me around evaluation time "oh, how was your eval?" "Was it good? What did management say?" and I thought evaluations were supposed to be confidential, but on this unit I have been told to my face that my performance eval has been discussed with other nurses by the manager, and that other nurses have "taken up for me" after the fact. Last year my performance evaluation was good, and I don't think it was just a coincidence that the nurse who would be given my name to evaluate was out on family leave that year and missed evaluation time, leading to a different nurse giving my peer review. I feel like I am at a loss, and I feel like going to HR would be pointless with there being no physical proof, and it would incite conflict. I don't know what I can do at this point.

[JKL33]

So when you receive your eval what do you do with it? Just curious.

I think the first time I saw unfounded remarks I would rebut them in writing and pursue it with my manager, stating that they are unsubstantiated and that I expect a neutral and fair evaluation. I would expect that my written rebuttal would be filed along with the evaluation.

In your case it appears that your manager's thought about you is consistent with the evals you are receiving from this person whom you believe is evaluating you unfairly. Certainly your manager has the ability to assign someone else to evaluate you, and she hasn't done that.

If you feel that there is a personal issue or personality mismatch or these people just don't like you for whatever reason - life's waaay to short for that. Find somewhere else. OTOH, if you think you there are strides you need to make in your practice then keep working on them.

This is an issue that is best handled in a matter-of-fact way, IMO. There's no proof it is an older vs. younger thing, there is no need for any of the rumor-mill facets of this about who did what. In general, work hard, ask for a neutral eval, otherwise keep it zipped.

Good luck! ??