Please help, how do I handle this??

[pink2blue1]

I am a new LVN on my 7th week of orientation. I was given 8 weeks, but most usually get 10-12 weeks of orientation. I think I am receiving less because I have worked on this unit for 3 years prior to becoming a nurse so I am familiar with how things work, just need to get oriented as a nurse and all that.

Anyways, Everything has gone very smoothly until Friday. I have been moved up to 5 patients on my own now and the first day went fine. Friday came and I had a group with A LOT of stuff, but I never needed to be bailed out. A few problems cropped up and this got me a little behind but not bad. It was a HUGE day of firsts for me. First critical lab value, first time to flush a foley catheter, first time to do a sterile dressing change (since school anyways) first time dealing with TPN/LIPIDS, first time I had to send a patient to a STAT MRI after he arrived to the unit after a Lumbar decompression L5-S1 and he had a huge bulge to the right of the incision. Oh and then one of my patients Dr's ordered remicade for her and this protocol took up a lot of my time and my preceptors time. Anyways what happened was.....

During the shift I got a phone order to flush a patients foley because the urine was bloody. When we could not pull back after the flush we were concerned, so I decided I would bladder scan, found 253 cc in his bladder. So my preceptor tried to irrigate, wouldn't work, so Dr ordered us to remove the foley and if he hadn't voided in an hour, to re-insert it. We pulled out the foley and there was a clot in the tip. Well he voided after exactly an hour but only 100 and was refusing the foley. I told him I would let him go a half hour more and that when I did his accu check I would re-scan him. Wen I re-scanned him he had 507 and I told him we would have to re-insert the catheter. We decided to get a coude but that took time. Meanwhile I was prepping a pt for MRI and the remicade issue came up. Ok bottom line is that when I came on shift Saturday I find this nurse who had my group being TOTALLY rude to me and yelling that she had to call the Dr for orders to flush the foley because there were none. I told her I wrote them and I did. So I flipped to where they were and she said "It's too far back" um, ok. So then all the other nurses are like "Oh she did write them?" so I can only imagine what she went on about over night. I apologized that she didn;t see it and I said to her if I say I did something, I did it. She kept going on and on and on and wouldn't stop. She was being rude, mean, nasty and just kept going on in the middle of the station with 12 nurses and a CNA and wouldn't quit and wouldn't look me in the eye! Then on the way out she says Oh and you did not give the protonix (IV PUSH) or the dulcolax suppositories! and walked off. Well the protonix was not given (And she knew this from the night before) because I can't given it and the remicade was being dealt with by my preceptor. The remicade needed to be increased every 15 mins, so we decided to get that all done for her so she wouldn't have to deal with it at the beginning of her shift anf leave the protonix (due at 7PM) for her. As for the dulcolax supp, I looked in Emar and they weren't even entered by pharmacy until 5AM the next day!

The reason I am upset is #1, the way she came at me in the middle of the station instead of talking to me in a civil manner and then just digging deeper as she walked out and #2.....She was a new grad just a year ago herself. This nurse is younger than I am, but she is an RN (I'm an LVN) she is frequently in bad moods and nasty to people and patients. But I do not like the way she just confronted me instead of sitting with my preceptor and I.

What should I do? it totally ruined my self esteem. I have been doing really good and Friday was my most challenging day ever and if I I forgot to do with all that I had to do was give a dulcolax supp, well ok. It wasn't on Emar before I left, I checked. But ok. One nurse told me go to my super, but I dont; want to. I worked with this girl as her equal as a CNA just a year ago, and now she's become a class a you know what!

[nursejourney]

We all have bad days and it sounds like both of you had a bad day. Remember, we all have lives outside of our work and you never know what is going on in the life of another nurse... so always be patient.

Consider meeting the other nurse on neutral ground. Ask her to share your morning tea break (away from the staff tea room)/ or have a coffee after work hours would be even better. You need to tell the nurse your feelings. Tell her how you feel humiliated by the way she targeted you in front of everyone.

Be sure to remain calm. Do not raise your voice or get "emotional". Simply state the fact that you have been hurt. Wait for her reaction and then calmly reinforce your feelings. Ask her if she realises the impact it has had on you. If she does, then you have aired the simmering stew and things should be a bit better. If she doesn't then you may need to bring in a higher "authority" power to seek a conflict resolution. By this I mean that you will perhaps need to go to your preceptor/and or supervisor and advise them of your situation and how it has affected you. But before you do this, you have to give your fellow nurse the benefit of the doubt. We all have bad days.

Stay focused, and always do your best work. That's all you can do. Other nurses notice "the workers" and "the lazy ones", and it sounds like you want to be a "worker". So this will reflect in your practice and you will be the beneficiary.