aap2020

Hindsight is 20/20. Note to self: never sign an employment contract ??‍♀️ Thanks for the words of wisdom.

This is my thought exactly. Take aim at the people who genuinely want to keep systemic racism prevalent. Take aim at the people who want to continue to wave their white privilege in your face and keep you down. Take aim at the people who still believe that an entire race of human beings is “less than” simply based on the color of their skin. Don’t ready your guns against someone who wants to stand beside you in that fight and scream for the injustice that has been served to you and your ancestors for centuries. *Rant over*

I’m not sure if it is “normal”, but it is the job I was hired to do, and one which, according to my DON, I am doing exceptionally well at. As far as my co-workers go, I am not the direct supervisor for any other nurse, all nurses report directly to the ADON, I simply make the daily assignments, and determine who gets which patients/admissions for each shift. I’m more than fair about it, and usually end up assigning the more difficult cases to myself in an effort to show that I’m not above getting my hands dirty. I am only directly supervising PCT’s and CNA’s. I never had any issue with techs or nurses until the tension arose between myself and the tech mentioned in my original post. Prior to that, we all worked together quite well.

I hate that this is even an issue. I don’t see color, I don’t judge people by the tone of their skin. I draw my conclusions from their level of integrity, their work ethic and the way they treat others. Unfortunately, this is the time in which we live. If this were another white person I would not hesitate to write them up, or file a complaint, but because racial inequality is still so prevalent in society today, I proceed with extreme caution anytime I am at a crossroads with someone of a different race. I just wish that she had taken the time to get to know me before assuming that I was just another white person looking to “put her in her place” as she bluntly stated when I wrote her up. If she knew my views and that I whole-heartedly agree with the unfairness of the world we live in, she and I might have been able to have a decent working relationship. If the meeting set with the DON doesn’t produce any results, I already have feelers out there for other hospitals, but hopefully some resolution will come out of it.

I finally had to write her up when she decided that she would take an hour and a half lunch. After another tech came and told me that she was boasting “yeah, I was supposed to be back 30 minutes ago, but let the poor girl suffer for a while without me.” I knew I had to stop tiptoeing around her. She went ballistic and walked out mid-shift after I asked her to sign the disciplinary form. She has now been assigned to another unit, but I have a feeling the backlash is still to come.

I am very quickly developing the same attitude toward the people I work with. I don’t need them to like me, I just need them to do their job. I fed my concerns up the chain of command. We now have a meeting set with the DON and the administrator; Hopefully something will come out of it.

I’ve started a documentation journal of everything. It may not change the situation, but it might give me an out when it comes to my contract...hopefully.

I wish I could, but I paid a good portion of my student loans off with it. Sigh.

I attempted to confront, or rather, discuss the current climate with the night nurse, it did not go well. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully this is just growing pains, and maybe it will all work out.

Thanks for the advice, Daisy. I will have to add the “strip naked and drag myself over glass” to my repertoire ?.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I’m praying that with enough time and effort, we can at least come to a civil understanding and learn to work with each other rather than be at odds.

Thank you kindly!

I will go ahead and state that this may be a sensitive topic, so please forgive me ahead of time if I offend anyone, it is not my intention. I just need some advice from people who may have experienced the same thing I am. This may get a little long-winded. I am a new grad nurse who just took a position as a charge nurse on a post-acute unit. I absolutely LOVE my job from a clinical standpoint. I love my patients, and the environment is ever changing so it keeps me on my toes. I learned more the first day on the floor than any clinical rotation during school...which is awesome! That being said, my work environment is hostile. I'm the new kid on the block, and I get that there will be people who don't like me no matter where I work, but this feels like more than that. I am Caucasian, one of only two Caucasians who work on this unit. There is one particular tech who has been here since Jesus was a baby, and she makes my life hell. No matter how politely I ask her to do something, she refuses if it's not something she wants to do right then. Ugh. I've offered to help her in completing certain tasks in an effort to establish that I am not "that nurse" who feels that I am above the work that techs do...still didn't matter. She gives me an attitude, raises her voice above mine every time I speak and just flat out disrespects me any opportunity she gets. She and I had a disagreement about the way she spoke to a patients family. The family came for a compassionate care visit to see their loved one who was dying from covid complications. This tech was rude, disrespectful and basically made a heartbreaking situation more difficult for this family. I pulled the tech aside and asked her to let me handle the family from that point forward. After the family left she proceeded to attack me and claimed that I think I'm better than her because I am white. Wait, what?!! How did this become a race issue? Since then there is tension with everyone I work with. I've had several other nurses and techs approach me and ask me if I really did call her the "N" word (which is a term that I have never and will never use or be OK with). The nurse who is on the same rotation as me for night shift is close with this tech. Since the disagreement, the night nurse has gone above and beyond to make it known she does not like me. She leaves nasty notes instructing me to do things, she will chart pertinent information about patients and claim she gave report to day nurse, but actually doesn't tell me about it. She throws me under the bus any chance she can. There's much more, but that's the gist of it, and it is making the stress of being a new nurse so much worse. I've attempted to speak to both the tech and the night nurse, and that made things so much worse. I went to management and nothing changed. I actually had one manager tell me it's best if I just keep my head down and mouth shut to avoid conflict. Seriously?!! I'm to the point where I would almost rather play in traffic blindfolded than to come to work. Here in lies the issue... I signed a 2 year contract with a sign-on bonus (which I cannot afford to pay back right now). What else can I do? Has anyone else been in a similar situation where you feel like your voice isn't being heard because of your race, religion, gender etc.?