Nursula_rn

Getting the he** out of here now. The supervisor is indeed the bully and while it seemed paranoid at the time, I made notes regarding what and when. What to do with this information? Not much. However- manager is aware, is bullied herself it would seem and has become tainted by the situation and is of no use when it comes to fixing the situation. She has encouraged me to leave. I might have wanted to stay, but the 10 years the bully has dedicated to the cause in this office have tainted the whole place and nobody is particularly untouched. This office has become poisoned. Everyone is just happy its not their turn today/this week/this month. Identifying someone new for her to bother is self preservation and a team sport. I look forward to leaving quickly, with whatever reference I have. With no serious reports of misconduct (unless you count just not being her best friend, and not handing out trophies for simply showing up to baby clinic), I am well prepared. What to do with the experience? The take-away message? Pick better lottery numbers.

Ah yes. The subjective Interpersonal Communication. This one gets us all. Its not what you do- its how you made other people feel about what you did and how you did it. Is this fair? Maybe. Finding a deficiency that cannot be measured with objecive tools is a good technique for ensuring that you are either attempting to improve, or attempting to leave. Are you perceived as deficient by your patients? Maybe- if you conduct business like you are doing calculus online and not working with people. But that might be measured by some kind of stats (mail-in reviews perhaps?). So its right back to how someone thinks you are doing or saying something, and the perceived motives you might have. Is this vague? Yes! Can you fix it? Yes! Yes? you say. Of course. We all nurse and chart like we are going to court. (Cover my *ss). Some of us work like there are cameras EVERYWHERE. (And maybe the walls are bugged). And now some of us are speaking to EVERYONE EVERYWHERE like we may be tipped. (Anyone remember waiting tables? Everyone got a smile, some good cheer, even that loudmouth with the picky palate).) So, now we are all on reality TV, at least in our minds. A little fake? Yes. But I have a sneaky suspicion that not even MY boss has all happy thoughts about this organization, and even she talks and acts like this is all one big nice place. We all must now pretend that its a combination Reality Television-Restaurant. Thats not so hard. I do dither. No kudos required.

I have also worked with a wide variety of colleagues- with varying degrees of accents. It is not racist or inappropriate to be concerned with how easy it is to communicate with one another. I am living in a cultural mosaic- no melting pot here. However- I have worked with nurses that were impossible to understand on taped report, telephone, and face-to-face verbal report. They spoke their mother tongue, to eachother, during shift, and sometimes on report. I was an agency nurse who would work the odd evening shift and I would have to call management of both facility and agency to get clarificiation. In the end, the facility was taken over by the government for various infractions (including difficulty communicating with staff). There were lessons to be learned by all: 1. These nurses were not supported to learn better english; their employer was required to offer classes (free of charge) to all nurses 2. The licensing body required appropriate language skills, and no longer allowed Graduate License to be held for as long as these nurses were allowed. As it turned out, the employer found a loophole to allow these nurses to work for a very long time with only a graduate license and not a full RN license. 3. The health region was much more stringent in their interviewing of foreign trained nurses, and would often panel them to ensure that they were understood by a group of managers (subjective, but arent all interviews?) As nurse, we must uphold ALL of our requirements and ethical standards. We cannot decide that thick accents and questionable functional English skills are okay as long as we EVENTUALLY figure out the situatin and the actions that need to be taken. I for one prefer to work with colleages who are able to share their knowledge freely and easily. It allows them the respect and dignity that we all want. Its amazing how unprofessional one can sound if they are always searching for words and repeating themselves. If your colleages do not want to give or take report from you, or if you are afraid to call a physician because you do not want to have to guess what he said, then there is no way this system is working. If you do not want to give report or get paged for the same reasons, you have a problem. I do not care if you are Quebecois in British Columbia or a Saskatooner in rural Moncton, if you are not understood or cannot understand- you have a problem. Let us not pretend that foreign trained nurses and doctors and allied health professionals are not helping with staffing shortages- but let us not forget that clear and concise communication is the cornerstone of any professional relationship. Bottom line? Its not racist. Its wanting to work on a level playing field where communication barriers are smaller due to our professoinalism, not larger due to our political correctness.

Keep your nose out of it. No no no no. If we are professionals, with a duty to ourselves and our clients, we would not adopt a head in the sand approach. A coworker with potential substance abuse issues and boundary issues needs to be checked. These rules were not in place by the BON to only apply if the employer stumbled across the information. We are not being snitches by reporting it (we are not snitching, we are being accountable). To suggest a shut up and mind your own bees wax policy is detrimental to nursing and this woman's sense of fair play. No boundaries and substance issues? Bad combination. Best to anonymously pass along info to correct BON and hope for the best. And yes- even the employer, if only at the national level, outside of the local chapter. Put a little more objectivity on this situation. Certainly this company at least pays lip service to the idea of accountability and professionalism in nursing. Clip this policy to the information/factual account and send it along to the national nursing adivisor or whoever.

Hi. I do not know if your employer conducts "exit interviews" with HR when you leave. One of my old employers did. It was conducted with an HR person, and went up the chain to be discussed regarding staffing, recruitment and retention to ensure that all was done to make the ward safe and well staffed. I know- sounds too good to be true. But that would be your chance to make a statement. The questions we were asked were the same for everyone, did not name names, and did not become part of your file. After that, I would have the urge to write a letter of truth when I was well into my next, better job. Anonymous to save my own name. Then name away. Then tell it like it is. And fire it at whomever is above those managers who did absolutely nothing for you. You can always clip a copy of the posting for the same job you are leaving with a copy of your complaint each time you think of it. (Hi Big Boss! I see that you have an opening in that crap hole again. I know why...) Oh- I know, petty. So this is half suggestion and half fantasy suggestion. Use your good judgement.

Childhood now extends into the upper 20s. It is no longer the case where you are raised to move out and fend for yourself. Many parents are happy to assist in extending their child's childhood because life is hard, and they want to protect their chidren from the hardships of life- like adulthood. It is no coincidence that helicopter parents and hover mothers coexist with this over-aged children. Many of our offspring will be insulated from the reality that is their adulthood by living at home or greatly subsidized by their parents- if you are not busy being consumed by your adulthood (working, being responsible enough to remain in your chosen occupation on a consistent basis, paying your own rent/cell bill/student loan; having adult relationships with other adults) you are free to spend time being a child. Consumed by yourself. Facebook all about you and yours- your clothes, your makeup, your new car/gadgets. Narcisism, prolonged childhood, and hover parents with boomerang children who keep coming back well into what used to be adulthood. Thats what we have going on, imho.