JWG223

I guess my real question is this: Where in the hell were you when someone ELSE was the NM? Are you that clueless that you didn't pick up on how things went while you were working the unit you say you came from, which is the same one you are NM over, now? Did you not overhear and even form your own opinions on what was BS, and what was good stuff from management? I completely glossed over that. You lived it...and now you need help from someone on the internet to understand it. I don't think we can help you. "You forget your father's face!" is very appropriate here.

It sounds like you really care, and you're struggling with balancing the good-cop, bad-cop both with the same face, deal. My advice? Use the carrot more than the stick. I've worked for people in my life that I'd get one over on if I could, because screw them, that's why, and I've worked for people that if I felt like I hadn't done my best, I should be truly ashamed of myself. Guess who I worked harder for? Hint: It wasn't the one who carried the biggest stick. Above it all, be fair. Noone respects anyone who isn't fair, and on the same hand, it's very hard to truly remain at odds with someone when it's plain to see that they are treating their team RIGHT, without exception or favoritism. My boss? Currently? I have worked for her for almost a year and a half. I have seen her on less than a dozen occasions, and most of that was incidental (we passed each other in the hall, we went to the same meeting, etc.). She has said 2 sentences to me that were positive the entire time I've been at my job. She has, however, treated me flawlessly fair. She has respected me. She has ALWAYS gone to bat for my team, and I am very pleased to work for her. My last good boss was very similar. She never came out onto the unit when I was around hardly, but when she did, if she had something negative to say, it followed only after a long discourse of positive, and she was ALWAYS trying to teach and better someone when she gave them a hard pill to swallow. She always used it as a teaching moment, and write-ups or punishment as it were, was meted out only at the bare minimum of institutional demand. As in, she would get reprimanded for not doing at least what she did in punitive action. I am of the opinion that a government which governs least, governs best, and thats how I like my bosses. Leave me alone. Don't bother me. Don't have to really praise me or do things FOR me, either. You hired me because I'm competent and good at what I do, and am very self-directed and effective. SO let me DO. And my boss has, and does. That is how you make ME happy. And you're going to have to learn what makes each and every one of your employees happy. The paperwork is the cake of your job. It's the peopling that is the chore.

If it's ordered, the patient asks, and vitals support the safe delivery of it, give it. One and done. There is no need to over-think this one.

I have taken care of a few MD's. Some of them even remarked that they had no clue about all of the things we did. They also had a different tone when they spoke to us afterward. Honestly, I don't think many people understand the violence and filth we deal with on the daily. They believe it to all be casual-pace medicine passing and bandage applying. Not joint-lock on the psych patient who is trying to hit people and slam the geodon, or blood all over the floor from the GSW victim on the table.

That is likely grounds for peer review by the board. You do not get to violate HIPAA once you have a doctorate. All the rest is simply annoying, but rummaging around behind the desk/using the computer, etc. is a clear-cut NO.

Well, for one, other than an ICU nurse, I don't know very many RN's who manage vents effectively, and most systems I work in, even ICU RN's do not mess with the "fine" settings on the vent, which is to say, they do not typically mess too much with tidal volume, etc. For two, ICU RN's probably would be a bit lost giving breathing treatments to a pediatric. RT's have to be capable of dealing with pediatric airway/pulmonary treatment as well as adult, which does mean they have a broader scope unless the RN is cross-trained. I am sure there are other things, as well, but I am not an RT, so I'd prefer not to go in-depth describing their profession to them, should one chance across my presumptions, lol!

Her position likely comes from meaning she can do everything from pediatrics to adults, or something like that. Either that, or it's just simple ignorance. I used to think ER didn't do a damn thing. Just stick a half-ass IV in a patient and hit them with some hydralazine, maybe start a cardene gtt, or an insulin gtt, and shuffle them off to the upper part of the hospital and then kick back and chill at the desk until the next poor soul came stumbling in. So, being tired of dealing with the same thing day in and day out, I decided I would go work ER. It's easy, you don't do a lot, and you only deal with the same patient for a few hours max, unless the floor is understaffed and you watch them through the shift on rare occasion. Cake walk. Well. I was wrong. ER is still one of my favorite, if not my FAVORITE place to work (I work everywhere in the system, from ER to Psych/BHU floors), but I can tell you just how wrong I was. It was from ignorance. I think the RT is suffering a similar situation. That said, I don't see how, unless your RT staff is absolutely blind when they visit the ICU,etc. Of course, I'm just trying to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they are stupid/bitter/just wanted to get a rise out of you/who knows? Roll on, nevermind it.

It doesn't bother me. If they want to ask more in depth questions about my care or their treatment plan, I'm happy to entertain that, as well. It's their body, their care. If they have more knowledge than the next patient and want to apply it, more power to them.

This is not the first time this person has done something like this, nor will it be the last. This is a marker of "who they are as a person". Singling them out over it later will only make them think about you in a negative light, every time they see you. Your solution is "correct" and professional. However, it will potentially cause problems for the nurse later, as it will create an enemy very likely. This person knows they are a dick. It is no great mystery to them. Pointing it out/calling them on it will only irritate them. I don't say this because I shy from conflict, but rather, because it will serve no positive purpose. It's not going to be the first time in their life anyone ever said "Bro, you're a dick. Stop.". It didn't work then, either. It won't work now. It's just likely to A) do nothing, B) create drama.

Always address people in the work-place by appropriate title, or by what they request you to address them as. A lapse of professionalism by one person does not rightly begat that of another.

Hmmm... I pump iron. Hike. Shoot. Hunt. Travel. Have an affinity for sports cars (my favorite was my C6 Z06, least favorite was my 370Z, regarding driving dynamics, but the inverse for interior). And have a ton of other hobbies. Also not gay, so no "little husband". So your statement does make me wonder...what are you doing in a hospital? Are you a nurse? CNA? Tech? Janitor? What exactly is your function? Because my theory is this. If you're also a nurse, or tech, or CNA, or whatever, then the nurses you are around, are around you for 8 to 12 hours at a time. The physicians are around you for how many minutes? Ergo, two things are at play. You're as annoying as you seem at first glance, and they do everything they can to get you to leave them alone, or two, you're not as annoying as you seem, and the physicians only have to "entertain you" for a few minutes at a time, whereas you expect 12 hours from your co-workers. Not going to happen. Similar to the kid with divorced parents where one gets him every other weekend, and the other parent gets them during the weekdays and every other weekend. Guess who the cool parent is, 9x out of 10? I'm finding you intellectually shallow

"meh". You go to work to pay your bills and do something positive. If someone calls you stupid, oh well? As long as they can't legally support their statement, then it's all gravy.

No. However, you do need the people skills to interact positively with everyone on the spectrum from atheist to pious. That said, I do have a personal rule. I never work for the church. It doesn't pay, and it almost always means that you're expected to do things other employers would never consider burdening you with. All of my experience in the past with it was nevative. I'm not a martyr or trying to develop Stockholm syndrome. I'm an employee trying to earn a living.

If it happens it happens. Sue the offending party for lost wages, slander and libel, defamation of character, and so forth, and move on. Nursing is all about risk, and you can't cover yourself 100% for 100% of it. Just roll with it and know there are other jobs if the worst happens.

Speak with your first in line immediate superior. This needs to go up the chain of command until a policy is either found, or created.