beachbum2000

After reading a lot of the comments I agree that it does look a lot more like preferential treatment than anything else. I posted the question because I have been on this unit for a while (over 2 years) and continually see the same behaviors. There have been many times where the term "racism" has been thrown around on the unit, from both sides. There have been instances where nurses from the smaller race group were observed working well together, they were quickly separated onto different shifts and no longer able to work together... Cliquish behavior was the reasoning. Although, when this is openly seen by the larger race group nobody bats an eye. I think I said earlier that the environment tends to be loud and unprofessional, and sometimes hostile. There have been times where a (group B) nurse has written up a (group A) pct for failing to do what they were asked (outwardly and openly saying no do it yourself, while they sat at the desk), management reprimands the nurse. Different (group B) nurse asks (group B) secretary for some kind of paperwork, secretary is rude and unprofessional, nurse writes up (files formal complaint) secretary, nurses are told to approach the secretary better. Yes, these are examples of things that happen everywhere... the constant struggle between nursing and pcts, but sometimes on this particular unit it is very hard to ignore the racial divide.

lol I wish it was a homework question and not something I have to go to work to.

I am not the new nurse. I was not asked because I would have said no lol. The new nurse on the other hand does not have the confidence or assertiveness to stand up for themselves YET. This was their first day off orientation. Although, this nurse seems to fit in well with the unit and has a good rapport with everyone. The secretary yelling is an ongoing thing. Secretary yells, bosses nurses around, and has nasty attitude at times. Nobody seems to care though. The atmosphere on this unit tends to be loud and unprofessional. I can go on and on about the secretary and the PCTs but that's for another post lol. Would it make a difference if the manager was male vs female? or part of one race group vs. the other? What if you knew that the manager was already having issues with one group? Would manager appreciate this particular situation being brought to their attention or would the manager see it as petty?

The nurse that had zero patients was assisting the other nurse that had 4 patients. Which is so crazy to me! The nurse that had 0 patients is the clinical supervisor several days a week, and helps nobody except that one nurse. I absolutely agree that the secretary should not be assigning patients, it's been addressed on multiple occasions but continues to happen so it's a lost cause. Although, the secretary assigning patients unfairly often creates a resentful work environment. That same secretary also tells the PCTs what they should or shouldn't do. For example, on this same day the PCT offered to do accu checks for the nurses, but after finding out there were 15 the PCT didn't want to do them anymore. So, the secretary turns around and yells "You nurses need to do your own accu checks!". But the kicker is the secretary says to the PCT you can do a couple of them for nurses A and B (that happen to be in the larger race group) Does it make a difference if the manager is new to the position, only manager for less than 6 months? And the first time being a manager, used to work as a staff nurse on the same unit.

Couldn't purposefully overloading a nurse, who is already overwhelmed and intimidated, be an example of "negative, aggressive behavior"? For the record... I am not the new nurse.

I am trying to keep the situation as unbiased as I can. I know it would be easier to explain if I named each group. But does it make a difference if the group of 5 is white? and the group of 2 is black? or vice versa?

I don't know what happened to the comment that I just left... but i'll try to write it again... yes, I agree that bullying is an overused term. But, is requiring the "new nurse" to go over patient ratio of 5 an issue? The new nurse that is trying to find their place on the unit? The new nurse that is intimidated and unable to say NO I already have 5 patients? Is taking advantage of a new nurse the same as bullying? And I have a hard time ignoring that the "preferential treatment" was given to the nurses of one race group vs. the other.

I had a situation occur at work and I'm torn about how to react to it. Very busy hospital med/surg floor with max patient load of 5 patients for each nurse. 5 nurses working the floor, 3 of one race and 2 of the other. there is one "clinical supervisor" who's the same race as the group of 3. the secretary is also the same race as the group of 3. (so that's 5 of one race, and 2 of the other) Throughout the day there are admissions and discharges. The secretary assigns the patients based on who has discharges to keep the staffing numbers equal, there is no attention paid to acuity or work load (this is a normal occurrence for this floor). Frequently there are times when a nurse will go down to 3 patients because of discharges, while everyone else stays at 5, and that nurse will get back to back admits within minutes of each other. The clinical supervisor on this floor does not assist with admits (not even to put isolation equipment in patient rooms). On this day, 1 of the nurses, from the race group of 5, goes from 5 patients to 0 patients within a few hours. That nurse is only assigned 1 new admission, that does not arrive until after shift change. Another nurse, of the race group of 5, starts with 4 patients... discharges 1 and receives a transfer early in the shift... this nurse stays at 4 and is not asked again to take any more admits. (The secretary is observed and overheard pulling this nurse aside saying that she knows that she won't give her any more patients) One of the nurses of the race group of 2, starts with 4, admits 1, discharges 1, and is asked to take another admission although according to "turns in line" it should be the nurse from the other race group. The second nurse of the race group of 2, starts with 5, discharges 1, admits 1, and has one pending discharge near the end of the shift. 45 minutes before shift change, the clinical supervisor says to this nurse "can you just take report on the new patient coming up" (This will put this nurse at 6 patients which is over the max patient load. This is this nurses first day off of orientation, this nurse is a new grad). The nurse takes report, is attempting to discharge the one patient, the clinical supervisor is "nagging" them to ensure that isolation equipment is in the room, the secretary assigns the patient to this nurse on the board. And when the patient arrives on the unit the nurse is told "your patient is here" even though this nurse was told all they had to do was take report. I'm sorry if the story is hard to keep up with. I tried to keep it as simple as I could, while still getting the important details across. Is the new nurse being "bullied" by the clinical supervisor and the secretary? Why didn't the nurse that went to 0 patients have to take more than 1 admit? Why was the nurse from the race group of 5 skipped over for admits (there is never attention paid to acuity of patients only numbers)? Is it racism because of the difference in treatment of the two race groups? AND if you were a manager would you want this brought to your attention? If you were the one bringing it to your managers attention what would the best way be, in order to not sound whiney or indignant? Again I apologize for the length of the post, just trying to paint a picture.