Quick! Blame the Nurse!

[vintagegal]

You have all been there before, no matter what decision you make it’s the wrong one. To give you perspective I am currently working geriatrics and lead a non-nursing team. For awhile it has been a struggle to get the team on board with following protocol, procedures, and general patient safety. Everything turns into an argument and there is no work ethic.

I am exhausted with trying to teach a group of people who don’t want to learn, nor are passionate about the group they care for. I end up working 16+ days with no day off because people don’t show up for their shifts or can’t function when I am not there. 

Don’t get me wrong, not painting the whole team with the same brush. It is just bothersome to me that people would enter this profession if they aren’t serious about it. I have tried to be nice, tried to be understanding, tried to be patient.

Nothing I do is working so should I pony up and be a jerk for once and require more of the team?

I promised myself I would not be *that* nurse.  To make matters worse, I have other areas such as dining, housekeeping, etc. always blaming me for issues I am not responsible for. Doesn’t matter what I do or say, it’s not good enough. Situations I have nothing to do with are always passed off to me. They are practically bullying me out the door. 

It seems as though EVERYTHING gets blamed on the nurse. I find myself integrating into other areas that I don’t belong in because if I don’t do it, it won’t get done. After patient care, answering phones, the door, and juggling administrative work I am at a loss as to why nobody is acting like a team player. Maybe they are used to me going above and beyond but at this point I am killing myself trying to do it all.

My team is not interested in helping me, even though I have always been there for them.  When they are falling short of expectation they turn it around on me instead of taking responsibility. I don’t know whether I should give up now and enter a new area of nursing or stick with it and pray it gets better.

I have tried everything short of being a nurse ratchet.

Advice welcome. 

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

You can only do but so much. Don't run yourself in the ground trying to do everything because it will just show your team that they don't have to do their work because you'll always be there to bail them out. The 16 hour days will break you if you keep doing them, that has to stop because it isn't sustainable.

The field of geriatrics unfortunately is somewhat of a bait and switch, you see how underserved these individuals are and want to do right by them, but we can't change the flawed system that causes to be underserved in the first place because simply put, your boss doesn't want it to change. They are fine with doing the bare minimum because it lines their pockets and it's the "industry standard". 

[0.9%NormalSarah, BSN, RN]

I have another job that is not nursing, and I lead a fairly large team with many moving parts. I found out quite a while back that I am a control freak and that I will put a lot more on myself than I need to. In doing so, I will also deprive my team of chances to learn and grow. I found out that it was really great to give people on my team their own things to own and follow up on, they have their own jobs where they can be the point person making sure this part of the operation runs smoothly. Then I get out of the way, and sometimes they fail. After they fail once and we have a conversation, they rise to the occasion. Of course I always came behind them and made sure their failure was a valuable lesson but not heavy enough to cause great distress to the unit. Is there some way you can incorporate this idea into your current situation, giving your team a greater purpose but also relieving you of some of your own stress?