remind me again why I work......

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

Ok, I'm seriously ticked off now at patients.....Apparently I had a complaint filed against me the other day from a patient who didn't "feel safe" when transferring...NM that I encouraged patient to sit while I untangled IV, lowered bed, put pad on, etc.....

He continued to stand and refused my advice...then decided that he was going to complain to boss, doctor, patient advocate, etc....for the remainder of his stay....

When I talked to my boss, they were just going "Listen to your patient, they know what they're capable of, if they tell you to get help, get it...." But the patient did NOT ask me to get help, insisting he was ok, never once complaining of pain, etc. to me....then insisting that I was not to come back in there.....I'm just angry that my manager did not once attempt to "have my back." whatever you wanna call it.....I'm giving serious thought to transferring floors.....anywhere's gotta be better than here....Anyone ever have to deal with a BS writeup? Just venting, though, thanks.....

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

two words for you: passive aggressive. their types are everywhere and illness seems to bring out the worst of them. there is no pleasing these kind of people. they are dysfunctional to begin with and you can't fight that. unfortunately, they are a hazard of the profession. all you can do is hope you have bosses who understand this kind of behavior.

if money isn't a factor, why don't you just go somewhere else to work? it seems that you have been having an inordinate amount of aggravation at this job. i worked in a nursing home when i was a student and never regretted it. the older folks especially like male aides. they feel safer when guys transfer them. and, the older ladies just shamelessly flirt up a storm with you. talk about having your ego stoked! we had a male aide who worked with us in the last nursing home i worked in before i had to go on disability. he was retired from the military and did this more as his community service thing! he was like 6 foot 4 inches tall and had muscles on top of muscles. he would occasionally pick the smaller ladies up like in the movies: one arm around their back, one around under their knees and tell them to put their arms around his neck and move them to their wheelchairs, or whatever. you should have seen the smiles on their faces! they would wait--wait--for him to answer their lights. he was the best bladder training tool we ever had. anyway, ltc can be a hellhole too, but there are some really good ones and good charge nurses out there. a lot has to do with how you want to do your care because you will see some pretty crappy cnas working in ltc too. i just hoped i was a role model for them. more likely i was the lunchroom gossip. wouldn't know--never went there because i just don't take breaks--always had a tapeworm and can't sit down. isn't that a pre-req to be a nurse anyway? just don't do what they do. you learn basic adls in ltc--something that some rns forget about when they are looking at labwork and x-rays of patient's with complex problems. patients are interested in getting to the toilet or stuffing food in their mouths while we are worried about them bleeding all over the place or going code blue on us. just from your posts you seem like the kind of guy who is able to put the patient first amid all the medical hoopla as well and i think that is important. when you get to be a patient yourself, you'll see what it's like on the other side of the siderails. just for jollies, at the age of 26, god, or whoever, said "give joyce (that's me) a little cancer". my life and the way i view life in general changed dramatically and forever.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

I understand completely...and am going to start a new job or floor transfer search tomorrow....I have to work tonight and am going to try to put it out of my mind as much as possible, but it'll be tough....I'm looking at transfering to a tele floor, as tele would be something I'd like to do after graduation, and good exp factor....the nurses/aides all say when I come up there, "hey, you're a good worker, come up here, eh?" So, it's a thought...I'm just going to do the best job I can while I'm stuck in the moment...but after that, I'll just go from there.

Yeah, I guess a little perspective is nice, but you know, when I can't trust the boss, it's tough to do a really good job for them, I'll put patients first all the time and administration 2nd....go figure...plus the patient was a former hospital admin so go figure....

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

What you should do is talk to the manager of the tele unit. Work on the transfer through unofficial channels. Tell the manager how much you have loved working on that unit when you've floated there and if there is ever an opening you'd love to be considered. Follow up every month. Then, when an opening comes up, the manager will be calling you, you'll put your paperwork in and the change will be made before you current manager knows what went down. Also, if you work any extra shifts, offer them up first to the manager of the tele unit. This is the way I made my transfer from my stepdown unit to the IV team. I had to wait about 6 months, but the manager of the IV team worked to make a spot for me. The other people on the IV Team were constantly telling her how much they needed someone like me on the team. If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that you have to like the people you work with just as much as you like the work you do.