You know, I know I have had some complaints about this job, but what happened today takes the taco. My plant is closing ( I work occ), and as such, all the old medical records have to be shredded. I have been handling that. Gets a bit messy at times. I was tidying up today, sweeping up where all the paper crumples were around the shredder, and my sup walks by. By her reaction, you'd have thought I was running a meth lab in the middle of Medical.
"Don't do that!"
"What?"
"Don't sweep?"
"I'm just cleaning up my mess."
"Don't do that. Leave it for the janitor. They'll complain to the union about you doing their job!"
Now, I don't know about y'all, but I was taught to clean up after myself, not leave it for someone else to do. This is just the latest. This woman is not right. First the internet kafoffel, we are spending too much time one the net. Well, maybe that's bcause there is NOTHING TO DO. No one is getting hurt, thank mercy. What are we to do, sit here and stare at each other? Then the issue of talking. We can't have a simple conversation without this crazy person screaming from her office that we're too loud. I don't care how soft we talk, we're too loud.
I caught her whining to the plant doc about that, and told her in no uncertain terms that if she was going to say something about me, she would do well to say it to my face. Have not heard much else from her till today.
Seriously, is this not the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard? Leave your mess so someone else can alean it up? It's not like I was cleaning the bathroom! Any idea on how to handle this? I seriously thought about tagging out the broom WARNING:NOT FOR CLEANING USE-TRANSPORTATION ONLY. I think that may be a bit much, though.
One of the many complaints made about me during my brief orientation in the OR was that I helped the housekeepers too much by tying up garbage bags, stripping the linen from the OR table and remaking it, and picking up our discards off the floor. Was told that was not MY job and I was an RN so shouldn't want to do that. I thought that amounted to disrespecting them and putting myself on a pedestal that I was too good for that type of work.
I guess if we all chip in too much, the janitorial staff have less to do, and if the higher ups think they aren't that busy they may cut their hours, but still... I think we aren't above cleaning up and helping out.
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
Thanks to all for the union insights. In Alabama, we don't have nursing unions, and I have never been in a union, so I did not know it was that big of a deal. Who'd have thunk (lol grammar) that the worst thing that they could say about me at a job was.....GASP!!!
"She swept the floor!!!!"
OK, thou shalt not tidy up after thyself. Got it. Hmmmm, I wonder what would happen if I went in and started a shredded paper pillow fight?
For those of you who have followed my posts you know I'm a big fan of unions. This sounds like craziness but consider the janitors' point of view. Your volunteering to sweep today turns into an expectation tomorrow. Next everyone is required to sweep up thier own area before clocking out. Two of the three janitors get laid off because all the staff is doing thier sweeping and you don't have time to review your charts or follow up with your patients. Sound silly?- how would you like it if in an in-patient setting the hospital hires non licenced care givers to do everything you do as a nurse at 1/3 your wage but then gave you 3 tmes as many patients- all you do is call docs on patients you don't know, pass pills and do quickie assessments on crisis patients.
If it is an expected part of the office mess and they have a janitor to clean up routine office messes let him do it. It's not that it's beneath me to sweep but it is his job. Quit wasting your professional time on housekeeping tasks or you may be the next job that seems replacable.
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
OK, whoa, horse. What little I swept up would not have made a good handful. It was just in front of the shredder. No, it is not usual, this is a special project. I would not volunteer to sweep the floor every day.
I also feel compelled to point out that this particular janitor would NOT have swept up, he would have wet-mopped OVER the paper, thereby sticking it to the floor. I love him to death, but, people, the floor is BLACK in Medical, and it's laid in white tile.
No, us sweeping the whole floor would never be expected, frankly because I'm pretty sure I am the only one whose hands have ever graced the broom handle. I guess I missed the memo that it was just there for decor.
And no, I am not referring to anyone as a horse, it's a saying.
seriously, i understand cause i kinda have a case of ocd when it comes to the nurses' station....i can't abide a messy one. i don't mean charts, labs or tools of the trade....but when it looks like a mickeyd's gone bad.....and all the stuff has been eaten/drank but the trash lingers...
ya know you could start an internet business....i'd pay for a pretty lil tag with that slogan on it, for my household broom:smokin:
Kind of off topic but this reminds me of a story my oldest son told me about having lunch with his girlfriend's parents last year. I've alway taught my kids to clean up after themselves after a meal out. Stack your plates, sweep the crumbs onto a plate, put the flat ware on a plate, put the cups together, etc.
He was doing just that after lunch and the parents were shocked and asked him to stop. "That is the waitress's job!".
Geez . . . who knew trying to be nice and polite was a bad thing?
I already did, right after sup came boiling in, looking like a drowned mouse, madder than a mashed cat, and said, "The next time I get here and I don't have a parking place, I'm pulling rank, and someone's coming out to move their car." One nurse came in at 4:30 this morning, I got here at 6:30. Sup cam in at 11:00. Medical has 2 parking spaces, and they say just that, MEDICAL. Not Nancy Nurse, Sup. There is one that says Medical Director, but Doc took it today.
She did not say anything to him. I guess she thinks she's too good to get wet. I hate that it was raining, but, had she called and told me to come move my car so that she could park on the front row, I'll tell you where I'd have moved it to. Home. Hmph. Some people. She wants set parking, she can take it up with security. Until then, I am parking wher I was told to. No one ever said anything about leaving a spot on the front row for sup when it rains.
Girl, it sounds like a good thing that your job with this person is ending! What are you doing these days?
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
Girl, it sounds like a good thing that your job with this person is ending! What are you doing these days?
Well, Vito, as of December 13, I will graduate with my Master's degree and really be hunting down a NP position, I am looking now, but most places won't even look at you without an NP license in hand.
The plant I spoke of is closing soon, things have not gotten any better, and I have gotten even brassier about piping up over staffing cherry-picking which PRN staff gets days (sometimes certain of us don't get any days all month!), getting my back up over being told I'm not allowed to read when all my work is done (more on that later), and various and sundry other things that are stupid and just plain wrong.
I was put in charge of collating and typing up all the retirees in an Excel database, and was pulled off the project because "You type too fast.". See, if I get the work done, Sup has no work left that she can say needs done, and they can let her go, if I lollygag around and type with one finger, she gets to stay longer. I was put ON that job because I was the only one that knew how to type, and pulled from it for the same reason. I never thought grounds for being pulled would be that I was too GOOD at something!
About the reading....we've laid off hundreds of workers, so not many people come to medical anymore. I can not stand to sit and do nothing, so I brought a book one day. It was sitting on my desk, just sitting there, and Sup walked by and had a conniption. Picked up my book and THREW it in a shelf above my desk. Apparently, we can't read anything non-medical in there. As the day closed (this is so funny), I got it back down in preparation to leave, and she walked back by as I was telling my coworker what the book was about.
"Is it good?" Sup asks.
I said that it was.
"I need to go to the library. I need a good book." All the while eyeing my book.
Finally, being the nice person that I TRY to be, I asked, "Sup, would you like to borrow my book?"
Of course, she jumped on that.
THAT made rounds faster than the 24-hour flu. No one could believe that I did that, after what she said to me.
So, to answer the question, ain't much changed, I'm feverishly looking for another job, and if anyone knows of anyone that needs a good ACNP in North Alabama, PM me!
.thumb.jpg.fdeda4722b298c9060dd5ada86bad2cb.jpg){kind=small}
nurseinlimbo
262 Posts
One of the many complaints made about me during my brief orientation in the OR was that I helped the housekeepers too much by tying up garbage bags, stripping the linen from the OR table and remaking it, and picking up our discards off the floor. Was told that was not MY job and I was an RN so shouldn't want to do that. I thought that amounted to disrespecting them and putting myself on a pedestal that I was too good for that type of work.
I guess if we all chip in too much, the janitorial staff have less to do, and if the higher ups think they aren't that busy they may cut their hours, but still... I think we aren't above cleaning up and helping out.