I am a seasoned nurse working in Ambulatory in a major teaching institution. We are told repeatedly by management we are equal with MA's. They are given peer review forms to evaluate us. I do not consider them peers. Is this type of brainwashing common in other institutions? They sit back while we run around doing their job of rooming patients.
Dear Seasoned Nurse,
Could this be management's way of messaging that every coworker is important to the team? Equal may mean equal in human respect. It certainly doesn't mean you are paid equally or have equal responsibilities, and I wouldn't take offense at the message. You know your own worth.
Being peer reviewed in a 360 manner means that coworkers at all levels are solicited to provide feedback, usually around interpersonal skills. An MA would not be called upon to evaluate your nursing care plans, for example, but could evaluate your soft skills.
It does sound like the MAs and the RNs do not work well together at your facility, which is a shame and ultimately affects patient care. In my opinion management should work on mutual respect and team building because what they are doing is divisive and not effective.
Good luck with the "face time" part, and I am not saying that to be snarky or sarcastic. Insurance companies & medical practices have created a "system" where it is difficult to provide the type of care that patients deserve. Your job is different than mine--I don't spend much "face time" with patients, but the "system" has forced everyone to cut corners in an effort to increase volume in order to increase reimbursements. I cannot do my job--just like you--without every other member of the O.R. team working in sync to make sure the patient is SAFE, over & above everything else. But, if I was asked what some of the other staff does on a daily basis, I honestly couldn't tell you. So, if I was asked to do a peer review of them, I wouldn't know what to say about their actual work performance. I could say that they are friendly in the locker room or that I have no interaction with them whatsoever.
I know what you mean by "equal" in a team setting. Things couldn't run ANYWHERE without everyone doings their jobs to meet a common goal. My point was that if different job titles were told to do peer reviews, I don't know how that would be possible since a part of peer review, as far as I know it to be, is critiquing their work performance. While I believe it would be possible for an RN to do a peer review for an aide, I honestly cannot see how an aide could possibly do a peer review for an RN since they really don't know whether the RN is practicing safely or not. That was the point I was trying to make. I just find it strange that an aide would be expected to do a peer review for an RN, that's all.
To be honest, the whole thing makes me laugh because of how the entire healthcare industry has turned into nothing more than a profit-driven business. Do you honestly think that peer reviews make any difference to a facility or how it functions? The most important thing is safe, quality patient care. Maybe nurses should be asked to do peer reviews of nursing management & administration. Now that would be interesting...................
I work in an Urgent Care Clinic. We have one MA and two RN's. We all have the same job. To take care of the patients. We all roatate from front to back. We work as a team.
*This is my first RN position outside of ICU in 23 years!
NurseDiane
298 Posts
Good luck with the "face time" part, and I am not saying that to be snarky or sarcastic. Insurance companies & medical practices have created a "system" where it is difficult to provide the type of care that patients deserve. Your job is different than mine--I don't spend much "face time" with patients, but the "system" has forced everyone to cut corners in an effort to increase volume in order to increase reimbursements. I cannot do my job--just like you--without every other member of the O.R. team working in sync to make sure the patient is SAFE, over & above everything else. But, if I was asked what some of the other staff does on a daily basis, I honestly couldn't tell you. So, if I was asked to do a peer review of them, I wouldn't know what to say about their actual work performance. I could say that they are friendly in the locker room or that I have no interaction with them whatsoever.
I know what you mean by "equal" in a team setting. Things couldn't run ANYWHERE without everyone doings their jobs to meet a common goal. My point was that if different job titles were told to do peer reviews, I don't know how that would be possible since a part of peer review, as far as I know it to be, is critiquing their work performance. While I believe it would be possible for an RN to do a peer review for an aide, I honestly cannot see how an aide could possibly do a peer review for an RN since they really don't know whether the RN is practicing safely or not. That was the point I was trying to make. I just find it strange that an aide would be expected to do a peer review for an RN, that's all.
To be honest, the whole thing makes me laugh because of how the entire healthcare industry has turned into nothing more than a profit-driven business. Do you honestly think that peer reviews make any difference to a facility or how it functions? The most important thing is safe, quality patient care. Maybe nurses should be asked to do peer reviews of nursing management & administration. Now that would be interesting...................