Room Assignments

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I am an Nurse that works in the ER I have been working there over a year. I work day shift. I constantly get the same assignment when I work and I am part-time. I always get the assignment that is more difficult. Sometimes I just say they give it to me because I am a great nurse and take great care of my patients but other days I think they do it just to be mean. I have a particular charge nurse that doesn't like me. She didn't like me from day one. I never did anything wrong but she just didn't like me and the feeling is mutual. Sometimes I feel she is out to get me but I can't say anything to my manager. If I said something I would become even more hated by this charge nurse because her and the manager talk. I get along with everyone else in my department including the manager. I feel at a loss and I don't want to complain. I don't know if I should say anything but I feel it is unfair.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Not sure what you mean by the same, i.e., a more difficult assignment in the er. Pretty much a crap shoot as to how your shift is going to go.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Not sure what you mean by the same, i.e., a more difficult assignment in the er. Pretty much a crap shoot as to how your shift is going to go.

This was what I was thinking.

If there is a charge with whom you have a good relationship, go to them and say "I see you're in charge on Thursday. I have had these same rooms for a bunch of shifts in a row. I was hoping you could assign me to some different rooms that day. No biggie if you can't, but I just need a little change of pace." That way you make your request without it sounding like you're complaining.

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This particular assignment has the two trauma rooms is what I meant by difficult and I psych room. Which we have recently been getting a lot of lately and I have been getting the same assignment every time I work and there is no way to know if I am getting that assignment the next day because they have hidden the assignment book so we can't look ahead. I feel like I am complaining maybe just tired of the same old thing. Thanks for the advice psu_13.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
I feel like I am complaining maybe just tired of the same old thing

There are some nurses who come in every day and make requests about their assignment, and no matter what I do, they complain. However, if a someone who is not a chronic complainer, and they come in and say "I have had such-and-such assignment for the past 4 shifts--can I do something else?" I would try to accommodate them. As long as it is not a chronic thing, I don't think there is anything wrong with a properly worded request for a change of pace.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

Have you tried to speak with this charge nurse and have a heart-to-heart discussion as to why you two feel that way about each other? Maybe it is something that one of you are assuming that isn't truly there. You can also state that you have been in the same assignment for x amount of days in a row and would like a change.

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I always get the assignment that is more difficult.
That is a matter of perception. Some people prefer assignments that I loathe. Have you talked to your colleagues about their perceptions of the assignments?

Sometimes I just say they give it to me because I am a great nurse and take great care of my patients but other days I think they do it just to be mean.
To a degree I want to say, "suck it up." The reality is that each role in the department is a legitimate assignment, even routinely, and even if it's difficult. Do other nurses rotate through various assignments but you're the only one who doesn't?

Is seniority an issue? There are assignments in our department that go to more senior staff. Two years in and I'm just starting to get a peek at some of them... every once in a while.

I think they do it just to be mean. I have a particular charge nurse that doesn't like me.
If it's only one person who doesn't like you but "they do it just to be mean," why do you think that "they" like you but only "she" doesn't. If anything, "they" don't like you either... though truth be told, many more people believe this about themselves than is sometimes the case.

I don't know if I should say anything but I feel it is unfair.
It's obviously bothering you so you should address it... calmly... and professionally... and without the "they don't like me" victim stuff (which, even if true, isn't something anybody really wants to hear... goes back to "suck it up... this is a job, not a sorority.")

You could always try nights...

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
That is a matter of perception. Some people prefer assignments that I loathe. Have you talked to your colleagues about their perceptions of the assignments?

The comments from Music (sorry, I don't know how to make the notes :)) may be harsh, but they are right on. The reason I quoted the part above…what is the toughest assignment to one RN is one of the easier one for the next and vice versa. Some RNs thrive on ICU patients, others no so much. Some think fast track is the most horrible place ever. For me, having a bunch of abd pains is tough--lots of busy type work (line, lab, meds, urine, maybe oral contrast, and then, after all that, you may get the pleasure of dropping an NG).

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I have been in the ER for a year and have been a nurse for four and half years. I have got the perception from the rest of the nurses about this particular assignment. They all hate it. They always say ewww you got the that assignment. Which doesn't help me it makes me stew and get more angered on the inside. On the outside I just smile and take it. I am an easy going person and I don't complain at work. I just complain on here and to my husband and friends. My close friend that works with me that has been in the ER for almost three years told me she thinks it's unfair as well. I should talk to my charge nurse that I think doesn't like me. I actually know that she doesn't because when I first started and was just learning the ropes of the ER she would literally yell at me in the nurses station in front of families and coworkers. I have sucked it up! I feel I could talk to her now though. I do realize that tough work is in the eye of the beholder but this is tough. I do love my job I have learned so much but I would like to learn other aspects of the ER rather than just this assignment. I don't think I am learning anything more by having the same assignment every time I come in to work. Thanks for the input everyone.

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Specializes in RN.

In my ED, we get our rooms, and then treat whatever we are given. Each of us has 1 trauma room and then general rooms. The triage nurse basically fills the rooms on an as needed basis according to how they arrive. No bias in my ED. It is a crap shoot. But on days when I have been blessed with lower acuity patients I am willingly, without being asked, to assist my coworkers with their patient load....as it should be.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Infection, Home Health, and LTC.

Kudos for being brave enough and having enough patience to work on the front lines. I respect the ED nurses and marvel at how they can put up with so much whining, complaining, and drunken crap that can come from the public. I could not do it. I would love the trauma and adrenaline rush but I would get fired the first week for my mouth.

It may be a lack of communication about the assignment. Another nurse may want a consistent group of room assignments every time, especially for someone part time and not there all the time to know the rhythm of the place. Having the same area assigned would be stable and consistent. I personally like that kind of structure.

On the other hand, I have seen facilities make a habit of giving new nurses, part-timers, or agency staff the assignments no one else wants. It tends to be a pervasive attitude in some places. So in all honesty it could be a case of "dumping" on the "new kid". There seems to be a resentment by some full time staff against anyone that only works part time or prn.

I would not worry about whether the charge nurse "likes" you or not. There will always be people that we do not get along with and have a personality conflict with. It is not anything that was said or done; sometimes two people just do not mesh. As long as the ED is big enough where you are not stepping on one another don't let it get you down. It's human nature to want to be liked by everyone. (not realistic, but normal).

Try talking to whomever does the assignments and letting them know that you would like to try a different assigned area. (of course it could be the old cliche' that the grass is always greener on the other side. LOL. ) ;)

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Specializes in hospice.

If you always get the "harder" assignment, that probably means you're learning the most. Also, maybe it means they trust you more.

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