Rudeness

[melly]

Why are some nurses so rude to each other? Our ER nurses have a horrible reputation for incivility to the floor nurses. Example-last night I pick up the phone. Someone who didn't identify herself asks if room 215 is clean yet. I answer I don't know. I was going to add that I would go look, but before I can finish my sentence she barks," Go down the hall and check". I told her that I would help but that she would have to lose the attitude. She hangs up on me. This sort of thing happens all the time. Mention ER in our hospital and you get the same reaction, everyone comments on how nasty they are.

Now I know that they are overworked and shortstaffed, but who isn't? Why make a bad situation worse by being rude to each other? We are all nurses, we are all here to care for patients, why foster hostility by continuing with impolite behaviour?

[magicman]

I agree rudeness is inexcusable, and for those times I have done it, I too apologize. On the other hand, when you have called to give report 3 or four times and get the "run around" and have a patient lying on an E.D. stretcher for well over three hours, it's hard to not get frustrated and wonder what is going on. I realize the floors are busy and the nurses there are overloaded also. But to shirk taking report so as not to get another patient for a little while only hurts the patient in the end (figuratively and literally). I would like to have a few floor nurses lie on an E.D. stretcher for 3 hours and be patient and understanding about having to wait another hour or so becasue the floor nurse won't come to the phone to take report. I agree that SOMETIMES this can't be helped and have worked with the floor to make things smoother. But ignoring me and ultimately the patient only makes me (and the patient) frustrated. This, in my humble opinion, leads to ill feelings from both the patient and myself toward the floor. I have no problem telling the patient why they are still in the E.D. when they've been admitted for over an hour. I also take this opportunity to tell them about the nursing shortage, understaffing, underpayment, etc. PERFECT TIME TO EDUCATE about out current plight.

One last thoguht......as a floor nurse, you usually get a decent report about a patient who is already cleaned up (mostly), has at least their first round of abx in or going, an I.V. in, etc. and can actually plan a little bit about them and their orders. As an E.D. nurse, I can NEVER say "wait a minute....I need about 30 minutes to do something else before I get this patient.". I realize it is MY option to work the E.D. and accept the speed and changes that go with that. But on the other hand, SOME other nurses might need to realize the plight of the E.D. just as I realize theirs. Understanding is a two way street. I am only asking for what I give. :)

[mattsmom81]

An occasional rude comment can be tolerated..we all do it once in awhile and probably apologise for it later ie "I was stressed, sorry"..

If it is chronic, the morale of an entire unit can suffer. If one dept is persistently rude and disrespectful to another it should be brought to the unit manager's attention at the next unit meeting for some kind of problem solving to begin. JMHO.

Patient care suffers when we don't work together well.

[micro, RN]

magicman.........well stated..........and I agree.......we all need a little reminder of what the other guy is going through and never forget the patient...........

and yes, I agree overall the quality of the ednurses are way excellent.......and you do get a very good report, patient even at time with full admitting orders, iv always going.........foley usually in and majority of labs already drawn........and then they even bring them up and help them in bed.............

we are all in this together...........and at anytime could be that patient on the other side of the rail

mattsmom81---------how true.........negativity can bring down a unit......and if the informal powers that be are NEGATIVE.......then the whole unit suffers and who is affected the patient.........and your coworkers.....and then you wonder about why so much turnaround....etc.......it isn't all management's fault........it is us

[lisadavis]

magicman, i wonder if your patient appreciates info about nursing shortages and nursing problems while waiting in ER for treatment of his/her own problems? would this not worry the patient about the hospital he/she is being admitted too? i know as a patient and the family member of a patient i would not want to hear about nursing problems even though i understand them because i am a nurse. rather than placing the burden on our patients or getting snappish at each other why don't we work together to change things? perhaps starting with policy/procedure for ER to Floor transfers. i do not care how long you wait or how busy everybody is there is never any reason to be nasty to each other and there is never any excuse for burdening the patients and families with our problems.

[Patj]

Nice is not what ER nurses do best, maybe its protection while they have to be at the battlefront. Nobody cannulates, draws bloods, takes ECG's, and generally handles whatever is going down minute by minute better or quicker than the ER nurses when it really counts...........nice would be nice, but I'd cut them a lot of slack.

[RoaminHankRN]

Amen PatJ!

First being rude is not professional. But for every rude ER nurse, there is one on the floor.

I think a bigger question is where is the teamwork amongst RN's. I don't know about your situation, but my experience has been ER nurses work well as a team. Sure you have your bad apples. But I wonder if teamwork exist on floors where I've been. Then you deal with the RN whose worked 20 years and thinks his/her you know what does not stink. Without teamwork, people do become rude to each other.

So if you don't like what you do... Taco Bell could use help.. I sat in line 20 minutes today for a chalupa!

[thisnurse]

i dont think ive ever had a rude er nurse give me report. in fact when they call up they usually ask me whats wrong with me cos im not mean...lol

theres no excuse for rudeness. we are ALL stressed. we ALL have the same issues on different levels.

but we are all in this together.

i never look at it like us against them unless its a managment issue because they have different motivations.

i take report the first time its called unless im in report. then i call back immediately after. i dont put off the er, tho i have seen others do that. id rather just get the patient and get the admission over with.

i think floor nurses need to keep in mind that the er nurses are glad to get rid of the patient, but just like us, when one goes, you just get another one.

ive seen nurses AND cnas tear each other to shreds. what the hell for? nobody feels any better about it. ..just worse.

[Pam Johnson]

Is it just my upbringing or what? I was always taught to show respect toward other people. Do onto to others as you would have them do onto you. Turn the other cheek. Thou shalt not swear. Thou shalt not defame thy neighbor. I'm not a religious fanatic, but society as a whole seems to be less virtuous now.

Recalling your nursing education, were you ever taught that it was unacceptable to defame or slander the physicians? Well I know I was, but somehow nurses were excluded from this type of professional treatment. Perhaps it's because we were never taught to treat eachother professionally, & that nurses should not defame nor slander eachother. How many times have you seen nurses treated unprofessionally by their peers, more times than not? How many times have you seen nurses treated differently, for the same type of incidents or medication errors? Why is this? Why do nurses disrespect, defame, degrade eachother are they vying for a promotion or special treatment? Are they trying to feather their beds with administration? What is their motivation? Granted there is a nursing shortage, but it may be self-perpetuated by nurses themselves. These same individuals who claim to be caring & compassionate, but they're missing the point. Have you ever worked with nurses who are infallibe, who conceal their own shortcomings, but are all too willing to reveal those of others. What an EGO! The bottomline is that nurses should behave professionally, ethically like physicians seem to, for the most part. What's wrong with this profession? Would you ever see MDS behaving this way toward eachother? How many doctors lose their jobs compared to nurses, with these petty inuendos. PJ RN . RN for 22 years

[eltrip]

Pam,

Sister, you said it! You are SO right! I've never understood how nurses can treat each other like trash. I still don't understand how/why doctors, patients & their families find it acceptable to to verbally abuse nurses. Is it because we're (mostly) females? Because we allow the behavior? Because we don't respect one another (or ourselves)? Another question for the ages.....

Peace ya'll,

Joy

[mario_ragucci]

I used to get all bent out of shape when people would disrespect me or bark in my face. Times like these call us to draw upon our own power and strength. Many folks will try to nip each other in the bud when they get out of line by biting back. This doesn't always accomplish anything worthwhile, and can even worsen the situation. You have to stop and think before you react to rudeness.

Try to help the rude person. They obviously have a problem with their manners, or, maybe you are the recipiant of rudeness they have experienced, and are attempting to transfer to you. You must be strong and sure of your own self not to let these antics get the best of you. As an "up and coming" professional healthcare provider, I see my potential coworkers as not beyond illness themselves. I'll be dealing with ill people, and other people who deal with ill people, so some of that illness will be in my face, in various forms.

Try to make your reactions to rudeness in check. Don't let your forcefield get so weak as to allow negativity to burst you too. :roll

[micro, RN]

none of us are above being rude, ill or other.......

but we have a choice as to how to live our lives and each day.......

perfectionism.....no.....but if you do slip.....civility dictates that you say your sorry in some way shape or form.........

but some people are sooooo' wrapped up in themselves and their own circle of wifie's and s.o.'s and husbandies's and kiddie's, and that their s... d... s....... that they don't even realize how they are coming across.........

so Mario.....'course you know I am agreeing with you and none of this directed towards you :-O...not.....

but you have some very good advice

Try to make your reactions to rudeness in check... Don't let your forcefield get so weak as to allow negativity to burst you too...

now more micro thoughts.....

See the people suffering from rudeness.......the negativity.......what a disease process they are carrying...

treat others as you would like to be treated or as you think they would like to be treated...........

luv all and silence is golden sometimes and sometimes not.......

sometimes a word or two is good,

micro

[cbs3143]

I know that it can really be difficult in this day of really busy staff, increasing acuity, and higher expectations by the public to remember to be kind to each other. There have been times when I've been treated rudely by radiology people coming out to perform an ultrasound or a CT scan. There was even a time when a nurse said "bring IT down here" referring to the patient on my ER cart. I have found that the overwhelming majority of nurses are polite, even under stress.

The ER at my hospital, yes I take some degree of "ownership" in the facility and all that it stands for, has a reputation for coming to the floor to assist with a difficult IV start, or to insert a foley catheter in a difficult patient. Sometimes I have just observed another RN start the IV if she's orienting and needs to be observed for a certain number of sticks. There are times when the ER isn't buzzing, and there are times when it is. When we are "slow" (just don't say the word out loud) we assist with procedures as requested.

Another thing that has helped is that when patients are admitted through our ER, the ER form is utilized as an admission assessment form. That seems to help ease the patient's admission, and smooth some of the feathers regarding the fourth or fifth admission for that shift.

Some floors do have a reputation for being rude. Whenever I took patients to one certain floor, I knew that their staff would be at the nurses station and would watch me take the patient by on the ER cart. Then they would wait until I came back up to ask for help with transferring the patient, and looked surprised when I hadn't already done it. I really wanted to say that I was absent the day that they taught levitation 101, but always bit my tongue.

I think that head nurses do influence their staff and the politeness of any department is due in part to the guidance provided by that head nurse. I completely agree that rudeness is unacceptable no matter who it is directed to or who is being rude. ER nurses are a bit different, but so are psych nurses and ICU nurses, and ortho nurses, etc. Lab, RT, radiology, and the various therapy staffs need to work together with us too.

I don't have an answer, but I do know that I can't affect how other people act, I can only control how I act. I too offer an apology to any and all hospital staff that I may have offended in the past. I always try hard not to be offensive. Rodney King said it best, "Can't we all just try to get along?"