Sleeping On Unit

[Aloe_sky]

My manager gave me a paper to sign saying 2 nurses said I was sleeping at the nursing station and ignoring my patient alarms. I told him I wasn’t even at the nursing station the entire shift and was sitting at the computer on wheels in front of my patients room. I was highly confused by this accusation and reached out to the nurses that were on shift and they admitted I wasn’t even at the nursing station and they never seen me sleeping.

I was still asked to sign a first warning. I am highly emotional over this accusation that is a lie and don’t think it’s fair. I can’t stop crying. 

[Aloe_sky]

31 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

I reiterate:

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step."

The pain that you are now feeling, Aloe_sky, I felt 30 years ago, probably with similar thoughts and fears. I pride myself in expressing my feelings, pulling myself up by my bootstraps, and persevering.

"This too shall pass" and this ordeal will be nothing more than a memory that you will share in your retirement with another young nurse in pain.

Thank you so much, I appreciate it. 

[Aloe_sky]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:13 PM, JKL33 said:

Forewarning: I have very little tolerance for bad coworker behavior like what yours did to you, but I think it's good to be no-nonsense in our own responses, too, so I hope my comments don't seem harsh. They are passionate, but not mean-spirited or critical. Okay? ?

This is not worth crying about, and entertaining thoughts of being "scarred" by this is not good. Not okay. You gotta get out of that mode, pronto.

These are silly insecure fools doing this kind of stuff. And mean-spirited, too. How ridiculous would it be if you were scarred, wounded and all out of sorts because of that kind of foolishness? Get into a mindset where you feel sorry for them--because I assure you they have way bigger problems than you do; both nursing and life are gonna be rough for them if they don't shape up.

As for you, you sound like a conscientious person. You're going to be fine if you learn to stand up for yourself. Doing so doesn't have to be confrontational, but you can see what happens when you do the opposite and immediately go into emotional melt-down mode--you end up losing the opportunity to state your case/defend yourself, etc., etc., and are prone to people basically bullying you and/or treating you poorly.

We do usually have some element of control over how we let others "make" us feel.

I hope you will take some time to process your emotions; rethink how you are feeling right now. Then go on about your business, take good care of your patients, continue being kind and professional. Going forward, it probably won't hurt to be just a little more interactive with your coworkers; rapports with coworkers can go a long way even when minimal and strictly work-related.

I hope this makes sense.

Take care ~

I do need time to process my emotions, I worked with a group I usually do last night that told me I need to take time before confronting my manager because I was crying before even telling them what happened.
They said they would talk to my manager and say that they have never seen me sleep but I don’t know who is telling the truth anymore, they also weren’t there the day these staff members said I was sleeping. 
they told me race could possibly play a part since I am the only person of color on the unit, they brought up other instances where my manager had a lot more serious issues on the unit with facts present and the nurses didn’t even get a verbal warning. Also when he came in on a night shift and 1 staff member was sleeping at the nursing station, he seen and didn’t say anything. Another nurse said he joked with her about staying awake when she kept nodding off but said he never said anything again to her. I would hate to think that is it but it’s also very hurtful that could be a possibility. 

The lying is what’s killing me, that is the most hurtful thing that I will never get over.
But then we discussed this, there is a nurse that is known for sleeping on the unit EVERY shift  that also worked that day and everyone is wondering if there was a mix up. I won’t bring up this nurses name but hopefully with an investigation my name is cleared.

I’m still venting in my responses….. I just need to relax and take my mind off this for awhile. I hardly get any sleep these past days over this. Thank you for your feedback. 

[Devnation]

I know that it's too late for this situation but it's something to remember for the future. Never sign anything without time to calmly review and reflect on it, doubly so if you think it is inaccurate. I would speak with the manager who asked you to sign the form and request a meeting with him/her and an HR representative. If your hospital is unionized, even better, involve them, too. It is all very well to be self-actualized and be above pettiness, but don't let them get away with bullying behavior. If it goes unanswered once, they'll do it again. 

[Aloe_sky]

2 hours ago, Devnation said:

I know that it's too late for this situation but it's something to remember for the future. Never sign anything without time to calmly review and reflect on it, doubly so if you think it is inaccurate. I would speak with the manager who asked you to sign the form and request a meeting with him/her and an HR representative. If your hospital is unionized, even better, involve them, too. It is all very well to be self-actualized and be above pettiness, but don't let them get away with bullying behavior. If it goes unanswered once, they'll do it again. 

Thank you, it is a lesson learned. I requested an investigation. Turns out the 2 ppl that told on me have never worked on my unit and were walking thru. The staff I worked with admitted I was at my patients room the whole night, never at the nursing station and they didn’t see me sleep. 
I’m thinking they have me mixed up with the charge nurse that WAS sleeping at the nursing station that night. I can verify 10000%who was sleeping that night and this nurse sleeps every night. The charge nurse is really paid to do nothing but assignments so we usually don’t even care if they sleep. 
I feel it’s the manager and the higher ups job to do a proper investigation without me having to throw anybody under the bus. 

[feelix, RN]

I recently attended an ANA course where they were advocating for nap time to be incorporated into nurses shifts to promote mental wellbeing. Nurse managers, having being promoted because of who they are buddies with won’t catch up with research, though.

[monkey205]

I would write up a statement on what happened with the names of those that can back what you were doing,  and send it to HR to go along with your write-up.   Continue to be you and do your work appropriately.  You know the truth and that is all you need.    Sorry you are going through this.  

[feelix, RN]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:57 PM, Aloe_sky said:

Thank you, it is a lesson learned. I requested an investigation. Turns out the 2 ppl that told on me have never worked on my unit and were walking thru. The staff I worked with admitted I was at my patients room the whole night, never at the nursing station and they didn’t see me sleep. 
I’m thinking they have me mixed up with the charge nurse that WAS sleeping at the nursing station that night. I can verify 10000%who was sleeping that night and this nurse sleeps every night. The charge nurse is really paid to do nothing but assignments so we usually don’t even care if they sleep. 
I feel it’s the manager and the higher ups job to do a proper investigation without me having to throw anybody under the bus. 

Oh! For not minding their own business.

[HiddenAngels]

10 hours ago, feelix said:

I recently attended an ANA course where they were advocating for nap time to be incorporated into nurses shifts to promote mental wellbeing. Nurse managers, having being promoted because of who they are buddies with won’t catch up with research, though.

Nor will they be the ones covering for us for our mental well being naps.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Do you even want to be working here anymore? Are there other jobs you can look into for a fresh start? Did the manager even speak to you privately before springing this form to sign? I wonder at the culture of the unit you are working in.

You do have the power to take yourself elsewhere. 

[Aloe_sky]

4 hours ago, RNperdiem said:

Do you even want to be working here anymore? Are there other jobs you can look into for a fresh start? Did the manager even speak to you privately before springing this form to sign? I wonder at the culture of the unit you are working in.

You do have the power to take yourself elsewhere. 

This is a problem and I was warned that my manager will hear a complaint and run with it no questions asked. As in my case, I was brought in the office, didn’t get asked 1 single question but was told I was getting a write up for sleeping. 
I told HR and Employee Relations that proper investigations should be done if accused because this affects our reputation and livelihood. 
I also requested whoever LIED should get a write up, they were very quick to say that can’t do that because they promote a culture where ppl can feel comfortable to come forward and that would prevent ppl feeling comfortable to do so. 
I said this was malicious because they said I was somewhere I wasn’t, doing something I didn’t, then they said it could have been a mistake….as if it’s OK to just get ppl in trouble just because, if they aren’t 100%sure, all parties need to keep it to themselves. 
they are still investigating the matter, I know a few people I worked with said they weren’t questioned yet. 
I know 2 nurses are leaving for getting write ups and said they don’tfeel management has their backs. There’s a dayshift vs night shift issues where management only hears day shift side.

[JKL33]

3 minutes ago, Aloe_sky said:

I also requested whoever LIED should get a write up, they were very quick to say that can’t do that because they promote a culture where ppl can feel comfortable to come forward and that would prevent ppl feeling comfortable to do so. 
I said this was malicious because they said I was somewhere I wasn’t, doing something I didn’t, then they said it could have been a mistake….as if it’s OK to just get ppl in trouble just because, if they aren’t 100%sure, all parties need to keep it to themselves. 

This kind of thing and some of the other info you've posted is why hospitals can make your head explode.  Just so toxic. I support whatever legal things people do to not tolerate it. They will only learn that we won't tolerate it when we consistently refuse to keep taking it.

[Ribbons, BSN, MSN, PhD]

First and foremost you must go to HR and demand an investigation if you were not sleeping on the job.  If you were, act like a professional and sign the form and resolve never to do that again.  If you were not sleeping and were actually working on the computer, ask HR to have the IT dept pull the records of the entries you made on that date, showing the times you made the entries.  Those entries may prove you couldn't have been sleeping because you were working on documentation.  Evidence is what matters here.