Things you wish you could say to your co-workers...

RN BSN 2009 · Mar 14, 2007

I get you, i'm pretty fed up too...

TazziRN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

Do the newbies ever meet as a group with a senior nurse? If yes, this would be a good point to bring up. Not to point fingers, but to bring out that the negativity makes it hard to concentrate.

morte, LPN, LVN · Mar 14, 2007

if you are a "fair bit older" then they are...muster up your mother/older sister persona...and explain to them how they are coming across....and the fact that they are impedng YOUR orientation......but gently, you dont want to offend those whom will "have your back" in the near future.....good luck

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

Ugh! Feeling a little frustrated today with some other newbie nurses (I am one myself). As part of orientation, we have several tasks that we have to complete and classes to attend. I find them very beneficial. However, it seems there are one or two immature individuals that insist on complaining, degrading, disregarding, and disrespecting every lecture, inservice and instructor/guest speaker that we have. It was easy to ignore at first, but now it seems it is spreading to other previously satisfied new grads who want to be part of this little group. Sometimes, I wish I could just speak my mind, but it would not be very professional...
- Yes, it is important that I know how to read EKGs forwards, backwards, and sideways in case my pt has a rhythm change and I need to intervene. :trout:
- Yes, I do need to know how to interpret ABGs even though we always have a respiratory therapist, because there are other assessment findings that I must take into consideration when providing treatment.
- Yes, I do want to learn how to read a 12 lead even though the diagnosis is generated at the top of the page...it is not always accurate.
- No, I don't want to have to move closer to hear the instructor/speaker because you want to gossip about how much you drank this weekend, your friend from highschool that got arrested, or which doctor you think is hot. I happen to think hemodynamics is an important aspect of critical care.
- No...I don't chart before I do something, I do follow the 'stupid' protocols, and I do take notes during these classes and read up on the newest recommendations outside of work. That's because I value my license.
- No...I don't know how you made it through nursing school either. :trout:
I guess I am just having a bad day. But being around this group for a few days reminds me of highschool too much. It's like watching an episode of the hills on MTV. :trout: It appalls me that some people lack such maturity and professionalism, yet choose an advanced area of practice. And then claim, they are going to apply for CRNA school after a year. Good luck with that when you don't even know the oral care protocol or why it's done.

Ok, this isn't the same, but to answer the question titling this thread....I wish I could say "is this report you're giving me on this patient what I'm really going to find? Or is this the report YOU got and you haven't actually seen this patient in the last five hours?" All too often I'm told a set of facts that aren't anything like what I find in the room ten minutes after report.

I love going into a room expecting to see a R TKR and finding it's the left. And that instead of being elevated, there isn't a pillow to be found for it. How was it elevated all day? That the "keep ice on the wound" order for a fresh post op, emphatically given in report, yields a patient who has an ice bag so old that it's HOT WATER from his body heat. I got a patient at midnight who had very literally a bag of hot water on his abdominal wound; when I asked him about it he said it was the bag he got THAT MORNING in PACU.

I would love to tell my co-workers to stop copying the previous nurse's charting notes on the care plans, and write their own observations. Don't know how many times I've seen a pt noted to have an IV all day, and it was d/c'd the day before. Or noted to have a "clean, dry, intact" dressing and the thing is bloodstained--and has been for a long time. Dear co-worker...did you LOOK?

MomRN20082b · Mar 14, 2007

Hi Soldierswife - I'm really glad you posted this. I can relate, but unfortunately not to you... I have, regretfully, been one of those people you spoke about. :chair: I am not a nurse yet, I'm a Nurse Tech and had to go through a similar orientation except it was geared more towards the CNA aspect of my job. I thought it was a ridiculous waste of time because it covered things I had learned in my CNA class so I b*tched the entire 3 days of it. (If I can give myself any credit, I wasn't gossiping and so forth, I just didn't want to be there :uhoh21:)

I didn't even give it a second thought until I read your post and realized what a jerk I had been. So I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this up because it taught me

a) you never know who is listening to your comments - good or bad

and

b) just because I was bored it doesn't mean everyone else was.

Thank you again and I'm sorry on behalf of all the morons in our profession :imbar

bethin · Mar 14, 2007

I wish I could tell them that talking about their sex lives and various instruments that they may use in the bedroom is best left in the bedroom.

Last weekend I had an 18 yo coworker who asked me to buy her alcohol after work. When I explained that I wouldn't, she got on the phone immediately with her bf and complained. Annoying, but even more annoying was the fact that there was visitors 3 ft away and 5 call lights going off. I tried to get her off the phone to no avail.

I've been told I'm too professional while at work. Gee, where exactly does professionalism belong?? It annoys me when people come to work only to visit with coworkers, talk on the phone, and discuss their sex lives. I guess I'm jealous because I don't have one. These people only contribute to my anger management problem.

tatarn2b2007 · Mar 14, 2007

Hi. This relates a little bit to your post. I am in my last semester of school and we have a clinicals on a step down unit. We have a paramedic in our class who thinks he is above working there and should get special treatment because he has been doing this stuff for years. Oh yeah, Why did you give a heart med when a pt's HR was 50?! He gets up and leaves in the middle of class and says his preceptor will teach him nothing because he knows it all!! UGGHH! Not everyone is a paramedic and "knows it all." In fact, there are 2 more medics in my class and they don't act like that. If you think you know it all, keep it to yourself. There will be a time when you don't know something and no one will be around to help you.

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

I can relate. But you know whats sad is these people will have a very unhappy life no matter where they go or what they do. I think as a service to others we need to do what we can to prevent their attitudes from spilling over to others. If that means pointing out the problem then so be it.

Megs7617 · Mar 14, 2007

Scary, isnt it?

gitterbug · Mar 14, 2007

I am sure there will be an evaluation regarding this orientation process at sometime. You write well, so without naming names, you should address some of the issues you feel need to be addressed. I am sure this situation has occurred in the past, so any tips you can give to the teachers would be appreciated. Work is what we get paid to do, fun is not always found at work. Gossip and unprofessional conduct will come back to hinder those who make it a practice to participate in those activities. Blessing today.

RNperdiem, RN · Mar 14, 2007

Congratulations on your self control. I had a coworker who it is rumored listed his yearly goal on his evaluation as " not to tell the other nurses what I really think of them".