Vent

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

So, I have got to get this off my chest. All day today I was at a mandatory inservice that was provided by non-clinical staff for nursing staff. As I have come to expect from our in person inservices and classes addressed to nursing staff, the day was filled with games and activities complete with cutesy pictures and language. The material was presented as though we were all in kindergarten. I am all for using various tools for education when the material warrants it, but the information we were going over today was very basic and not rocket science. If the topics had been convoluted or difficult to grasp, sure, use an activity or prop to make them more tangible, otherwise just tell me what I need to know and don't make me participate in some infantile game. Yes, I'm being paid, so maybe I shouldn't complain but I would much rather be giving patient care and actually working. I just can't help but wonder if they would have used the same approach with physicians, accounting, or some other department and I say this because my entire career required educational meetings and inservices have always been presented this way as opposed to adhering to a professional or academic format. Have other people experienced this or is it just common in my area?

Another thing, off topic but in the same vein, why do things related to nursing have to feel so demeaning? Pizza parties by management, a pen with the company logo for nurses's week, hell even our award for recognition is called the DAISY award! It sounds like an award a girl scout would get, not a skilled, educated professional.

There, I got it out of my system.

I do realized that I could just be a stick in the mud, and that's entirely possible too, I just prefer to embrace my inner child at home, not at work ?

[BarrelOfMonkeys, BSN, RN]

I am sort of laughing at your remarks but not at the thought behind them. I recall in college going through and having to dress up to even present research and then in the real world of nursing we are playing games and getting free pens over cold pizza. It’s a weird switch!

[Davey Do]

I feel your pain, MIML. I have to attend an eight hour inservice tomorrow.

Eleanor, my work wife, attended the one scheduled for last week. She said they ordered out for pizza so there would be no lunch break.

[Sour Lemon]

I usually skip mandatory meetings and haven't been fired from any job yet ...but once, my DON caught me walking out the door and walked me to a meeting. Damn.
I have never been so infuriated in my life (exaggeration). The first 30 minutes of the meeting were things someone could have told me in five minutes. The last HOUR of the meeting was a presentation on death and dying by NURSING STUDENTS.
I had to be back to work that night.
Maybe it was the universe's way of paying me back for missing every single meeting- ever. Still, I think the punishment was excessive.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

We had a mandatory meeting last week with the head of ... something and the DON.

We started by introducing ourselves (since the head of whatever and DON never go on the floors) and saying one thing about ourselves that’s *unique.*

After a 12 hour shift.

It was my own personal hell.

And no pens.

[Davey Do]

3 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

my DON caught me walking out the door and walked me to a meeting.

I came in late for a mandatory meeting once and walked by the director of the psych division who looked at me and then looked at her watch. Later, she came to the inservice, stood at the door, pointed at me, and gave me an index-finger-come-hither sign. "Oh geeze", I thought. She then asked me if I could quickly sign some information to a hearing impaired psych patient.

As we rode up on the elevator, I said, "I was late because I'm trying to emulate you". She got real defensive and said something along the lines of, "I know, but I'm trying real hard to be on time!"

Heh heh.

[Sour Lemon]

6 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

As we rode up on the elevator, I said, "I was late because I'm trying to emulate you".

That is absolutely wonderful! ?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Been there done that.. many times.

I recall one mandatory in-service called "WOW the patient". Somebody thought it was cute to serve those low-fat WOW chips. Some nurses got the runs from the fat substitute.

The real kicker? The outside company was paid one million bucks to present it.

[Davey Do]

8 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

That is absolutely wonderful!

Oh, Sour Lemon, I have the part of the Code of Conduct Manual memorized that says "Supervisors are to display exemplary behavior..." so if I ever get called on the carpet for anything inappropriate, I will be able to cite specific examples of supervisors' "exemplary behavior" that I was merely emulating.

It's okay to be a little paranoid and cynical, don't you think?

[Daisy4RN]

Unfortunately I think this is par for the course. I attended a inservice about something respiratory so it started with the presenter doing A&P, she showed a poster size hand drawn picture of the bronchial tree and then asked us if we knew why it was called that, nobody said anything, she then proceeded to tell us (in a tone of talking to kindergarteners) it is because it looks like a tree while she simultaneously turned the poster upside down and showed us how it looked like a tree. You can imagine how the rest of that 2 hour inservice went. (Everyone in that class was already an RN)

[JKL33]

1 hour ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

So, I have got to get this off my chest. All day today I was at a mandatory inservice that was provided by non-clinical staff for nursing staff. As I have come to expect from our in person inservices and classes addressed to nursing staff, the day was filled with games and activities complete with cutesy pictures and language. The material was presented as though we were all in kindergarten. I am all for using various tools for education when the material warrants it, but the information we were going over today was very basic and not rocket science. If the topics had been convoluted or difficult to grasp, sure, use an activity or prop to make them more tangible, otherwise just tell me what I need to know and don't make me participate in some infantile game.

Hear, hear!

1 hour ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

Yes, I'm being paid, so maybe I shouldn't complain but I would much rather be giving patient care and actually working.

Yes, patients are almost always better than these clowns.

Actually, clowns don't deserve that comparison.

1 hour ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

I just can't help but wonder if they would have used the same approach with physicians, accounting, or some other department and I say this because my entire career required educational meetings and inservices have always been presented this way as opposed to adhering to a professional or academic format. Have other people experienced this or is it just common in my area?

Experienced it multiple times.

When you look around the room and see how many people are being paid for stuff like this and calculate the general cost of such an endeavor, it's not very funny.

Just the same, I stopped feeling insulted by recognizing that this has nothing to do with me. It is 100% about the individuals who don't know how to properly interact with other adults.

[Wuzzie]

We had a nurse manager who had a sign hand lettered with “promises to my co-workers” written on it. She then put it on an easel and demanded we all sign it with her special gold marker. It is now framed and hanging in the charge nurse office. My name ain’t on it.

If I can’t treat my co-workers well without signing a contract then there’s a problem. Also...not in high school. ?