Verbal abuse at work

Poi Dog · Sep 15, 2011

I am a fairly new nurse and unfortunately had an episode of verbal abuse at work. I had a male coworker call me a " ******* *****" in front of all my coworkers. It was extrememly disrespectful and very humiliating. He has had issues with other nurses as well. I had reported it to my ADN. What disciplinary actions are usually done in this scenario? I only ask becuase this incident happened a week ago and my ADn has yet to address the issue.
Thanks in advance.

Wow, what did you coworkers do or say? What did your ADN say? I would think that a written warning or termination is in order. I can take the verbal abuse from my residents; not from my coworkers though.

79Tango · Sep 15, 2011

Any RANGE of disciplinary actions can be taken, however an investigation is usually the first thing that goes down. Did you report this as sexual harrassment or personality conflict? Did you put this in writing or provide a sworn statement? Was anyone asked to provide witness statements? People dont usually come out with the **** *** unless there was an argument. What would be this person's defense be if he were called into HR?

canigraduate · Sep 15, 2011

That ****** me off just reading it. If ANY man talked to me like that, he better run or get ready to have sore balls.

If you haven't heard back from the ADN, check on the status of your complaint and kick it up the ladder if nothing is being done. That kind of behavior is unacceptable.

mimi1jb · Sep 15, 2011

Any RANGE of disciplinary actions can be taken, however an investigation is usually the first thing that goes down. Did you report this as sexual harrassment or personality conflict? Did you put this in writing or provide a sworn statement? Was anyone asked to provide witness statements? People dont usually come out with the**** *** unless there was an argument. What would be this person's defense be if he were called into HR?

I didn't really know this could be seen as sexual harassment. I assumed it was just a personal conflict. I did provide this in writing and so did the charge nurse. The argument was about break times. The assignment stated I was to go at 2:30M and he was to go at 1AM, We would be covering eachother. At 12:45AM, he decided to tell me that I was going to go at 1AM because “he was busy”. I told him the assignment said I was going at 2:30 Am and I was not going to be able to go at 1 AM because I had received my admission. He went over to the assignment and changed it, giving me break at 1AM. He stated that since he had made the assignment he could change it. I approached the charge nurse and explained the situation to him. He had told me the original assignment would be respected, not the changed one. I thanked him and when back to finishing my admission assessment.The RN then walked over to where I was sitting and called me a “ ******* *****”.

Im not sure what his defense would be but I will not take this disrespect from a coworker and want to know what disciplinary actions can be taken.

79Tango · Sep 15, 2011

Im telling you there must be an investigation before any actions are taken. Your co-worker has rights too. Since you stated it was a male I assumed Sexual Harrassment was where this was going. (That is the quickest way to get someone in trouble).

You probably need to get copies of your statement to HR, just in case the ADN tried to protect the guy. Ive been through enough of these to say actions could range from slap on the wrist to termination (both parties). What about the other co-workers that this was in front of? Were they offended as well? You may need to get statements from them or at least list their names for HR to speak with.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2011

Do you have an electronic incident reporting system at your facility? Most new nurses/employees think that an incident report should only be filled out if a PATIENT was involved, but then later find out that this system of reporting can be used for a myriad of untoward events, such as the one you experienced.

If your facility DOES have this system, I encourage you to file an incident report. At most facilities, incident reports are automatically sent to Risk Management. That department then takes on the responsibility of addressing the complaint with you and your nurse manager.

Honey, I feel so badly for you. It sounds like all you were trying to do was take care of your admission and put your patient FIRST. This guy sounds like a complete jackwagon, and he has no business being employed if this is the way he handles conflict. Most nurses pride themselves on being recognized as professionals; he clearly is not upholding that standard at all!

I will share an experience with you:

When I was a new nurse, I had been working on a Gyn/Onc med/surg unit for almost a year. The unit had recently hired an experienced male nurse that at first seemed pretty cool. After 3 weeks, he started making some off-color comments. We thought nothing of it, and just chalked it up to a misguided attempt at joking around (although he was kind of a social idiot). Then as he became more brazen, he would make outright offensive comments about the nurses (he told me one morning when I was reporting off to him that I should consider wearing tighter scrub tops to showcase my AWESOME hooters!), and then started making comments about the patients. I started writing incident reports, as did many other nurses. The last straw was when he openly said to the attending doc, "It's a shame that Mrs. X's husband can't tap that *** anymore, cause she is HOT!" The patient was a 36 year old that was dx with ovarian ca. The doc reported him, and he was not only fired that day, but also escorted out by security. He was a disgusting individual.

There should be absolutely ZERO tolerance for the type of behavior that you are describing of your co-worker. NONE. Your best bet is to start a paper trail by writing an incident report. You may not hear anything, you may not be contacted, you may feel that your efforts are for naught. But believe me when I tell you that there is a high probability that this jackwagon has already been reported. The more you document, the larger his file gets, and the more rope you give him to hang his foul-mouthed, unprofessional and irresponsible self with.

OCNRN63, RN · Sep 15, 2011

Do you have an electronic incident reporting system at your facility? Most new nurses/employees think that an incident report should only be filled out if a PATIENT was involved, but then later find out that this system of reporting can be used for a myriad of untoward events, such as the one you experienced.
If your facility DOES have this system, I encourage you to file an incident report. At most facilities, incident reports are automatically sent to Risk Management. That department then takes on the responsibility of addressing the complaint with you and your nurse manager.
Honey, I feel so badly for you. It sounds like all you were trying to do was take care of your admission and put your patient FIRST. This guy sounds like a complete jackwagon, and he has no business being employed if this is the way he handles conflict. Most nurses pride themselves on being recognized as professionals; he clearly is not upholding that standard at all!
I will share an experience with you:
When I was a new nurse, I had been working on a Gyn/Onc med/surg unit for almost a year. The unit had recently hired an experienced male nurse that at first seemed pretty cool. After 3 weeks, he started making some off-color comments. We thought nothing of it, and just chalked it up to a misguided attempt at joking around (although he was kind of a social idiot). Then as he became more brazen, he would make outright offensive comments about the nurses (he told me one morning when I was reporting off to him that I should consider wearing tighter scrub tops to showcase my AWESOME hooters!), and then started making comments about the patients. I started writing incident reports, as did many other nurses. The last straw was when he openly said to the attending doc, "It's a shame that Mrs. X's husband can't tap that *** anymore, cause she is HOT!" The patient was a 36 year old that was dx with ovarian ca. The doc reported him, and he was not only fired that day, but also escorted out by security. He was a disgusting individual.
There should be absolutely ZERO tolerance for the type of behavior that you are describing of your co-worker. NONE. Your best bet is to start a paper trail by writing an incident report. You may not hear anything, you may not be contacted, you may feel that your efforts are for naught. But believe me when I tell you that there is a high probability that this jackwagon has already been reported. The more you document, the larger his file gets, and the more rope you give him to hang his foul-mouthed, unprofessional and irresponsible self with.

What a pig.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2011

What a pig.

He really was disgusting. He would tell some really off-color jokes...and not good ones. Most of them pertained to the girthiness of male anatomy or the voluptuousness of females . When he was giving report, he would often use the P word instead of saying lady parts. I am hoping that he is not only unemployed, but also that he is enjoying living rent-free by the grace of whatever state he is residing in. I can't imagine he still holds a nursing license.

Thankfully, these asshams are few and far between.

OP, please let us know what transpires. We are all backing you!

littlemammanurse, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2011

That is just disgusting...I had someone from an old job tell me to my face that they thought I was an idiot and couldn't believe they hired an air head like me...all because I asked for the password to the residents dvr so I could pick a movie for them :smackingf:uhoh21:

I reported it to manager who didn't do anything about it so I quit that weekend...I can't stand people who are rude...who died and made them the ruler of the world?

Isabelle49 · Sep 16, 2011

Good grief, I would actually wonder if he was really a nurse. I had male nurses care for me on two shifts after neck surgery, they were wonderful, absolutely professional.

DizzyLizzyNurse · Sep 16, 2011

Too bad a doctor had to report the guy before something got done. And apparently it was ok to harass the nurses, but not the patients. Unbelievable.

:smackingf:smackingf