verbal discipline and retalliation...(a little vent)

[rehab nurse]

here's the situation. at change of shift a few days ago, four nurses were sitting at the nurses desk, reporting off. seven aids were mingling with each other waiting for assignments, report, etc, down their respective halls. down comes one hall and when she turned the corner, right in front of our desk, out whips her flip cell phone in broad view and she continued to talk all the way down to the end of her hall (the unit she was one). i work ltc. i tried, quietly to say something as she walked by, but she ignored me. i called the supervisor on the other unit, and just told her what i had saw, and asked if she could tell her to please not pull out your phone and start talking while walking down the hall. no big deal to have cell phone on your person where we work, but it is to just whip it out and start talking.

anyhoo, the person was asked as above, and came out fuming. starting calling me every name in the book, literally. (gay b****, kiss a**, i don't give a s*** what her title is, she can't say nothin to me, cause my name is (blank) and i can do whatever i want.) she has bashed me to three different sets of people, who (one group anyway) went and reported her to upper management as violently describing "what she was going to do to me the next time she saw me", which by the way, happens today at 3pm.

i didn't even find out about all the namecalling (and i mean, very colorful namecalling, etc) until late in my shift last night, and admin only knew about the one group she spoke to, who reported her.

anyway. big sigh. i am just tired of dealing with people who willfully disregard any rule or regulation with blatant disregard, and then who verbally threaten and intimidate. it was really not a big deal what was said to her. just the rule: don't talk on the cellphone on working hours. oh, but i forgot, my title doesn't mean anything, and who am i to tell HER what to do. :angryfire

i just wanted to let this out, it has caused me a sleepless, fretful night knowing i have to see her today.

thanks for listening:)

[oneLoneNurse]

Sounds horrible.

We have an enforced policy in place. No usuage of cell phones by staff in open areas. I like this policy alot.

You should not be put in that situation.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

Is this a nurse or an aide you are talking about??? I got a little lost in the description (sorry). Regardless, I would not put up w/this for one second....mgmt needs to be involved now. This person sounds like a loose cannon, not the kind who should be providing care for anyone. Violence, harassment, threats, hmmmm illegal to say the least, & I would convey this to mgmt. I am not easily intimidated by anyone but, people are nuts....& you just don't know what extremes some will go to. Good Luck

[rehab nurse]

Is this a nurse or an aide you are talking about??? I got a little lost in the description (sorry). Regardless, I would not put up w/this for one second....mgmt needs to be involved now. This person sounds like a loose cannon, not the kind who should be providing care for anyone. Violence, harassment, threats, hmmmm illegal to say the least, & I would convey this to mgmt. I am not easily intimidated by anyone but, people are nuts....& you just don't know what extremes some will go to. Good Luck

this is an aide that was verbally disciplined (basically just reminded NOT to talk on her phone whilst walking through the halls). not a big deal, but her reaction was, and that's what worries me. i'm not usually intimidated easily, but when someone tells the entire building before leaving for the night, and talking nasty all the way out the door about what she's going to do to me the next time she sees me, well i'm a little intimidated to say the least. i'm not looking forward to going to work today, that's for certain.

thanks for the replies:)

[christymwinn]

I would definitely report that she was verbally abusive and she was threatening!! Is there anything in your policy manual about what happens under verbal threat situations? If so, copy it, take it to your manager and request that something be done immediately!!!!! Let us know how it turns out.

Christine

[Noryn]

Wow what a bad situation. It all depends on the circumstances. If this is normal behavior then something definately may need to be said. I said "may" because some places are really slack on the rules--it isnt going to do any good for you to say something if the DON or supervisor isnt going to back you up. Where I work at, nothing would probably be said unless it was interfering with the person's job on a repeated basis.

Is this out of character for the person? Is this the first time they have done something? What may concern me is that call may have been an emergency or important. Combine that with a bad day, then hearing someone complain about you being on the phone would make you upset. Most of us could be professional about it but as we know aides, doctors, administrators, and even fellow nurses sometimes are far from professional.

Threatening language is inexcusable and hopefully the administration will deal with it. Most of the places that I have worked at would suspend the person immediately over that behavior because if they dont and she would do something to you, you would have an easy lawsuit. If one of my coworkers hit me, I would probably laugh then call 911 and watch as they were handcuffed and taken away.

Again it really depends on the person and the situation--if this happened at 3am I would have a problem, if it happened after a shift or right before I wouldnt say anything. The aides do have a hard job and get very little pay or respect. Patient care is what is important to me--I have had other people get upset that the aides had nose peircings, take too many smoke breaks, complain too much, party too much, etc but if they give great safe care then that is what I care about.

I do feel bad that you are intmidated, unfortunately anytime you supervise people this can happen. Keep us updated today.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

How much support do you have from the DON? Who does the written discipline? I would get the ball rolling and mention to DON what you said here. Now if felt threatened or was actually threatened, I would definatly make this write up stick and not get lost...I've had this happen before and this girl was out the door. I told the DON that I would be calling the police if she was still employed here. (I was told that she'd take care of me or have one of her boys get me...among other things)

and no...the call probably wasn't important. If it was they need to let the nurses know that they are waiting for a call,etc. In those instances I am more than willing to make sure my staff gets thier calls.. It was just an ongoing problem at my place.

[Town & Country]

Again it really depends on the person and the situation--if this happened at 3am I would have a problem, if it happened after a shift or right before I wouldnt say anything.

NO ONE should get away with that sort of behavior - threats and this kind of thing are not acceptable, regardless of "how hard their job is."

Why should someone be allowed to blow up and threaten another person because their job is difficult and they "don't get no respect?"

When you allow that sort of behavior, you are setting a precedent and lowering standards. You may as well kiss any sort of professionalism goodbye.

That sort of thing is probably already pervasive at the OP's place of work, that's why this person (CNA?) feels safe in acting out.

[rpv_rn]

Document the incident as descriptively as you can, including dates & times. Start in chronological order, and add all follow up situtations.

Document only about yourself & the aide's behavior between the two of you. Do not add other situations ("hearsay") unless you had direct involvement. Avoid judgemental or biased statements. Write only facts.

I would give copy to manager and keep original yourself. Therefore, if aide carries out threats, you have documentation of incident.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

I am really tired of people that do not realize that worktime is for work, and that their cell phones belong in their lockers, and not on their person.

There is no excuse for how this staff member behaved, and they should be taken to task. In many facilities, they would fired for being abusive.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

this is an aide that was verbally disciplined (basically just reminded NOT to talk on her phone whilst walking through the halls). not a big deal, but her reaction was, and that's what worries me. i'm not usually intimidated easily, but when someone tells the entire building before leaving for the night, and talking nasty all the way out the door about what she's going to do to me the next time she sees me, well i'm a little intimidated to say the least. i'm not looking forward to going to work today, that's for certain.

thanks for the replies:)

I understand exactly what you are saying! This would have to dealt with at once.....either she would go or I would. Best of luck today!

[thumperRN]

I am really tired of people that do not realize that worktime is for work, and that their cell phones belong in their lockers, and not on their person.

There is no excuse for how this staff member behaved, and they should be taken to task. In many facilities, they would fired for being abusive.

Exactly!!!!! I'm so sick of the disrespect and attitude people display. Do they think it makes them look tough or something? It's makes them look like idiots, and therefore they should be treated as such. I don't think it was a moment a weakness for this person, but just the way this person is, because no one has ever made them accountable. Hope it all works out - keep us posted.