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.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
thanks everyone so much for your replies.....they really helped me.
with this particular CNA, she is not the greatest worker, but decent if she's supervised. she's fairly new, and works days (i work pm's), so i only see her when she works doubles (a lot). she usually is very pleasant, and that's what scares me. what happens to the next poor nurse who disciplines her for something really important? is that nurse going to have to go through what i am going through? or is the aide just gonna freak out and beat up the nurse? i hate to think about it, but it's the over reaction to the situation that bothered me. and then to bring lies about my personality, sexuality, and title that irritated me. i could be gay, bisexual, straight, whatever. as long as i go to work, care for my pts properly, and conduct myself professionally, my private life has no business being talked about at work by someone who has no knowledge of it. and she certainly doesn't need to threaten violent things against me, either.
ok, i've meditated, prayed, eaten my lunch. now i gotta go get ready for work. i sure will let you all know what happens when i get home!
thanks to everyone for support and opinions. i love this place! :balloons:
im sorry to hear that a persion would be so abusive. i would deffently report her. i think the only peopple who should have cell phones on them are the Doctors if you need to use the phone wait untill your break or if it is an emergency that you need your cell phone talk to the head of nurseing and get it cleared with them.
thanks everyone so much for your replies.....they really helped me.
with this particular CNA, she is not the greatest worker, but decent if she's supervised. she's fairly new, and works days (i work pm's), so i only see her when she works doubles (a lot). she usually is very pleasant, and that's what scares me. what happens to the next poor nurse who disciplines her for something really important? is that nurse going to have to go through what i am going through? or is the aide just gonna freak out and beat up the nurse? i hate to think about it, but it's the over reaction to the situation that bothered me. and then to bring lies about my personality, sexuality, and title that irritated me. i could be gay, bisexual, straight, whatever. as long as i go to work, care for my pts properly, and conduct myself professionally, my private life has no business being talked about at work by someone who has no knowledge of it. and she certainly doesn't need to threaten violent things against me, either.
ok, i've meditated, prayed, eaten my lunch. now i gotta go get ready for work. i sure will let you all know what happens when i get home!
thanks to everyone for support and opinions. i love this place! :balloons:
I'm sorry that you are going through this. Maybe after 24 hours she will have settled down a little. There are so many employees who see their jobs as their own time. I agree cell phones should not be allowed at work. I think if I were you, I would take it to the next step. There is usually always a provision in human resources that indicates a person can be terminated (or disciplined) for something like 'creating disharmony in the workplace'.
"...and she certainly doesn't need to threaten violent things against me, either."
any employee who is threatened in the work place needs to document & report it. there are policies and procedures in place for this kind of behavior. it may be a legal issue. check out the p&ps in your facility.
this type of behavior needs to be addressed in a staff meeting by the unit manager - what is acceptable & unacceptable behaviors and the consequences for unacceptable behaviors.
specific employee names do not need to be mentioned. however, if stated to general population in your nursing unit, then there is another source of documentation and increased awareness for all staff members.
Personal cell phones at work IRRITATE me :angryfire It is unprofessional in my opinion. I have seen nurses answer their personal cell phones in patient rooms . My biggest pet peeve is the ones who stop during REPORT to take or make a call.
As far as the person you described, I would have filled out some kind of incident report or would have called security. Anyone who makes a verbal threat that they are going to do physical harm to you needs to be disciplined and counseled. People who make threats could follow-up and it's not worth finding out if they will or not!
WOW! I am sorry people are like that. It is a shame that a few people ruin it for everyone. I would DEFINATELY report her, document everything that was said etc...I would have someone walk to your car with you also. Do you have security on the site? This kind of thing probably should even be reported to your local police if she was that threatening. No one should be afraid to go to work. It is terrifying to think of what care she is delivering to patients if she is doing that to YOU! Good luck with this. Let us know what the outcome is. I would be curious.
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.
You didnt read my whole post! I stated that threatening behavior was unacceptable. The quote you quoted me was referring to the cell phone use. My personal opinion is that I would rather aides in nursing homes or spread out areas have cell phones. Should they be talking on them all the time? Of course not but it is so aggravating trying to be a nurse and having to be a secretary for personal calls. That way if they get a call they can call someone back on their break or if it is an emergency they will know. I used to get 10 calls a shift from an employee's wife. Guess what our DON did about it--nothing. I just hate running to the phone thinking it may be someone important like a family member when it is someone's friend wanting something insignificant.
In a perfect world administration is going to back you up, everyone is going to be professional, etc. Most of us dont work in a perfect world though:o This behavior was definately abnormal. Getting upset I can see under some circumstances--name calling and making threats I cannot. This lady has much bigger problems than you--anger issues;immaturity I dunno.
It does sound like the aide does a good job and works extra when she is needed--perhaps she is tired and a bit intimidated or jealous by you. A lot of prn people have that problem. I have just seen so many horror stories of aides that talking on a cell phone as one was leaving just doesnt seem like a big deal to me. I know it does to others.
You have nothing to worry about. If she threatens you or continues to make false statements about you, do as the others have suggested. File a report and notify the DON. If she has actually threatened you use your trump card!!!!!!!!!! File a complaint with the board of nursing. Someone with violent tendencies does not need to be working in the medical field. What if a confused patient makes her mad?
The state board of nursing I am willing to bet will make her short career in the medical field even shorter. Again though her reaction IS INAPPROPRIATE AND WRONG I probably wouldnt have said anything if she was leaving and talking on her cell phone. Their job is tough enough and their pay is low enough. While I do hold RNs to a higher level of professionalism I guess for aides I keep tunnel vision related to how well and safe they care for the patient.
PRN people do have it a bit rough. A lot of times whether it is right or wrong you have to get to know your fellow employees and even then often there is some resentment.
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.
Can we say HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT? I don't know about your facility but where I work there is a procedure for filing complaints of this nature and that your employer must take action to keep things from escalating and
for protecting you. I bet the person you described is hopefully all mouth but this day and time we don't need loose cannons around. Protect youself and co-workers. If she would treat you this way how would she treat a
frail and sick elderly person confined to a bed when no one is looking.
Can we say HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT? I don't know about your facility but where I work there is a procedure for filing complaints of this nature and that your employer must take action to keep things from escalating and
for protecting you. I bet the person you described is hopefully all mouth but this day and time we don't need loose cannons around. Protect youself and co-workers. If she would treat you this way how would she treat a
frail and sick elderly person confined to a bed when no one is looking.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
well, she certainly didn't say anything to me at all. she say bye to her nurses she worked with on days, shot me a nasty look and then laughed, and left. eerie.
i have written a letter to admininstrator and DON, she is already being investigated for what happened, but the upper management don't have the full details of what was said. so i'll be talking to them on monday and letting them know about what she said, and i have a list of names who actually witnessed her saying those things.
she played it safe not saying anthing to me at all. she'll be there again today, so i guess there's always another opportunity for anything to happen. we don't have security on site, but if she so much as threatens me or tries to touch me, i will call the police.
wow, last night was a rough shift. lot of new fresh hips/knees and the lot needing PT/OT. i am physically still hurting from lifting and pulling.
ugh. one more day. hopefully the proper disicpline will be taken. i believe she should be terminated, but i am not the one who descides that. apparently she does have other discipline write ups in her file.
thanks guys for all your replies, thoughts, advice. i really, truly, apprecitate it! i'll see how today goes with her!
. My biggest pet peeve is the ones who stop during REPORT to take or make a call.
I stated that threatening behavior was unacceptable. The quote you quoted me was referring to the cell phone use. My personal opinion is that I would rather aides in nursing homes or spread out areas have cell phones. Should they be talking on them all the time? Of course not but it is so aggravating trying to be a nurse and having to be a secretary for personal calls. That way if they get a call they can call someone back on their break or if it is an emergency they will know. I used to get 10 calls a shift from an employee's wife. Guess what our DON did about it--nothing. I just hate running to the phone thinking it may be someone important like a family member when it is someone's friend wanting something insignificant. 
rehab nurse
464 Posts
thanks everyone so much for your replies.....they really helped me.
with this particular CNA, she is not the greatest worker, but decent if she's supervised. she's fairly new, and works days (i work pm's), so i only see her when she works doubles (a lot). she usually is very pleasant, and that's what scares me. what happens to the next poor nurse who disciplines her for something really important? is that nurse going to have to go through what i am going through? or is the aide just gonna freak out and beat up the nurse? i hate to think about it, but it's the over reaction to the situation that bothered me. and then to bring lies about my personality, sexuality, and title that irritated me. i could be gay, bisexual, straight, whatever. as long as i go to work, care for my pts properly, and conduct myself professionally, my private life has no business being talked about at work by someone who has no knowledge of it. and she certainly doesn't need to threaten violent things against me, either.
ok, i've meditated, prayed, eaten my lunch. now i gotta go get ready for work. i sure will let you all know what happens when i get home!
thanks to everyone for support and opinions. i love this place! :balloons: