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.
A lot of the nurses who I work with talk on the cell phone while doing their duties..I do not care and I do not want to make waves so I do not report them..
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.
I had a similar situation last week with a fellow student. She cursed me and loudly brought in other students by directing her threatening remarks to them about me. She has done similar things before to others (w/o the profanity) and through hearsay, she caused a scene at one of our clinical sites. Tomorrow is the first time that I can address our instructor about it and I have drafted a letter, however I had been hesitating due to the tremendous amount of stress that I and my fellow students (including this person) have endured during the last few weeks of our program. (We graduate [hopefully] in 4 weeks) After reading the various posts, I have decided to present my letter and hopefully be able to discuss the situation.
it makes me fume :angryfire when i hear about stuff like that. it's not fair that some ppl comply with the rules and other (i was going to say clowns:clown: ) party poopers don't "feel like it."
try not to allow that person to "bully" you. there's a lot of them out there. try and stick to the job and your purpose for being there. if it comes down to it you may have to be the "professional" one and document everything and present to your supervisor
I have not read all the posts, but is anyone in management backing you up? I think every work place has a policy against workplace violence. don't take it anymore!
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 agree. That's not appropriate in ANY setting. Work, or otherwise, imho. But especially in a long term CARE facility. Hmmm me wonders how much care this person truly provides? With that kind of attitude I'd bet the paycheck that there have been a few patients that have been on the receiving end of that kind of wrath, overt or covert.
And rpv_rn has excellent advice. I'd say document document document. In fact, you might even consider getting yourself one of those digital voice recorders and when she starts to go off, hit "record" and document it verbatim.
Protect yourself, and protect your patients. This is not a good thing at all. I can understand someone getting upset, and I could understand her saying "that's not for you to tell me. who made you boss of the world?". But this is wayyyyyy over the line.
This is just a small suggestion. When you speak face to face with your supervisors, make sure you have a copy of the American Nurses Association's statistics and definitions of workplace violence in hand. They can be found on the ANA's website, however it might be in the "members only" section. You should be able to contact your state's nursing association to get a copy. Good luck. Regardless of how little CNA's are paid or appreciated, individuals with this kind of behavior have no place in the health care setting. What would have happened if a patient or family member would have made a complaint about her cell phone use? Would they have received the same treatment? Good luck.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
well, today i had some more negative experiences.
she worked a double (stayed over onto my afternoon shift), and worked in the lockdown alzheimers unit. i heard her in the breakroom (inadvertently, as i was walking by from laundry) and heard a bunch of aides talking about how the nurses were "going to get it one of these days out in the parking lot. i then heard laughter". when i walked into the room to see who was in there (like i was searching for an aide, do that a lot), she was there with another two aides i didn't know. i then walked out.
at the end of the night, a coworker i am close to and knows she has threatened me, saw her drive in a circle around all the cars in the parking lot, and then stopped behind mine and parked for a moment. what the heck is that about? was she gonna slash my tires? key up the paint? getting my license number?
my god. i am scared of her, and i am now writing another letter to admin and will call them. this is ridiculous that i am in this situation. some of administration knows, but they are investigating, and i don't know if everyone in admin is on the same page as to what was actually said about me and the threats. that will be clarified tomorrow by me.
and i was told today by my doc that i am diabetic, and will need to be put on metformin. i have been trying to lose weight due to central obesity and high triglycerides/cholesterol (genetic). just what i need is a little more stress in my life, when i have already been hospitalized twice in the past two months. im only 28. i have two kids to support, on my own.
ok, sorry. i'll stop my pity party now.
what do you think she was up to by my car? can she find out info about me by my license plate number? i hope not. i hope they terminate her and fast, but that doesn't mean she won't show up work again and finish her threat of me "getting it" in the parking lot. :stone
I really do feel bad for you. There are so many people out there that intentionally intimidate. One nurse told me that I hadnt put a paper in the billing clerks box one time and for me to be sure to do that because she liked to come over and yell. I looked at her, laughed and said, "Well I yell back." I have had several people try to intimidate me or throw things and I stand right up to them. What is the difference? Well I am a male and yes things are supposed to be equal but lets face it--it is much easier to pick on small females than me--230lb male.
Anyway now that you have heard this you need to call the facility today and tell them about the parking lot incident. You also need to report this today to the state board of nursing. The aides talking about how a nurse is going to get it in the parking lot. Please call the board today--you have a duty to do this for our profession. It isnt right that you have to deal with the problem but in the future if you dont, it empowers bullies to think they can walk all over people.
The state board of nursing should refer you to the CNA licensing division and I can tell you they will address this problem promptly. I may also call the local police--I dont know that they can do anything about it but they may very well be able to send an officer to talk to this person which usually helps quite a bit.
Might I also add my opinion that you have very poor supervisors and administrators at the place you work (like 90 percent of the places out there). They are letting a serious problem escalate, in this day and time workplace harassment or violence is never tolerated.
Your supervisors are moving waaaay to slow! I agree with Noryn call the police, you have been threatned. Can you get a restraining order against her?? BTW why is she working so many doubles??? red flag to me (some need to be at work??) I feel really bad for you & wish we could all be there to stand with you against this nut!
Bala Shark
573 Posts
A lot of the nurses who I work with talk on the cell phone while doing their duties..I do not care and I do not want to make waves so I do not report them..