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.
Violence in the work place is not a joke. Here is a link from the U.S. Department of Labor. As stated on my previous post, it is important that you document situation between you and this person as objectively as you can with dates and times of incidents.
Urgently discuss your situation with administration. If your administration does not respond, your facility can be reported to OSHA, who will perform the investigation. Please review link for more information. You may have legal grounds to file a report with OSHA. Violence in the workplace is not acceptable.
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.
Had this situation too...I simply said..."I can't see you using your cel for the next 30 seconds...after that????" And I would say it with a look of OH please don't make me get all in charge on you! Normally that was it and I could say..."hey, you were lucky it was me not someone else. Please don't use that in open areas..use the med rooms or break room then you can't get into any trouble!".
If I got flack for that...I would say a little louder "hey don't ruin using cel phones by everyone else...you know they will make a rule against them if you are caught!". That normally got any form of retaliation focused away from me :).
Lucky for me I only did this once, most of my staff knew better and would go into a med room or the break room quickly to answer a cel or to talk. This particular lady was in a fight with her boyfriend and quite emotional...so I took her aside and let her vent for a while with me, and after that all was okay.... No reason to break a rule, but she worked better after getting things off her chest!
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
I'd put my head together with the DON or the HR person to verify the correct way to do this. The staff would be reminded at the beginning of each shift for the next week--no cell phone conversations while on the job. The next time this person reacted to confrontation by opening of her big mouth she would be told to clock out and leave the building. If she refuses to go, the police would be called to escort her out of the building. She is not being fired, just being asked to leave. She can hash it out with the DON the next day. Sometimes losing a day of pay makes them obey the rules. That, or else they quit which is just as acceptable. The shakeup will cause the less bolder aides to shape up and obey the rules.
Ya know, this is bad. You should not have to put up with this.
Your administration is just moving too slow. IMHO they are probably stalling.
Personally, I would call the police. Or maybe I would go to someone in administration who already knows about the incident and tell THEM if they didn't get something done now, I was calling the police. You need documentation that if something happens to you or your car is damaged.....then the police will know who to look for.
People like that do not realize that they are only really hurting themselves.
If this has to go to the police and she is charged, arrested, or anything....this gets on her record. This makes employment in the future difficult to get...especially at nursing homes, etc.
It would be best to keep this within the facility if possible...someone needs to make her think that if this goes to the police it could turn out bad for her in the future.
But that may not be possible, if your superiors are not helping you.
I'm praying for you that everything will turn out okay.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
My experience in LTC with people who act out like the CNA described is that it is usually done for one of two reasons:
(1) the person is new to the working world and hasn't learned etiquette yet. She's still acting like she's out on the street. Other workers will either put her wise or she will eventually leave because there will be other rules to follow that will irk her as well, or
(2) she's deliberately looking to get fired so she can file for welfare or unemployment. I saw a lot of that going on and sometimes overheard others talk about the ones who were doing it. They will defy authority and egg you on in an attempt to file for grievances. Many know the unemployment and welfare laws and regulations better than we do.
So, basically, what you've got is either an ignorant new worker, or a very smart one who is just playing the system. Either way, she'll be gone soon. They never do stay very long. This is just one reason why you should always keep your cool when correcting these people. They will remember someone who is nasty to them. Some of them see this as just a game they have to play to get on the monthly dole. As long as they get out of my hair, I follow good principles of supervision, document as much as I can to help out my employer with the unemployment claim that might be filed later and just do my job with the patients. It's sad that we have to go through these games, but that is how our system works.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
well, i have talked to administrator, the DON, and the director of the unit this aide works on. all they say is "it's being investigated". meanwhile, she continues to work any shift she pleases, and is allowed to pretty much do whatever she da** well wants to do. i am pretty sick of the way the whole situation is being handled, and am tired of nursing in general. i am tired of being treated like a second class citizen, and not being believed in anything i have to say. it's like they don't care about me at all. they certainly don't care about the workplace being a productive environment. they certainly don't care about nurses being threatened and to "watch out when they leave at night". i mentioned workplace violence, they tell me i'm overreacting. yeah, well, they didn't hear all the nasty things, and all the threats she threw my way either.
i'm hanging at the end of my rope here. i betcha if this aide talked to the administrator this way her butt would have been kicked out the door in a millisecond. but who cares about a stupid nurse, right?
It would be nice if administrators did things for the right reason--most of the time they just want to cover problems up instead of correcting them. It is much easier to turn their back on this problem than to fire this aide and report her to the state.
Again I do encourage you to contact the police and at least get their input. They are going to be able to tell you so much more especially regarding the laws in your area. As others have said document document document.
As I have said before, I would file an official complaint with the state board of nursing/cna licensing board in your state. I think you have a duty to do this. That way there will be a paper trail on this person.
Most likely if you dont report her, in the future she is going to do this to another nurse and make their life pure hell--like she has done yours. Let some more people give you some recommendations before you make a decision however that is what I would do.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
I would quit. I don't see things getting better. I would document in my resignation that I was leaving because the facility had failed to protect me from threatened bodily harm.
I would quit. I don't see things getting better. I would document in my resignation that I was leaving because the facility had failed to protect me from threatened bodily harm.
Exactly! It's not like as a nurse, you can say, "gee, I just can't find a job ANYWHERE!" This CNA is a worthless excuse of a human being. Put in your notice, and if she threatens you again before you leave, call the police to come to your facility. That would first make you safer, and second would make administration jump a little faster on the "investigation". I'm sure that your place of employment does not want the public to think that it is an unsafe place for family members to be if police starts showing up for violence in the workplace. It will be their burden to carry if after repeated phone calls and letters, nothing was being done. There should have been an IMMEDIATE response the SAME DAY you reported the incident. Doesn't sound like your facility cares much about their employees - there are other places for employment that would by lucky to have you. Don't take this BS anymore. Find another job at a safer place. :wink2:
rpv_rn
167 Posts
Violence in the work place is not a joke. Here is a link from the U.S. Department of Labor. As stated on my previous post, it is important that you document situation between you and this person as objectively as you can with dates and times of incidents.
Urgently discuss your situation with administration. If your administration does not respond, your facility can be reported to OSHA, who will perform the investigation. Please review link for more information. You may have legal grounds to file a report with OSHA. Violence in the workplace is not acceptable.
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/