I was almost done posting this but it went away? Sorry if it comes up twice???
Anyway, I am an RN on a busy day shift med-surg/onc floor. The other day it was crazy. It was about 1400 and I had not eaten or peed. I was starting to feel a bit sick. I told the HUC that I was not feeling well and that I was going to take a quick break to pee and eat something real quick. I told her to tell the CNA I was working with that I was not feeling good, would be back quickly, and to give her this note.
The note said - Take temp in 502 and get water for 507. Thanks
Well when I got back, the CNA working with me was livid. She demanded to talk to me in private. She says (and I quote) "I am not your N-word" (but she says the word if ya know what I mean) "You can't just leave me notes and expect me to do what you say"
I was just so shocked! First that she would use the N word (we are both white) and second, that she seemed to not care that I had to get off the floor for just a few min.
So I end up apologizing to HER, explaining why I left the note, and telling her how bad I had to take a quick break. She really didn't care, didn't even give the water or take the temp, and just talked trash about me for the rest of the shift. I heard her later telling the other cna's that 'she put me in my place"
this type of behavior is so dishearting for me, We should ALL be there to support eachother and the patients. What would you guys have done?
Please... Save your breath. I think it's quite humorous how many people have attacked me in this thread for merely pointing out the obvious, that the OP needs to take care of her health. And all I hear in the attacks are excuses after excuses why it's impossible to take hypoglycemic precautions.
I am not going to spend my time being all smoochy sweet to my coworkers......"Sally sue, could you pretty please get Mr President in room 208 some water? It'd be such a great favor to me. Thank you so much!"
Um, no.
I don't have time for that. Working in the ER I have to get stuff done and get it done fast. I'm gonna say "Sally Sue - the guy in 208 needs water." Period. Actually, I'll be saying it as I run by her on my way to give morphine to my trauma patient with an open fracture. Too bad if she doesn't like it. I'm taking care of people who need me more than I need to be nice to Sally Sue.
Guess that's why I like working the ER. Nobody gets their feelings hurt nor do they go all crybaby on each other. We're mature enough to know it is not personal and emotionally stable enough to not get in a big high school fight about it. I might yell directions to Sally Sue 4 or 5 times during a shift and we'll still walk out the door together talking about the kids or going out and grabbing a beer.
if someone said all that to me, that would annoy me more than someone just demanding something from me honestly.
i didnt say you had to go over the top with asking someone to do something for you, but just a please and a thank you go a long way.
also, you're in the ER. thats expected. we're talking about another type of unit here.
Just because I am a Nurse Assistant does not make me stupid , time management is required for all facets of life professional and person situations. You must be assertive of how you use your time and schedule breaks and ask for help as much as possible to make the time to take a break.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Please... Save your breath. I think it's quite humorous how many people have attacked me in this thread for merely pointing out the obvious, that the OP needs to take care of her health. And all I hear in the attacks are excuses after excuses why it's impossible to take hypoglycemic precautions.
The reason for that is you are focussing on a tangential issue. The thread is not "almost passed out from hypoglycemia,what should I do?" There is absolutely no reason to debate that. It's not for the CNAs to decide whether or not her reasons were valid for taking a break, or re-educate her on managing her blood sugars. She asked the CNA to do two tasks that she was hired to do. She said, "thanks" on the note. Where in the world are you seeing "aggression" in that?
Just because I am a Nurse Assistant does not make me stupid , time management is required for all facets of life professional and person situations. You must be assertive of how you use your time and schedule breaks and ask for help as much as possible to make the time to take a break.
Nobody is saying you are stupid because you are a nurse assistant. But you cannot judge an RN on their time management because you do not understand the scope of practice they have.
Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.
To get back to the original posting:
That kind of behavior is unacceptable. You acted professionally by doing what you could to diffuse the situation and apologizing, although I do NOT think you were wrong in any way!!!
There is a difference between being a peacemaker and being a doormat.
You need to have a chat with your nurse manager. The racial slur alone would be enough to get her canned in my facility. They do not play about that mess. Write a factual accounting of what happened, and ask any licensed nurses who witnessed to do the same. Then file a formal grievance based on a the creation of a hostile work environment.
If she is not doing her job, not caring for the patients, and creating strife in the unit, she needs to be gone. Period. End of discussion.
And as uncomfortable as it may be to have to be the one to boot her out the door, it is part of being a leader, one of the roles of the RN.
Just because I am a Nurse Assistant does not make me stupid , time management is required for all facets of life professional and person situations. You must be assertive of how you use your time and schedule breaks and ask for help as much as possible to make the time to take a break.
Good luck on that one if/when you become a nurse. I used to think along these same lines, but now I know that the nurse is the last stop. You can try all the time management in the world but don't forget to factor in the times when a resident will fall, a cna gets bit and has to go to er, another gets sick and has to go home, oh and by the way your already short staffed! Who do you ask for help when your it? Seriously, the other nurses have their pts so there is no one to cover me for a break. I can't cover them because we are already short on our wing. Something always happens to throw your schedule off.
Being a Nurse Assistant certainly does not make you stupid at all! Without you, my job would be impossible. It's just that there is usually more than one NA on my wing so they can break each other. There really is nobody to step in for many nurses. Every once in awhile you have a really ideal day when you get a potty break and can eat that sandwich without being at the computer. But I've only had that happen a handful of times.
In an ideal world it sounds great to make time to take your breaks, but the bottom line is always haunting management which means nothing positive for the nursing staff. Staffing at skeletal levels is scarry enough, but someone always calls in which makes it even worse. The problem starts above and trickles down to the nurses. The problem is always the bottom line
I am not going to spend my time being all smoochy sweet to my coworkers......"Sally sue, could you pretty please get Mr President in room 208 some water? It'd be such a great favor to me. Thank you so much!"
Um, no.
I don't have time for that. Working in the ER I have to get stuff done and get it done fast. I'm gonna say "Sally Sue - the guy in 208 needs water." Period. Actually, I'll be saying it as I run by her on my way to give morphine to my trauma patient with an open fracture. Too bad if she doesn't like it. I'm taking care of people who need me more than I need to be nice to Sally Sue.
Guess that's why I like working the ER. Nobody gets their feelings hurt nor do they go all crybaby on each other. We're mature enough to know it is not personal and emotionally stable enough to not get in a big high school fight about it. I might yell directions to Sally Sue 4 or 5 times during a shift and we'll still walk out the door together talking about the kids or going out and grabbing a beer.
I agree with you 100%. I have volunteered in the ER and the nurses were as you described yourself.
What's the big deal? Nurses are busy. I never took it personally and I understood. So long as their tone and/or stature wasn't obviously demeaning, no biggie. I love running around and helping out. This CNA is getting PAID to do this. I would love to take her job & her benefits. I would do it in a heartbeat with a smile on my face.
Do you need me to change a diaper? Would you like me to clean a few rooms? Are we running short on supplies? Who else can I help check-in for you? I'll do it while I sing a happy song. :cheers:
For those who made this into a thread about time management: Are you kidding me? NO- the OP wasn't in the wrong, the CNA was. End of story.
It's difficult for me to understand why I'm being attacked for making and supporting my comments about the OP needing to take better care of her health. It's APPARENT you DIDN'T read my comments because if you had you would have found I made it CLEAR that the 2 problems of the CNA insubordination and the OP not taking care of her health were unrelated.
But even so, you and others IGNORE this fact and continue to attack, most likely because you just like to argue.
For you to not recognize that it's unhealthy or unimportant to go long periods without at least making minor interventions to ward of getting sick from not eating is irresponsible on your part and quite shocking coming from nurses or in your case a soon to be nurse. There is NO, not even ONE excuse for not taking a moment to eat a bite, such as a cracker. It awe's me also that I've been attacked for suggesting to eat a cracker... In reality...if you can't find 2 seconds to stuff a couple crackers in your mouth while your checking out your meds, washing your hands, getting a patient water, charting, etc... then you DO have time management ISSUES. And for all those who think my job is a cake walk... please... save your breath... Instead of attacking maybe you ought to start listening on ways to improve so you DO have time to take care of your patients...and...your health. And for those who have attacked me by ignorantly insinuating that I don't put my patients first...I'd be more than happy to compare my patient satisfaction ratings and also my performance ratings from my last 6 years by my superiors against anyone's performance rating on this website. Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.......
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
Saude - Please don't be so hostile and defensive.
The thread has nothing to do with time management. That could be a new thread that you could start since you feel so passionately about the subject. If you feel you're being "attacked" you can report as a TOS violation - cause we don't usually attack people around here.
And I'm not sure where your "performance ratings" came into play anywhere in this thread.
The thread has nothing to do with time management. That could be a new thread that you could start since you feel so passionately about the subject. If you feel you're being "attacked" you can report as a TOS violation - cause we don't usually attack people around here.
And I'm not sure where your "performance ratings" came into play anywhere in this thread.
I won't be reporting anyone for a TOS violation because I haven't been cursed at or threatened. I'd prefer to handle any attacks myself. Which I did as you can see in my defense above. And yes, "attacked" is the appropriate word. And... I didn't make this thread into a time management thread. The attackers made it into a time management thread when they overtly or inadvertently combined my point about the need for the OP to take care of her health and interrelated it with the CNA's response to the OP for leaving a note. If you go back and read through the threads I'm sure you'll see I'm correct.
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blondy2061h, MSN, RN
1 Article; 4,094 Posts
You didn't answer my question...are you a nurse?