Why do unit nurses have bad reps?

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

Let me first say that her attitude (or the others') about the unit only makes the situation worse. :stone

Secondly, it's possible you could go to that unit and hear the same things about the floor you just came from.

I think it's the back and forth of this "they think they're the crap" speak that causes this whole mess in the first place.

fergus51 · Aug 4, 2005

I work NICU and actually do think the intensive care units sometimes attract nurses with a little bit of..... well, "attitude" is a nice way of saying it. I don't think most are intentionally rude, but being so detail oriented can lead an ICU nurse to be a bit short when they are getting report from a floor nurse who isn't so detail oriented (because she has 7 patients, not 2) which often earns them a reputation.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

Egos are self growing

the more you feed it

the faster it grows

Those unit nurse can be a bit witchy at times

but they pale in comparison to me

pickledpepperRN · Aug 5, 2005

I remember when I was a med-surg LVN being upset with a float from ICU. She would only take four patients. The other RNs had 10 that 3-11 shift. When the dinner trays came she was still looking up lab results. I passed trays to her patients as she looked over charting to be sure the low K+ of two days before was treated. It was.

Now that i've been a critical care nurse for a quarter century I can relate.

I hope to find the right balance because I can't bring myself to refuse to float even though our contract does not require me to go the med-surg. (We do have to go to tele). I am terrified having to rely on an LVN I don't know. Those I've worked with before whose competence is often superior to mine - great!

Being rushed can make a person seem mean. Some people are rude. Some don't feel well or are worried. Mostly it is probably misunderstandings.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2005

When I first started working here our CCU was full of withces. Seriously they thought med-surg nurses were beneath them.

I transferred a patient one day and the nurse said "what do you mean you don't know what their potassium was yesterday". My response "I know today's level. I have nine patient's (true). I realize I can't do your job, but I know for sure you can't do mine either so stop the tude right now." Big huff and silence for the remainder of the transfer.

Twice I've had to get ugly with ICU nurses. But that's only twice in 14 years, so that's good. Most of the time I don't let other nurses attitudes bother me.

Now, I don't know if it's because I'm more confident and knowledgeable and they know me, or if the culture has changed the last ten years but they are not like that at all. In fact I find the ICU nurses very friendly and not stuck up at all.

bluesky, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2005

I can't say exactly but I have floated down to tele floors where I've been told that nurses who are friendly to me upstairs are total witches. I guess I can kind of see it. There have been times when I have had to transfer a pt I just got report on and was given a workover by the med-surg nurse taking report too though.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Aug 5, 2005

Egos are self growing
the more you feed it
the faster it grows
Those unit nurse can be a bit witchy at times
but they pale in comparison to me

Great post! :kiss

RN34TX · Aug 5, 2005

It seems you can never get away from it:

When I worked Med/Surg I always heard how LTC nurses don't know anything.

Then I moved to ICU and heard how the "floor nurses" are clueless.

Then I floated to SICU from my home MICU and constantly heard how MICU wasn't a "real" ICU like SICU is, only SICU and CVICU can take the "really sick" patients.

Then I moved to PACU, and apparantly from the feedback I got from my ICU and Med/Surg colleagues, PACU is the biggest prima donna of them all and I was going to end up like one of "them" if I stayed there because PACU nurses apparantly don't do anything because it's beneath them.

It's also an ICU overflow unit but apparantly I'm not a real ICU nurse anymore even though I can take their patients when they are full.

It doesn't matter where you work, somebody will always be more of a "real nurse" than you and someone will always be less than you.

arbley · Aug 5, 2005

There should be no need for the "holier than thou" routine, and there is really no excuse for being a general crab. But - having said that - ICU is a different world, as are most specialty units. This certainly adds to the attitude differences. ICU nurses are notoriously detail oriented, they generally have just two patients to care for. Those two patients get ALL their attention. ICU nurses also have a different sort of relationship with the MD's and with the other hospital departments. A couple of easy examples come to mind. In my experience in several ICU's - small hospitals - big hospitals - it is fairly common for nurses and docs to be on a first name basis - they work more collaboratively than on the floors (generally) - they spend much more time together. Other hospital departments also seem a little more responsive to requests from ICU. Work on a floor and demand immediate delivery of something from Central Supply? Won't usually happen. Work in ICU and do the same thing? Better results. Just the way it is. I worked as a float nurse for a few years and was able to observe lots of this, over and over and over. I worked in ICU for many years and saw it from that angle too. I think ICU's do have an attraction for certain types of people. So what was I thinking in going from ICU to Home Health? Lots of control to none? I don't know. Its an interesting change and an interesting contrast. Phew - I gotta wind this up. When you transfer to ICU, your views WILL change because you will see some things from a different perspective. You can still be nice though! :)

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Aug 5, 2005

I will be transferring to ICU from general surg next week. When I told one of my co-workers (whom I respect) that I was going to the unit, she said "Just promise me you won't go up there and turn into a B***H." I asked around my unit and got the same type of response. I have not had many interactions with our ICU nurses, so I don't have much to go on, but my co-workers seem to think that unit nurses are holier-than-thou and that they all look down on "floor nurses", talking down to us. I realize that these are opinions, and are in all probabilty, stemming from isolated incidents, but I just wanted to get some perspective on what you all thought of this.

After 30 years as a nurse I can tell you that there is definately that perception out there and it also applys to PACU and ER nurses. Some may have a chip on their shoulders, as do some med/surg nurses or nurses from any dept, but in general I think it's just an issue of depts that just don't understand the dynamics of other depts. We just don't understand unless we've walked in their shoes and them in ours. I've had unit nurses tell me "I don't know how on earth you manage to work med/surg". I feel the same way about the unit. It seems boring to me. It's just different preferences for everyone. With that said there are B****'s in every dept and in every profession! Don't worry about it too much.

mattsmom81 · Aug 5, 2005

Its the competetive nature of nurses, sadly, to disdain the other unit. .

I've always been known as 'Deb the NICE ICU nurse.' :)

Thats because I haven't forgotten my roots...which were medsurg....and I floated out on occasion to make sure I wouldn't forget...LOL!