Work situation not unique to health care

[rph3664]

One of the other pharmacists where I work is a mother of two - a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old. All day, every day, all she does is whine about how the kids kept her up all night, she has no time to herself, she has to follow her husband around the house because he does everything wrong (example: he will cook dinner and she will take it off the stove and cook something else because it isn't what she wants to eat), her husband is always leaving her alone to deal with the kids by herself (hello, it's because he has a job!), etc. etc. etc.

I want to scream at her, "YOU TALKED LIKE THIS WHEN YOU ONLY HAD ONE CHILD! DID YOU THINK A SECOND CHILD WOULD IMPROVE THAT SITUATION? DON'T PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS BEFORE THEY GET PREGNANT?"

But I am childless so I keep my mouth shut. Problem is, everyone else does too.

It's gotten to a point where I almost don't want to go to work, and I know I'm not the only person who feels this way. What do I do?

[jjjoy, LPN]

Unfortunately.....you will probably just have to grin and bare it !

Bare what, exactly? :wink2:

[RNperdiem, RN]

Whining is a bad habit. Like lots of bad habits it is hard to break and unfortunately is the most irritating habit to people around whiners.

Try to ignore it. I'm sure her husband has learned how for his own survival.

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

I had a co-worker like this at my first lab job. She often complained about how she never got any sleep during the day because she "had" to volunteer at her two older kids' school or had to watch her youngest child while her husband worked. She refused to use daycare to get some sleep (we worked nights) because she didn't want to spend the money. I bought into it at first, listened sympathetically, etc. However, after a while it got old.

One day, she had a going-away party for one of our co-workers at her house. I met her nice husband, polite children, and saw her beautiful suburban house. Then, I finally realized that this woman would complain 'till the sun came down no matter her circumstances. Some people are just plain determined to be unappreciative of the blessings in their lives and instead choose to focus on the negatives!

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

. Some people are just plain determined to be unappreciative of the blessings in their lives and instead choose to focus on the negatives!

As the old saying goes (at least I heard it years ago when I was young) "Wouldn't be happy with a job in a pie factory tasting pies!"

[rph3664]

An update: The situation is getting so bad, I'm almost considering saying something to our manager about getting her a referral to Employee Assistance. I asked about that one other time with someone else, and he (different manager) said, "I can't do that unless it's affecting her work" but in this case, it is.

And you just know that when a woman complains about her husband, whether justified or not, they know exactly who to complain to who will believe everything they say.

As I told someone last week (at my church, no less! ), if he spent all his time chasing his [member] from bar to bar, that would be one thing, but he isn't!

[rph3664]

An update: A few days ago, I almost said to her, "Maybe you shouldn't have had this baby." But let's face it, folks, the "this stinks" train has already left the station.

As for her kids always being sick, some of us believe she is making or keeping her kids sick to get attention. Weekly ER visits, and doctor visits in between, are NOT a normal part of child-rearing!