Читать книгу Toxic Nursing, 2nd Ed - Cheryl Dellasega - Страница 44

It’s so easy—in life and at work—to be critical of others. We sometimes think to ourselves: “If only I had been there, this could have been done right!” Yet there is so much we don’t know about the reality of the situation, because we weren’t there.

When nurses are critical of others, what can you do about it? What are some reasonable steps to take to try to help the criticism-queen see that they might not have the complete story? If things progress further—into a feud—what strategies would you employ to try to mend fences with other units in your organization?

3.3 Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

scenario

Although Maureen has worked in the MICU for only two years, the other nurses refer to her as “super nurse.” The nickname isn’t meant as a compliment. “One time, I had just worked a double and had barely kept on top of my patients, who were both very unstable,” recalls Sandy, a long time MICU nurse. “When I was telling Maureen about it, she assured me that nothing could be worse than the time she worked a double and had two even sicker patients.”

“Maureen actually did an online search and printed out information on this weird EKG pattern my patient had one day,” says Terry, another MICU nurse. “She kept insisting she was right, even though it was a transient arrhythmia with no associated symptoms. During shift report, she made sure to mention her superior knowledge and made me look stupid.”

Maureen’s one-upmanship goes beyond her interactions with nurses. When physicians come into the MICU, she rushes to help them and makes sure they know how efficient and in control she is. None of her colleagues are quite as able or smart as she is—or so Maureen thinks.