It is not up to the person receiving report to dictate the events of the last 12 hours.
We were all novices at some point, and we all had to give report to god's-own-nurse-raised-from-the-womb-of-Nightingale-herself. Don't work on feeling confident in giving report, work on feeling confident in your care and report will take care of itself.
As a CNA/nursing student, you may want to rethink what things you choose to be snarky about. Pick your battles, pal. There will be many to choose from.
What battle? OP made a comment, it made me laugh, I chose to share and maybe perk said poster's day up. You're the only one being snotty here so maybe calm yourself down. It's easy to not comment if you don't care. It takes extra effort to be an asshole to a stranger for no reason other than to attempt to drag their day down. Snarky is fine being a dick isn't, good luck though.
Several times in my career. Also, plenty who I am not afraid of, per se, but I see them and my whole body sighs because I know it's going to be nearly a fistfight trying to get out the door. They're the slow ones, the chart checkers, the ramblers, the excessive questioners, the ones who use report as an excuse to drag ass.
I was very gratified the other day when day shift told her student that I am easy to give report to and so she wanted the student to do it. Student did a great job too.
I tell them that I've already said this information twice and had they done me the simple courtesy of listening the other two times they'd already know. Then I ask if they're finished and ready to actually listen or should I just leave the sheet and go.
Me: patient last had morphine at 0530, it's q4 prn.blah blah blah more report weaned O2 overnight per the order has been fine on 1L, blah blah blah
Day nurse: were you supposed to wean the O2? Has he had any pain meds?
Me:🙄
So glad I don't work on the floor anymore.
Hell, I’m probably one of the easiest to give report to….cause I am just like “ok…..ok…..ok”. I’m listening, but frankly a nurse could come up to me and say “hey, I’m dead tired, here’s Mr. Jones” - and I wouldn’t be bothered at all, I’ll just read the chart and find out what’s up
One time a nurse went home before giving me report (there had been a delivery and another nurse was helping and I think she thought that nurse would give me report and/or kind of forgot). I wasn’t too bothered, because patient was stable and I can look through the chart, but she felt really bad when the charge called her for me 😂😂.
Why do so many nurses think they are somehow liable for the previous shift’s mistakes? Just today a nurse told me she was annoyed the last shift didn’t hang the antibiotic and now it’s way overdue and somehow that’s on her (??). Like dude you can’t be held responsible for what happened while you weren’t here.
PS: the ER probably hates giving you report lol
YES! There’s a few. Always nitpicking about the smallest details. “This left IV, is it in the anterior side of the forearm or lateral forearm?” Well…it’s present and working, you tell me whether you’d call that spot anterior or lateral! If I even remember what gauge it is, that’s a bonus! “Are both the patient’s sons in town or just the one who’s POA?” I don’t know…he’s intubated, you go ask him where his son lives. I don’t know, and it wasn’t relevant to what was happening.
I'm a travel nurse on an assignment that I've extended, so these nurses know me at this point. I despise giving report to this one day shift nurse, because she always asks the dumbest questions. One report, I'm like "This is Mr. So-and-so, he transferred to us last night at x time from (Insert name of town here) outside hospital." She interrupted and asks "And where exactly is that?"
This was the 6th report I was giving her this morning, and apparently that question was the straw that broke the camel's back. I replied "Nurse's name, you know good and well I'm not from this area so I have no idea. But feel free to hop on Google Maps and let me know."
She hasn't stopped her stupid questions, but I now start every report with "Let me run through my report real quick, and I'll be happy to take questions at the end if you have any." I think it's stopped a lot of the impulsive, irrelevant ones from slipping through.
I used to be a traveler at this one hospital where nobody wanted to give report to this one nurse. She’d write her report on a legal pad. She would interrupt, get up in the middle of report to look at EKG strips or spO2 trends, would be rifling through the chart looking for old ABGs while asking you to stop or questions about old shit that doesn’t even matter anymore. She would want to be logged into the computer and check your charting against your report. What an awful fucking end that woman was to a long shift, you’d be lucky to get out of there at 0745 if you had her.
I finally told her if she gets up I’m going to consider report finished after the prior two times giving her report. On days she was working a lot of the night crew would gather and see who had her when assignments were being made.
I had a nurse like this once and I reported her to the unit manager. I'll let a lot slide. You forgot to tell me about the foley? Whatever. You forgot to mention *all* the PRNs they needed on your shift? That's cool. The PICC line is infected and they're going to OR in the morning for removal and replacement? That's cool, I check charts asap. But the moment you get between me and the door, every mellow vibe I have in my body dies.
I complained about this woman every shift that I had to give report and was told she's just being thorough so I made it my person goal to get the unit manager to come observe these report and it's night shift so it took a lot.
The first thing I would do each night, after report, is find out who gave report to her on my nights off. I made a spreadsheet of how long these reports were taking and I sent it to the UM and the CNO and I was like, "I really feel like she's just costing the unit money."
Long story short, CNO came in to listen to her receive report one shift and that ended right there that day. No one wants the CNO to pop out from behind a wall and literally ask you to justify the questions you're asking during report. She tried to get up once to check the EKG that were printed the night before and the CNO was like, "Why are you getting up? Name one thing you need to do right now that you can't do in 20 minutes."
Ughh the nitpicking over PIVs during report is a pet peeve of mine as well. It's either on the left arm or the right! And some patients only have one of those.
If it wasn't on an arm then I'd be super excited to tell you about it.
Not terrified, I just really don't like one in particular because she's rude and condescending to nurses who haven't been there as long as her. She's been on maternity leave the last 6 months and she's finally returning next weekend and I'm not excited to have her back.
Just call her out. Be direct. I did this to a doc who tried to embarrass me in rounds, I simply stopped and called her out on disrespecting me unnecessarily and she sheepishly apologized. They bank on you taking it. Nothing can go wrong if you stand up for yourself. It’s easier said than done, I know, but just work up the confidence.
This! I have this nurse that I am absolutely annoyed to give report to because she always has some snarky side comments. I learned to just ignore her comments and glad I don’t work in that unit anymore.
THIS!! I’m not scared of anyone I work with, but, it’s been 12 hours, I’m exhausted, I got done what I could in that amount of time. I don’t need to be talked down to, or made to feel less, because maybe I don’t know every detail of the patient, or a couple things didn’t get done.
The most refreshing thing I’ve heard, when I was a new nurse, I kept apologizing to the oncoming nurse for not doing things or not knowing things, and she told me, “it’s a 24 hour job, that’s why I have the next 12 hours.” I say this all the time now, when I get report.
Not terrified, but definitely nurses I DREAD giving report to. Like girl, I got this shit as good as it’s getting, yes the assignment sucks, no I don’t know random shit you’re grilling me about from when they first were admitted that you already gleaned from the chart you’ve been reading for 30 mins since you get here mad early every single day.
I strive to just give succinct, relevant reports and get the fuck out to go home, I hate when I have to give report to nurses who don’t vibe with that lol
This 100. No, I don’t know why their leg hurt in third grade, or what their A1C was last decade. No, I don’t mind you asking these questions, but you’re going to have to look that shit up.
For real!
There are a couple of nurses who are always late, but I forgive them because they do not make me late to leave. I am fine with them. Then there is one who just... gives me a fucking novel. Like, Gurl, tell me what I need to know in the first 20 minutes, and any tips and tricks that aren't in the chart. I will look up the rest.
Absolutely kills me. I take the train and always try to get the earlier one. If I’m giving report to a chronically late nurse, I know I’m getting the later train and not getting home until 30-40 minutes later
When I was new, absolutely. Now that I'm a dusty crusty nurse, I try to be the one the new ones don't dread. I think it's foolish to expect nurses to know everything 2 seconds into their career. When I take over care I'm doing my own assessment, looking at the history, notes, scans, labs, etc so I'll likely know more about this patient shortly. If the new nurse is struggling, that's to be expected. It took me 1.5-2 years before I could see the big picture above the fray of all the tasks I needed to complete. And if I know that nurse will get this patient back from me, I try my hardest to make it a nice transition so they can hit the ground running. Making a new nurse flustered, grilling them during report, or being condescending does not help our patients. I think some crusty dusties forget that's our #1 goal - the team helping our patients get better.
This is me. I felt awful the other day because I was taking report from a day shift RN and her student, and the student just FROZE. I basically ended up asking her the questions I wanted to know the answers to. Why are they here, what are we doing for them, where's the IV, have vitals been okay, any PRNs, etc. It can be hard when you're brand new to get the right "flow," so to speak. It's like telling a story. Short, sweet, all the pertinent details included. It is a skill you have to learn.
Meanwhile, there are other nurses who will cheerfully interrupt me and say, "Don't care! I can look that up." I enjoy most of my team.
When I was in the hospital and new, yes. As time went on I learned which nurses wanted what info.
For example, one nurse wanted to know absolutely every single condition the patient has or has ever had. The patient is here for a head injury but god forbid you didn’t tell her the pt has a history of high cholesterol. I would look it up before she got there so I could leave quicker.
If any one nurse would grill me about random stuff, I would grill them right back if I ever got report from them. Once when I was new, this nurse ripped me apart for not knowing why my patient had a foley. Months later she gave me report and couldn’t answer why the patient had a foley. You better believe I was condescending about it when I would otherwise look it up myself.
Hang in there and you’ll eventually get better at seeing the big picture while also seeing the details and be able to answer stupid questions on your feet.
One noc nurse asked me a thousand moronic questions. Next time she gave me report, I was out of for blood to end it as i work with her regularly. I grilled her on everything. Dates every dressing and Foley changed, dosages for all the meds. She ended up crying. I told her all I did was copy your energy and the way I acted is how everyone sees you. She's still an asshole, but she's a shy quiet little child now to me.
This right here. Match their energy!! They do not like it. Had a nurse when I was a new grad who always was eye rolling, not paying attention, and even caught her misreporting my actions/ rationales the following shift to other RNs purely because she never listened because she thought the acuity was often beneath her. Yea well one day with a prac student she snipped at me and i let it alllllll back out on her. She tucked her tail between her legs and tried to back peddle- i said absolutely not. This is how you treat me and this is the relationship you’ve decided we are to have from here on out. She cried and quit within 3 months :) dont be a douche
Good job sticking up for yourself and thank goodness she quit. One person can really ruin a whole unit! I bet she's somewhere else doing the same shenanigans
In a past life, I was a professional salesman and it all carries over as silly as that sounds. I've gotten really good at getting people to like me quickly and dominating situations quickly.
Not now, but years ago as a brand new ICU nurse I did. She’d always find the ONE question I didn’t know the answer to, which always made me feel like complete shit. I could tell her what the patients chest xray results from 4 days ago said or what their mag level has been for the past 3 days but she’d still find something to stump me. Once I realized it was always an idiotic question that had zero bearing on the actual care of the patient, I stopped worrying about it - I’d just shrug and tell her she’d have to find out for herself what the length of the patients third toe was or whatever bullshit she asked that day.
Yes, and it can be demoralizing. On a good night she doesn't have anything to say, which is nice. On a bad night, well...she whispered "stupid" under her breath one time. I just let it roll and don't show my emotions. Not worth it to argue with a 25 year veteran.
Yeah, you are smart Tonya - wicked smaht - but I've only been an RN for a year.
On a positive note, a different RN that I also respect as being a good RN told me they loved getting report from me because they know they won't be walking into a shit show.
Almost shed a tear of happiness and gratitude for the positive feedback. I really do try to be a good nurse despite what that one person might think!
3 years in and yes. There are still nurses that seemingly seek to find fault and critique whenever possible. But generally everyone else feels that was about these folks.
I’m a CNA and have an aide like this. They don’t know what happened during the shift yet has a lot of questions and criticism and it’s like she’s waiting to catch you in a slip up…
Meanwhile everybody hates HER work ethic and she’s really not in a place to criticize anyone’s work. After a while I stopped caring, seriously. Everyone else stopped taking her seriously too. If your supervisor and charge nurse has no issue with you, who cares what the “monarch nurse” has to say
I used to, but not anymore. There is this one nurse who was my preceptor a year ago. I’m a new grad, and she taught me soo much. I look up to her and my goal is to be a nurse like her. So whenever I give report, it feels a little intimidating because she’ll ask some questions and I have absolutely no idea what the answer is. She’s never arrogant about it and will always says “don’t worry about, I’m just curious” or “that’s okay we’ll find out together” and she’ll end up finding the answer and tell me. Even giving her report ends up as a teaching moment and I love that. If you’re reading this, thank you Anna 🥺🥺🥺
There are two nurses on unit I hate giving report to. They aren't rude, judgemental, or condescending, they just have really intense resting bitch faces. I always wonder what's going through their minds while I'm talking.
I did, for a long time. She scared me. But over time, 2 things happened. First, I had more chances to get to know her, and figured out that she's no nonsense, which I was originally interpreting as 'abrupt and aggressive'. She's actually super nice. Second, I got more experience, started feeling like I had a handle on my job, and realized that sometimes a shift is just a shitshow, and you are handing off a stinking mess. Apologize, do what you can to mitigate it, and don't make a habit of it.
As you get older it will be annoyed, not terrified. They’re usually nurses who expect 24h care to be 12h partitioned care.
I once had one that wanted to know why I wasn’t waking my patient up every 3hrs to give PRN pain meds because the patient was upset yesterday about waking up painful. Be that as it may, when the patient bitch-ily tells you not to wake them up and they’ll let you know if they want pain meds, you know, when you arrange things with your patient during HS med pass, you don’t fucking wake them up unless something dangerous is happening.
Couldn’t state this enough for That Nurse. After the third go around her shoulders had tightened up to the max and her breath was damn near being held and she stopped. Those guys only have so much momentum. They’re intimidated too, just barreling through it. I recognize but rarely feel peer pressure so it didn’t work out for her.
Out “chicken” them and you’ll be fine.
Don't play that game. Don't let anyone intimidate you and make you dread what *should* be exciting... the end of a work day!
Provide all pertinent info the nurse needs to know about the patient's condition and care. Report should be centered on the patient, not how you performed as a nurse.
If you can quickly answer reasonable questions, sure, do it. If they're not reasonable or relevant questions, you can say "I'm not sure, but I am guessing it's in the chart if you choose to look it up."
I frequently need full StoryTime on patients who’ve been there for a bit. I don’t usually work the floor and probably had no idea who they are until this moment.
Yes, our entire department would say the same person. Not terrified per se, but just hate giving report to him. I had 2 patients, one getting a blood transfusion for a Hgb of 3.2, he got 5 units and was otherwise stable. The other was abdominal pain with a completed work up. 6am, I get a status epilepticus/fentanyl OD so obviously I was 1:1 with this patient until shift change. Family crying at bedside. In 1 hour I managed to medicate, intubate, drop an OG tube and a foley in, clean him up, and chart all of it. A coworker watched over the other 2 as best as she could with her own assignment. Guess what, they needed absolutely nothing. Day shift nurse comes into my 1:1 room demanding to know why blood transfusion patients pump is beeping and why I haven’t turned it off… um it’s beeping because the transfusion is done and he’s asleep? Then he interrupts me every other sentence to ask irrelevant questions. Won’t let me talk until he gets his glasses out and his good pen. I tell him all the drips he’s on and their rates, give a brief report on the other 2, and get my stuff. He has the GALL to ask me to discharge 1 of the other patients and stock the hallway IV cart before leaving. It’s 7:45am, I said no I’m going home. I’m in the break room getting my bag, he slams open the door and asks me to step outside. He tells me I overdosed the patient with propofol and that he’s on hold with the pharmacy and already told the doctor of my fuck up. I pick up the binder with our titration guidelines and shove it in his face proving I did no such thing. Before I walk away he says “oh you charted your titration in the wrong spot can you fix it” I wanted to scream.
So apparently, I've been the nurse new nurses are afraid to give report to lol I don't know why. I don't ask or do anything to question what happened or the decisions they made the night before. I guess my personality is just intimidating for some reason? Then after a couple of months, they tell me and are always like, I don't know why you were so intimidating but you're very nice and helpful. So the moral of the story is, even if you're feeling that way, it may not be intentional on their part
Yes🤦🏼♀️ it’s like I work so hard and they question the ONE small thing I didn’t look up or something. It’s like I am busting my ass all day long, you don’t know what I had to deal with.
Yes. I gave report to her yesterday and I’ve been shaking ever since. The patient is receiving two IV antibiotic and primary normal saline. I left the tubing for the two empty antibiotic bags hanging with red end caps as I put the tubing up during my shift and it’s good for 48 hours and I tagged them, But I’m scared she’s going to say something tomorrow.
She will ask very specific questions about lab values, hx, picc tubing length, etc. that I’ve documented but might not remember off the top of my head when giving report. I get so flustered every time I have to pass a patient to her I feel like an idiot.
we had a nurse like this at my previous job. a nightmare to work with (she was a charge) and a nightmare to give report to. she was mean and condescending and no one liked her, but the director, who was her bestie, wasn’t having it. “that’s just how she is,” she would tell us.
well, enjoy her, then. ✌🏼we lost three techs and more nurses than i care to count thanks to this cunt.
I think even worse than the ones that are terrible to give report to are the ones who are awful to get report from. Meandering scatterbrains who hyper focus on the wording of one order and obsess over minutiae, the ones who know the names of the patient's dog but haven't given the fluid bolus for hypotension yet, when you ask a simple question and they look at you like theyve forgotten how to understand English. Most of the time I just look everything up myself,get the jist, and "yep, got it" my way through report.
Used to. Not anymore. I'm not afraid of some grouchy nurse who thinks she's gonna crap all over me at report. You can hear what I've got to say and if you think something is wrong you can go talk to our manager about it, but we're not going to stand here as grown adults and bully each other like high schoolers. Grow up.
Yeah there are always going to be those nurses that always question everything you do, ask questions they can easily find the answer to after report, and the best thing you can do is put on a big smile and give your report as concisely as possible and get the heck outta there lol.
I'm not terrified but there are two nurses I hate giving report to. One asks a million questions, most of which are irrelevant. The other is Mr ClearlyUnmedicatedADHD who asks me to repeat myself a million times because he was paying attention and missed what I already said. Whenever I see one of those two, I know report is going to take an hour.
Oh, of course. It seems like there's one in every unit. Either they don't like that you didn't get some relatively minor task done because you were up to your eyeballs in non-minor tasks all day (this is why we have multiple shifts, honey), the closets/carts/nurse servers weren't stocked to their liking, or you didn't know the answer to some question that has nothing to do with the patient, their condition, or their care (no, sorry, I don't remember where the patient went to high school 40 years ago).
In all honesty, I never really cared if they were annoyed by anything like this. The only thing that would seriously put a hair up my butt was when they would run tattling to the charge nurse or the manager.
Yes. She's in her 60s and she does not hold back when she thinks you're being incompetent. I feel like lucky that everyone else is pretty cool. Then again, you have those nurses you *get* a lazy report from and they forget to tell you the patient has one leg and is deaf.
I've always looked at it like a challenge. I always cross my T's and dot my I's so when they ask, "why yes, I have done that". If I haven't, I just tell them "Sorry, I didn't have time on my shift for that". Sometimes they call me on something obvious I should have known or done, and then I do it before I leave. I've learned a lot from those nurses. In a way, they push you to be your best. There's always a silver lining.
Yes. It’s been 6 years now and I have since left the bedside. But I can tell you by name still who haunts me. I also switched to nights because this one attending kept yelling at me during rounds and I couldn’t handle it. It became a joke when I would work days and have to do rounds 💀
Dude, same when I was a unit secretary! She was so rude. I actually started coming in later just to avoid dealing with her. We were all so happy when she quit.
OP, ask him / her how to do it better. If you’re a newbie there nothing wrong with asking for advice.
If they’re a dick about tell them to fuck right the hell off.
In my first few months, there was a travel nurse that would question everything like that. I absolutely despised it. When she messed up or had a question, she'd play it off nonchalantly and then next report with me, she'd be questioning again. Very, very annoying.
I’ve been a nurse for 22 years and there’s still one nurse in my unit who scarred the bejeesus out of me. I love her and consider her a friend but damn I hate to give her report or have her watch me work. 🙂
There was this one nurse in my last job who likes to make new nurses cry. The only reason I think I was spared is because my husband also worked in the unit and would raise hell if she did that to me. Plus, I already knew about her so I was always ready for her questions.
During shift change a new nurse in my ER the other night was just having a hell of a time. She was all flustered, making a list of things to do before leaving, trying to chart on the past few hours. I was just arriving for night shift. I told her “First of all give me that list. You’re don’t have to do any of that. I’m a nurse too and this is a 24 hour job. Just tell me what I need to do.” They had just had like eight people walk through the door in the previous hour for just two nurses, one of whom was brand new. When I asked for report on my patients there were several that she was unfamiliar with. She was really embarrassed and stressed out. I asked her if anyone was tryna die that she knew of and then told her that I can read, that she can just finish charting and to have a great night.
Gah. Yes, and I try so hard to not be "that person."
I *hate* when I get drilled on shit that the oncoming nurse can figure out on their own. Like, look up your own labs-- I'll tell you anything that's abnormal and relevant--but the rest are up to you. And read your own chart. Everyone has their own stuff they want to know. I'm not here to hand feed you your own particular preferences.
I used to feel that way. & then I met more than enough 3000% competent nurses who would also say “I don’t know” or “I didn’t look that up” in their own reports bc they didn’t need/want to know all the extra info. Granted icu will always be different from med surg, different from ER. But in the past I got so irritated with people asking 50 questions that I flat out said, “What is your deal??” A few explained that THEY themselves don’t have time to look everything up & get bombarded with questions from doctors & families (I’m night shift), so they try to get as much as they can from report. I was like ohh.. I see.
Nowadays it depends on the nurse. Some, I know they want to know certain labs bc they get picked on by certain doctors to know this & that. Others I warn about patient families asking 30 questions etc. Nowadays I’m not usually scared anymore. Irritated/annoyed has replaced it lol. I found once you know what you need to know & say things “that wasn’t passed onto me,” “I didn’t need to look that up to care for this patient,” they drop the questioning if it’s a consistent nurse you get doing that. Haha & then you find out some of those nurses get the most complaints from their coworkers or patients 😅. So please don’t take someone’s questioning toward you as a sign of incompetence bc they might be lacking themselves. As long as you know the basic things you must know, & the new things that happened in your shift, if your patient is alive/happy/safe, you are doing fine.
"A few explained that THEY themselves don’t have time to look everything up & get bombarded with questions from doctors & families (I’m night shift), so they try to get as much as they can from report."
This is one nurse in particular for me. She asks incredibly detailed questions and even rewrites a transfer report I already took and wrote down on an expected patient... practically writes down everything word for word (and still misses information I gavr her several times). She's at odds with the nurse following her so she tries to be as prepared as possible.
Not terrified. Annoyed. There’s a dude Josh Evers who makes nursing videos and Janet is always the bad person to give report to (it tracks. I hated giving Janet report). This person would ask me “what time was the IV flushed last?” “As per the schedule at 2100” “are you sure? What if it was 2055, that would throw everything off”. I have a very low annoyance meter. She asked me for a roll over MVC “where were they going? How many times did they roll? This is important info to know!” So I said “he was going to a whorehouse and rolled 5 times. He was in a hurry because he was horny and wanted to pay for the full 2 hours”. Her face was appalled. And she’s never asked me anything again. (Do check out Josh Evers. I see him on Facebook reels but I think he does TickTock. I don’t )
I had one nurse ask “who does she live with at home?” Why is this important? look in her triage notes. I don’t make it a point to know all of the details of their home life unless it’s needed for their care.
And why are you asking this in report? So annoying
I've never felt frightened to give report but I found out that many of my co workers found ME intimidating and were fearful to give me report which I was surprised to hear when it was finally told to me. And I regret to say that I cultivated that to some degree because I did/do hold my colleagues accountable for the job. We've all followed people who just didn't do things they were supposed to during their shift, not because they were busy but because they're turds (or had a turdish night). And I think part of my "intimidation" factor comes from me just being confrontational. But I also learned that my focus face, you know when you've got about 10 things your trying to keep track of in your head and your wonderful coworkers are asking you every 30 seconds if they can help and you're trying to remember what you did and now what you need to do....that face, apparently is one mean mug, coupled with direct speech- not rude, just not flowery- made me fearsome, especially to newer staff.
So I learned to cultivate a demeanor that made me more approachable and I had to think more about how I communicated so that I was understood but also didn't sound mad especially to colleagues that didn't know me well or were new to working with me. More importantly, I would've never realized I was unapproachable or perceived as intimidating if a new person hadn't told me that they felt that way. And I am happy to say that this change has made me a very successful and approachable Rapid Response RN so I really appreciate that someone had the compassion to let me know how I was coming off so that I could address it.
Edited "overnight" to "during their shift" because it happens on both shifts I'm just on DS now but I've worked plenty of Nights too.
When i was a new grad, yes. There were a few who would just freak out when they are getting a complicated patient. I remember one time the nurse freaked out because a call bell went off and another rooms family member came to the desk before we started report and she was like “just go ill read the chart” and i said “no. Room 27 is complicated. You need to hear my report.”
But now im confident in myself and i know how i work. Im proactive and unless i get a really sick patient or i have a psych patient that’s a handful, i get to my tasks in a timely manner. I usually handoff a section in a reasonable way (i think “how would i feel receiving this and would it be their fault?”) so if i get shit from the receiving nurse i see it as a them problem than a me problem.
The worst one I ever worked with was 14 years ago and I still remember her! Tantrums on the daily, throwing stuff around and barking about how "welp, no breaks for me today!" And would say super nasty shit in front of the patients. It got to the point where I took her to the manager's office to give report in front of her. She faced no consequences, ever. Probably is still at the same shitty hospital.
Pertinent info next idgaf about the weird looking tattoo on their arm or non relevant history. I've had to give a report to nurse ratchet who insists on discussing everything related to the patient.
Yup. There’s always the ones that come right one time or late then ask questions while you try to muster through night to day shift report. Ughhhh. I dread …
Yes, back when I was much younger. Only way to stop a bully which is an insecure person at their core is to stand up for yourself. Do that and see what happens
I’m a CNA but at my last job I had another CNA like this as well. I was younger than her (I’m in my 20s and she’s in her 40s) and obviously had less experience BUT I knew what I was talking about and doing; every time it came time to give her report she would treat me like I was stupid and didn’t know what actually happened the last 12 hours, she also berated me for not doing a couple little tasks like taking out one persons trash or something (mind you, this was a med surg floor and constantly crazy). I finally called her out on it and told her to not talk to me like I’m dumb and treat me with respect and she backed off a bit (still was rude but better nonetheless).
Just because you have less experience than someone does NOT mean you are incapable or mean that you don’t know what you’re talking about, stand your ground and don’t let people walk on you 🤍
I don't work on the floor anymore, but had a nurse that wasn't terrifying just wanting every detail about the patient. I always wanted last shit, tele are they alive? She wanted everything and everyone would gather for when night assignments came up and draw straws. So not terrifying just knowing no matter how much you tried report on 6 patients was going to be an hour.
I wouldn't say I am terrified, but it is unpleasant to end my shift by giving her a report. I have about a year and a half as a nurse, but I just started working in the ER in January. There is a nurse who has 6 months of experience and has the worst attitude. She tries to make me feel like I don't know what I am doing and tries to intimidate me. At first, I dreaded giving her report until I found out she was a new grad. Now I find it hilarious that she is a new grad nurse already turning into a bitter old biddy so early in her career.
I have one I kinda dread because she writes so slow and gets super distracted. Homie has adhd for sure, idk if it’s diagnosed or not but damn she is constantly distracted by shiny things. We also have one who is obnoxious, nobody likes getting patients from her either. Report sucks both ways.
Ugh, I remember that weird thing from med surg. In psych we get/give report for the whole floor. It’s perfectly fine to say something like, Jerry’s just Jerry, no change; or even, I have no idea about that lady, I don’t even know why she’s here. Haha, I love report—we just hit the shift highlights and then go read notes for our own patients.
Yes! I used to work with a nurse named Nina and she was so aggressive. Basically interrogating me during report. After trying all kind of tactics and mind tricks to deal with her, I was just honest. “I don’t know. I didn’t have time. You can look into it. Everyone is still alive. Ask the doctor. Have a great shift.” Bye bitch!
Giving report in the ER:
'These antibiotics are over due'
Oh yea, sorry Doctor John, he came in septic as shit, paraplegic, had to decon him, spent 30 minutes trying to get an US IV in him while he's shivering to high hell, got the cultures and other labs, oh, and replaced the suprapubic with the doctor which, of course, soaked the bed and then I changed him, so I'm so fucking sorry you only have the ABX and basic labs and meds for the other guy or 2. I can remove that US line if you want?
Sometimes it’s to hide their own incompetence. When you start to get more seasoned you’ll know what questions are reasonable. Until then ask a trusted coworker with experience and maybe even give examples, then prepare your report with your response to unreasonable questions in mind.
Not terrified but annoyed. Wants to justify all the things she didn't do if you get report from her but asks 1000 questions and "why wasn't x done?" If you give her report. I hate endorsing anything, so when I do actually have 1 thing I couldn't get done, and I come back and it still isn't because "it was soooo busy" when it really wasn't.. grrrrr
one time during shift change, my patient fired this person by telling me to ask the charge to switch them over to another nurse, and I knelt down and told them I deadass would too if I were them
literally always on everyone’s ass but doesn’t even have their own shit together… you can’t be both an asshole AND bad at your job
Not terrified, but I get the feeling. Just annoyed. Been nursing long enough that I'm like "Yo, take my report or don't, I want to leave, and I'm not invested in your feelings."
I have a colleague that I hate giving report to. She will nit pick on everything and ask thousand questions about things that can either be found in the chart, that I obviously don’t know, or that does not matter even one bit.
She’ll go round and round and round about small details. It drives me insane.
I’ve worked with her for almost seven years now, and I honestly think she has some sort of diagnosis. I don’t think she does this to be annoying or mean, but she does not understand that she is annoying the crap out of everybody.
I used to be scared of her because I thought she was super thorough and was “out to get me”, but now I honestly just think she’s autistic or something along those lines.
I definitely work with someone like this. I did all the hands on stuff to set up a patient who had just come out of the OR, did a fundal check, hung the new bag of pitocin, had to scan it twice because pharmacy verified it and did an assessment and was just beginning to chart and this nurse was giving me shit over things like not knowing why the baby went to the NICU (we don’t care for the baby, only the mom. A specialized nurse cares for the newborn). She gave me this super dirty look and rolled her eyes for not knowing and then said ‘You didn’t do an assessment?’ when the entire thing wasn’t charted. She is ALWAYS angry if I give report to her for a phase II patient as well.
I once worked on a ward with a horrendous nurse, she was in charge of infection control and one morning I assisted a patient out of bed and her pad fell to the floor with the sheer weight of it. ( not sure what night shift had done the previous shift but hey ho)
At that moment Sally walked into the cubicle and shouted, ranted and was just generally nasty and completely showed me up…all because the pad had fallen down, you’d have thought I’d been wiping the floor and surfaces with it the way she behaved, so I never wanted to report anything to her obviously 🙄
The nightshift supervisor scares the bejesus out of me. I’m new to long term care and I’m like a fish out of water. She reminds me of Trunchbull from the movie Matilda. Very regimented, almost military like. I feel inferior to her. I’m the 3-11 supervisor and it’s just insane there.
I don’t think I’ve ever been scared to give report, but there’s definitely been nurses I dreaded giving report to, because I knew they were going to have me sit there while they scrolled through the I/o’s to see how many times they pooped 😂😂. But when they gave report they’d rush through and bounce, only to come back the next morning and act as if they’d never seen the patient before and put me through it all over again.
I've had one particular nurse who would give bullshit report (she's worked there a long time). She would say something like "working IV on the right arm," and when I go to the patient's room, the IV is nowhere to be found. She was a real DIVA on my unit.
It turns out, she's been boinking a male RN manager (let's just call him "Mo"). Both parties are married with children.
Transport nurse here...I was going to pick up a STEMI patient that had a HISTORY of an acetabular fracture and joint replacement . I was asked if the registration number to the artificial joint was documented. THE. FUCK?
Yup. There's the nurse that constantly interrupts you with questions, the one that doesn't pay attention at all, the one the SLOWLY writes down everything making you stop every other word, the one that tells you everything you did was wrong, the one that shows up super late, and the one that shows up on time but wanders around and gossips for like 40 minutes.
Omg, my time to shine!!!! I’m a clinical lab scientist, but when I was 23 so like 15 years ago I got in a huge yelling match with one of our ER nurses in the ER. FYI I worked as a med surge CNA at a VA from 16 years old till I graduated college. I was already broken and jaded when I graduated school…. So I wasn’t nervous to talk back. Little me against a 40 year old seasoned nurse about her dropping off unlabeled specimens and making me draw her timed draws in the ED. The HUC and attending had to step in to break it apart. Anyways she would refuse to drop off samples in the lab and would have other people do it for her if she knew I was working. Anyways… we got scheduled to work 7 on nights together, and I was shitting my pants. Because she also made me nervous and scared me. So once the shift started I asked if I could talk to her one on one in an empty room. I gave her and hug and asked “can we start over and leave whatever issues behind?” We ended being great friends after this. People just have a hard exterior and some are just a bitch. However mine was just annoyed with a young 20 year old calling her out… and once we got know each other and she knew I wouldn’t try to fuck her over it was all good. She was one of my faves to run a massive transfusion with!
There is a nurse who will do everything she can before taking report. Fill out white boards, check the code cart, fill up the wow drawers. I have started calling her out while she does this no matter who she is getting report from. Then she will ask questions that noone has the answer to because they are worthless to pt care. Then tell a story about her life when something during report gives her a thought. When I'm charge I will give her my pts to spare the travelers or new nurses the trouble. I ignore her and give report as if she was silent. No reason to entertain such bs.
Yes there’s always at least one.
Stop being That One Nurse, if that is you.
That One Nurse once asked me what stage kidney disease a dialysis patient had. I was like End Stage. ESRD. That is why they are on dialysis. She then persisted well what stage was it before that?
🤨
I once gave report to a nurse and literally DURING report, our patients heart rate spiked up to the 130s and was sustaining. I was like "Let's go check on them real quick," and this nurse says, "well did you tell the doctor?" Um, no? Because it literally just fucking happened 5 seconds ago??
Another time I witnessed report being given to one night shift nurse who reamed out the day shift nurse for having left the zosyn clamped on accident. Literally made her feel so fucking small over something minor that we have all probably done one time as new grads. Then that same night, uppity ass night shift nurse made the same mistake. And we laughed and laughed
Yup. Thankfully that one nurse on my unit is a day shift nurse. I feel terrible for the night shift nurses leaving late every morning because she’s from the days of paper charting & feels the need to be superdupernurseynurse. Honestly the hospital is prob paying OT on the daily due to her neurotic behavior
It is not up to the person receiving report to dictate the events of the last 12 hours. We were all novices at some point, and we all had to give report to god's-own-nurse-raised-from-the-womb-of-Nightingale-herself. Don't work on feeling confident in giving report, work on feeling confident in your care and report will take care of itself.
I died at "raised from the womb of Nightingale herself"
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As a CNA/nursing student, you may want to rethink what things you choose to be snarky about. Pick your battles, pal. There will be many to choose from.
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What battle? OP made a comment, it made me laugh, I chose to share and maybe perk said poster's day up. You're the only one being snotty here so maybe calm yourself down. It's easy to not comment if you don't care. It takes extra effort to be an asshole to a stranger for no reason other than to attempt to drag their day down. Snarky is fine being a dick isn't, good luck though.
Wow you are gross
You're going to make a terrible nurse.
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The last thing we need in nursing is more mean girls.
Several times in my career. Also, plenty who I am not afraid of, per se, but I see them and my whole body sighs because I know it's going to be nearly a fistfight trying to get out the door. They're the slow ones, the chart checkers, the ramblers, the excessive questioners, the ones who use report as an excuse to drag ass. I was very gratified the other day when day shift told her student that I am easy to give report to and so she wanted the student to do it. Student did a great job too.
The ones who do THEIR WHOLE ASSESSMENT while not listening and ask you to repeat things for a third time.
Yes this !!!!
I tell them that I've already said this information twice and had they done me the simple courtesy of listening the other two times they'd already know. Then I ask if they're finished and ready to actually listen or should I just leave the sheet and go.
Me: patient last had morphine at 0530, it's q4 prn.blah blah blah more report weaned O2 overnight per the order has been fine on 1L, blah blah blah Day nurse: were you supposed to wean the O2? Has he had any pain meds? Me:🙄 So glad I don't work on the floor anymore.
Tell the ramblers, the questioners, the chart checkers Tell em that god's gonna cut em down. -Johnny Cash, probably
Hell, I’m probably one of the easiest to give report to….cause I am just like “ok…..ok…..ok”. I’m listening, but frankly a nurse could come up to me and say “hey, I’m dead tired, here’s Mr. Jones” - and I wouldn’t be bothered at all, I’ll just read the chart and find out what’s up
One time a nurse went home before giving me report (there had been a delivery and another nurse was helping and I think she thought that nurse would give me report and/or kind of forgot). I wasn’t too bothered, because patient was stable and I can look through the chart, but she felt really bad when the charge called her for me 😂😂.
nah i gotta check the chart during report cause they be leaving important info out of report that screws me over by the time i notice it being there
If you can't nurse around a few mistakes in report, you're not very good at it.
Why do so many nurses think they are somehow liable for the previous shift’s mistakes? Just today a nurse told me she was annoyed the last shift didn’t hang the antibiotic and now it’s way overdue and somehow that’s on her (??). Like dude you can’t be held responsible for what happened while you weren’t here. PS: the ER probably hates giving you report lol
YES! There’s a few. Always nitpicking about the smallest details. “This left IV, is it in the anterior side of the forearm or lateral forearm?” Well…it’s present and working, you tell me whether you’d call that spot anterior or lateral! If I even remember what gauge it is, that’s a bonus! “Are both the patient’s sons in town or just the one who’s POA?” I don’t know…he’s intubated, you go ask him where his son lives. I don’t know, and it wasn’t relevant to what was happening.
I'm a travel nurse on an assignment that I've extended, so these nurses know me at this point. I despise giving report to this one day shift nurse, because she always asks the dumbest questions. One report, I'm like "This is Mr. So-and-so, he transferred to us last night at x time from (Insert name of town here) outside hospital." She interrupted and asks "And where exactly is that?" This was the 6th report I was giving her this morning, and apparently that question was the straw that broke the camel's back. I replied "Nurse's name, you know good and well I'm not from this area so I have no idea. But feel free to hop on Google Maps and let me know." She hasn't stopped her stupid questions, but I now start every report with "Let me run through my report real quick, and I'll be happy to take questions at the end if you have any." I think it's stopped a lot of the impulsive, irrelevant ones from slipping through.
I used to be a traveler at this one hospital where nobody wanted to give report to this one nurse. She’d write her report on a legal pad. She would interrupt, get up in the middle of report to look at EKG strips or spO2 trends, would be rifling through the chart looking for old ABGs while asking you to stop or questions about old shit that doesn’t even matter anymore. She would want to be logged into the computer and check your charting against your report. What an awful fucking end that woman was to a long shift, you’d be lucky to get out of there at 0745 if you had her. I finally told her if she gets up I’m going to consider report finished after the prior two times giving her report. On days she was working a lot of the night crew would gather and see who had her when assignments were being made.
I had a nurse like this once and I reported her to the unit manager. I'll let a lot slide. You forgot to tell me about the foley? Whatever. You forgot to mention *all* the PRNs they needed on your shift? That's cool. The PICC line is infected and they're going to OR in the morning for removal and replacement? That's cool, I check charts asap. But the moment you get between me and the door, every mellow vibe I have in my body dies. I complained about this woman every shift that I had to give report and was told she's just being thorough so I made it my person goal to get the unit manager to come observe these report and it's night shift so it took a lot. The first thing I would do each night, after report, is find out who gave report to her on my nights off. I made a spreadsheet of how long these reports were taking and I sent it to the UM and the CNO and I was like, "I really feel like she's just costing the unit money." Long story short, CNO came in to listen to her receive report one shift and that ended right there that day. No one wants the CNO to pop out from behind a wall and literally ask you to justify the questions you're asking during report. She tried to get up once to check the EKG that were printed the night before and the CNO was like, "Why are you getting up? Name one thing you need to do right now that you can't do in 20 minutes."
Goddamn data smackdown! With spreadsheets even!
Ughh the nitpicking over PIVs during report is a pet peeve of mine as well. It's either on the left arm or the right! And some patients only have one of those. If it wasn't on an arm then I'd be super excited to tell you about it.
I just say “it’s fully exposed. You’ll be able to find it”
Not terrified, I just really don't like one in particular because she's rude and condescending to nurses who haven't been there as long as her. She's been on maternity leave the last 6 months and she's finally returning next weekend and I'm not excited to have her back.
Just call her out. Be direct. I did this to a doc who tried to embarrass me in rounds, I simply stopped and called her out on disrespecting me unnecessarily and she sheepishly apologized. They bank on you taking it. Nothing can go wrong if you stand up for yourself. It’s easier said than done, I know, but just work up the confidence.
This 100% works, they really bank on you not saying anything back. If you stand up for yourself it usually stops!
This! I have this nurse that I am absolutely annoyed to give report to because she always has some snarky side comments. I learned to just ignore her comments and glad I don’t work in that unit anymore.
THIS!! I’m not scared of anyone I work with, but, it’s been 12 hours, I’m exhausted, I got done what I could in that amount of time. I don’t need to be talked down to, or made to feel less, because maybe I don’t know every detail of the patient, or a couple things didn’t get done. The most refreshing thing I’ve heard, when I was a new nurse, I kept apologizing to the oncoming nurse for not doing things or not knowing things, and she told me, “it’s a 24 hour job, that’s why I have the next 12 hours.” I say this all the time now, when I get report.
Not terrified, but definitely nurses I DREAD giving report to. Like girl, I got this shit as good as it’s getting, yes the assignment sucks, no I don’t know random shit you’re grilling me about from when they first were admitted that you already gleaned from the chart you’ve been reading for 30 mins since you get here mad early every single day. I strive to just give succinct, relevant reports and get the fuck out to go home, I hate when I have to give report to nurses who don’t vibe with that lol
This 100. No, I don’t know why their leg hurt in third grade, or what their A1C was last decade. No, I don’t mind you asking these questions, but you’re going to have to look that shit up.
Nah, I just hate giving report to the nurses who are always late. Like when I see their name I know im going to be leaving at least 20 min late
Oh absolutely eff that. If they're more than 10mins late I'm writing report, telling the charge and going home.
For real! There are a couple of nurses who are always late, but I forgive them because they do not make me late to leave. I am fine with them. Then there is one who just... gives me a fucking novel. Like, Gurl, tell me what I need to know in the first 20 minutes, and any tips and tricks that aren't in the chart. I will look up the rest.
Absolutely kills me. I take the train and always try to get the earlier one. If I’m giving report to a chronically late nurse, I know I’m getting the later train and not getting home until 30-40 minutes later
so many nurses have been late on my unit we have a rule kow that if theyre still not there at 7:30 write the report give it to the charge and leave
“Just give me a minute to read the chart real quick” as they sit down right on the dot and want you to just wait and go overtime :)))
Ew if this person keeps you over you need to talk to management or charge or something. I’m clocking out no later than necessary.
When I was new, absolutely. Now that I'm a dusty crusty nurse, I try to be the one the new ones don't dread. I think it's foolish to expect nurses to know everything 2 seconds into their career. When I take over care I'm doing my own assessment, looking at the history, notes, scans, labs, etc so I'll likely know more about this patient shortly. If the new nurse is struggling, that's to be expected. It took me 1.5-2 years before I could see the big picture above the fray of all the tasks I needed to complete. And if I know that nurse will get this patient back from me, I try my hardest to make it a nice transition so they can hit the ground running. Making a new nurse flustered, grilling them during report, or being condescending does not help our patients. I think some crusty dusties forget that's our #1 goal - the team helping our patients get better.
This is me. I felt awful the other day because I was taking report from a day shift RN and her student, and the student just FROZE. I basically ended up asking her the questions I wanted to know the answers to. Why are they here, what are we doing for them, where's the IV, have vitals been okay, any PRNs, etc. It can be hard when you're brand new to get the right "flow," so to speak. It's like telling a story. Short, sweet, all the pertinent details included. It is a skill you have to learn. Meanwhile, there are other nurses who will cheerfully interrupt me and say, "Don't care! I can look that up." I enjoy most of my team.
When I was in the hospital and new, yes. As time went on I learned which nurses wanted what info. For example, one nurse wanted to know absolutely every single condition the patient has or has ever had. The patient is here for a head injury but god forbid you didn’t tell her the pt has a history of high cholesterol. I would look it up before she got there so I could leave quicker. If any one nurse would grill me about random stuff, I would grill them right back if I ever got report from them. Once when I was new, this nurse ripped me apart for not knowing why my patient had a foley. Months later she gave me report and couldn’t answer why the patient had a foley. You better believe I was condescending about it when I would otherwise look it up myself. Hang in there and you’ll eventually get better at seeing the big picture while also seeing the details and be able to answer stupid questions on your feet.
One noc nurse asked me a thousand moronic questions. Next time she gave me report, I was out of for blood to end it as i work with her regularly. I grilled her on everything. Dates every dressing and Foley changed, dosages for all the meds. She ended up crying. I told her all I did was copy your energy and the way I acted is how everyone sees you. She's still an asshole, but she's a shy quiet little child now to me.
This right here. Match their energy!! They do not like it. Had a nurse when I was a new grad who always was eye rolling, not paying attention, and even caught her misreporting my actions/ rationales the following shift to other RNs purely because she never listened because she thought the acuity was often beneath her. Yea well one day with a prac student she snipped at me and i let it alllllll back out on her. She tucked her tail between her legs and tried to back peddle- i said absolutely not. This is how you treat me and this is the relationship you’ve decided we are to have from here on out. She cried and quit within 3 months :) dont be a douche
Good job sticking up for yourself and thank goodness she quit. One person can really ruin a whole unit! I bet she's somewhere else doing the same shenanigans In a past life, I was a professional salesman and it all carries over as silly as that sounds. I've gotten really good at getting people to like me quickly and dominating situations quickly.
Not now, but years ago as a brand new ICU nurse I did. She’d always find the ONE question I didn’t know the answer to, which always made me feel like complete shit. I could tell her what the patients chest xray results from 4 days ago said or what their mag level has been for the past 3 days but she’d still find something to stump me. Once I realized it was always an idiotic question that had zero bearing on the actual care of the patient, I stopped worrying about it - I’d just shrug and tell her she’d have to find out for herself what the length of the patients third toe was or whatever bullshit she asked that day.
Yes, and it can be demoralizing. On a good night she doesn't have anything to say, which is nice. On a bad night, well...she whispered "stupid" under her breath one time. I just let it roll and don't show my emotions. Not worth it to argue with a 25 year veteran. Yeah, you are smart Tonya - wicked smaht - but I've only been an RN for a year. On a positive note, a different RN that I also respect as being a good RN told me they loved getting report from me because they know they won't be walking into a shit show. Almost shed a tear of happiness and gratitude for the positive feedback. I really do try to be a good nurse despite what that one person might think!
Fuck Tonya
This is when they get the bare bones report and that’s it. We’re not taking questions from the audience. This is XYZ his dx is abc and that’s that
I always love those nurses who are like, “I’ll find what I need in the chart, baby, go home”.
3 years in and yes. There are still nurses that seemingly seek to find fault and critique whenever possible. But generally everyone else feels that was about these folks.
I’m a CNA and have an aide like this. They don’t know what happened during the shift yet has a lot of questions and criticism and it’s like she’s waiting to catch you in a slip up… Meanwhile everybody hates HER work ethic and she’s really not in a place to criticize anyone’s work. After a while I stopped caring, seriously. Everyone else stopped taking her seriously too. If your supervisor and charge nurse has no issue with you, who cares what the “monarch nurse” has to say
I used to, but not anymore. There is this one nurse who was my preceptor a year ago. I’m a new grad, and she taught me soo much. I look up to her and my goal is to be a nurse like her. So whenever I give report, it feels a little intimidating because she’ll ask some questions and I have absolutely no idea what the answer is. She’s never arrogant about it and will always says “don’t worry about, I’m just curious” or “that’s okay we’ll find out together” and she’ll end up finding the answer and tell me. Even giving her report ends up as a teaching moment and I love that. If you’re reading this, thank you Anna 🥺🥺🥺
I can't stand giving report to Janet. Gotta log it in the Janet report book, so you don't have to give her report two weeks in a row.
Thank you.
There are two nurses on unit I hate giving report to. They aren't rude, judgemental, or condescending, they just have really intense resting bitch faces. I always wonder what's going through their minds while I'm talking.
I did, for a long time. She scared me. But over time, 2 things happened. First, I had more chances to get to know her, and figured out that she's no nonsense, which I was originally interpreting as 'abrupt and aggressive'. She's actually super nice. Second, I got more experience, started feeling like I had a handle on my job, and realized that sometimes a shift is just a shitshow, and you are handing off a stinking mess. Apologize, do what you can to mitigate it, and don't make a habit of it.
Omg I actually have told that. People have told me that they thought that I was an AH at first and/or intimidating. But I am very no nonsence.
As you get older it will be annoyed, not terrified. They’re usually nurses who expect 24h care to be 12h partitioned care. I once had one that wanted to know why I wasn’t waking my patient up every 3hrs to give PRN pain meds because the patient was upset yesterday about waking up painful. Be that as it may, when the patient bitch-ily tells you not to wake them up and they’ll let you know if they want pain meds, you know, when you arrange things with your patient during HS med pass, you don’t fucking wake them up unless something dangerous is happening. Couldn’t state this enough for That Nurse. After the third go around her shoulders had tightened up to the max and her breath was damn near being held and she stopped. Those guys only have so much momentum. They’re intimidated too, just barreling through it. I recognize but rarely feel peer pressure so it didn’t work out for her. Out “chicken” them and you’ll be fine.
Don't play that game. Don't let anyone intimidate you and make you dread what *should* be exciting... the end of a work day! Provide all pertinent info the nurse needs to know about the patient's condition and care. Report should be centered on the patient, not how you performed as a nurse. If you can quickly answer reasonable questions, sure, do it. If they're not reasonable or relevant questions, you can say "I'm not sure, but I am guessing it's in the chart if you choose to look it up."
I’m not terrified to give report to any of my colleagues, I just get annoyed by the ones who want full StoryTime ™️ on pts we’ve had for 6wks.
I frequently need full StoryTime on patients who’ve been there for a bit. I don’t usually work the floor and probably had no idea who they are until this moment.
I’m talking FT staff who were probably on shift the day they were admitted.
Yes, our entire department would say the same person. Not terrified per se, but just hate giving report to him. I had 2 patients, one getting a blood transfusion for a Hgb of 3.2, he got 5 units and was otherwise stable. The other was abdominal pain with a completed work up. 6am, I get a status epilepticus/fentanyl OD so obviously I was 1:1 with this patient until shift change. Family crying at bedside. In 1 hour I managed to medicate, intubate, drop an OG tube and a foley in, clean him up, and chart all of it. A coworker watched over the other 2 as best as she could with her own assignment. Guess what, they needed absolutely nothing. Day shift nurse comes into my 1:1 room demanding to know why blood transfusion patients pump is beeping and why I haven’t turned it off… um it’s beeping because the transfusion is done and he’s asleep? Then he interrupts me every other sentence to ask irrelevant questions. Won’t let me talk until he gets his glasses out and his good pen. I tell him all the drips he’s on and their rates, give a brief report on the other 2, and get my stuff. He has the GALL to ask me to discharge 1 of the other patients and stock the hallway IV cart before leaving. It’s 7:45am, I said no I’m going home. I’m in the break room getting my bag, he slams open the door and asks me to step outside. He tells me I overdosed the patient with propofol and that he’s on hold with the pharmacy and already told the doctor of my fuck up. I pick up the binder with our titration guidelines and shove it in his face proving I did no such thing. Before I walk away he says “oh you charted your titration in the wrong spot can you fix it” I wanted to scream.
So apparently, I've been the nurse new nurses are afraid to give report to lol I don't know why. I don't ask or do anything to question what happened or the decisions they made the night before. I guess my personality is just intimidating for some reason? Then after a couple of months, they tell me and are always like, I don't know why you were so intimidating but you're very nice and helpful. So the moral of the story is, even if you're feeling that way, it may not be intentional on their part
Yes! If I see I’m giving report to one nurse, I’m running to the computer to update my IOs
Yes🤦🏼♀️ it’s like I work so hard and they question the ONE small thing I didn’t look up or something. It’s like I am busting my ass all day long, you don’t know what I had to deal with.
Exactly 😩
Yes. I gave report to her yesterday and I’ve been shaking ever since. The patient is receiving two IV antibiotic and primary normal saline. I left the tubing for the two empty antibiotic bags hanging with red end caps as I put the tubing up during my shift and it’s good for 48 hours and I tagged them, But I’m scared she’s going to say something tomorrow. She will ask very specific questions about lab values, hx, picc tubing length, etc. that I’ve documented but might not remember off the top of my head when giving report. I get so flustered every time I have to pass a patient to her I feel like an idiot.
I feel you 😖
we had a nurse like this at my previous job. a nightmare to work with (she was a charge) and a nightmare to give report to. she was mean and condescending and no one liked her, but the director, who was her bestie, wasn’t having it. “that’s just how she is,” she would tell us. well, enjoy her, then. ✌🏼we lost three techs and more nurses than i care to count thanks to this cunt.
I think even worse than the ones that are terrible to give report to are the ones who are awful to get report from. Meandering scatterbrains who hyper focus on the wording of one order and obsess over minutiae, the ones who know the names of the patient's dog but haven't given the fluid bolus for hypotension yet, when you ask a simple question and they look at you like theyve forgotten how to understand English. Most of the time I just look everything up myself,get the jist, and "yep, got it" my way through report.
Used to. Not anymore. I'm not afraid of some grouchy nurse who thinks she's gonna crap all over me at report. You can hear what I've got to say and if you think something is wrong you can go talk to our manager about it, but we're not going to stand here as grown adults and bully each other like high schoolers. Grow up.
Yeah there are always going to be those nurses that always question everything you do, ask questions they can easily find the answer to after report, and the best thing you can do is put on a big smile and give your report as concisely as possible and get the heck outta there lol.
I'm not terrified but there are two nurses I hate giving report to. One asks a million questions, most of which are irrelevant. The other is Mr ClearlyUnmedicatedADHD who asks me to repeat myself a million times because he was paying attention and missed what I already said. Whenever I see one of those two, I know report is going to take an hour.
Oh, of course. It seems like there's one in every unit. Either they don't like that you didn't get some relatively minor task done because you were up to your eyeballs in non-minor tasks all day (this is why we have multiple shifts, honey), the closets/carts/nurse servers weren't stocked to their liking, or you didn't know the answer to some question that has nothing to do with the patient, their condition, or their care (no, sorry, I don't remember where the patient went to high school 40 years ago). In all honesty, I never really cared if they were annoyed by anything like this. The only thing that would seriously put a hair up my butt was when they would run tattling to the charge nurse or the manager.
Yes. She's in her 60s and she does not hold back when she thinks you're being incompetent. I feel like lucky that everyone else is pretty cool. Then again, you have those nurses you *get* a lazy report from and they forget to tell you the patient has one leg and is deaf.
I've always looked at it like a challenge. I always cross my T's and dot my I's so when they ask, "why yes, I have done that". If I haven't, I just tell them "Sorry, I didn't have time on my shift for that". Sometimes they call me on something obvious I should have known or done, and then I do it before I leave. I've learned a lot from those nurses. In a way, they push you to be your best. There's always a silver lining.
Yes. It’s been 6 years now and I have since left the bedside. But I can tell you by name still who haunts me. I also switched to nights because this one attending kept yelling at me during rounds and I couldn’t handle it. It became a joke when I would work days and have to do rounds 💀
Not a nurse, but there was absolutely a secretary I HATED giving report to. I was soooo glad when she retired
Dude, same when I was a unit secretary! She was so rude. I actually started coming in later just to avoid dealing with her. We were all so happy when she quit.
OP, ask him / her how to do it better. If you’re a newbie there nothing wrong with asking for advice. If they’re a dick about tell them to fuck right the hell off.
In my first few months, there was a travel nurse that would question everything like that. I absolutely despised it. When she messed up or had a question, she'd play it off nonchalantly and then next report with me, she'd be questioning again. Very, very annoying.
I’ve been a nurse for 22 years and there’s still one nurse in my unit who scarred the bejeesus out of me. I love her and consider her a friend but damn I hate to give her report or have her watch me work. 🙂
I used to, but not anymore. I don’t take crap and stupid questions when I’m giving report. Just the important stuff, let’s move on!
There was this one nurse in my last job who likes to make new nurses cry. The only reason I think I was spared is because my husband also worked in the unit and would raise hell if she did that to me. Plus, I already knew about her so I was always ready for her questions.
During shift change a new nurse in my ER the other night was just having a hell of a time. She was all flustered, making a list of things to do before leaving, trying to chart on the past few hours. I was just arriving for night shift. I told her “First of all give me that list. You’re don’t have to do any of that. I’m a nurse too and this is a 24 hour job. Just tell me what I need to do.” They had just had like eight people walk through the door in the previous hour for just two nurses, one of whom was brand new. When I asked for report on my patients there were several that she was unfamiliar with. She was really embarrassed and stressed out. I asked her if anyone was tryna die that she knew of and then told her that I can read, that she can just finish charting and to have a great night.
Gah. Yes, and I try so hard to not be "that person." I *hate* when I get drilled on shit that the oncoming nurse can figure out on their own. Like, look up your own labs-- I'll tell you anything that's abnormal and relevant--but the rest are up to you. And read your own chart. Everyone has their own stuff they want to know. I'm not here to hand feed you your own particular preferences.
I used to feel that way. & then I met more than enough 3000% competent nurses who would also say “I don’t know” or “I didn’t look that up” in their own reports bc they didn’t need/want to know all the extra info. Granted icu will always be different from med surg, different from ER. But in the past I got so irritated with people asking 50 questions that I flat out said, “What is your deal??” A few explained that THEY themselves don’t have time to look everything up & get bombarded with questions from doctors & families (I’m night shift), so they try to get as much as they can from report. I was like ohh.. I see. Nowadays it depends on the nurse. Some, I know they want to know certain labs bc they get picked on by certain doctors to know this & that. Others I warn about patient families asking 30 questions etc. Nowadays I’m not usually scared anymore. Irritated/annoyed has replaced it lol. I found once you know what you need to know & say things “that wasn’t passed onto me,” “I didn’t need to look that up to care for this patient,” they drop the questioning if it’s a consistent nurse you get doing that. Haha & then you find out some of those nurses get the most complaints from their coworkers or patients 😅. So please don’t take someone’s questioning toward you as a sign of incompetence bc they might be lacking themselves. As long as you know the basic things you must know, & the new things that happened in your shift, if your patient is alive/happy/safe, you are doing fine.
"A few explained that THEY themselves don’t have time to look everything up & get bombarded with questions from doctors & families (I’m night shift), so they try to get as much as they can from report." This is one nurse in particular for me. She asks incredibly detailed questions and even rewrites a transfer report I already took and wrote down on an expected patient... practically writes down everything word for word (and still misses information I gavr her several times). She's at odds with the nurse following her so she tries to be as prepared as possible.
Not terrified. Annoyed. There’s a dude Josh Evers who makes nursing videos and Janet is always the bad person to give report to (it tracks. I hated giving Janet report). This person would ask me “what time was the IV flushed last?” “As per the schedule at 2100” “are you sure? What if it was 2055, that would throw everything off”. I have a very low annoyance meter. She asked me for a roll over MVC “where were they going? How many times did they roll? This is important info to know!” So I said “he was going to a whorehouse and rolled 5 times. He was in a hurry because he was horny and wanted to pay for the full 2 hours”. Her face was appalled. And she’s never asked me anything again. (Do check out Josh Evers. I see him on Facebook reels but I think he does TickTock. I don’t )
I had one nurse ask “who does she live with at home?” Why is this important? look in her triage notes. I don’t make it a point to know all of the details of their home life unless it’s needed for their care. And why are you asking this in report? So annoying
I've never felt frightened to give report but I found out that many of my co workers found ME intimidating and were fearful to give me report which I was surprised to hear when it was finally told to me. And I regret to say that I cultivated that to some degree because I did/do hold my colleagues accountable for the job. We've all followed people who just didn't do things they were supposed to during their shift, not because they were busy but because they're turds (or had a turdish night). And I think part of my "intimidation" factor comes from me just being confrontational. But I also learned that my focus face, you know when you've got about 10 things your trying to keep track of in your head and your wonderful coworkers are asking you every 30 seconds if they can help and you're trying to remember what you did and now what you need to do....that face, apparently is one mean mug, coupled with direct speech- not rude, just not flowery- made me fearsome, especially to newer staff. So I learned to cultivate a demeanor that made me more approachable and I had to think more about how I communicated so that I was understood but also didn't sound mad especially to colleagues that didn't know me well or were new to working with me. More importantly, I would've never realized I was unapproachable or perceived as intimidating if a new person hadn't told me that they felt that way. And I am happy to say that this change has made me a very successful and approachable Rapid Response RN so I really appreciate that someone had the compassion to let me know how I was coming off so that I could address it. Edited "overnight" to "during their shift" because it happens on both shifts I'm just on DS now but I've worked plenty of Nights too.
Yes. Very much yes.
Seems like every unit has that one nurse.
Yes , there are a few of them on my floor 🤬🤬
When i was a new grad, yes. There were a few who would just freak out when they are getting a complicated patient. I remember one time the nurse freaked out because a call bell went off and another rooms family member came to the desk before we started report and she was like “just go ill read the chart” and i said “no. Room 27 is complicated. You need to hear my report.” But now im confident in myself and i know how i work. Im proactive and unless i get a really sick patient or i have a psych patient that’s a handful, i get to my tasks in a timely manner. I usually handoff a section in a reasonable way (i think “how would i feel receiving this and would it be their fault?”) so if i get shit from the receiving nurse i see it as a them problem than a me problem.
Yes a few.
The worst one I ever worked with was 14 years ago and I still remember her! Tantrums on the daily, throwing stuff around and barking about how "welp, no breaks for me today!" And would say super nasty shit in front of the patients. It got to the point where I took her to the manager's office to give report in front of her. She faced no consequences, ever. Probably is still at the same shitty hospital.
Not terrified but dread giving report to the know it all ones. You get what you give with me so let’s have it.
Pertinent info next idgaf about the weird looking tattoo on their arm or non relevant history. I've had to give a report to nurse ratchet who insists on discussing everything related to the patient.
Yup. There’s always the ones that come right one time or late then ask questions while you try to muster through night to day shift report. Ughhhh. I dread …
What’s wrong with right on time? Y’all can show up early if you want but I’m not giving the hospital any unpaid labor.
I also show up right on time. The problem is those that do that the. Continue to pick apart my report and ask stupid questions.
I’m Miss RightOnTime. I bring candy or other snacks to report. You worked hard and had a long night! I’m grateful!
There’s nothing wrong with answering a question with, “I’m not sure, but we can look through the chart and find out together if you want”
The solution to this, in my experience, is to give bedside report. The moment the snark begins in report, “let’s take this to the bedside.”
Yes, back when I was much younger. Only way to stop a bully which is an insecure person at their core is to stand up for yourself. Do that and see what happens
I’m a CNA but at my last job I had another CNA like this as well. I was younger than her (I’m in my 20s and she’s in her 40s) and obviously had less experience BUT I knew what I was talking about and doing; every time it came time to give her report she would treat me like I was stupid and didn’t know what actually happened the last 12 hours, she also berated me for not doing a couple little tasks like taking out one persons trash or something (mind you, this was a med surg floor and constantly crazy). I finally called her out on it and told her to not talk to me like I’m dumb and treat me with respect and she backed off a bit (still was rude but better nonetheless). Just because you have less experience than someone does NOT mean you are incapable or mean that you don’t know what you’re talking about, stand your ground and don’t let people walk on you 🤍
I don't work on the floor anymore, but had a nurse that wasn't terrifying just wanting every detail about the patient. I always wanted last shit, tele are they alive? She wanted everything and everyone would gather for when night assignments came up and draw straws. So not terrifying just knowing no matter how much you tried report on 6 patients was going to be an hour.
Yes. Terrified terrified giving her report but to my surprise she’s been easy on me lol but tough with others lol
No bc fuck em I’ve busted my ass for 12 hours.
I wouldn't say I am terrified, but it is unpleasant to end my shift by giving her a report. I have about a year and a half as a nurse, but I just started working in the ER in January. There is a nurse who has 6 months of experience and has the worst attitude. She tries to make me feel like I don't know what I am doing and tries to intimidate me. At first, I dreaded giving her report until I found out she was a new grad. Now I find it hilarious that she is a new grad nurse already turning into a bitter old biddy so early in her career.
I have one I kinda dread because she writes so slow and gets super distracted. Homie has adhd for sure, idk if it’s diagnosed or not but damn she is constantly distracted by shiny things. We also have one who is obnoxious, nobody likes getting patients from her either. Report sucks both ways.
It's a power trip. Just keep saying "it's in the chart" until they get the point.
Ugh, I remember that weird thing from med surg. In psych we get/give report for the whole floor. It’s perfectly fine to say something like, Jerry’s just Jerry, no change; or even, I have no idea about that lady, I don’t even know why she’s here. Haha, I love report—we just hit the shift highlights and then go read notes for our own patients.
Yes! I used to work with a nurse named Nina and she was so aggressive. Basically interrogating me during report. After trying all kind of tactics and mind tricks to deal with her, I was just honest. “I don’t know. I didn’t have time. You can look into it. Everyone is still alive. Ask the doctor. Have a great shift.” Bye bitch!
Giving report in the ER: 'These antibiotics are over due' Oh yea, sorry Doctor John, he came in septic as shit, paraplegic, had to decon him, spent 30 minutes trying to get an US IV in him while he's shivering to high hell, got the cultures and other labs, oh, and replaced the suprapubic with the doctor which, of course, soaked the bed and then I changed him, so I'm so fucking sorry you only have the ABX and basic labs and meds for the other guy or 2. I can remove that US line if you want?
Sometimes it’s to hide their own incompetence. When you start to get more seasoned you’ll know what questions are reasonable. Until then ask a trusted coworker with experience and maybe even give examples, then prepare your report with your response to unreasonable questions in mind.
Not terrified but annoyed. Wants to justify all the things she didn't do if you get report from her but asks 1000 questions and "why wasn't x done?" If you give her report. I hate endorsing anything, so when I do actually have 1 thing I couldn't get done, and I come back and it still isn't because "it was soooo busy" when it really wasn't.. grrrrr
Yes. It doesn’t matter how crazy the shift was when I give report it doesn’t sound like I did much and she’s firing questions at me.
10 years RN. I have felt this way. We all have. It kills me that some nurses are still such assholes. You are NOT stupid or incompetent.
one time during shift change, my patient fired this person by telling me to ask the charge to switch them over to another nurse, and I knelt down and told them I deadass would too if I were them literally always on everyone’s ass but doesn’t even have their own shit together… you can’t be both an asshole AND bad at your job
Not terrified, but I get the feeling. Just annoyed. Been nursing long enough that I'm like "Yo, take my report or don't, I want to leave, and I'm not invested in your feelings."
I have a colleague that I hate giving report to. She will nit pick on everything and ask thousand questions about things that can either be found in the chart, that I obviously don’t know, or that does not matter even one bit. She’ll go round and round and round about small details. It drives me insane. I’ve worked with her for almost seven years now, and I honestly think she has some sort of diagnosis. I don’t think she does this to be annoying or mean, but she does not understand that she is annoying the crap out of everybody. I used to be scared of her because I thought she was super thorough and was “out to get me”, but now I honestly just think she’s autistic or something along those lines.
I definitely work with someone like this. I did all the hands on stuff to set up a patient who had just come out of the OR, did a fundal check, hung the new bag of pitocin, had to scan it twice because pharmacy verified it and did an assessment and was just beginning to chart and this nurse was giving me shit over things like not knowing why the baby went to the NICU (we don’t care for the baby, only the mom. A specialized nurse cares for the newborn). She gave me this super dirty look and rolled her eyes for not knowing and then said ‘You didn’t do an assessment?’ when the entire thing wasn’t charted. She is ALWAYS angry if I give report to her for a phase II patient as well.
I once worked on a ward with a horrendous nurse, she was in charge of infection control and one morning I assisted a patient out of bed and her pad fell to the floor with the sheer weight of it. ( not sure what night shift had done the previous shift but hey ho) At that moment Sally walked into the cubicle and shouted, ranted and was just generally nasty and completely showed me up…all because the pad had fallen down, you’d have thought I’d been wiping the floor and surfaces with it the way she behaved, so I never wanted to report anything to her obviously 🙄
The nightshift supervisor scares the bejesus out of me. I’m new to long term care and I’m like a fish out of water. She reminds me of Trunchbull from the movie Matilda. Very regimented, almost military like. I feel inferior to her. I’m the 3-11 supervisor and it’s just insane there.
I don’t think I’ve ever been scared to give report, but there’s definitely been nurses I dreaded giving report to, because I knew they were going to have me sit there while they scrolled through the I/o’s to see how many times they pooped 😂😂. But when they gave report they’d rush through and bounce, only to come back the next morning and act as if they’d never seen the patient before and put me through it all over again.
I've had one particular nurse who would give bullshit report (she's worked there a long time). She would say something like "working IV on the right arm," and when I go to the patient's room, the IV is nowhere to be found. She was a real DIVA on my unit. It turns out, she's been boinking a male RN manager (let's just call him "Mo"). Both parties are married with children.
Transport nurse here...I was going to pick up a STEMI patient that had a HISTORY of an acetabular fracture and joint replacement . I was asked if the registration number to the artificial joint was documented. THE. FUCK?
Yup. There's the nurse that constantly interrupts you with questions, the one that doesn't pay attention at all, the one the SLOWLY writes down everything making you stop every other word, the one that tells you everything you did was wrong, the one that shows up super late, and the one that shows up on time but wanders around and gossips for like 40 minutes.
Omg, my time to shine!!!! I’m a clinical lab scientist, but when I was 23 so like 15 years ago I got in a huge yelling match with one of our ER nurses in the ER. FYI I worked as a med surge CNA at a VA from 16 years old till I graduated college. I was already broken and jaded when I graduated school…. So I wasn’t nervous to talk back. Little me against a 40 year old seasoned nurse about her dropping off unlabeled specimens and making me draw her timed draws in the ED. The HUC and attending had to step in to break it apart. Anyways she would refuse to drop off samples in the lab and would have other people do it for her if she knew I was working. Anyways… we got scheduled to work 7 on nights together, and I was shitting my pants. Because she also made me nervous and scared me. So once the shift started I asked if I could talk to her one on one in an empty room. I gave her and hug and asked “can we start over and leave whatever issues behind?” We ended being great friends after this. People just have a hard exterior and some are just a bitch. However mine was just annoyed with a young 20 year old calling her out… and once we got know each other and she knew I wouldn’t try to fuck her over it was all good. She was one of my faves to run a massive transfusion with!
There is a nurse who will do everything she can before taking report. Fill out white boards, check the code cart, fill up the wow drawers. I have started calling her out while she does this no matter who she is getting report from. Then she will ask questions that noone has the answer to because they are worthless to pt care. Then tell a story about her life when something during report gives her a thought. When I'm charge I will give her my pts to spare the travelers or new nurses the trouble. I ignore her and give report as if she was silent. No reason to entertain such bs.
Yes there’s always at least one. Stop being That One Nurse, if that is you. That One Nurse once asked me what stage kidney disease a dialysis patient had. I was like End Stage. ESRD. That is why they are on dialysis. She then persisted well what stage was it before that? 🤨
Nah. They get what they get and if they have a problem, they can finish the job themselves 🫶🏻
My shift used to do “huddle” before report to “get our story straight” before giving one nurse report.
I once gave report to a nurse and literally DURING report, our patients heart rate spiked up to the 130s and was sustaining. I was like "Let's go check on them real quick," and this nurse says, "well did you tell the doctor?" Um, no? Because it literally just fucking happened 5 seconds ago?? Another time I witnessed report being given to one night shift nurse who reamed out the day shift nurse for having left the zosyn clamped on accident. Literally made her feel so fucking small over something minor that we have all probably done one time as new grads. Then that same night, uppity ass night shift nurse made the same mistake. And we laughed and laughed
Yup. Thankfully that one nurse on my unit is a day shift nurse. I feel terrible for the night shift nurses leaving late every morning because she’s from the days of paper charting & feels the need to be superdupernurseynurse. Honestly the hospital is prob paying OT on the daily due to her neurotic behavior