Need to get this off my chest.
I've been doing this job for 10 years now since I qualified as a Staff Nurse in 1994, I think I've worked hard to get to the position I am now in which is Acting Ward manager of a busy Surgical ward. Since my student nurse training days a certain staff nurse has been working on the same ward as me for most of that time, someone who qualified way before I did. This girl has constantly had problems in her attitude and treatment of others. I've watched her belittle students, her colleagues and manipulate her managers over the course of the last 13 years in total. In 1999 our ward split and I ended up on an adjacent ward to her, still I'd hear of others complaints, friends and colleagues of mine of her treatment of them. She seemed to have a way about her that manipulated those who were managing her to the point that they let her get away with this behaviour. They were my managers still, but I warned them that she was destroying the morale of the staff on my old ward. Despite this last year they made her up to Ward Sister, and told me that it might be the "making of her" and she might change.
In the meantime I was made up to Charge Nurse (equivalent of Ward Sister) on the adjacent ward. Of course I heard the same old complaints but had my own staff to manage. This all changed in March when 2 of the old managers left that ward and the lead nurse asked me to take over the position of Acting ward Manager for the ward that she was on. I thought it best to get this woman in the office, lay my cards on the table and wipe the slate clean, sort of make a fresh start, as I imagined it might be a bit difficult for her to adjust to me managing her, when after all originally I had been the student and she had qualified years before me. She seemed to take all this on board, and agreed that she's support me in changes I felt needed made, I made every effort to include her with descisions I made so she didn't feel left out.
It hasn't worked, slowly but surely she has tried to erode my authority in a subtle but progressive way, whilst all the time continuing to be-little her peers and juniors, despite me calling her in the office on 2 occasions in the last 2 months to try to reason with her.
Today I walked in, to find one girl, a very competent staff nurse in floods of tears, as yet again she had been shown up and humiliated in front of the other nurses who were afraid to say anything.
Whether it was right or wrong I saw absolute red. After calming her down and placing the said nurse on another ward (as she was all for going home never to come back) I called this bully of a bitch into my office, and laid it out to her. I told her that her attitude stunk, that nurses had been coming into me for the last 2 months complaining of feeling scared of her (that amounts to bullying), and that for the last 10 years I'd been watching her attitude becoming more foul as time had gone on. I told her that for way too long her behaviour had been overlooked by management and she'd been allowed to get away with it. Intially she started to argue with me, blaming everyone else......then she turned it upside down by telling me that I was giving her "mixed messages" by telling her a month ago that we needed to improve care standards on the ward, and she was just trying to implement what I'd told her, everything anything she could think of to wriggle out of her behaviour.
But I'd had just about enough. I reminded her of the nurses over the years that had either left, or patients that had complained about her attitude. I then told her that from now on I will be shadowing all of her shifts, and that if I find one more complaint from anyone, I will be formally putting her on the hospital Trusts "Harrasment and Bullying" charge with likely disciplinary action. With this she burst into tears, buried her head in her hands and said that she would quit the job then, if thats how everyone felt.(she's pulled this one before) I then said thats EXACTLY how everyone feels, and if you don't think you can change then clearly this would be the best option. After a long long 5 minutes silence, she back-tracked and said she would try to co-operate. I've warned her that that was the final straw today, no more excuses, no more getting out of it, no more manipulating, bullying and foul treatment.
Of course she was very quiet for the rest of the shift, didn't hardly look at me let alone speak to me. I left 3 hours before her tonight when my shift ended. The minute I was out the door she apparently started canvassing the other nurses opinion as to whether all the above was true (of course they are scared to tell her) as a nurse called me at home tonight to tell me.
I'm off tommorow, but back in Thursday when she is on. So back in the office I'll be with her. I feel I've warned her and she has already breached the agreement already. I will deal with this.
I'll shut-up now.
Just how do you deal with someone this obstinate, un-professional, and bullying? She will not get away with this anymore. I'm on a mission now.
I feel better.
Scoob