Step away from the angry charge nurse

Yeah.

This will be a sweary post.

So I completely lost my shit at the charge CNRA last week.

It was deserved, no worries there.

I had taken over at 1500 from the day charge nurse. The cases were moving along.

And then the phone started to ring.

With emergencies.

The singular case that was going was going to be on the table until at least 2300.

That meant we had an hour and a half to do the 2 emergencies: a septic person, and an appy.

There is always an appy.

Phone was ringing, tempers were short.

Thank goodness the charge CRNA did not send any of his people home because ‘there is just one case going.’

That never works in our favor.

He did not send the people home.

I was called in to the appy room and asked to print the case picture.

Through some corporation magic all the pictures were to be saved, via this clunky system, to the medical record.

And to print them, you have to go to the OR desk and print to one of the manager’s printers, one of the only color printers in the department.

Awkward and takes time.

Apparently, the fact that I was sitting behind the desk, printing this picture for this surgeon who suspected cancer meant that I was not working.

The CRNA asked where the last case was going.

I told him room 4 was okay, it just needed to be cleaned.

This printing of pictures is a new process and takes concentration.

He asked again which room.

I said room 4, but could you help mop?

I have printed the picture and am going to the office to retrieve it.

He says something that made my blood boil.

He said, “Patient care comes first.”

I let the door swing most of the way shut, until it registered what he said.

I whirled around, slammed the door back open. And told him that was an asshole comment.

Why did he assume that I was not actively doing patient care from behind the desk?

This has been known to happen.

I asked him how often he saw me on my ass behind the desk, manning the computer, texting and calling about other cases.

I told him it was absolutely wrong to assume I did not care about patients. Which is what he implied.

I was blazingly angry.

There were tears. I cry when I am angry. Why?

The two nurses who had been at the desk, while I was showing them the new process of printing pictures, scattered.

I proceeded to yell at him, for at least five minutes.

I am not proud of yelling at him.

Or scaring the other nurses.

But when an asshole decides you are nor working because he can’t see you doing work.

That shit needs to be called out.