W
Wilder
Guest
I work in a small Massachusetts hospital as a nurse. At a staff meeting specific for our area (the Recovery Room) and attended by our nurse manager, I stated that I thought it would be beneficial to our patients and fair to everyone on staff in the department, if all of the personnel worked in all four phases of the RR. I stated specific examples of nursing care that the nurses who didn't work in all 4 areas practiced and that probably were not in the patients best interests, such as administering pain medicine on an empty stomach, that probably would improve. The crux of the whole matter is that we are now one big area, but several nurses claim they were hired for only the recovery room, and they refuse to work in any other area.In a private meeting after the staff meeting, I met with the charge nurse who I thought was acting as a mediator. She however apparently went to the nurse who most vocally refuses to work anywhere else but the recovery room and several of her friends and told her the contents of that conversation. She also divulged the list of people who felt as I do. Now, the people on "the list" are being threatened with a lawsuit for creating a "hostile work environment" if we pursue this matter, either through our union by filing a greivance and renegotiation the job description or through management channels. Do I have the right to speak up at a staff meeting and state how I feel about things? Do I have the right to mention specific names? (Iwas very careful NOT to). Just to add another wrinke to the saga, the nurse that could use a little improvement in her pracice is the President of the Nurses union at the hospital.....