best advice for getting along on the unit...

[Aaron C.]

No matter where you work, DO NOT talk bad about any of your coworkers, EVER...because they WILL find out.

Don't participate in any of the gossip that goes on. If you hear it, just ignore it. Don't run and tell someone else or the person being talked about. Just go about your business.

This is honestly the best advice I can think of to give a new nurse just starting out on the floor somewhere. Just do your job.

[cougarnurse]

Yep....stay outta the politics. Things can and will come back and bite you in the end, in more ways than one.

[SoldierNurse]

LOL, what you say is so true. I can relate this to the Army Nurse Corps, which is worldwide when you think about it. Nonetheless, the ANC is a small world and word travels fast. Bottom line, never burn bridges that you may need to cross, again, someday.

[Red_Baron]

I used to work in Seattle as a CNA and a colleague (another cna) of mine would always "snitch" about small things to our DON and charge RN, for reasons like: name tag not around neck level, shoes that aren't white soled, washing hands for less than 20 seconds, basically all the small things that should be brought to the attention of the CNA themselves- not higher in the chain of command. Anyways, 4 months later, my friend graduated from her BSN program and became the charge nurse (this was for a LTC facility, and Seattle has an abundance of LPN/LVN's and obtaining an RN basically garaunteed a lead position in LTC) and made her life miserable until she started to be more mature. Story is long but I thought it fit perfectly

[Robert F]

This little tid bit of advice also applies to EMS, in more ways than one. Every EMS director gets together at certain points in the year for an EMS director's conference. Most of them even went to Paramedic school together, were partners on a rig, etc. To make a long story short, talking bad about one individual to another service, etc will always come back to haunt you. Also, there are two correct answers in an ICU

1.) The Correct Answer
2.) I don't know, could you help me?

[loneleaf]

Oh well, i think this tip can be widely taken into account in every aspect of your daily life, not for jobs only. Gossiping can kill your time, help you relax... but it cannot do any good to your reputation, can it? The fact is that some day you may find yourself the main topic in their gossip. So, it's better not get involved in the first place.

[MICU-RN]

If you don't have anything good to say, say nothing.

If you say it once, say it again.

Always have a good rapport with all.

Stop gossip dead in its track.

If you need to have a heart to heart, pull the person to the side, if possible.