What your co-workers really think about you

Blaj Gabriel | Veer

I love eighty percent of the people with whom I work. Seriously. I think everyone tries to do a great job and everyone (myself included) has an off day where you just can’t get anything right. However, we all have the co-worker who drives us nuts for various reasons. Consider the following types:
1) The Spiritualist: This person is super nice. Super super super super super nice. But really really really really slow. They usually spend their time talking to the patients about everything but the pertinent medical data and offering warm and fuzzy advice. Of course, this has a time and a place but when stuff needs to get done, well, stuff needs to get done. Save the ice cream and bunny rabbits for later. You can’t really get mad at this person though, because they are so nice. But you will find yourself silently seething as you do the majority of their work.

2) The Bull in the China Closet: This person means well. They really do. They have high energy, an awesome work ethic, but are quick to fly off the handle and get confrontational–with patients and staff. You might find yourself defending this person way too many times with some phrase like “Oh, they didn’t mean it like that.” It can get tiring but you don’t mind having this person in the room with you when the you-know-what hits the fan.

3) The Pacifist: This person never stands up for themselves with staff or patients. They get picked on and don’t seem to mind that too much. But secretly you worry that this is the person who is going to come back with a firearm, pipe bomb, or anthrax and kill the entire hospital staff. Just hope you are off work the day they finally snap.

4) The Sloth: This person really has no redeeming qualities. They are lazy. They are slow. They are rude. They do not get insulted when you call them lazy, slow or rude because for some reason they have some inflated self-esteem where they think everyone else is wrong and they are right. You dread working with this person.

5) The Teflon Pan: Nothing sticks to this nurse. They kiss scrub butt to those who are in power and sit on their haunches when no one is looking. They never get in trouble and every problem just seems to slide right off these nurses. It is hard to find the good side of these nurses as well.

These are my five categories…please, let me hear yours!

Rebekah Child

Rebekah Child attended the University of Southern California for her bachelor's in nursing and decided to brave the academic waters and return for her master's in nursing education, graduating in 2003 from Mount St. Mary's. Rebekah has also taught nursing clinical and theory at numerous Southern California nursing schools and has been an emergency nurse since 2002. She is currently one of the clinical educators for an emergency department in Southern California and a student (again!) in the doctoral program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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