'Every! Single! Thing!': Nurses bombard their micromanaging boss with updates when she refuses to let them use their own judgment with patients, then the manager finally snaps during a 36-hour shift

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 23, 2024 9:00 AM EST

Nurses don't get nearly enough credit for how skilled they are, but when one of your own disrespects your professional judgment, it's time to remind them how valuable nurse opinions really are. This woman certainly tried to make her micromanaging boss rue the day she questioned her skills after maliciously complying with her exact request. Notify you about every decision? Okay. 

Deep in the soul of every micromanager is the urge to know every little thing that's going on in the workplace, but realistically, it's not possible. And as a nurse, with multiple nurses on your floor and under your command, it's imperative that you learn how to delegate and trust your employees beneath you because nobody has the kind of bandwidth to micromanage each decision that occurs in an entire hospital wing. So when this nursing team was granted a new manager, they weren't exactly thrilled when the resident nurse lead was distrusting of her workers, demanding that they all report every decision. With every thought and every actionable work task flowing through her pager, this micromanager quickly discovered the value in trusting your workforce. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10432136448
    via aydinmutlu from Getty Images Signature

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Every decision of care has to be run by you? Ok S Another post reminded me of this story. My mother was a nurse.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 03
    She worked in the same medical/surgical unit for almost 30 years. Every year a new set of Medical Residents would come through. They were mostly nice and eager to learn from everyone, including the nurses. However there is always an outlier.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 04
    One afternoon, one of the patients on the floor had an issue. I am not sure what it was, but it had to do with some treatment that a Resident ordered that was not agreeing with the patient.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 05
    No problem, because this is not the first time this has happened in the history of this said treatment and there is a written protocol on how to make adjustments. The seasoned nurses have seen this before and have made changes to this order hundreds of times.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 06
    The nurse in charge did the adjustment and all was well. However, when the prescribing Resident found out, she went batsh*t crazy, yelling at everyone about usurping her authority. Then she said that any changes to care for her patients had to be approved by her first.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 07
    Ok, game on. For the next week, this Resident was paged for Every! Single! Solitary! Thing! especially when the Resident went on nap break during 36-hour shifts.
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 08
    This went on for two weeks because the Resident complained to everyone thinking that people would side with her. When she saw that the Sr. doctors or her fellow Residents wouldn't back her up, she gave up and let the nurses use their judgment. Never mess with the nurses/
    via ResultDowntown3065
  • 09
    BodaciousVermin "This thing that's been working for years, or maybe even decades, isn't to my liking. Imma use my title to change it up. Yeah." What could possibly go wrong?
    via BodaciousVermin
  • 10
    Coder Joel Yes, I've seen it play out exactly that way many times. It applies to all the services as well, not only nursing. I once kept a radiology resident up all night approving the quality of all my X-rays after she
    via CoderJoe1
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    complained about a post- mortem chest x-ray did not capture sufficient breath inhalation. My fellow X-ray techs heard the story and helped make her life hol for a couple weeks before she apologized to me.
    via CoderJoe1
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    Mission Progress 674 There was a written protocol, ffs. Someone in a higher pay grade signed off on that protocol. It isn't like the nurses are just winging it.
    via Mission_Progress_674
  • 13
    Storm BeyondTime A nurse with twenty years' experience (and not one year twenty times) would be better at winging it than a newbie doc anyway.
    via StormBeyondTime
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    marinaragrandeur this also happened with my nurse friend whom i worked with in a hospital. resident wanted to be informed about every big and small decision or procedure made on the patient. ok. let's page you every 15 minutes for vital signs monitoring.
    via marinaragrandeur
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    Nitasha521 I've met doctors like this too. It can sometimes be a lack of confidence in themselves. Ones I've seen also report that a team- member "talked back" to them if it any new/green team member simply asks a question to either get to know the preferences of that Dr for their patients, or a very green recently-licensed person asking for their general education/knowledge.
    via Nitasha521
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    McTazzle It can be, but I've also seen it from residents (especially interns) who are outraged that their "authority" wasn't being respected by the lowly nurses. My position was always that | respect their depth of knowledge, and they should respect my years of experience.
    via McTazzle
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    Mec26 They don't get that nurses who actually respect their authority/place will respect their time and not bother them with stuff the nurse can do. And then come to them 1st when there's something actually deeply wrong.
    via Mec26

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