I’ve got a new job as a nurse but I’m still comparing positions, maybe something better comes along.

What I want to say to any of my potential new managers:

one of the reasons I left my old unit is how colleagues give report there: some give report about patients that are no longer there. I just don’t get it. Patient is gone, it’s not our problem anymore. Who cares where he is now? Give report about the patients I have to provide care to!

Some interrupt report to talk about what they did on the weekend or if the coworker only works 2 times per month, they give report about the 2 weeks they spent not working. It baffles me that they feel offended if I remind them they have to give report and can talk about their private lives when they’re done. A report that should last 10 minutes lasts 40. It’s tiring and I don’t care about their lives.

Others, after giving report, remain in the room to loudly gossip about god knows what in the room… while another nurse tries doing her job and give report. If I remind them I cannot hear report, they feel offended. You do understand it’s very difficult to get the information I need to do a good job under this circumstances.

Others interrupt their report to rant in minute detail how they transferred a very heavy patient or how they had to fixate an aggressive one. It’s never a short rant, it’s always a five minute one where some nurses feel they have to compete and tell an even more egregious story about other obnoxious patient. It’s ridiculous. I just don’t understand why they cannot move on, get to the point, give report and tell me what meds I have to give him if he has another crisis. I find this very tiring as well.

I really don’t want to work with people like that. It’s tiring and nursing doesn’t have to be. I’d like you to pair me with the nurses who like to do their job, get to the point when they give report and go home with no drama involved. If after this conversation you feel that I’m not going to be a good match, then simply say it so, so neither of us wastes time and I keep looking for a unit with a better work culture.

To me this makes perfect sense: I tell a potential employer what I need to work better while offering him the chance to be upfront and tell me if I’m a good or a bad match.

Any drawbacks?