I Used Her Words Against Them

Chapter 3

On the drive back to the hospital, my limbs turned ice-cold—not from fear, from disappointment.

I'd been with this ER department since my residency. I wouldn't say I gave my life to it, but I gave it my genuine effort and poured my heart into it.

In my past life, I fought tooth and nail for the night-shift differential. They said all I cared about was money, that I was blinded by greed, that I didn't deserve to be a healthcare worker.

In this life, I stepped back, stopped caring, and even gave up the differential. And I still got complaints. How could that not break your heart?

I rushed to the hospital. To my surprise, Vivian was already there. Grant was rubbing her temples in frustration. She slammed the complaint letter onto her desk with a loud slap.

"The letter says you've been cold toward patients' families, shown insufficient concern for patients, and become unreachable after hours. Mara, you've been a head nurse for years now. How could you make such a big mistake?

"As for Vivian..."

Sher glanced at Vivian. "According to the families, Vivian took the lead in voluntarily giving up the night-shift differential and putting patient care first. She's shown attentive care even during her off-hours. Even though Vivian started two years after you, you really should learn from her. If you can't resolve this and give the families and the hospital a satisfactory response, you're done."

That was a threat of suspension. I looked at Vivian's smug face. Everything clicked.

She'd come to the hospital today just to watch me fall. To keep the ER from getting the lowest patient satisfaction score year after year, I'd talked to her multiple times. But she kept doing things her own way, cutting out early to go on dates, filling out night-shift records carelessly.

She'd even complained privately that if we had similar seniority, why did I get to be head nurse and not her?

I glanced at the letter. It was anonymous, but I had a good guess who had written it. I closed my eyes. All the memories came flooding back.

In my first year as head nurse, I was full of passion. I paid out of my own pocket for stickers and encouragement cards for the pediatric patients cooperating with treatment.

That very night, I got a message from a parent whose child hadn't gotten the sticker.

Mrs. Smith: You're an adult. How could you do something so thoughtless? My child didn't get the sticker and cried the whole way back to the room.

Mrs. Smith: Next time you hand things out, don't do it in front of everyone. It creates jealousy among the kids.

2 years ago, during the peak flu season, I could have taken my scheduled day off. Instead, I stayed to help with triage.

The next day, I got a complaint from a patient's family that I was too slow and had a bad attitude. I tried to talk to them.

All I got was, "Mara, I know you're tired. But have you thought about the fact that we waited 4 hours in line? With your slow service, the elderly and children can barely hold on. You're just making things harder on purpose!"

See? For people like that, the more you do, the more you're wrong. Since that was the case, I'd just do nothing.

Later, in the hospital parking lot, I ran into Vivian again. She told me to bring fruit to the families and apologize. "Mara, you're just too rigid! The families aren't unreasonable. If you soften up, so will they."

I didn't respond. I thought for a long time. Nursing isn't hospitality. Nurses are to save lives.

After Vivian left, I turned around and went back to the Director of Nursing's office.

"Director Grant, I've figured out how to resolve this."

But after I explained my plan, she stared at me in shock. "You're a core member, a senior nurse. You're eligible to be evaluated for the role of associate chief nurse next year. You have a bright future ahead of you. I was just giving you a suggestion. I didn't mean—"

I cut her off. None of it mattered anymore. "I've made my decision."

Near the end of the month, the hospital held an emergency all-staff meeting. Not just all the medical staff, but also representatives from patients' families were in attendance.

The nurses were all whispering, wondering what was going on. A meeting of this scale had never happened before. Then the hospital director took the stage and announced that they'd cancel the night-shift differential for all nurses in the hospital. Bonuses would be issued based on departmental performance.

"This is not the hospital's initiative. The patients' families collectively wrote a letter of recommendation. The family representatives brought it here today. Over 300 families have signed it."