I(31F)am a nurse, & work at a large medical group. I’ve been with the company for 8 years & I am considered a “seasoned” employee.

My colleague(38F) has been there 5 years & is a marginal employee who has managed to get away with just about everything with no disciplinary action.

She comes in late, calls out often and posts about it on social media, she questions the doctor, refuses to perform tasks because “she’s not comfortable”, and has had verbal altercations with patients. The entire team is dumbfounded at how she hasn’t been fired.

Complain

I’ve complained to my boss about how she doesn’t do her share of work and the workload always falls on the rest of us. She manages to have friends and nurses that cover for her regardless.

The frustration has caused a lot of tension between the staff because we have no choice but to pick up her slack. My boss knows & sees the frustrations, he says he’s tried in the past to discipline her and she went to HR and reported him for ‘biased treatment’. I contacted his boss, the director, and expressed my concerns and received the same response. I reached my breaking point a few days back when two of us nurses were running around tending to patients, while she sat there staring into her computer.

One of the nurses is 7 months pregnant and said colleague had no inclination to even help her.

I wrote an E-mail to the director of operations and CC’d my boss and his boss. I requested a meeting as the other two are of no help. The director of operations responded & we have a meeting set up next week. This caused an impromptu meeting between myself, said co-worker, & my boss.

My boss asked us both what the issue is & where we believe the miscommunication lies. I turned my chair to her & plainly told her that she was a terrible nurse; marginal at best, with zero work ethic.

I went on to very professionally tear her a new one. I told her her attitude was terrible, her approach and her way of speaking to others is unacceptable, the doctors don’t like her work ethic, and that Im sick of picking up her slack.

She tried to bring up things about me and the others. All she really had was that we use our personal cell phones while on the clock. I told her that regardless, I along with the other nurses get the work done, & manage to do her job on top of everything else. I was pretty shocked that my boss let me say everything I wanted to say. I think he low-key enjoyed it.

Today, she no longer had this arrogant demeanour about her. She helped when asked, got up & tended to patients, & accepted communication strategies between the team.

I was shocked & I could tell by how sheepish she acted. Now I feel that my approach was abrasive and mean but I couldn’t fathom another work shift with her behaviour. I wonder whether I should follow through with the meeting, or if I should give her another chance before I possibly cause her disciplinary action and perhaps cost her her job.