Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Lizbeth: Welcome to Work Drama, the podcast where we unpack workplace stories people whisper about trauma, bond over and still think about years later. I'm Lizbeth. I come from the medical world, so I'm here to bring context, logic, and the questions people should have asked before someone hit reply all.
I left my in person job for remote work and realized something real quick. I don't miss the commute, but I definitely missed the drama. So we fixed that.
Sharon may be out of the office today, but don't worry, I brought in a special guest to help unpack today's mess. With a fresh perspective, we'll be breaking down anonymized stories from offices, hospitals, and everywhere in between. Calling out the nonsense, reacting in real time, and figuring out if something was actually toxic or just wildly mishandled.
Names changed, jobs protected, opinions very much included, and for legality purposes. This is not legal advice.
All right, work bestie, let's get into it.
A woman is in the OR on the table, giving birth. Her husband is right there, scrubbed in, holding her hand, probably trying not to pass out. It's one of the most vulnerable, sacred moments a family can have. And down the hall, someone's going through their bag, taking out his wallet, pulling out a card, and heading to the gift shop.
Okay, so before we get into today's story, I have to acknowledge what's happening right now, because today is a very special episode for me personally.
Sitting across from me is not just a guest, it's my actual work bestie. A real one.
The one that I would text from, literally the supply closet, and the one who has seen things.
So I have Ashley.
[00:01:42] Ashley, RN: Hey, Ashley.
[00:01:43] Lizbeth: My work bestie. So, Ashley, thank you for having me. Yes, thank you for being on. So just to quickly introduce Ashley. She is a registered nurse, mom of two, and literally an unpaid therapist, even to me.
[00:01:55] Ashley, RN: Preach.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:01:57] Lizbeth: And more importantly, she's the person who made showing up to work survivable on days it really, really wasn't. So I need to thank you for that.
[00:02:04] Ashley, RN: And then you left me.
[00:02:05] Lizbeth: And then I left you.
[00:02:06] Ashley, RN: And then I'm there by myself, trying to survive. Trying to survive.
Yeah.
[00:02:11] Lizbeth: How's it been? How's it been going?
[00:02:13] Ashley, RN: I've been holding it down, honestly.
[00:02:15] Lizbeth: I mean, you hold that office down, like, literally.
[00:02:18] Ashley, RN: You know, I don't mean to boast myself, but I. Everyone's been telling me since I've been back, it's like making my head big.
[00:02:25] Lizbeth: No, definitely let it get big because I was there when you were on maternity leave, and it was Tough. I mean, I worked so at our. Or my old office. Right. But her current office, it's divided. Right. We have urgent care. And then her side was primary care with some other specialties.
And I would, I would get a lot of. I would hear a lot of what was going on on the other side. You not being there. It was stressful for them.
[00:02:51] Ashley, RN: Yeah. That's what I hear. Yeah. And then when I was coming back and then maybe leaving, they're like, oh, my God, please don't leave.
[00:02:56] Lizbeth: Yeah. And the people they were bringing in just did not live up to.
Couldn't fill your shoes.
[00:03:03] Ashley, RN: No.
[00:03:03] Lizbeth: Like, they. I don't think they realized, like, how much you were actually doing until you were gone.
[00:03:07] Ashley, RN: They should have known by the. That one, that one replacement, she had a stripper name.
[00:03:15] Lizbeth: That was the first red flag.
[00:03:17] Ashley, RN: There were signs.
I'm too busy to worry about a lot now, but I still get the tea because I like to be Switzerland. So everyone comes to me, but then I try to stay neutral.
To some people, you know.
[00:03:34] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:03:34] Ashley, RN: To others I'm like, fuck this shit.
That bitch is a crazy ass man.
[00:03:40] Lizbeth: And you know what? And it's funny, we had similar personalities at the office where it was like, people coming to us, right. And tell us stuff. But then at times we're like this, like, I don't want to hear this. Like, just like telling people, maybe a little too roughly, sometimes thinking, rubbing people the wrong way. But sometimes they had to hear it.
[00:03:55] Ashley, RN: You have to.
[00:03:56] Lizbeth: And it's like a family. We're there for so many hours during the week a day. It almost sounds like family. Like, you might argue, but then you kind of have to talk again because
[00:04:04] Ashley, RN: you have to work together. And that's why I stayed. I'm like, it's the devil I know. I love everyone sometimes.
[00:04:10] Lizbeth: Most of the time. Yeah, Yeah, I hear you. I. I definitely. It's funny because now working from home, like, I was like, oh, man, I was so stressed and I'm bothered by so many things, but then I kind of just miss, like, being around the people.
[00:04:21] Ashley, RN: Yeah.
[00:04:22] Lizbeth: And actually when I went recently for one of the little parties that they had, like, oh, man. I feel like almost like if I died and left and like, it's very dramatic. Very dramatic. Because I was like, they must miss me so much because my beginning, I was like, I don't want. So I went to, like, we have a shrine.
And I was like, so actually I went to my provider at the time and was like that I. That I worked with and was like, I feel like I died and left you. And I don't know how you feel,
[00:04:57] Ashley, RN: but honestly, for me, everyone, she's really dramatic.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: Very.
[00:05:01] Lizbeth: And I also, like, listen too much crime stuff. Right. So everything's death.
[00:05:06] Ashley, RN: So it's everything, everything.
[00:05:07] Lizbeth: So I'm just like, they must feel like I died and never going to show up again.
[00:05:11] Ashley, RN: We're just mourning your loss every day.
[00:05:13] Lizbeth: Every day. And I'm mourning the loss of the whole office. So it's like, that's how I see something like that. If I feel like this, how must they feel?
So, so self absorbed. But, yeah, but it's, it's been, it's been very different. And not having everybody and just having.
[00:05:29] Ashley, RN: I can imagine. Yeah.
[00:05:30] Lizbeth: Because we were like, very like, Remember us going to each other's offices?
[00:05:33] Ashley, RN: Oh, yeah.
[00:05:33] Lizbeth: And even when it was a busy day and we couldn't go to each other's offices, it was, like, stressful of, like, I haven't even been able to come to your office. Like, what the hell? Here.
I even recognize Ashley's footsteps. Like, literally remember, like, we can.
[00:05:46] Ashley, RN: No matter what shoes I was wearing, she's like, she has Crocs on today.
[00:05:49] Lizbeth: Yep. Yep. I, I, those are Ashley's Crocs.
It's so weird how you get to know people like that. Now it's my cat.
Now it's, oh, here comes Chip.
He has literally jumped on the screen, like, onto the computer as I'm on the phone. Like, it's ridiculous.
Anyway, well, before we get into today's story, Ashley, I do have to ask you something, and I need, you know, the full answer, not the HR approved version. And I know you won't give me that, but what is or what was the one thing about working together that you actually miss? You know, like, the thing you can't say in the exit interview.
[00:06:24] Ashley, RN: Oh, my God. You were, like, the one person I didn't need to sugarcoat anything.
[00:06:29] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:06:29] Ashley, RN: And I'd miss that. It's become.
I feel like now I go to Tracy a lot, and I love her. She's like my work mom.
[00:06:40] Lizbeth: But also she's somebody also that you don't really have to sugarcoat.
[00:06:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:44] Ashley, RN: Yeah. So, you know, but we're both just so busy. But I hung out with you outside of work, too, so it was just, like, different. We could talk about, like, relationships and also work things, but it wasn't always just work.
[00:06:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:58] Ashley, RN: So I miss, I miss that because.
[00:07:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:02] Ashley, RN: That's all. I guess there's actually. That's not All. There's many things, but that's the biggest thing. Okay, I miss.
[00:07:08] Lizbeth: Oh, that's sweet. Yeah, I. I felt the same way. I was. Like, I actually had never worked at an office where I had got a. Like, made a friendship the way we did. Like, I never hung out with somebody else at work. I literally was always the person of, like, I'm going to work, and I'm just here to work, not here to make friends.
[00:07:23] Ashley, RN: I hate you all.
[00:07:24] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: I hate my life.
[00:07:27] Lizbeth: None of you could say, why didn't
[00:07:28] Ashley, RN: my husband make money? Right?
[00:07:30] Lizbeth: Like, why do I even have to be here? Like, the world hates me. So that was my attitude back then. But then I met you, and I was like, oh, this is cool. Like, I just felt we vibed so well, and like, you said, we could hang outside of work. It wasn't just about work. It was, like, about kids and about relationships and about everything, and it just, like, it flowed so well, and we could just be real with each other.
[00:07:47] Ashley, RN: Yeah, it wasn't forceful at all.
[00:07:49] Lizbeth: It wasn't forceful.
So, yeah, I also missed that, too, because I was like, I'm never gonna find a work bestie like that ever again. Especially now, working from home.
[00:07:56] Ashley, RN: Don't you dare.
[00:07:57] Lizbeth: Dare find another work bestie.
[00:07:58] Ashley, RN: Oh, my God. So rude.
[00:08:01] Lizbeth: All right, and I have one last question before we get into it, and I know this, but we need to share with our work besties that are listening. So how has work drama showed up in your life?
[00:08:10] Ashley, RN: Well, yesterday I got so heated telling the story.
[00:08:14] Lizbeth: Oh, I want to hear it.
[00:08:16] Ashley, RN: And I'm just like.
Let me preface with I. This chair is squeaky as shit.
Yes.
[00:08:24] Lizbeth: Yes. If you get a squeaky.
[00:08:25] Ashley, RN: She's just like, I'm just really fidgety.
[00:08:28] Lizbeth: We might need to give her a fidget spinner while she does this.
[00:08:33] Ashley, RN: And I, like, you know, I pride myself on being good at my job. And generally speaking, all my patients, you know, love me, like me, tolerate me,
[00:08:45] Lizbeth: whatever it would call for you, whatever it be.
[00:08:47] Ashley, RN: But this patient message in, and she's a new patient to us, and she was just asking for a refill for a medication that we've never prescribed before. So standard protocol. I ask her two questions. One, who was the last person who prescribed this for you? And do you still see them?
And this set off a chain reaction in this woman, which I wish I could tell you her name, because you'd
[00:09:09] Lizbeth: be like, yeah, do I know the patient?
[00:09:13] Ashley, RN: No, no, Just the name just gives an energy.
It's not Karen, but she's literally sending me this paragraph. And she's like, ashley, shmh. This woman is, like, 70.
She's, like, shaking my head. I am stressed over this. This is my health. I cannot believe that you are making me wait for this. And then, you know, I have to give a PC response, like, my apologies.
I just needed to clarify. I don't see a problem with this. This bitch sends two more paragraphs at how upset she is.
Ashley, I wish you have a stressless night. You have made me so distraught over this. I was getting so.
[00:10:01] Lizbeth: Oh, my goodness.
[00:10:02] Ashley, RN: And then I composed a really snarky remark in which Tracy came over. I was like, talk me off the ledge because I'm about to send this. And she's like, yeah, you have to delete that.
Oh, my goodness. And then this bitch sends another one the next morning, and I just got reheated. And I'm just. Patients don't understand that they can't just, like, ask for something and get what they want.
[00:10:25] Lizbeth: Right.
[00:10:26] Ashley, RN: I've had a cough for a day, so I need. I need these five medications because ChatGPT said that I have chronic bronchitis, and I've had it since I was five. Like, I don't know what the fuck you went to school for, but it's not medicine.
[00:10:42] Lizbeth: And you know what? That was the hardest thing, like, as I was, like, transitioning out, was that working at. In the walk in. Right. Having people come in daily with their ChatGPT or Google diagnosis and, like, yelling at us.
[00:10:55] Ashley, RN: Yeah.
[00:10:55] Lizbeth: I remember the one time that one guy came in. I have got on both my feet. He was walking just fine. I'm like, you literally don't have gout in both your feet. Like, I just know, like, mind you, I was only a medical assistant, but I know you do not have galano. Both of you.
[00:11:05] Ashley, RN: I got bronchitis.
[00:11:08] Lizbeth: And he was like. I was like, okay, so what makes you think you have got like, I guess that was snarky. He's like, how dare you? And, like, he's like, started yelling at me. Like, I looked it up, and I was drinking the other night. I slept in my car drunk. And I'm like, whoa.
So you have a problem, right? I'm like, I think there's another thing going on here.
[00:11:24] Ashley, RN: And toe pain.
Did you fall when you were drunk? Oh, I did on the curb.
[00:11:32] Lizbeth: Well, I was also crouched up in my freaking front seat.
[00:11:36] Ashley, RN: There could be other reasonings for this.
[00:11:38] Lizbeth: Oh, my goodness. So. And I remember I went back to the doctor. Like, they think they have got on both feet. How to take off their shoes. Toes look fine. So knock out.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:45] Lizbeth: And actually, when you said about. Well, first off, that's another thing, too. Oh, my God. I know. It's. This segment is gonna be so much longer because I have so much to say.
That was supposed to be it, but part two. Yeah. Part two. The freaking. My chart messages. Those are so annoying.
So annoying.
And they get really ballsy in there.
[00:12:01] Ashley, RN: It's kind of like, literally, people that are like, I've been sick for. I got. I threw up once last night, and what do I do,
[00:12:10] Speaker C: ma'?
[00:12:11] Ashley, RN: Am? I don't know, like, lay down, drink some water. Like, what did you eat? You know, it just.
[00:12:18] Lizbeth: You're fine. Like, call me when you're five times. Yeah.
[00:12:22] Ashley, RN: I need to compose to these people.
[00:12:23] Lizbeth: That was the thing. It's been so much harder to treat people and just be compassionate. It just weighs on you. Just. I don't know.
[00:12:30] Ashley, RN: I feel like. Yeah, you overlook, like, bigger things because people can be crybabies about a lot of simpler things.
[00:12:36] Lizbeth: And I think there was a big shift with, like, covet.
[00:12:38] Ashley, RN: I think everybody started questioning, people can't be sick anymore.
[00:12:40] Lizbeth: They can't be sick.
[00:12:41] Ashley, RN: Like, I know.
[00:12:41] Lizbeth: Cough. They think they're gonna die. Yeah. Or it's vice versa. They don't want.
[00:12:44] Ashley, RN: Or they just want to be better in a day. And it's like, that doesn't exist.
[00:12:47] Lizbeth: Yeah. Oh, we get that in the walking all the time. I have a trip to Florida tomorrow, and I need this cough gone.
[00:12:52] Ashley, RN: I cannot be sick.
[00:12:53] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:12:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:53] Lizbeth: Like, I'm like, okay, yeah, we'll take out the magic pill.
[00:12:56] Ashley, RN: Here you go.
[00:12:57] Lizbeth: You'll be fine in two hours is. Yeah. Ridiculous. But anyway, I. I definitely feel that because I remember those days, and I remember getting some of those messages from my provider that didn't want to answer the messages, and then I had to, like, do it. And I'm like, great. I'm being put in the middle of this.
And I think that's the part that was really, like, making me go home angry was suppressing all those emotions, and then they're going home. Like, everybody gets it.
[00:13:24] Ashley, RN: I am angry a lot now.
[00:13:26] Lizbeth: Maybe that's why it's a problem.
[00:13:30] Speaker C: It is.
[00:13:31] Lizbeth: Well, honestly, Ashley, today's story is going to feel very on brand for the two of us, because today's story and our work bestie of the day is Clara. And Clara sent us a story straight from a hospital unit.
[00:13:41] Ashley, RN: What did Clara do?
[00:13:43] Lizbeth: Are you ready?
[00:13:44] Ashley, RN: I'm ready. All right.
[00:13:45] Lizbeth: Let's get into it.
So this story takes place on a labor and delivery unit. You know, the environment, fast emotional, high states. One hallway is the happiest place in the world. You know, where the babies are.
[00:13:56] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:57] Lizbeth: Another hallway is the most terrifying, where the deliveries are going on. And somewhere it's a little terrifying.
You actually just went through this?
[00:14:05] Speaker C: I did almost die.
[00:14:07] Lizbeth: So, yes, terrifying.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: Okay, continue.
[00:14:08] Lizbeth: You're like, oh, yeah, I recall.
And somewhere in between, there are nurses chatting, supply cards, shared computers that everyone uses on slow shifts. Do a little personal browsing.
Now, according to Clara, our work bestie, today, there was a nurse on this unit. We'll call her Jade.
That seems like a stripper name as well.
[00:14:30] Speaker C: I had a friend named Jade at my last job. I loved her.
[00:14:34] Lizbeth: Jade was one of those people who was always fine, not great, not warm, just clocked in, did the job, clocked out. She was also finishing up her degree to become a nurse practitioner, about to graduate one more step before the next level of her career.
So, Ashley, you know that person at work, right? The one who's almost out? That might have been me.
[00:14:52] Speaker C: Yeah, I recall that being you.
[00:14:55] Lizbeth: Like, they've mentally kind of left. They're just physically still there.
[00:14:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:00] Lizbeth: Is that a specific kind of like dangerous energy in a hospital or medical setting?
[00:15:04] Speaker C: Oh, God. Hospital setting. I think. Yeah. Because you are so just detached. Even like, you know, working in the ambulatory like we were, it's. It's not as crucial because I. Can I compare it to like when I was, you know, about to give birth, I'm like, I'm so tapped out. I really don't give a flying about anything else other than having this child out of me. Yeah.
But, yeah, in the hospital setting, if you don't have somebody that's very paying attention, especially on labor and delivery, like, things can go south so fast, and if you're not acting upon it and just attitude. Those poor. Those poor mamas.
[00:15:38] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:15:39] Speaker C: Having like a sad nurse right in
[00:15:41] Lizbeth: their happiest moment of their life or terrifying.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: Yeah. It's just a bad experience if you don't have a good nurse when you're giving birth.
[00:15:46] Lizbeth: That's true. And FYI, I did not check out. I literally stayed my last day. I stayed 12 hours at that freaking office. I was like, making sure everything was good. I was like, top tier employee. Okay, just gonna say that.
[00:15:57] Speaker C: Great. A nobody can ever replace you.
[00:15:59] Lizbeth: They miss me like if I died.
All right, back to the story. So now on this particular day, a patient comes in for a Scheduled C section. She comes in with her husband. His name is Marcus.
The wife's name doesn't really matter.
Marcus is with his wife through everything. And when they go back to the or, they're belong and stay behind and pack you. Which is standard protocol. Right. There's a bag, there's clothes, there's Marcus's wallet.
Real quick. For our work besties at home who don't know, PACU is like the recovery area. Right. Post anesthesia unit care.
And those bags just. They sit there while the patient's in surgery.
[00:16:40] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:40] Lizbeth: Safely.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: Well, I mean, every hospital is going to be different because, like, when I had my C section, the bags just stayed on my physical bed that I was in.
But the room, you go back to the same room that you're prepped in. Okay. And then you get moved to like a post delivery after you, obviously. But there's not really.
You might remove rooms, but there's not a PACU for birthing babies because, like,
[00:17:06] Ashley, RN: you can't be sent to like, the
[00:17:07] Speaker C: general PACU because you have a baby.
[00:17:09] Lizbeth: You have a baby.
[00:17:09] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's always labor and delivery.
But yeah, your stuff's not with you, obviously. And it is under the care of
[00:17:15] Lizbeth: like, your other employees.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: Of the employees. Yeah. Safe safety reason. I mean, for you too.
[00:17:23] Lizbeth: All right, so the bags are there and access to that area, not exactly zero.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah. Anyone walking by could just walk in. Yeah. Okay.
[00:17:33] Lizbeth: So Marcus is in the OR watching his child come into the world. And as they bring the baby to the mom's face and to his face. Right? Like when they bring the baby up, Right.
[00:17:42] Speaker C: Yeah. They put that.
[00:17:43] Lizbeth: They put the baby see the movies all the time. I had a badge, but I'm jealous.
As they bring the baby up to the parents face and they're meeting their new bundle of joy, his phone buzzes, he looks down and it's a card alert. His card was just used at the hospital gift shop while he's standing in the operating room.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: First off, bad man, why are you taking out your phone in the or?
[00:18:05] Lizbeth: Yes, that was my first. I'm like. You looked at your phone? Like, are you kidding me? Get out of the room. You're done.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: Okay, let's. Maybe was out. He was taking pictures of the baby, Right?
[00:18:16] Lizbeth: True. Maybe he was recording at the time.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: So that's a really good credit card company. That's like spot on, right?
[00:18:21] Ashley, RN: Yeah, yeah.
[00:18:22] Lizbeth: It's like the gift shop immediately.
It's like, right away.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: Okay, so somebody jacked his.
[00:18:30] Lizbeth: Apparently.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: That is crazy.
[00:18:32] Lizbeth: And so. Yeah. Do you think that there is, Like.
I mean, but you said, like, at. Every hospital is different. Is there an accountability. Is there supposed to be accountability around that?
[00:18:41] Speaker C: Like, should that stuff be safer? I mean, there's not, like, any locked part of it because it's a patient room, so. That's true. The only people that probably have access to it. I say only, but it's like the staff that's including, like, EVs, and, you know, any medical staff passing through or, I mean, another person on the unit. Unit. Staying in a different room could just walk in. Yeah. Like my unit, I had. I had a curtain. Oh. That was like. There was a door that was just open all the time, and it was a curtain. So, yeah, you could just walk by, be stealthy and. Yeah.
[00:19:16] Lizbeth: Like, walk in.
[00:19:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:18] Lizbeth: So really could be anybody. Yeah. Now here's where Marcus earns some respect. He doesn't lose it. He doesn't cause a scene. He pulls out his phone right there and cancels the card right in the or. He's got more important things to handle and, frankly, to enjoy at this moment.
And when they're out of surgery, he has to go speak to the gift shop manager. He walks in calmly and says, I'm not here to accuse you, but someone who works here used my card while I was in the ore. I just want you to know what happened.
[00:19:45] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:19:46] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: The first step, I guess. What else would you do? I don't know.
[00:19:50] Lizbeth: Yeah, right. But if Jacob, which is actually something, were to handle that situation that way, is that kind of like. Is that impressive that he's so calm about it, or is it a little something?
[00:20:01] Speaker C: I mean, you can't. Yeah. What, are you gonna go and be like. Turn. Flip tables over? Be like, you bought a teddy bear
[00:20:07] Ashley, RN: with my credit card?
[00:20:09] Speaker C: How much money can you really spend?
[00:20:10] Lizbeth: Alex would be like, I want my money back.
[00:20:12] Speaker C: 100.
[00:20:13] Lizbeth: Everyone who took my card and interest. I want every little piece. And yes, I want. I want money for my pain and suffering.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: No, I think it would have been pretty chill. Yeah. Cancel your card. I mean, statistically, please, these cases don't get solved, Right? Probably. So, I mean, to go through every. Yeah.
[00:20:31] Lizbeth: In the hospital and goal. Yeah.
[00:20:33] Speaker C: What are you gonna do? You're gonna cancel it and you're gonna get a new one.
[00:20:35] Lizbeth: Yeah, it sucks.
But at least it's the mature thing.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: They didn't buy a car, right? True.
[00:20:41] Lizbeth: Very true. So he did the mature thing. Okay. See, I have a different.
My life would have gone a little differently.
Well, word travels. Fast on the hospital unit and even a medical unit in general. Right. So you know how it is. A story like a patient's husband's card was stolen from pacu, doesn't stay quiet for long.
Now, remember how I said everyone used the shared unit computers for personal stuff? Stuff during slow shifts.
Same day, Jade is at one of those computers, and she is Jade, Jade. And she's deep in a purchase page for a designer shoe. We're talking name brand, like, shoe with a stiletto size.
[00:21:17] Speaker C: She's an APRN now.
[00:21:18] Ashley, RN: Yeah.
[00:21:18] Lizbeth: Because she. She's about to do big things, go to big ballroom parties.
So I need you to tell me, and be honest. Have you ever seen someone online shopping from work during their shift?
[00:21:29] Speaker C: Well, no, because Yale blocks everything.
[00:21:31] Lizbeth: Now, I was gonna say in the beginning.
[00:21:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:34] Lizbeth: In the beginning, they block everything.
[00:21:36] Speaker C: They. You know, it's funny, of course. Like, and it wasn't even. It's not like we're on freaking red tube and we're here.
[00:21:43] Ashley, RN: It's like, you know, I was, like,
[00:21:45] Speaker C: looking at doors at Home Depot because I was renovating. You know, that kind of stuff. Amazon, it's never bad. Like, you are at work, you know, you're being monitored. So I would never. But, yeah, they cracked down. And it was funny in the beginning. They'd be like, oh, you can get in on a Walmart, but you can't get on.
[00:22:01] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:22:01] Ashley, RN: Amazon.
[00:22:04] Speaker C: Now, nothing.
So I'm surprised. This.
[00:22:07] Lizbeth: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I remember they did block. Like, I was trying to look up something like medical. Like, there was something.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: You can't even get into offices. Like, I need a fax number. No. Yeah, you need to put in a security code.
[00:22:17] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:22:18] Ashley, RN: For that.
[00:22:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:19] Lizbeth: They're cracking down.
So Jade apparently wasn't at you.
So there's another nurse on that unit. We'll call her Tanya. Tanya walks by Jade's computer. She sees the screen, recognizes the brand, and does what any reasonable person does. She starts talking about the shoes.
Oh, I love that brand. You know, same for you.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:40] Lizbeth: Like, girl like that for the shoes, make your butt look good.
She's like, yeah. Oh, I love that brand. Is that. Is that the new one? Like, the new shoe? Jade tries to keep it cool, keeps clicking, tries to finalize the purchase. The card gets declined.
The card that Marcus canceled from the OR gets declined.
[00:23:00] Speaker C: Really?
[00:23:02] Lizbeth: What is Jade's face doing right now? What do you think?
[00:23:05] Speaker C: Probably, like, I don't know, because, like, Tanya's watching.
[00:23:10] Lizbeth: Tanya's like, girl, you don't got no money.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: I Just feel like. Minimize the screen and be like, I didn't really want those.
[00:23:15] Lizbeth: Like, you know what that was?
[00:23:16] Speaker C: I have to move some money around sometimes. This happens to me at Aldi's because
[00:23:19] Lizbeth: I forget that they don't accept one
[00:23:21] Speaker C: of my cards, and it looks like I'm bored.
[00:23:22] Lizbeth: Yeah. You know, I swear I'm not bored.
[00:23:25] Speaker C: I swear that whole cart of food, they just don't like dime bank here.
[00:23:29] Lizbeth: When Jay tries to brush it off to Tanya, she laughs a little, says something like, oh, that's weird. I. I'll have to call them. I know. There's definitely enough money on this card.
There's definitely enough money on this card. Girl, how do you know, right?
[00:23:44] Speaker C: Like, you could have stolen some. A poor man.
[00:23:45] Lizbeth: A poor man's got, right?
[00:23:46] Speaker C: Debit card that had like a thousand bucks on it.
[00:23:48] Lizbeth: Like, you didn't steal the doctor's card. You still know freaking Marcus's card is about to have a baby.
[00:23:52] Speaker C: They probably. He's probably a high school gym teacher.
[00:23:55] Lizbeth: Right?
[00:23:55] Speaker C: True.
[00:23:55] Lizbeth: Poor guy. Poor Marcus.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: For Marcus.
[00:23:58] Lizbeth: Well, later that shift, Tanya hears about the stolen card and the patient's husband pack you and the gift shop purchase. And Tanya, she remembers the screen, she remembers the declined shoes. She remembers there's definitely enough money on this card.
[00:24:14] Speaker C: So when did Jade go to the
[00:24:15] Lizbeth: gift shop exactly is what we need to find out.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: And what did she buy? I'm really curious.
[00:24:19] Lizbeth: Yeah, yeah, we might get into that.
So, yeah, so she remembered she didn't say my card. She said this card. And that kind of stuck out to Tanya. So if you're Tanya, walk me through the decision for you to, like, are you coming forward? Are you not coming forward? Because it's a co worker, right? Somebody you have to work us alongside. Is it an easy call, the betrayal?
[00:24:38] Speaker C: I mean, I don't know their relationship, but it doesn't sound like Jade was close to anyone.
[00:24:43] Lizbeth: Right, Right.
[00:24:44] Speaker C: So if I were Tanya, I'd go to my work bestie and I'd be like, listen, this would definitely soul cards some money, and we need to find out how to. How to solve this case.
[00:24:57] Lizbeth: Yeah, okay.
[00:24:58] Speaker C: Maybe manager. You know, we got a cool manager.
[00:25:01] Lizbeth: Yeah, true. Depending on.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I'm not going to, like, go confront her about it.
[00:25:05] Ashley, RN: Right.
[00:25:05] Lizbeth: Yeah, definitely not. Yeah, no, but, like, go tell somebody. Start with the work best. Yeah, like that idea. I could see that. I could see you come to me like, oh, my God. Yeah, this is what happened. And then we're both going to go to Shauna.
Then we're all just going to be in the office talking about it.
We're probably not the best boys when it comes to that 100. No, we were amazing. All right, well, Tanya does come forward. She actually tells management, notifies management.
[00:25:30] Speaker C: Wow. Tanya's a narc. Yeah.
[00:25:31] Lizbeth: Tanya's like, I ain't around.
Tanya's like, I am the queen bee here and everybody's gonna behave.
Yeah, she probably is.
So Jade is confronted and Clara, our work bestie, she believes she either confessed or that the card was found on her. Either way, the police was called. And when Jade came back to clean out her locker, she had a manager escort. And then. Yeah, and then they never saw Jade again.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:26:00] Lizbeth: She was in a master's program. She was about to graduate. That's probably like, really.
[00:26:05] Speaker C: This is a true story. This is a true story.
Who has the audacity?
[00:26:10] Lizbeth: Audacity, yeah. To throw away their career.
[00:26:12] Speaker C: Do you really think, like, nobody's gonna find out?
[00:26:16] Lizbeth: Yeah. And it was all for a gift shop snack.
Peanuts, some cookies.
Some cookies. Yep. And a drink, you fat ass.
[00:26:25] Speaker C: Yes.
That was too much. I don't know her weight.
[00:26:30] Lizbeth: I always have snacks on my table.
[00:26:32] Speaker C: Yeah, they were sat there.
[00:26:33] Lizbeth: I would have eaten them.
That was your cover. Like, that's still sitting there.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Had a bite sized KitKat with a half guard.
[00:26:40] Lizbeth: I would do that. You know how busy it would get? It would get so busy.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: I just can't put this whole Kit Kat in my mouth. It's just too much.
[00:26:46] Lizbeth: Well, my thing was I also didn't want, like a bunch of chocolate in my teeth while I'm talking to patients, you know, whatever.
[00:26:51] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:26:52] Lizbeth: Well, that.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: I get fireable offense 100%. Yeah. So like jail time, right?
[00:26:57] Lizbeth: Exactly. Like, still. And luckily they declined the car because the management. She got the shoes. That would have been even more of a.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: That would have been. Yeah.
[00:27:04] Lizbeth: I mean, maybe. Maybe she just got the snack to see if it would go through. I mean, she shouldn't know it was gonna go through. I don't know.
[00:27:08] Speaker C: I don't know. Right.
[00:27:09] Lizbeth: I think if you're gonna go, go hard.
[00:27:11] Speaker C: Like, if I were to steal a card, I would not go buy something.
Yeah.
[00:27:16] Lizbeth: Like, that was like.
[00:27:17] Speaker C: Let me test that out.
Yeah, but I get the theory. You're right. She probably was like, this is a safe space. I can probably just like, go get something small.
[00:27:25] Lizbeth: But that was what triggered the whole like.
[00:27:27] Speaker C: Oh, let me get my question also. Yeah. Who has their alerts on what they spent on everything.
[00:27:31] Lizbeth: They spent on everything.
[00:27:32] Speaker C: Yeah. That's Something Alex would do.
[00:27:34] Lizbeth: I was gonna say I was like, I wonder if Alex has this.
It's like, he's gonna hate me for this one.
But. Yeah. So it was a gift. Soft snack and a pair of sexy shoes she never even got. So.
[00:27:47] Speaker C: And now you're fired.
[00:27:48] Lizbeth: Freaking now she's fired. Now she's Jade, the fired nurse. So let's unpack this, because this is the same. So in the healthcare setting, people are moving through patient access areas. Right. It's trusted implicitly.
I have to be honest. I would keep my purse under my desk in. And you remember my office. It was right there where people are walking. I never.
[00:28:06] Speaker C: 100%. Me too.
[00:28:07] Lizbeth: I just, like, would keep it there
[00:28:08] Speaker C: and I would think about that. I'm like, somebody gets so easily. Just like.
[00:28:10] Lizbeth: I know. I would think that. I would think it too.
[00:28:12] Speaker C: I mean. Yeah, generally in, like, medical facilities. Yeah, you do have this trust. But I wonder. I feel like we should look up, like, the statistic of how many deaths there are in the hospital medical.
[00:28:25] Lizbeth: Like, I worked there, like, what, like, six years? I never. I mean, I would think about it here and there, but, like, I never. It was so easy for. And we've had at the office, we've had, like, drug addicts and all these types of, like, sketchy.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: Remember our ex co worker, though, that said she got stuff stolen when she worked at the other office?
[00:28:41] Lizbeth: That's true. Yeah. Yeah. But that was an employee, right? That was like.
[00:28:45] Speaker C: I guess it's all in who you work with, you know, trusting wise. There's. There's people everywhere.
[00:28:49] Lizbeth: But I feel like because of that feeling, like it's just a safe space when something like this happens, it makes everybody look bad.
[00:28:55] Speaker C: Oh, God. Yeah.
[00:28:56] Lizbeth: So I think that's.
[00:28:57] Speaker C: Yeah, you can't. Yeah. No. Now everyone. He's. Marcus is going to. His friends. Don't give birth here.
[00:29:01] Lizbeth: Yeah. They're gonna take your cards, put it on, freaking cancel or whatever. What? Can you, like, pause your cards?
Don't bring your cards?
[00:29:09] Speaker C: I think I have the effort to do that.
[00:29:11] Lizbeth: Yeah. As you're going into labor. Yeah.
[00:29:13] Speaker C: Hold on.
[00:29:14] Lizbeth: Call bank of America. Yeah. So, like, what does this do for, like, from a nursing standpoint, the culture of the unit? Like, how does it change how people treat each other, how patients treat each other when trust is, like, broken?
[00:29:24] Speaker C: Well, I mean, I'm sure that they
[00:29:26] Lizbeth: had a little risk. I think knowing that the person was caught really quick is gonna. They're just gonna revert back.
[00:29:32] Speaker C: It didn't sound like anyone was friends with her anyways.
[00:29:34] Ashley, RN: Yeah.
[00:29:34] Lizbeth: Like, she was.
[00:29:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Nobody was missing somebody that's gonna do that. It's gonna be. Generally somebody doesn't like, and it's not missed.
[00:29:41] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:29:42] Speaker C: I don't think they probably did anything.
[00:29:43] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: It's probably just the talk of the
[00:29:44] Lizbeth: town, and you probably want to get rid of her time. I was like, yes, thank God. I hate Jean.
That's probably why she went to somebody so quick. And I think, like, for patient care, I think for the most part, the employees don't talk about what's going on in the office around patients too much. So, like, maybe. So nobody else is gonna. Yeah, the patients wouldn't know. Unless Marcus is going around like, hey, this was just happened. But he sounds like a good guy
[00:30:04] Speaker C: and he's on, like, Channel 3 news.
[00:30:05] Ashley, RN: Right.
[00:30:07] Lizbeth: So this isn't just someone, like, who lost a job. This is someone also who was on the edge of a career. This nurse practitioner position, which.
[00:30:14] Speaker C: I wonder how it affected her. Yeah.
[00:30:15] Lizbeth: Yeah. And so she was months away from her license, years of schooling. Right. And she risked it all for literally nothing.
So what do you think this says about her as a nurse? Like, is there a lack of empathy? There was. She just checked out.
[00:30:28] Speaker C: I just think she's a bad person. I don't think it says anything about her being a nurse. I think it says something about her character.
[00:30:35] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:30:36] Speaker C: Because.
[00:30:36] Lizbeth: But does that character make her a bad nurse? I mean, you're willing to take.
[00:30:40] Speaker C: I don't speak to anyone because there are. There are. I. You know, when I was in the hospital setting, there are nurses that I did not like as people, but they did their job very well. Right. So I don't ever want to speak on somebody's career choices because, like, if she was getting through aprn school, maybe she was smart, maybe she was good at her job, but I don't think LND was the place for her.
[00:31:02] Ashley, RN: Right.
[00:31:03] Lizbeth: And, like, the fact that steel. Like, I mean, it's one thing. Not that I want to condone it in any way, but, like, if she wasn't stealing it to pay for groceries, something like, she really needed, like, shoes, stilettos, and cookies. I mean, I can understand cookies. I like cookies a lot. She's like, why I love bacon.
[00:31:20] Speaker C: She probably was, like, doing it to see if she could get away.
[00:31:22] Lizbeth: Get away with it. Yeah. And, like, I wonder, was that her first time, like. Oh, and nonchalantly at work.
[00:31:28] Speaker C: Stealing at work because, like, people that long ago lost her license because she was.
I don't know if you Heard about that. She was drawing up, stealing morphine from the vials and replacing.
[00:31:39] Lizbeth: Yeah. Wasn't there a whole podcast about it? I think there was a whole podcast.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: I mean, yeah, it was like a huge trial. Yeah. So it's like, who knows if she's stealing in different ways.
[00:31:47] Lizbeth: In different ways.
[00:31:48] Speaker C: A person who can steal, you know, you don't just go take a credit card. As your first.
[00:31:52] Lizbeth: Right. As your first. That's true. Yeah.
[00:31:54] Speaker C: She's doing something smaller.
[00:31:55] Lizbeth: Jade was experienced.
[00:31:56] Speaker C: Yeah. She knew what she was doing.
[00:31:58] Lizbeth: Well, I think the real MVP of the story is the man standing in the operator room watching his child be born, who had the clarity to cancel his card from his phone.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: Right.
[00:32:06] Lizbeth: Yeah. Calmly address it with management and then not even ask for his Carter money back. Because like I said, in my life it would have gone different.
[00:32:13] Speaker C: Here's the cookies.
[00:32:14] Lizbeth: He's like, enjoy your cookies. I'm getting new cards.
And that level of composure. I guess it's just maturity.
But I wonder if the hospital followed up formally with that family.
Because if I'm Clara watching this unfold.
[00:32:27] Speaker C: Right.
[00:32:27] Lizbeth: I. I think I want to know if they got a formal apology. Like did they get a nice little gift basket?
[00:32:32] Speaker C: I'm sure they got a nice something, you know, probably. Thank you card.
[00:32:36] Lizbeth: Thank you. Cuz it's a hospital claims poor $25 voucher to the gift shop.
[00:32:40] Speaker C: Probably not even. We are so sorry to hear about this.
[00:32:43] Lizbeth: Here are some socks with some groupies on the bottom with some Grippies on the bottom.
So do you think hospital should have stricter protocols about patient belongings or procedures?
I don't they too much to ask for a locker. I mean, we had lockers in our. In our.
[00:32:59] Speaker C: I.
I know there are safes in rooms. Okay. Like, I know when I worked on the unit. The unit we'd have a safe. So I think it's up to like the patient.
[00:33:13] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:33:13] Speaker C: If they want to lock stuff up
[00:33:15] Lizbeth: to ask for it.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: Maybe.
[00:33:16] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:33:16] Speaker C: Or I mean, I've heard of people giving their belong like their keys and wallet, not their whole, you know, their clothes stuff, but like to the actual behind the front desk type thing. Yeah.
But it's hard when you're. When you're in Asian. That's why you're bring. You're basically told to not bring anything in with you.
And you know, labor and delivery is different because you have, you know.
[00:33:40] Lizbeth: Right. You're there for days and like. Yeah. If they stay over or whatever.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: Exactly. So this is like a niche.
[00:33:45] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:33:46] Speaker C: Situation.
[00:33:47] Lizbeth: Situation. That's True. Because I'm thinking, like, even when I've gone into, like, a surgery, they'll have me put my stuff in a bag and then they close it and.
[00:33:53] Speaker C: Yeah, the lockers locked.
[00:33:55] Lizbeth: Yeah.
[00:33:55] Speaker C: And then my, you know, rides waiting for nobody's like, my stuff is not
[00:33:59] Lizbeth: out in the open. Yeah, it's not out on the open. So, Yeah, I guess it depends on that. It might be more specific to labor and delivery because you might be in there.
[00:34:05] Speaker C: Yeah. That's the only time that I ever had my stuff. Just like rogue on a bed. Yeah.
[00:34:08] Lizbeth: And you're not thinking about your stuff. You're thinking about your body at first.
[00:34:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:34:11] Lizbeth: You're not thinking about that. Oh, my goodness, what a story. Clara, thank you for this story. Hospitals deal with things that the rest of us can't even imagine.
[00:34:20] Speaker C: And I'm glad you don't lose any more money.
[00:34:22] Lizbeth: Yeah. Three dollar cookies.
Well, Ashley, thank you so much for coming. I feel like I need to have you back on because I just love our vibe.
[00:34:29] Speaker C: Thanks for having me. This is fun.
[00:34:32] Lizbeth: This was fun, right? Yeah. You'll definitely have to come back.
[00:34:34] Speaker C: I will. I will come back.
[00:34:36] Lizbeth: All right, people, if you want to come back, also, like, put something in the comments to verify because, you know, I'm. I'm very biased here. I love Ashley.
Say yes. Please say yes.
All right, work besties. If you've got a story, something that happened in your unit, in your office, in your building that you have just been wanting to spill, send it into the group chat. Email is in the episode description. Names changed, jobs protected. And for legal purposes, this is not medical or legal advice.
All right, everybody, until next time, bye.
That's it for today's episode of Work Drama. Today's Work Drama was read by Lizbeth Marquez. Music for the show is by Denzel Zane.
Fairy tales. And a special thank you to Project Emo for letting us record this podcast in their studio idea Forge Studios.
If you've got your own workplace story you can't believe actually happened, send it our way to workdramapodmail.com linked in the show notes.
Names changed, jobs protected. This has been work Drama, where the meetings end, but stories don't.
