Mistakes by a dental nurse

He sounds like a control freak. I have few words of advice to add.

1. He cannot legally withhold wages.
2. You should join a union. The Royal College of Nurses is very good and have a free legal helpline if he does the above.
3. He is bullying and harassing you. You should ring the GDC/CQC on how to proceed ig he continues.
4. Tell him that you will not accept his behaviour. Yes, this can make it worse but it also may make him think about his behaviour. You should advise that if he speaks to you out of turn again that you are not afraid of him and you will get legal advice and advice from the GDC/CQC.

Yes you could get another job, but qhy should he be able to get away with it? He should be accountable for the way he behaves. I've known dental nurses have to go off sick becuase they've been treated so badly and the dentist gets away with it.

Hope this helps. It sounds like an awful situation.

This is bullying behaviour and the mistakes minor. I would report him to CQC and whistleblow to the GDC, this is your duty (as another member said.) We have to protect ourselves, our colleagues and our patients. Also, if you leave because of this behaviour, esp as you have mentioned it to your manager and nothing is done about his behaviour it is classed as constructive dismissal and open to compensation, that will scare him and if it doesn't then be strong and go for him (and her) with all guns blazing. This behaviour is unacceptable and causing you stress. You are not a slave, you are a professional.ACAS are also very good at giving advise at this sort of thing.
Chin up girl, you are better than them and I hope you get the result you want and deserve

starlight17.02 wrote: The most recent thing is the wife is going to count how many boxes of gloves we use per month and how long does a box last in one surgery-we have 4 working surgeries!!!!!!!!!! obsessive much?

Wow. I definitely wouldn't like to work with people like this. We go through tons of gloves a day! They should not be trying to make you use less and less gloves...next thing you know they'll be telling you to re-use them

This sounds awful! I would 100% without a doubt report him!
I don't understand why it's his job to tell you when to empty your clinical waste? My dentist minds his own business when it comes to things like that....I'm the one who fills it up, I empty once it's full at the end of the day, things like that don't even cross his mind so this seems a bit bizarre to me!
His behaviour seems completely unacceptable. My advise would be to report him.

Every nurse makes mistakes, were only human! Things get misplaced, if the dentists problem if they expect their nurse to be wonder woman!
Ibn regards to his complete disregard of cross infection, if you feel you cannot talk to anyone inhouse, the GDC has an annoymous whistle blowing system, I would consider it if he is putting people and staff at risk

Hi, thank you everyone. Apparently he has been treating people worse than this and no one, has ever dared to report him. I did tell my practice manager that I'll do my best for a month, with no mistakes whatsoever, and if he still treats me like that, I'll leave. I don't think i'll have a problem finding another job, but this one is so convenient, near to home and kids.

It's just ridiculous, him and his wife are very mean. We can't order anything without them making a big issue. We have to account for every single penny. We always get nagged about booking private patients, but my goodness, how can they treat privately?? The associates are very nice people and so are my other colleagues. Can't wait for them to retire. The most recent thing is the wife is going to count how many boxes of gloves we use per month and how long does a box last in one surgery-we have 4 working surgeries!!!!!!!!!! obsessive much?

My goodness, you poor thing!
I feel so sorry to hear that some arsehole dentist treats you like this!

I worked for a practice where the partners were both like this - I went home crying every day for about 10 months (I left!! as did MANY other nurses and practice managers)

Do you have a good practice manager? You have been given a lead position very quickly if you've only been there 6 months.

You have a choice to either report him (which I would if he is throwing loaded syringes at people - you can't really report him for being a twat)
or find another job? Chances are if you report him you may lose the job anyways.

I hope your kids are ok now.
chin up - we're all here for you!x

I would report him straight awat for that! not so much his attitude but cross infection control procedures. The GDC would prob suspend him, i would start looking for a new job asap and then report him to GDC or CQC. your classed as a professional and if you witness this happening it is your duty to let someone know if they are acting unprofessional or you to could get in trouble - i think this is how it works not 100% but im sure if you see something that is wrong you have to report it as you are a professional.
keep us updated and i made a big misstake in my first couple of weeks in starting my new job i apologised to everyone in question and said it would not happen again etc and they where happy with that they just said it should have never got to that stage - their right it shouldnt have.

doesnt matter how long you have been working for we all make misstakes, ive seen dentists fill the wrong teeth before! at least our mistakes are not that major! x

You must phone Blue Chip not only am I a member but I know Edward Purcell personally, if you ever ever have a problem again CALL THEM.Your Boss sounds like a bully and it all sounds very wrong .

Hi there starlight

Nobody is perfect every dental nurse on here has made mistakes. Regardless of being an owner of a practice or not that's no way to speak to any of the staff and chucking stuff at you is ridiculous and totally unprofessional. I feel for you and your colleagues having to tip toe around that clinician. With me being in a hospital if clinicians ever speak to me out of turn or try to make me look stupid I cn freely tell them its not on regardless of being a consultant or not I'm also a senior nurse and I get my fair share but they'd never treat me that way and have never ever thrown anything at me. You need to speak to someone and get advice is there not a chance you could find a job elsewhere? I hope you get something sorted whether advice or a new job! keep your chin up don't let it get to you though it'd make you miserable.

Hi Starlight,

Phone BlueChip- they offer employment advice for dental nurses.
www.bluechipassociation.co.uk/BCSA_Emplo...Home_OurService.html

This behaviour is unacceptable! Have you considered letting the CQC know about it?

I decided to post this after much thought. All of us have made mistakes at work-big or small. I have too.
My last 3 weeks were horrendous, both of my children were sick and in hospital, just last weekend, my littlest one-she is 1and a 1/2 was admitted and was on oxygen and a drip. 2 weeks ago, i had to take a whole week off. Not to mention the lack of sleep and exhaustion.

On thursday, I could not find one of the patient's cards-mind you, I'm not the only dental nurse there, and inspite of searching for it for 2 days, I could not find it. I was given an oral warning, with my dentist saying "this is sh*t", "you people just sit on your a*ses" "wtf" etc. You get the picture. And he told me not to go home until i find that "bloody" card and that he would take half a day of wages from everyone. I'm supposed to finish at 6pm, but stayed until 7 trying to look in every single drawer (we have over 24000 cards with ref numbers). I did disinfect the whole surgery, but forgot to empty the clinical bins-a few pairs of gloves, a cup and paper. I'll be very honest, I completely forgot-I was in tears. going crazy about the card. It is my fault, i know. But I have never ever forgotten before.

On saturday, he came in, he found out that his bins had not been emptied (I didnt work on friday) and gave me a second oral warning, threatening to not give me my wages (we usually get paid on the 15th, but we'll have our cheques on monday, mind you), and threatening to sack me on the spot if i do it again, that I am irresponsible. He told me I wasn't doing him any favour etc. On saturdays we finish at 1pm, but he told me to wait for this patient to come collect something and not to dare claim for overtime.

Yes, those were my mistakes.

Now, i'll tell you. He shouts at all the staff, uses expletives most of the time, he even threw a loaded syringe at one of the other nurses, our stock and cards are kept in the basement which has a damp/flooding issue. He doesn't let us use enough tissue to disinfect after every patient, he shouts at us if we disinfect our impressions-he just rinses it with water and puts it in a bag. He shouts at us if we change the bib-if it's not visibly contaminated, he holds the cards with saliva/blood contaminated gloves and we have to pass it to the receptionist, we have to write a record of what he does, and it's the receptionist who does his DTCs and claims. I feel so ashamed that I work with him. He is the owner of a 6 surgery-practice. My other dentists are so not like that and observe all infection control procedures and do their own work. And we have been ordered not to order anything this month-and we're running out of suction tips.

I am the lead nurse and have been there for only 6 months. I know my job but this is out of order.