Worst Job Ive Ever Had!

Ok this is my second venting post about this job in 2 months but I have honestly had it! We have way to many patients and managment doesn't seem to be concerned..we've had nurses leaving and noone in to replace them. Sometimes on days we have up to 11 patients on med/surg. I want to quit so bad but Im waiting to go to a couple of interviews I have scheduled. I can't quit without having another job but I am so miserable right now I almost dont care! I have actually thought about not going back but ofcourse than I would get a terrible reference and it would also screw everyone else over so don't want to do that either!! I am try to maintain a positive attitude but its so hard! When I go in tomorrow Im thinking about giving my 2 weeks notice even though I dont want to stay another 2 weeks!! Anyone have any advice. Do you get a bad reference if you dont give 2 weeks?? Ive always given atleast a 2 weeks notice but I cant take this place anymore!!

Not giving a proper notice can result in a bad reference. What state are you in? Depending on your state's board of nursing, you can request "Safe Harbor." This is not refusing to take patients, but protects your license when you are being asked to accept an assignment you consider to be unsafe. You need to contact your State's board of nursing to see if they have such a law, but if they do, and you ask your employer for a Safe Harbor form, they are required to provide it. Then, if anything adverse happens as a result of the unsafe assignment, the liability falls onto the hospital, and your license is protected. Often times, just asking for a Safe Harbor form is enough to get administration to do something about their staffing- Hospital administrators don't want the state board in their business anymore than they have to. As an example, you can find more about Texas' Safe Harbor laws here: Request For Safe Harbor Peer Review

Give a 2 week notice! You need to get out of there. Your license is at risk and your health. Regarding references, besides the nurse manager giving you 1 also ask a coworker you like for one.
I quit a travel assignment because they wanted me to take 11 patients on med surg tele. I refused the assignmnet and QUIT, I knew this was very unsafe and I knew that NO ONE would back me if there was a problem.

msrn wrote:Ok this is my second venting post about this job in 2 months but I have honestly had it! We have way to many patients and managment doesn't seem to be concerned..we've had nurses leaving and noone in to replace them. Sometimes on days we have up to 11 patients on med/surg. I want to quit so bad but Im waiting to go to a couple of interviews I have scheduled. I can't quit without having another job but I am so miserable right now I almost dont care! I have actually thought about not going back but ofcourse than I would get a terrible reference and it would also screw everyone else over so don't want to do that either!! I am try to maintain a positive attitude but its so hard! When I go in tomorrow Im thinking about giving my 2 weeks notice even though I dont want to stay another 2 weeks!! Anyone have any advice. Do you get a bad reference if you dont give 2 weeks?? Ive always given atleast a 2 weeks notice but I cant take this place anymore!!

Not a good situation at all. I've been there before and feel your pain but if you need this reference, don't leave without that two week notice. Not that it offers that much comfort but go to work well rested, be very careful and try to look foreward to better days ahead.

Good luck,

R

Well I still haven't given my notice :( Looking for other jobs, situation is still not good but Im basically stuck until I find something else so I'm trying to have a positive attitude when I go in..although thats hard at times when you're given your assignment like, "here ya go, here's your 10 patients for the day!" I had a job interview but it was cancelled because office manager said she had to work the desk at the office because someone called in and than she was going on vacation next day and would call when she got back..well she never called so I called today and she says, oh well we are still sifting through resumes and Im just not back at the point to reschedule your interview..huh??? Very unprofessional but hey wouldn't want to work in that office anyway! When she called to set up the interview with me she went on and on about my resume and all my experience and now she is acting different..think they found someone else :) thats exactly what I thought when she cancelled with me. Im sure there is something else out there that I will love..until than Im just going to focus on taking care of my patients the best I can and hopefully things will improve! Thanks everyone for your input. Dont mean to sound so cynical and moody but sometimes its nice to vent to those who you know will completely understand! :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!

The job market is a bit tight lately: many people applying for one or two job listings. What happened at that interview was a little stinky.

Just to be curious, have you looked at any of the job listings on the site here?

Well that's good you have a plan. Can you work on another unit in this hospital just to get off this unit?
I feel for you, 10 patients, wow!
I hope you find a new job soon.

I have looked at some of the job postings on here but haven't really seen anything that catches my eye :) Well as far as working on another unit in this hospital its only ICU, ER, or Labor and Delivery because we are the only Med Surg unit since its such a small hospital. I dont want to do ER or ICU at this time..would love L&D but there are no job openings so I feel stuck. I'm still looking everyday on the internet for jobs but in my region there arent many jobs to chose from at this time. I'm sure the right thing will come along! Thanks everyone for your input!

After reading worst job i felt compelled to share my story very briefly. I worked at a small county hospital in kenedy texas which was way beyond dysfunctional. In short the last straw that got me fired was a patient family complaint that i "knocked on the door too loud, talked too loud, turned on the light to give medication". I worked nites!!!! And in texas employers are legally allowed to treat employees as so much replaceable trash!!! :) have a nice day!

czecher1 wrote:After reading worst job i felt compelled to share my story very briefly. I worked at a small county hospital in kenedy texas which was way beyond dysfunctional. In short the last straw that got me fired was a patient family complaint that i "knocked on the door too loud, talked too loud, turned on the light to give medication". I worked nites!!!! And in texas employers are legally allowed to treat employees as so much replaceable trash!!! :) have a nice day!

Knocking on the door too loud? WTF? You gotta be kidding! If you DIDN'T knowck on the door, would they have bellyached then, too?

What does knocking too loud or talking too loud have to do with NURSING CARE? I too was reported by a young PUNK because I knocked on the pt.s door and woke the pt.( day shift) She had IV meds due AND the PUNK BOYFRIEND said, she needs her sleep and reported me.
But nothing came of it. THe nurse manager just mentioned it and rolled her eyes.

czecher1 wrote:After reading worst job i felt compelled to share my story very briefly. I worked at a small county hospital in kenedy texas which was way beyond dysfunctional. In short the last straw that got me fired was a patient family complaint that i "knocked on the door too loud, talked too loud, turned on the light to give medication". I worked nites!!!! And in texas employers are legally allowed to treat employees as so much replaceable trash!!! :) have a nice day!

Hey Czecher,

Wow! Brief and to the point. So, what are you doing now?

Absolutely nothing! Thinking of another career or my own business even if it's selling hot dogs on the beach!!! At age 57 no less! It's difficult fighting depression without medical insurance! I'M NOT AN INCOMPETENT NURSE JUST STAYED AT DYSFUNCTIONAL HOSPITAL 3 YRS TOO LONGG!!!!

czecher1 wrote:Absolutely nothing! Thinking of another career or my own business even if it's selling hot dogs on the beach!!! At age 57 no less! It's difficult fighting depression without medical insurance! I'M NOT AN INCOMPETENT NURSE JUST STAYED AT DYSFUNCTIONAL HOSPITAL 3 YRS TOO LONGG!!!!

It appears that you've quit the nursing profession because of a lousy job, not because you were dissatisfied with the work. Why? Sell hot dogs on the beach if you need a break but don't give up on something that you worked hard for and really want.

Good luck,

R

I feel your pain! I have also decided to leave the profession and become a Vet Tech. I love animals and thats what I was going to do in the first place. I do have a crappy job but it's the same old thing everywhere you go and I cant do it anymore!!! In TN they dont pay you crap anyway so I figured if Im going to get paid a crappy wage why not do something that I love right? Being a nurse had its perks but Im through doing a thankless jog day in and day out. I commend all of those who are staying in it but its just not for me anymore. After 9 yrs I am burned out and have lost every bit of passion to be a nurse :(

Hey MSRN,
Sorry about that awful hospital job. Too bad you did not have a chance to work at a well organized facility. Anyway, good luck, I'm sure you will be happier.

Thank you! I know I will be happier :)

Way to GO msrn ^5 - I am supportive and understanding. Keep us updated.

Hello everybody! I dont know if I am posting this correctly! I am tech starved!!! I am the RN in Kenedy Tx who was fired over knocking on door too loud, etc, etc.( at the local county hospital ). I am still not working and have slipped into further despair and depression. Last week I had a job lined up in home health in San Antonio and it was rescinded when I called back to check with the newly hired DON if the owners would agree on health insurance coverage waiving the customary probationary period.
The excuse was that I'd been out of home health for too long---3 years. now isn't that a crock. Whatever happened to professional treatment of nurses, integrity and character of health care companies?
I am so disgusted I will name the culprit agency here. It is doing business as Texas Healthcare Solutions. The sign on the door was San Antonio Home Health Care so apparently they were purchased at some point by THS, though no one seemed to know anything about it. They are associated or are owned by a company in East Texas by this name: Texas Medical Enterprises, Inc.
Anybody have any ideas or valid suggestions?

Hey Czech,

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. It sounds like the county hospital job is one you're better off without, if only you had a replacement. Not sure what to make of the homecare job either but that sounds problematic, too. The best thing you can do is pepper all potential workplaces with resumes and to keep busy for the sake of your morale. Follow up resumes with phone calls and notes. If there are openings, go in person and hand deliver the resume to the hiring manager- get in that door. Now's a good time to think about traveling if you're in a position to do that. Keep us posted.

Good luck.

R

Being out of home health for three years is not a valid reason to not hire you when some agencies will hire a new grad or someone with less than a year experience to work in home health. They found out something that they thought was unsavory and don't have the backbone to tell you that is the reason they don't want you. Hang in there. You can not be blacklisted forever. At some point someone will hire you. You just have to figure out how to survive in the meantime.

Amen! I have a tell or three myself.

Moreover, Managing is not the problem..It is the people in positions. There are still ways to handle problems and manage people without being ridiculous. Some, actually, are around.

suebird3 wrote:Oh, I can tell you a few stories about rotten places. Things that would really not surprise people. Management going from ridiculous to absolute 'something else'....

Well here's a crazy update for this old RN fired for knocking on the patient's door too loud at Otto Kaiser Mem Hospital in Kenedy Tx. I went to work for Legacy Home Health in Corpus Christi in early August. I felt from the start it was dysfuntional. And man was I right. I was hired as P/T and promised I would be F/T, then told I was F/T only to be told otherwise the next day or two. Then made F/T early Sept. So I find there is no clinical coordinator for the field nurses and RN case mgrs. And an absolutely screwed up orientation/training system; barely could call it training. Too many interruptions and texting/calls to trainer who has a high position and should not in any capacity have this assignment. They use Allscripps in their system and it is totally cumbersome and in some areas I'd say incompetent. It is not nurse friendly!!!
So among all the crazy crap I had shoved at me (as well as the other nurses) I had no choice but to quit after 4 weeks there. The RNs are working 12-14 hour days! The DON spoke to me in a condescending way multiple times and in prescence of my colleages. DON also wanted me to discard a client's PT/INR sample and see the last two people on my schedule. It turned out with my resignation. I did not see the other 2 due to inclement weather and I delivered blood to lab. The pt result: 7.1!!! I believe correctly so that one does not discard a blood sample such as a PT/INR and then send another nurse out to stick the patient again the next day. Competant staff do not perform any more invasive procedures than necessary on a patient.
Now, I have a huge question! What in the hell has happened to our American companies? Have the owners/CEOs/management lost their cottonpickin' minds!!!??

I've never worked homecare, but have heard that it is not for the faint of heart and now, yet another testimony. Czech, I think companies will get away with whatever they can, especially if it saves a buck. Sad. You can feel good about advocating for your patient with an INR of >7 because maybe he wouldn't have been around for a draw the next day. So, cross this job off your list, what are you doing now?

R

Czecher, one HHC I know of has a handy device that their staff uses for HH PT's. Too bad these morons never heard of it.

I don't blame you for leaving. How are you doing now?