Money isnt everything. Ready to quit SNF as RN Supervisor

Published Jun 7, 2014

133 Posts

Boy oh boy. Where do I even begin? I am currently working noc shift in a skilled nursing center and have reached my breaking point. However, I was hired and orientated to be the regular RN on the floor in the sub acute unit approximately 2 months ago. After orientation (which was only about 5 total days of watching the other nurses use their own method of passing meds in order to utilize and save their time), I was thrown onto the floor by myself to be a 'med passer'. Thankfully, I had already had experience as an LVN - Charge Nurse for almost 4 years in a SNF doing the exact same thing as a 'med passer'. This time, I'd be making $34.50/hr as an RN doing the same. For the 2 weeks that I was on the floor, I was extremly comfortable. Although the charting was way to much ( and not electronic might I add), I sorta enjoyed it.

On my off day 2 weeks later, my DON calls me and says, "I'm switching your schedule to Noc shift x 5 nights/week. Come in tonight so that you can start orientation on the SNF side as the RN Supervisor". I thought to myself, "That's extremely odd. But I've always wanted to be in the supervisor mode. I'll go in an see what it's like since I'll be orientating. If it doesn't work out, then I can decline the responsibility". As I report to duty that night, I immediately checked the staffing schedule for that evening and noticed that my name was listed as the RN Supervisor that evening. I was looking for the previous supervisor to seek clarification as to who was the supervisor, because it definitley wasn't me. Boy was I wrong. A CNA on shift was the one to drop the bomb on me stating that "THIS IS THE WAY WE DO THINGS AROUND HERE. YOUR ORIENTATION IS YOU GOING TO SCHOOL AND GETTING YOUR LICENSE. YOU ARE THE THIRD SNF SUPERVISOR THIS YEAR". I wanted to run out of the door and never look back. However, I was so worried about, "patient abandonent" that I decided to stay the shift. And my so called orientation consisted of an LVN telling what PRN meds were 'routinely' given to patients who were problematic in their behavior. I didn't get a report on who was on IV meds and even had a patient miss a dose of his medication that night. I spent all night passing medication and noticed several errors in the MAR. That morning, I didnt leave work until close to 11 am because I needed medical records to be aware of such errors and to correct them immediatley. The errors were corrected, however, when the MAR was recapped for the month of June, the same mistakes repeated themselves. I find myself burned out and just completley scared for my license. SNF is not the place I imagined myself and I dont understand how this place is still operating. I ready to quit without putting in a 2 weeks notice.

My DON is not the kindest woman and seems to scream at any chance she gets. She also seems to thrive from saying, "Nobody's job is guaranteed. I will fire you!". Ugh.