Hostile work environment

[cometothecradle]

I recently left a job, the reason was because of a hostile work enviroment, would it be a bad idea to put that on a job application for the "reason for leaving"

[Rustyhammer]

Usually they need a nurse so bad the interview goes like this:

When can you start?

-R

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

Couldn't you turn it around (ie: I prefer working in a more supportive or positive work environment)?

[live4today, RN]

Quote

Originally posted by Chaya

Couldn't you turn it around (ie: I prefer working in a more supportive or positive work environment)?

I like this response. I would also add that I prefer to work in an environment that encourages autonomy in their nursing staff, and one that offers professional respect to the nurses they hire.

I would like an environment that appreciates positive change to the "challenging issues" that need addressing rather than work in an environment that would rather pretend the dirt under the carpet isn't really there.

I would NOT want to work where "taking an Assertive stand" is viewed as "Aggression and Hostility".

I would want to work where the nurse managers and nursing admin back up their nursing staff until proven not to be trustworthy.

I could go on...but I think most of you get my drift.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Expanding your horizons works well. I agree, be REALLYYYYY careful about negatives regarding prior employers. Don't burn bridges and you do not want to be judged as a malcontent right off the bat. Be CREATIVE. THAT Is what we nurses are known for!

[live4today, RN]

Also, don't lie during your interview or it will surely come back to bite you. Telling an employer what they want to hear isn't always the best route to take. When I interview for a job, I present my trueself as there is NO other ME to present. If they hire me, then I know they too cherish integrity and honesty. If they don't then we've both saved each other time and dollars.

[SmilingBluEyes]

You don't have to LIE but IF THEY SPECIFICALLY ASK YOU BEYOND THE GENERAL QUESTION, you DON'T HAVE TO GET TOO NEGATIVE. THAT kind of honesty is NOT always so well appreciated by employers. I guess it's up to the person doing the interview and the interviewee as to what is appropriate. It may be something to discuss if the interview goes that way.....maybe not.

[st4wb3rr33sh0rtc4k3]

I haven't mentioned it before, and now it happened again. Managers didn't want to do anything about it. They basically said, I was being a baby. So I left.

Thanks for the tips on what to do and not to do.

[RunAwayNurse]

Reading the threads related to a hostile working environment has made me realize that my entire nursing career has been just that. I have been an LPN since 2003 in the state of Mississippi and out of all the jobs I have had, my ability to hang on ranges from 1 week to 1 year and it seems that each job was just as bad as the previous one. The job I lasted a year on, was my first job and was at a hospital, and this job started off pretty good and rapidly turned into chaos but I hung on along with my IBS and increasing depression on this job. When I finally decided to leave, I had done so much damage to myself by staying as long as I did, that I did not go back to work for 6 months and even after that, I had been burned so badly, that I would go out and apply for jobs, get hired and then at the last minute, usually a few days before I was to begin the job, panic would set in and I would end up calling the facility to apologize for the inconveinence but that I would not be able to accept the position at this time. I promised myself that I would never stay in a job that was not healthy for me. I have just about worked everywhere, some places twice, because they made me believe that conditions had gotten better but then I would find out otherwise and end up leaving again. Do not get me wrong, I'm a very hard worker and I rarely would miss a day from work and I worked extra sometimes when asked but I am just so tired of working way pass my ability, only to be asked to do more and more with no appreciation other than that, that I would receive from my patients, which was the only appreciation that I needed to hang on as long as I could. This is not what I expected nursing to be, I do not mind hard work, but when I feel that my body just can't take anymore, I will let a job go in a minute. More and more facilities make it so difficult for us to do our jobs and my main reason for becoming a nurse was to help people and hopefully make a difference in someones life but even that has become hard to do. I just recently left a job after being there only a week and a half, this job was the worst of them all and a majority of the nurses are written up an average 2 times a week over nonsense and some had been written up and didn't even know it until they happened to have looked in their files. One nurse was written up because a resident was itching, this resident had an order for benadryl but refused to take it and asked to be taken to the hospital instead, all vital signs were good, no s/s of distress was noted. Could you imagine calling the doctor with this information? you would probably had been cursed out and hung up on. The charge nurse wrote this nurse up, stating that she did not need a doctors order to send that patient out and that she should have just sent them out. That write up was later removed from the nurses file because a doctors order would have been needed in order to send that patient out under the circumstances. This was just one of many rediculous things that took place in this facility. At this time, I'm currently unemployed and have just about ran out of places to work, as my name implies, lol and my options are decreasing more than rapidly so my career in nursing looks to be coming to an end, lol. I have actually thought about getting a regular job, making less money for less stress, outside of nursing. Lord knows I have really tried but I guess providing safe, quality patient care is just about a thing of the past and now it has become all about money. If things don't get any better, nurses are going to become more and more burned out and leave the profession and the patients are going to be the ones to suffer and then maybe, some of the people running these facilities, will have to roll up their sleeves and do the work that they chose to turn a blind eye to before and then they will know just how hard this work really is. I have applied at two facilities this week, one at a nursing home and the other at a clinic, hopefully, someone will call, if not, look out Wal-mart, here I come, lol.