My job and my pension going down the drain

[patsue53]

I am so disappointed and frustrated. I am a certified gastroenterology RN who works in the endo lab of a large hospital. We have a 4 year old state of the art facility that was built to our doc's specifications. I love my job. I thought I'd found the specialty and the job that I would stay in until I retire.

Now it seems that the GI physicians group that brings in most of our business is going to open their own free-standing endo clinic. The hospital is in 50% partnership with them which means they'll put up a great deal of the funding and the group won't have to obtain a certificate of need from the state because they'll be affiliated with the hospital. We were told that 80% of our business will go to the new clinic. We were also told that they would obviously be looking to our staff to hire on at their clinic, that the hospital endo staff would be cut drastically and those cuts would be made according to hospital seniority. Endo seniority and GI certification would not enter into the mix. The nurses at the clinic would be employees of the physicians group, not the hospital. So if we go there we lose our hospital seniority and start from scratch on our pension. It takes 5 years to be vested. I'm 49 years old...I really don't have time to start all over with my pension plan. We were told that we would be given the option of "bumping" within our cluster. I fall right in the middle of the seniority list.

I havn't worked the floor for over 5 years. I love what I do. I can sit on my butt and wait for the next year and see what comes out in the wash, or I can look for a new job and start all over getting vested into another facility's retirement plan. I'm just sick about this. I feel like the hospital has sold us out. If I stick it out and am able to retain my position in endo I'll be working tons of call. If I move on to the doc's clinic I am afraid I'll be working in an assembly line atmosphere for less money and starting over from scratch.

THIS REALLY STINKS!

Thanks for letting me vent. I guess I'll just have to take the attitude that whatever happens is what's meant to be.

[patsue53]

Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragment and support. You're all great!

Thanks too for the ideas. My hospital no longer allows PRN employees to maintain their seniority....that was done away with a few years back, but I could possibly maintain a part-time position in the endo lab.

Flowerchild, you gave me alot to think about. My concerns about working in an assembly line environment stem from knowing the docs that I'll be working for. They complain if they see a couple of nurses sitting at the nurses' station during a lull in the activity and it's only through our manager's sticking up for us that keeps them from running the show at the hospital. They can be very difficult, moody, and sometimes downright nasty. But on a good day they can be fun to work with. They're all good physicians and know their stuff, but it worries me to have them in charge of my paycheck. But then again isn't it always that way? I guess we always have to take the bad with the good. I guess I need to reevaluate how I'd feel about working for them. Some of the more specialized skills that I've attained will stay with the hospital because they have the equipment and it's sad to think I'll be giving up those procedures.

I heard today that their retirement plan is actually better than the hospital's. I don't know if there's a waiting period before being vested. I guess I assumed everyone had the 5 year rule. It's good to hear that that's a negotiable issue. Ironically, I just recently signed up for the matched savings investment plan so there won't be much to roll over. It was the hospital provided pension plan that I was concerned with.

Working on the floor until I retire? AYIYIYIYIYIYI!!! My feet hurt just thinking about it.

Thanks for giving me a different point of view on this issue. I guess it doesn't look as bad as I'd painted it in my mind.

(((((Big Hugs)))) to all of you.