Fired for expressing concerns about patient safety and care!

[hkrntobe]

I need help please. Just not sure what to do now. Getting right to the particulars.

I was working in a So Cal Hospital in a Psychiatric unit. I was assigned a set schedule.

1) I was suddenly assigned to work 8 days straight Wed - Wed (8 hour shifts / this schedule would also mean that I would be working overtime without getting paid for it.) I consulted my union rep. and at her advise requested my set schedule back.

2) After numerous AWOL's and patients attacking each other, I expressed concerns on patient care and patient safety when probed by my manager. Within 4 business days of these two incidence I was called in the office and told "You are not a good fit." "You did not pass probation."

3) Come to find out that there are people have expected for some time that the Union was in-bed with administration. The union rep stalled for almost two weeks before telling me that my start date was my hire date.....regardless of the date I had on the paperwork from HR stated. I have never received a complaint from anybody for any reason. After bringing to HR's attention that 90 calendar days from the "date of hire" had passed, HR stated they would get back to me after hearing the managers side of the story.

After several days I am advised that my date of hire was not until my first day I hit the floor. They refuse to address the ethical issues or the fact that I have signed paperwork from HR which clearly states my date of hire as documented by the hiring HR representative.

I was Fired because I was a good nurse and attempted to prevent further issues with patient safety. I was fired because I questioned why I was working 8 days straight. I was fired NOT because I was a poor nurse or because I lacked critical thinking skills, but because I was not a Quiet Nurse.

I am just floored! I have a child to take care of and feel that he is now suffering for my decision to do the right thing. Should I really have to sacrifice patient care and POTENTIALLY MY LICENSE in order to provide for my child? Advice would be appreciated please. What are my options from here?

[Guest219794]

I need help please. Just not sure what to do now. Getting right to the particulars.

Should I really have to sacrifice patent care and POTENTIALLY MY LICENSE in order to provide for my child? Advice would be appreciated please. What are my options from here?

To reinforce what some others have mentioned:

The schedule they gave you is pretty lousy for many people. But- it's not overtime. Some of us really like blocking our shifts to get more continous time off. Sounds crappy for a mom, but works well for me.

You are new, and don't have much perspective on safety standards. You may well be 100 per cent correct on your assesment. Don't expect your managers to think you know better than the experienced nurses running the place. Even if you do.

Sounds like an unsafe environment. Do you really want to work there?

It is unsafe. I have worked many jobs that most would consider high risk. Construction, climbing towers, leading expeditions in crocodile and hippo infested water to name a few. The environment in which I have felt most at risk was during a 6 week rotaion in a state psych hospital.

Probation is a period in which the hospital and the nurse figture out if they are a good match. They thought you were a bad match, and it sounds like you agree.

To your question about options:

Option 1:

Hold out for a job that:

Takes you your needs into account in scheduling.

Meets your safety standards.

Values the opinion of a brand new, inexperienced nurse.

Option 2:

Take a job that appears reasonable.

Be as flexible and accomodating as possible regarding scheduling, especially during probation.

If you have concerns about safety, watch how the more experienced urses deal with it.

If you believe changes should be made, wait until you have experience and credibility. Then offer realistic solutions.

Option 3:

Take any job you can, and do your best to keep it in order to best provide for your kid.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

Sounds like the world of nursing, for sure. Sorry that happened to you. I think I learned later in my career that you need to lay low at most jobs. Squeaky wheels never get oiled in this profession....quite the opposite.

Good luck!

[OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN]

Your child should (if old enough) be very proud of you. You stood up for yourself and your patients. Unfortunately, it came with a price. I have been in your shoes. I have voiced my complaints, contacted the BON, obudsman, and etc. to do what was right for the patients, and I landed a target on my back and had to quit.

This is the unfortunate part about nursing. We have two choices: To keep our mouths shut and fly under the radar to keep a job or to be proactive, raise concern/awarness and get fired or be forced to quit.

Commuter is unfortunately right. You have to determine what is most important to you. To have a job but fly under the radar or to be a great nurse who truly cares and be fired. Rarely there is an inbetween.

I am terribly sorry this happened to you. I pray that you will be able to find a job where you don't have to choose between doing what is right and being fired.

[gardyloo]

I've been fired more times than I care to admit. Not from nursing (I'm a student). Looks like the way the world works is the same in every place. I was the same way. A person who is not quiet. People don't like it. It doesn't matter if you are right. It isn't fair and it isn't ideal, but unfortunately, it is the reality. Reality bites and it is a hard pill to swallow. Be quiet, put your head down, and if you don't like it, look for another place to work. I'm glad you posted this because it reminds me how I have to change to fit in to save my own ass.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Oh no!! We can't criticize Dear Leader!! Off with your head! I will remind you that Obamacare was passed against the will of the people and will destroy the quality of our health care system.

Umm, it was drafted, voted and passed by a president, a house of representatives and the senate. All of whom were ELECTED by the people. And it was upheld by supreme court judges. All of whom are appointed by an ELECTED president(s). How is this "against the will" of the people? We can't feasibly have a national election to determine each new law. That is why we have a legislature. That is why we are a republic. We elect representatives to vote for/against new laws......

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

As for the subject at hand, yes sometimes one DOES have to just keep their mouth shut and go with the flow. That's how the real world works. Obviously there is a line where one has to speak up, but you have to pick your battles. The OP was very vague about *what* exactly she was speaking up about. Working in LTC, it's obvious to anyone with a brain that the staffing ratios are less than safe. But you don't complain to management about it during probation. What's the point, other than to stir the pot and put yourself in management's crosshairs? Do you think they're going to have an epiphany and alter the way they've been doing things forever just because a new grad on orientation says something? Pick battles that you can win.

[tokebi]

The advice to "keep quiet" is not telling you to compromise your principles. Aside from the fact that you need to survive that probationary period, it's also buying time to get yourself familiar with how things are done in the organization so that you can bring an effective change. No general leads his army into an unknown. You've got to study your enemy first!

But seriously, I am so sorry you lost your job like that, OP.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

We need to remember what this thread is about. The OP lost their job for speaking out about unsafe conditions and what was to the OP an unreasonable schedule.

Lets please stick to the topic and leave the political discussions to the breakroom. Or the thread will be closed.

OP....I am sorry you are experiencing this. Unfortunately an employer can fire you during the probationary period. If the Union isn't supportive and the administration is this supportive is this a place you really want to work? Working 8 days in a row isn't necessarily against any labor laws as long as it doesn't exceed 80 hours in 2 weeks. It would also depend on the union contract....which you probably have no benefits from as most union facilities have a waiting period before the union contract "covers you".

I wish you the best.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

OP, in your first post you described the situation, and asked for advice, opinions, and what options you might have now.

When presented with the advice to keep your head down next time and the opinion that you probably got yourself branded as "trouble" because of how you were presenting problems, you disregarded it.

You specifically ask what you should do/shouldn't have done. You were given very valid advice from the real-world aspect of employee/employer relationships. Speaking out versus waiting for a more appropriate or beneficial time. However, you dismissed it because you prefer to speak up immediately instead. All that is fine, but you should remember that it was you who ASKED the questions in the first place.

My opinion? You seem to be very idealistic when it comes to nursing, which makes the finesse of handling being the new employee challenging at best. No one is telling you to compromise your values or standards but it seems your timing could use a little more polishing.

[hkrntobe]

Perhaps I should have allowed mistreatment and unsafe care to continue for a bit longer before trying to prevent another assault? It's not as though I expressed concerns they hadn't heard in fact, The RN's and LVN's attempted to gather the union reps for a meeting with HR. This was to discuss safety and ethics concurs. Fact of the matter is that I was NOT the only one who has expressed concerns or whom had been attacked. I don't know about anyone else but I certainly don't get paid enough for the privilege of going to work and being asulted. PERIOD! I have a child I have an obligation to come home to. Period! If you are a nurse whom chooses to take more patients than the State of CA deems is safe out of fear that you will be fired, (believing that management is going to protect you if something goes wrong) or conduct yourself in an unethical manner, then that is a decision you choose to make. I firmly believe in God and Karma. You get out of this world what you put in. While I did not look at going to work as if I was "going to war" I will say No GOOD General will ask his/her soldiers to do anything they wouldn't to themselves. ********* I would hope that every Nurse would practice in a manner that would be consistent with the care that he/she would want for their own Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Child ********* I seems as though there are those whom would label me as silly or bash me for that. Go right on ahead. One day someone you love will be in a hospital with a nurse whom has to choose between doing what he/she feels is the best Nursing care for your loved one or "keeping his/her mouth shut" to avoid getting caught in the cross hairs. Sad Really

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Exactly. There is a time and place for everything. And you should always think before you speak, and keep in mind that WHO you're speaking up to is important.

Remember:

If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,

Five things observe with care:

TO whom you speak

OF whom you speak

and WHEN and HOW and WHERE.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Fact of the matter is that I was NOT the only one who has expressed concerns

But I bet you were the only one on probation expressing the concerns.

Employer has a bunch of troublemakers. Employer gets rid of troublemakers they can get rid of. This surprises you?

You can argue with us that you were "right." Doesn't change the fact that you're unemployed.