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?

[Wet Noodle]

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......

Not only that, but one of Obama's campaign promises was to reform healthcare. He won by a mandate-worthy margin. People who say the President is violating the will of the voters who elected him are barking up the wrong tree.

There are a lot of people who oppose the ACA because it doesn't go far enough, not because they're afraid of communists under their beds.

Anyone who thinks the U.S. healthcare system is (or has been in recent history) exemplary has no knowledge of how it's done elsewhere.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

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 getpaid 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 youchoose 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/hersoldiers 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 theirown 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 anurse 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

Being a "good" nurse does not mean you necessarily have to throw yourself on the sword and risk your job. Did your speaking out and subsequent firing change anything? Did it result in better patient care at that facility? Did it have any positive result whatsoever? I work with crazy ratios, too. 1:49 sometimes. If I get fired for constant complaining or quit in protest, it's not like anything will change. The facility will still be there. The residents will still need nursing care. It will still be understaffed. Sometimes the most noble thing to do is to do the best you can with the resources you have. If you're holding out for the perfect facility where you can provide the kind of care we learned in nursing school..... well be ready for a long wait.

[Guest343211]

With all due respect, it doesn't sound like slavery to me. It sounds more like a linear transaction between two freely consenting entities (employer and employee).

Employees who dislike their jobs are free to resign at any time and for any reason; likewise, the entities that employ us are free to terminate our employment at any time and for any reason. Slavery would likely involve a master who sends the dogs/posse after their unpaid human chattels who escape from the cotton field, and this simply would not happen in this day and age.

Yes, but it could be viewed as a kind of wage slavery.

I don't know all the gory details, so I cannot say the OP's judgment was wrong necessarily. A person has to live and die by their conscience, and nurses especially have to keep this in mind. What is safe and ethical MUST matter.

It just requires some critical thinking on the nurse's part. If I do this, what may happen? Am I prepared to live with the consequences? While many may not not want to live with the consequences, I applaud those that will for the sake of the patients, safety, ethics, and just plain ole doing what is right. Integrity matters. The 'stand,' however, has little impact for change very often when one is on probation. Of course that could continue even after probation.

There's a lot of unfairness in this world. Nurses have an advantage over other fields, in that once they get solid experience, they can hook themselves up with per diem or secondary jobs. If any nurse does this, he or she is looking out for his/her practice and the potential to mitigate losses and limit the control one facility or employment group may have over them.

I'm not one to play political games or manipulate people or situations. That has put me at a bit of a loss within certain work-group dynamics. I am also not likely to subtly kiss up or hang with cliques or form factions within groups. I prefer working toward coalition development. But this can be tough within certain groups. I am very sociable and can be personable, but I just don't stomach political games very well. I have this almost anaphylactic type of aversion to political gaming among groups in the workplace. My experience is that those that like the game or are good at playing it go further--at least for a while--until, at last, Karma or reciprocity limits them or tries to teach them a sound lesson.

In the future, try to keep the locus of control for your professional well-being in your own hands as much as possible. If you known you must make a stand, be prepared in advance; b/c there is usually fall-out.

The numbers were against you. You still could stand your ground, but in a different way. Make sure you have an exit strategy or escape route--meaning another position or an agency or per diem job.

If you see that you will probably need to jump ship, make sure you have a lifeboat.

If you know that you spoke out for what is right, think strategy. How could you have done this differently--in a way that may have helped everyone? Maybe there was another way, and maybe there wasn't. The situation, as bad as it sounds, may not have been your fault, but as far as you working there--b/c you agreed to do so--in as much as that affects your life, it became your problem.

After it's all said and done, listen, you will be able to find another nursing position. It may take some time, but spin the thing in the positive as much as possible. For me, I wouldn't want to keep working in a house of horrors and work with those that don't care about safety and ethics.

To some degree, the truth is, nurses are wage slaves. The good news is that after you get some experience, you can get a back-up position somewhere. Yes, it's extra time you have to schedule with another employer, but it's valuable insurance.

[tiltgirl]

Send me a private msg....but is this place in los feliz????

[alodocios]

i am a new nurse looking for her first position and the three fields i won't even apply to are psych, ed and peds. I know as a newbie i have way too much to learn. As i am having a hard job search i have decided to take a non nursing job while i continue my hunt so as not to feel like i have to take a position that i am not ready for. I know i have been tempted to apply to positions but i have had to check myself and say, "do you think you are ready for that?" If the answer was no, then I didn't apply. I know there will be so much to take in that having to learn in a hectic environment would be detrimental to my learning curve.

OP my heart goes out to you because no one tells the new nurse, " don't advocate," until it is too late. Remember all you experienced guys and dolls,don't eat the young, all we know is what we were taught in school and if we weren't taught real world then we don't know real world until we get hit by real world. Unfortunately for OP and fortunately for me, I have learned a lesson from this thread: the squeaky probationary nurse gets fired and then treated like a dummy for not knowing what she was not taught.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

My probation period is 1 year. You better believe I am not ruffling feathers before that's over.

[joshsmother]

I am a PCT so I have lots to learn but what I can offer is this. Working 8 days in a row is not illegal or unethical by any means! I worked in property management and would do a 10 day stretch with no OT because of the way the schedule feel. I was never spoken to about this because we were staffed according to needs of the community for that time. Secondly...it is wise in ANY profession to lay low for a while. I do not mean to compromise patient safety. What I do mean is to address things is a tactful manner. I hope things work out for you. Sounds like you should chalk this up to experience and move on. Good Luck!

[evolvingrn, BSN, RN]

alodocios,

I don't think this is a nursing thing........but a job thing. I work for a great place, but people can and do get fired during that probationary time. the same thing happens with teachers and other professions. if this is her first job my heart goes out to them, but my concern is they don't seem to be self-reflective of how to 'play' this for the next time this situation arises.

I don't know the OP job situation , it may very well be unsafe........ but when i was in my first 6 months of my current job i felt the same way, i felt it was insane what they were 'asking' of me. but now that i have been doing this job for awhile.......well i feel like i have a pretty cushy job....... sometimes our perspective as a new employee is clouded by us still learning the role. Learning that comes with time and I feel for them that they don't get a second chance when they worked so hard to get a job. unfortunately your most at risk of getting fired that last month before you go off probation. because employers know this is their last chance to jump ship, and that is the absolute last time you want to stick out in this way. best wishes.

[alodocios]

My probation period is 1 year. You better believe I am not ruffling feathers before that's over.

Good Lord! A year? I wish you all the best.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

One thing I'd like to point out is that I'm sure many (if not *all*) the experienced nurses the OP worked with warned her the consequences of rocking the boat and getting in over her head. Don't fall into the newbie trap of thinking "they're just grumpy and mean". Wise advice that is well-intentioned and freely given is a valuable thing.

[alodocios]

all good to know. Like i said, i am learning a lot from this thread that i will take with me into my first job.

[alodocios]

all good to know. Like i said, i am learning a lot from this thread that i will take with me into my first job.

This situation and all the advice makes me think of a saying my mom had, " We have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth so that we can look and listen twice as much as we speak."

I think i will now have the hang of this probation/work thing.