I've been an RN for 5 years, and I've worked Private Duty through an agency for 3. The agency pays badly, but otherwise treats the nurses very well. Lately, things have been getting strained. My office has a new director, our expensive health insurance got even more expensive (I pay $800/month for 2 people), and overtime was eliminated in July. My hours were repeatedly cut, to the point where I worked 10.5 hours one week.
I was called to the office for a meeting last week. Apparently, one client's mother wants me off the case because I was late (3 or 4 times, but fair enough), I wasn't diapering her daughter correctly, and I don't interact enough with her daughter. The daughter is 16, with a mental age of about 18 months. I'd worked with the daughter before, when she was in foster care, but she'd been living with Mom for about 3 months. Mom and her live-in girlfriend aren't getting along, and I do my best to stay out of their way.
What infuriates me is that Mom never said a word to me about her concerns, even though I've been working in her home for 3 months. She waited until my boss stopped by for a supervisory visit, and told her. I had no idea she was so unhappy until the meeting. If Mom was so unhappy with her daughter's care, why not tell me?
I'm still on the case until they find a new nurse, however long that takes. I've also picked up a new client. Not only is it a 90-minute drive one way, it's a peds case. I've had 2 peds cases not work out this year, so I'm not optimistic about this one. I'm also not very good at walking up at 5am. I've been looking for a new job (I even had an interview last week), but I'm also pregnant (due in April), so I'm not really in a position to start a new job. My other options are the hospital (which wants BSNs), the VNA (which also wants BSNs), and LTC (which I am NEVER doing again).
If I'd known 5 years ago that things would turn out this way, I would've put my license in a drawer and let it expire.
