ADVICE please.... Am I being treated unfairly?????
This is a long story but I will try to shorten it as much as possible while including the details needed.
I have worked at a home health company for almost nine years. Seven of those years ONLY as a CNA.The last couple years as a CNA and kinda a LPN. I love the company and love what they stand for. My goal was to be a RN there someday. I completed my LPN August 2014. Passed the PNCLEX. I was ecstatic! I immediately called the new DON who recently replaced the old DON who passed away. I left several messages for her but was never able to reach her. I finally got a hold of her and told her I passed the PNCLEX and if there were any visits I could do. She told me I needed a year experience. I was a bit disappointed but understood. I continued to work for the same home health company doing my same CNA visits while picking up LPN visits through various other companies. I was contacted by her in late February 2015 or early March 2015 (before the one year mark) asking if I could cover some PDN shifts for her that she couldn't find coverage for. This is their ONLY PDN case in the whole company. I picked up the shifts that needed coverage. Friday, Saturday and Sunday 5-10PM and still kept my CNA shifts with the company. I loved the family I was doing PDN shifts with.
During the next couple years I would email the DON and ask if she had any visits open that I could also pick up. She always responded no nothing is open. I would then be looking for nursing jobs online to make extra money and I would constantly see ads on indeed and craigslist advertising for a LPN/RN to do home health visits for this same company I was trying to get nursing visits at.
Throughout the year I was doing the PDN shifts Friday-Sunday 5-10PM shifts. My shifts constantly changed I was simply sent an email of updated nursing schedule for the family. In the end I ended up only having a Friday 5-10PM shift and was replaced by other nurses on the other nights. KEEP in mind I did call out only once and had a DR note because I had just had a medical procedure done. Ok....... I then had to have foot surgery I gave a 2 month notice had a dr note and orders for a 6 week recovery. After my recovery I contacted the DON she told me my shift had been permanently filled. I was very disappointed to say the least but i was understanding to the family that they had to get the shift filled.
Still seeing ads on craigslist and indeed for LPN/RN to do nursing visits I would reach out to her and still get the same reply that nothing was open. There was even I couple times I applied to the online application and never got a call.
I was once doing my CNA visit and ran into a new RN who was there giving my client his medication. We were talking and I told her i wanted to go back to school for my RN and I told her I was a LPN she was like why aren't you doing nursing for "blank company" I replied I want to but there are no openings for visits she said yes there is they just hired 2 new LPNs. I emailed the DON that night asking and she replied no there were no openings. I ran into the RN again and she said do you ask the DON i said yes she said there were no openings. She said you can have my weekend night visits I don't want them anymore. She said I will ask the DON if you can take them over for me. She constantly asked the DON and got no reply. Finally DON told her I could not take over her visits because I have not been checked off on med admin. I emailed DON and asked her if I could get checked off so I can take over the med admin visits. She responded that she had gave them to other LPNS.
June 2016: Still checking in with DON every few months and asking if any nursing visits opened up. She said there were no visits but she had Friday and Saturday PDN overnight visits 10pm-6am with the same family I use to have. I reluctantly accepted the position but knew at least it would be good experience and at least it was nursing work.
This past Tuesday I received a group email from DON saying a nurse had quit and they needed permeant coverage for 8 visits Saturday and 7 visits Sunday. I mediately replied that I would take all the visits. I was ecstatic! I knew most the names on there I was still there CNA and had them for the past 9 years. She emailed me back saying OK. I asked her if we could adjust the times of the visit a bit because I would be coming off an overnight we adjusted times accordingly and we both agreed to the new schedule. I was beyond happy. Two years later I finally got some visits! The next day I checked my work email and seen a email titled updated schedule she took me off 85% of the visits and replaced me with another LPN. I replied back saying I was upset that I was not informed of the decision to remove me from the visits. She replied that she thought about the fact that i had overnights the night before and she wants me to be able to sleep and it was a safety concern MIND YOU the updated schedule was 1000x worse for my sleep.
I get off my overnight at 6AM
30 min drive home.
I am supposed to be at a location X which is a 30 mins from house at 8AM
do visit drive 30 mins home and be back to be back at location X 30 min from my house at 12:30PM
drive the 30 mins home and sleep again then drive back to the 30 mins location at 3PM
Specializes in CNA 8 yrs LPN 6 geri, chemical dependency.
Why would you want to work for them? Home health work for LPNs is pretty similar as far as pay rate and skills you get to use ib the area I'm in, my apologies if yours is different. You deserve a lot more respect than you're getting from them. Put in your two weeks, better yet, don't, look for jobs now while still employed there. Did you happen to learn of places very happy to hire new nurses vs. not when school was over from instructors and fellow students? There are places out there that will mostly keep their promises, it just sounds like it's time to move on.
Omgggg why do you still work there??? I think everyone has pretty much covered it. I would have peaced out 2 years ago. Good luck with finishing you RN!
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
For some reason your DON doesn't value you as an LPN until she's desperate for one. Maybe she's really hard up for good CNAs and just wants to keep you there. But that's not in your best interests. She will keep taking advantage as long as you let her. See if your current patients will give you good references (if that is allowed) and take your work ethic and skills to an employer who appreciates them.
If you worked for us, we couldn't allow you to make intermittent visits until you either had a year's experience as an LPN or a waiver from the state. Your experience as a CNA would have no bearing.
Unless she is hiring brand new LPNs, that might be the reason.
Most home care places do not hire LPNS without a year of experience. I would have left as soon as I got my license and she told me there were no positions when clearly there were. Know your worth and don't settle for less. The longer you stay there, the more skills you are going to lose. She is giving you hint after hint that she doesn't want you to be a nurse there.
I don't think it may even be a matter of not liking you but of having someone willing to take what is given, so she took advantage...probably not personal...as you said, she doesn't really know you. People do take advantage....and even those of us in this field a long time fall for it sometimes.
this sounds like a horrible situation. I'm sorry but eff them. You're obviously a very hard working and LOYAL employee. So it's their loss.
Also-Managers should be nothing more than ecstatic when you're actively trying to pursue more certifications and offering to pick up any extra shifts. I would say move on, find a place with a supportive manager than will help further your nursing career.
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
PDN = Private Duty Nursing, which most often is shift care with varing hours 4, 6,, 7, 8, 10, 12 etc. dependent upon clients needs and what insurance company will approve payment/ when private pay # hours that client/family request
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
For two years she has had an LPN working for a CNA wage.
Your mistake was in thinking that once you became an LPN you could continue to work as a CNA. You are not a CNA anymore. Even if you never do anything outside the scope of a CNA, you are still an LPN and should be paid LPN wages.
This company took advantage of your naivete. Get a job elsewhere and never, ever allow anyone to pay you as a CNA again. Not even one shift.
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Pca_85revived, LPN
60 Posts
Why would you want to work for them? Home health work for LPNs is pretty similar as far as pay rate and skills you get to use ib the area I'm in, my apologies if yours is different. You deserve a lot more respect than you're getting from them. Put in your two weeks, better yet, don't, look for jobs now while still employed there. Did you happen to learn of places very happy to hire new nurses vs. not when school was over from instructors and fellow students? There are places out there that will mostly keep their promises, it just sounds like it's time to move on.