Afraid to quit job after 2.5 weeks

[kjan]

Right now I feel kind of lost. Don't know where or who to turn to about this.

So 2 weeks ago I got an offer to work at a home care agency. I met the boss who owns the company and (for privacy reasons..) he/she interviewed me in person after calling me a few days prior.

I come in for the interview and ask about training/orientation. He/she said that I will have a 1 month orientation shadowing an RN. I am a BSN prepared RN. At the company there are no medical staff, only 5 other RNs, and many CHHAs. Me, being the 6th RN.

I accepted the offer, trusting the position would be a fit for me. I accepted the offer on a Wednesday and they wanted me to begin the next day. I asked the RN that has been "orienting" me about the orientation and how it would be for a month and she shook her head 'no' and that a month orientation is too long. A few days and you should be ready to go out to pts homes on your own. I accompanied the Rn the next day and she showed me how to document etc. The day after that I was in the office alone waiting doing nothing, not knowing what to do. Minutes before my shift is over to go home, all the staff scramble me and rush me to go to a pts home to give an injection. Mind you, I was around all staff for the past 3 hours and then they didnt even say one word. The Rn then says very quickly, go there now and that is your pt every single day, you will go to this pt every day from now on. Its as if the RN told me last minute so I could just agree and say yes. I was dumbfounded and did not want to argue so I went on my way. Pts family member called the offices asking why I was taking long to get there, and they lied to the pts family and said "the rn is lost on the road" right in front of me. I was late to the pts home and said next time to be on time..?

In a nutshell, I have not even been on "orientation" for more than a week. I feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and I really feel like I could lose my license. This is my very first job as a new grad after almost 1 year graduating. I know I should not be complaining, but I'm overwhelmed. The staff are not medically licensed whatsoever and just coordinate cases/pts and place the Rns and aids to the pts home. Also the Rn who I'm "orienting" from is not BSN prepared, is a 2yr degree and is called the Nurse Director. I was told I could "do whatever you want" you can plan your visits whenever however etc.

I was told that I would be on 90-days probation, but I dont even believe that anymore. All staff are too laid back, chat and gossip all day at the office. IDK I don't want to lose my license. I need to leave this position, I feel ike theres alot of loopholes going around in this agency.

The nurse director started calling potential employees to come in and interview and the next day they would be hired w/o any training. Just to have bodies and to fill hours. The company is extremely understaffed and there are over 600 cases.

Please help. What should I do? I have only been working here for not even 3 weeks. I'm already in the system, I gave my ss, went through HR etc.

[eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN]

I want to say you are going to get grilled possibly for making a big deal about the ADN BSN thing. That's very irrelevant in my opinion. Don't look down at ADN nurses. Especially ones with more experience than you. We all take the same NCLEX.

I agree your orientation isn't long enough. I also think home health isn't a good place for new grads. I've been a nurse for 2 years (still new) and I wouldn't be sure I'd be prepared for home health.

Talk to your manager about the lack of orientation. Tell her you aren't ready and see what she says. Don't agree to do things you're uncomfortable with.

Good luck.

[kjan]

@eatmysoxRN

I apologize for that bit about the ADN nurse, I should include that the nurse and I are the same age and received his/her license 1 year prior to me.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

It doesn't sound like a safe fit. One thing that was always recommended when I graduated from my ADN was to make sure I found a strong orientation program because you wanted to have enough time to get down the facility, policies, and patient population.

[kjan]

Also may I add that no policies, no training on Blood borne pathogens/universal precautions or ANY pre-employment training was reviewed with me.

[salvadordolly]

There are a lot of bad home care companies out there. Home Heath is a very difficult place to start as a new grad, especially if you are not getting the orientation you need. I would go directly to the person who promised you the orientation and hold them to it. If they are not willing to give you that, look elsewhere. I have attempted to hire new grads in home care, and they just get too overwhelmed, even with our 2-3 month orientation. It just requires a lot of independence, judgement and critical thinking skills that new grads haven't developed yet. These need to be learned with experience and mentoring with other nurses in a facility. It doesn't sound like you'll get much mentoring from a director who has only been a nurse herself for a year.

[VANurse2010]

Before you make comments presuming that your degree is "better" than hers - consider that you may not be familiar with the background of all ADN nurses (perhaps you do in this case) and some of them - in the the totality of their education - may actually have much more education than you do. Just a thought.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

It all does sound rather chaotic, but (with few exceptions) you aren't at risk of losing your license over the way they run their business.

Have you tried talking to your DON again about your concerns?

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

I agree with the recommendation that they you ask that they stick to the orientation as promised However, they did give you one case that they thought you would be able to handle while you are on orientation. It sounds like you gave the injection without problem, hopefully you instructed the patient on potential adverse reaction and possible side effects and how to reach a nurse and the agency if they need help.

I would complete the orientation and then see how I was feeling after that time. It is true you need to be able to function with a high degree of independence in home health . If you continue make a commitment to yourself that you need to keep on learning ..ask questions..look up things you do not know,make friends with the nurses so they can serve as a resource, stay positive. I used to be only and ADN prepared nurse and even then I was really good at what I did...so yes reserve your judgment,,any nurse can be a teacher.

[OCRN3]

Sounds pretty typical for home health. I have previously worked at 2 differentHH agencies And they all seem to barely know what's going on. They used to send me to homes where no one was even there. They would tell me to knock because the family was home. This happened to many times. I got a 1 day orientation to both jobs and the managers seemed to think that was ok. When I asked why is everything do up in the air? They responded that HH is like that. At that time I have about 8 years floor RN experience. It was tough you do need good critical thinking skills for that job and seems as though they just threw you in there. I wouldn't quit till you found a replacement job, unless you can afford it, but don't plan putting that as experience because it won't look good on your resume to leave after 2 weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

There are alot of other "horror stories" about home health here on allnurses. If they aren't orienting you- I have found YouTube to have a wealth of training videos from IV insertion to wound vacs if you need a refresher on anything. I am just so disturbed that people such as yourself spend the $$$ and time to earn BSN and then you can't find suitable work. WTH

[netglow, ASN, RN]

I'd go so far as to say that we are quickly getting to past 50% of Home Health and Hospice not being legit.

And yeah, pretty much nobody is regulating these, until someone blows the whistle or someone is killed, and that's only if anyone bothers to investigate - there is little protection for you or potential patients. It's a Free-for-all-get-medicare-money-as-fast-as-you-can-pocket-it kind of deal for the owners.

If you can OP, just quit. You probably are working for scam artists.