Am I being blackballed?

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

Here's my situation. I gave notice at my job, but left on good terms..gave 3 weeks notice, offered to stay per diem to cover shifts for awhile etc. The reason I left was the dynamic that had sprung up on my shift over the past few months. One of the techs is just a toxic personality to begin with, and then she lost her son last winter in an accident. The supervisor on the shift is a good nurse, but doesn't always act very professionally(ie disappears with his little CS girlfriend for a good 20 minutes each shift) and he refuses to rein this behavior in(they're friends outside of work). Add to this the fact that I got very little support as a new nurse on this shift and I decided that career wise, I had to leave that environment. I am having a hard time finding a new job(in an OR) and I'm concerned that I'm getting blackballed for no good reason. I mean, it's not like I walked off the job with no notice..I think the supervisor was mad because he wanted me to run the schedule when he "needs a day off." As a sometime thing, I didn't mind, but it turned into whole weeks at a time and when I started running the board, I hadn't even been a nurse for a year-there were still circulating things I was trying to fine tune.

Should I answer "no" when they ask if they can contact them as a reference? I know that technically, they're only supposed to ask dates of employment, can you be rehired etc. but I'm worried that they are screwing me over because I had the nerve to leave after a year(as an RN). Should I contact a lawyer? Anyone been through something similar and have any advice? PS- I know I should have lined something up job wise before leaving but the tech's behavior just got unbearable and I started fearing for my license(ie when we needed to do a count, she'd ignore me, I did put my foot down and we finally counted). Months ago, I had filled out a form for a travel agency when it became known to all of us that the hospital is in a bad way financially...I told them that I wasn't ready to travel for at least a year yet and asked them please not to contact my job at this point but they did and asked for a reference. This made the PTB angry(I got questioned pretty intensely as to whether I was planning on leaving) and my boss started making snide comments, would "forget" to get me supper relief etc. So I just had to leave with class before I snapped one day!

[ewattsjt]

It has not happened to me personally so my view may not be correct. Yes, you should have lined up another job first and then gave the notice. It is good to see that recognize that but it doesn’t help now. Sorry.

Blackballing does occur, even though it is not supposed to. Hold off on the attorney thing. You must be able to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. What you are going through could be viewed as coincidental. I haven’t seen anything that would sway someone to think otherwise.

I would applicate some more and if I kept having the same result; I would then seek consultation with an attorney. Nursing is in demand everywhere so it wouldn’t fit the coincident scenario if it keeps happening.

Getting back to the scrub issue (so it doesn’t happen again). The scrub must acknowledge the count, even if they have to say just a minute I can’t right now. All counts must be performed according to policy. If a scrub will not acknowledge counts, etc… take it up with the department manager. That is a patient safety issue first then policy violation secondly. If the manager won’t do anything about it; keep climbing the ladder. You were right to be concerned about your license.

As for the supervisor; while it may not be professional. It is really none of your business. Our manager leaves for meetings all the time. It would be no different as far as staff is concerned. Don’t get me wrong. I disagree with the type of “meetings” you describe your supervisor was having. It shouldn’t have concerned you unless a patient safety issue was at hand. My point is that we have to pick our battles. This one seems to be trivial or somewhat jealous in nature.

Hope this helped.

[Kymmi]

I also say that from what I've read from your post I can't see where you have any proof that your former employer said anything about you.

Have you gotten interviews at other facilities and then not offered the job? If you havent interviewed then I'd say no one has contacted your former employer...I know that from my past experience I usually always have a interview before they contact my references.

I dont know about area and the hospitals here but I know here there arent that many OR positions opened. Most of the OR positions go to inhouse employees.

[passionate]

Sounds like this is a toxic workplace for you, very political and personal. I am not reading any legal situation. You chose to leave. You could have filled out an incident report for the count issue and made that professional--it sounds like you have little respect for your mgr. but you have to respect the position. Take your time, find a job that fits you and don't look back except to learn from some bad situations. Don't take your attitude from the old place with you--and don't miss any opportunity to keep your mouth shut. Libel is a crime.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

It has not happened to me personally so my view may not be correct. Yes, you should have lined up another job first and then gave the notice. It is good to see that recognize that but it doesn't help now. Sorry.

Blackballing does occur, even though it is not supposed to. Hold off on the attorney thing. You must be able to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. What you are going through could be viewed as coincidental. I haven't seen anything that would sway someone to think otherwise.

I would applicate some more and if I kept having the same result; I would then seek consultation with an attorney. Nursing is in demand everywhere so it wouldn't fit the coincident scenario if it keeps happening.

Getting back to the scrub issue (so it doesn't happen again). The scrub must acknowledge the count, even if they have to say just a minute I can't right now. All counts must be performed according to policy. If a scrub will not acknowledge counts, etc... take it up with the department manager. That is a patient safety issue first then policy violation secondly. If the manager won't do anything about it; keep climbing the ladder. You were right to be concerned about your license.

As for the supervisor; while it may not be professional. It is really none of your business. Our manager leaves for meetings all the time. It would be no different as far as staff is concerned. Don't get me wrong. I disagree with the type of "meetings" you describe your supervisor was having. It shouldn't have concerned you unless a patient safety issue was at hand. My point is that we have to pick our battles. This one seems to be trivial or somewhat jealous in nature.

Hope this helped.

It did affect patient care in the sense that he is supposed to be running the shift and the board..we got urgent calls from OB on several occasions looking to speak to the supervisor and he wasn't there. It is most certainly my business when I am doing his job for less pay. Don't get me wrong-I don't care if he is seeing this girl on the outside but work is a different story. Also, the CS staff are complaing because his girlfriend doesn't pull her weight workwise and doesn't feel the need to do so, because of who she is sleeping with-when I am running the board and they complain to me, it is most certainly my business. Jealous? No, just PO'd that he is dropping the ball when it comes to professional objective behavior.

As far as the toxic tech, I think he failed to do the right thing(ie confronting her about her nasty ways) because he is fearful of pushing her over the edge because of her loss. While I can sympathize, again, this is part of his job as supervisor.

What I am going to do next is call pretending to be someone looking for a reference and see what they say-I could always tape the conversation to use as evidence(legal where I am from). The sad thing is most people on the day shift know where I am coming from. The nasty tech has lost friends on that shift, because she was evil before she lost her son(lots of backstabbing). Many of them did offer to provide references as well as many of the surgeons. I also have copies of prior evaluations(I worked at this place for 3 years/ 2 as a tech, 1 as a nurse) that are good and will help my case. Thanks for your advice, it is appreciated. But this situation is not trivial to me and it is not coming from jealousy. I just don't think that this kind of backstabbing, unprofessional behavior is OK.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I also say that from what I've read from your post I can't see where you have any proof that your former employer said anything about you.

Have you gotten interviews at other facilities and then not offered the job? If you havent interviewed then I'd say no one has contacted your former employer...I know that from my past experience I usually always have a interview before they contact my references.

I dont know about area and the hospitals here but I know here there arent that many OR positions opened. Most of the OR positions go to inhouse employees.

I had an interview that went very well and then did not get offered the job. The unprofessional supervisor used to work at this hospital so I have a feeling he might have said something. You're right, it is very hard to prove so I am waiting awhile before I pursue legal action.

[caliotter3]

I have dealt with blacklisting before and the best advice I can give you is to ride it out. It is almost impossible to prove. You would spend more money for the investigators than it is worth and I'll give you the same advice my attorney gave to me, except I paid for the advice: you can't prove what they are saying or failing to say about you; they can always criticize you and it is taken as a valid appraisal of your work performance. You have to catch them in a direct, verifiable lie before you have a case. Your time is better spent looking for your new job.

Since you have people from your old job that are willing to give references for you, I would provide their contact info and/or gather letters of reference from them (should they be unavailable) and go from there. I can also see from your posts that you need to let go of that place and your opinions of your former supervisor. None of what you say would sound good during an interview. You need to develop a positive approach for your interviews to deflect you attitude about your former job. That attitude will prevent you from getting hired. Good luck in your search.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

Sounds like this is a toxic workplace for you, very political and personal. I am not reading any legal situation. You chose to leave. You could have filled out an incident report for the count issue and made that professional--it sounds like you have little respect for your mgr. but you have to respect the position. Take your time, find a job that fits you and don't look back except to learn from some bad situations. Don't take your attitude from the old place with you--and don't miss any opportunity to keep your mouth shut. Libel is a crime.

The legal situation would arise from the hospital slandering me when it came time to provide a reference. Various states have differing rules on this. Some say that your former employer can say anything they want. In others, they can only provide dates of employment, eligibility for rehire etc. It is hard for me to have respect for the supervisors position when he is not behaving in a way that is respectful of his workers or the hospital.

I could have filled out an incident report for the count issue but sadly, at this place, they go nowhere..I had pursued a different safety issue(pts of childbearing age not having a pregnancy test before going to the OR) and was told I was "overreacting" by this supervisor. Don't get me wrong-I'm not really the aggressive type. I've never been in this situation before-all of my prior evals have been very positive ones and I've gotten several acknowledgements for going above and beyond. Part of me is proud of myself for getting out of this place before something bad happened. I can look in the mirror and say that I can advocate for my patients and myself. Call me idealistic, but the kind of behavior this boss and tech displayed should not be tolerated.

I have not said negative things about this place at interviews and as a matter of fact, wrote a very nice letter both to the staff and the managers. I don't believe in burning my bridges and hopefully I can go back once this supervisor has left.I am aware that a lawsuit could do this so I'm waiting. On a positive note, I have an interview Monday at a surgicenter where one of the surgeons that like to work with me operates. More pay and no call and I think I can use this surgeon as a reference.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I have dealt with blacklisting before and the best advice I can give you is to ride it out. It is almost impossible to prove. You would spend more money for the investigators than it is worth and I'll give you the same advice my attorney gave to me, except I paid for the advice: you can't prove what they are saying or failing to say about you; they can always criticize you and it is taken as a valid appraisal of your work performance. You have to catch them in a direct, verifiable lie before you have a case. Your time is better spent looking for your new job.

Since you have people from your old job that are willing to give references for you, I would provide their contact info and/or gather letters of reference from them (should they be unavailable) and go from there. I can also see from your posts that you need to let go of that place and your opinions of your former supervisor. None of what you say would sound good during an interview. You need to develop a positive approach for your interviews to deflect you attitude about your former job. That attitude will prevent you from getting hired. Good luck in your search.

Thanks for your post. Yes, I figured a lawsuit would be more trouble than it is worth. That is a last resort for me. I have not said anything negative in interviews though. I'm aware that it is not good to do that. There is a difference between my posts here, which are venting and how I present myself in interviews. Trust me, I have consistently taken the high road in this situation-I gave more than enough notice, left on positive terms(thanked people who helped me) and as much as I wanted to tell this guy what I thought of his nursing skills, I refrained from doing so. My friend even suggested reporting him to the anonymous tipline regarding his frequent abscences from the floor, leaving early etc., and sometime drug use(which he has openly admitted to..) but I haven't done that yet. Thanks everyone for your good advice. I think a light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, and I believe in karma-he'll get what is coming to him without my help.

[passionate]

I am so glad things turned out well for you. I too enjoy this website in order to vent my thoughts. Like you, I know better than to share those professionally. This is a good place to have my thoughts edited. Thanks to all who participate.

[caliotter3]

If you decide to go ahead and report anyone to the anonymous tip line, may I suggest that you write out a script and have another person call in and read it for you so that someone listening to the recorded message does not identify you. Everyone will suspect that it is you, but if a stranger calls it in, they won't be able to prove it. Remember to try to be as specific as possible; if you can give dates and times of instances, that's good.

Good luck on your upcoming interview. I hope it turns out to be something that you would like and that you get offered the job.

[ewattsjt]

i would still be somewhat hesitant to report this guy. at this point you may be viewed by your previous employer as being vindictive. i know it is supposed to be anonymous but as calioter3 points out they may be able to figure out who it was and dismiss it as a act of retaliation.

it sounds like he will eventually "cook his own goose." you may want to return to that facility some day when he is long gone. please be careful about burning that bridge.