AM I going to be replaced after 26 years?

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

Hi all. I have been employed by a large dialysis company for 26 years. Although, truthfully, the large company kept swallowing the smaller company and so it goes.

I transfered to a new facility two years ago, same company, but closer to home. My department started with one patient, and now my census is growing to the point that I need help. The manager that I report to has basically ignored this, but I asked for help, and she said she planned to hire. However, no want ads has been posted internally or out.

One of the managers that manages another department within my facility, an area manager, hired a nurse to be trained to do the kind of work I do at a nearby clinic. The home health department is usually small and hiring is minimal, and the hiring at the nearby clinic is not warranted as they have about 8 patient's and two RN's, now 3. The new nurse is much younger than I am, not that it matters, I guess. The nurse training her has assisted me periodically and has complained that I don't know my policies, that I'm disorganized and so on. I don't understand. If I'm so bad, why am I the one with the growing program? I can barely keep up with my work, as the patient's keep coming in. I can no longer keep up with charting and projects placed in front of me.

I suspect the nurse in the nearby clinic will be transferred to me. She has been in training several months by the nurse who has reported me. I will most likely have to show her the "ropes" at my department. The whole scenario does not feel right. I have trained nurses for my previous departments myself. The manager who hired the new nurse is not the person I report to, but apparently she has quite the pull. I believe she is holding a grudge against me because I refuse to float to a nearby area once. The nurse who reported me tells me my immediate manager says I'm burnt out. Maybe, but I did not want to be replaced at this stage of the game.

So I'm coming here to ask. What can I do? I want to leave, but I have not worked in a hospital or anywhere for 26 years. I applied for some jobs, but so far no luck. They have a so called "report line" for employees, but I know they just go back to the managers and tell them everything. I'm older (53) and not so attractive to employers. I work in an at will state. I suspect that sometime soon, I will be attacked for incompetence and made to feel more uncomfortable in my present position. I have seen this done to others before. I never imagined it would happen to me. What recourse do I have?

[Libby1987]

Are you working in home health or dialysis?

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

I work dialysis, however, it's also home health. It's called home therapies. I train patient's to perform dialysis in the home setting. I do some home visits, although not as frequent as home health nurses. I have also worked hemodialysis in the clinic many years ago. But I don't want to return to that at this point in my life. My hemodialysis skills are rusty. I instruct patients to perform hemodialysis and monitor their outcomes as they dialize in the home setting.