Anyone finish shift and not return to job?

StatRNNJ97 · Apr 19, 2006

Thanks everyone for the support and suggestions! I am not returning, and I feel very happy about the decision. Not only was my license at risk but the environment is unhealthy emotionally. I am happy to say that at another PD job I work everyone talks to each other, team work is never a question, and all staff practice safely and kindly. This has been a huge learning experience for me. I cannot believe I stayed at that certain hospital for so long! Life is too short to be unhappy!

travduck, BSN, RN, CNM · Apr 19, 2006

Didn't do it and am forever sorry I didn't. Advised to do so due to only 2 nurses in unit to cover 24/7. Advised so by B.O.R.N. Due to horribly other circumstances didn't and 2 days later ended up on stress leave for > 3 months. Am still trying to fully recover. :uhoh3:

91C_ARMYLPN · Apr 20, 2006

Greetings to everyone!

This thread is so true in many aspects when it comes to this particular topic.

When your manager or co-workers are rude/toxic, non-supportive, backstabbing, etc. there is no job worth the headaches and stress that goes along with it.

To incude unsafe nurse to patient care ratios, being overworked to the point where safety is compromised, placing your license in jeopardy are other factors that come into play. We all have our limitations as human beings.

Some of us can take more than others. But, the bottom line is you have to enjoy the nursing position you are in, be in a positive/supportive work environment, that encourages you to reach and go beyond your potential.

If you are not happy, then it it time to move on. Give the two weeks notice if possible. If you are unable to do this, make the decision to draw the line and go forward. No job is worth your sanity or losing your license over. It's not selfish to do what is best for you as an individual and your family as well. Been there, done that. And, I am still here. Take care and follow your heart.

91C_ARMYLPN

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Apr 20, 2006

You is so lucky that this situation didn't effected you'r license....sometime I feel that I'm making the biggest mistake by entering the into the nursing career??? I keep reading over and over all of these horrible storys and it make me wanna change my career from nursing into computer programer.

Oh this wouldn't affect my license because I could have very easily countered with workplace harrassment! I was totally utterly harrassed, and at one point was almosted poked in the chest by this mad woman!

That is why I went with security...and they have record of my nervousness, converstations, my side of the story, and the fact that I was told by THEM to contact a lawyer for a harrassment suit against the manager! I didn't...I wanted NOTHING more to do with them...nor make another lawsuit that hurts the medical community for our patients!

I was NEVER afriad of damaging my license...not at any time. I did nothing wrong and could prove it...so the rest was harrassment. And BTW..that is why documentation is so very very important! !

The only thing I was worried about was my references or job history with this one hindering employment...not a problem at all! I explained to employers what happened and how upset and scared I was and STILL pulled the entire shift...and then left according to above protocol! It never effected me getting a job since I got a job right away!

Sodie, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2006

I say give a notice, mainly because you never want to burn bridges if you can help it. Sometimes the problem with units or institutions is the people running certain parts of it. Well, as I have found out over the past 16 years of nursing, positions aren't permanent. Once day, the situation in your area may improve and you might want to give it another shot.

As for not reporting working there, I would not advise it. Even if you have not been there long. I think that an institution will view it better that you did not feel the position was right for you vs. lying on your application. What if you find a job that you really like and you fit in well. Then along comes a person that you previously worked with, even briefly, in your knew job? Did you know that lying on an application is terms for immediate dismissal? Even years donw the road? I know people that have been fired 5 years after emplyment when it was discovered that they omitted a previous place of employment. What are the chances that someone would find out? You never know!!

Also, HR exit interviews are not designed to hold against anyone. I know that my HR department is very sincere in knowing why people leave. I think you should do the interview, be honest, but professional. Think about how you want to relay the information or tell them the issues. Maybe others before you did the interview and gave the same information. You have to admit that when everyone that is leaving is saying the same thing, they are eventually going to have to listen.

But please remember... In this profession, seriously, you don't know when you are going to meet people that you have worked with in the past again. You don't want anything coming back to haunt you.

CHATSDALE · Apr 20, 2006

undecided your post just broke my heart...i have been there and i waited too long to leave....get out now...the next place can't be worse than this..

try a new venue of nursing...there are all types of places where you are needed and where you will be happy to go to work

Goodby5 · Apr 20, 2006

Go with your gut- it's your sixth sense, meant to protect you. How often have you saved others with that gut feeling? Save yourself!

I gave 30 days notice at my current job which, coincidentally, sounds alot like your situation. I am 10 days away from my last day and I don't think I can go back. :angryfire I was warned by a long time insider that once it was known I was leaving, I would be subjected to extraordinary scrutiny, and to watch my back. I thought it was just alot of drama and continued to fulfill what I saw as my "moral obligation". Well, let me tell you- I fear for my license and feel that I am being sabotaged at every turn. I had asked for a letter of recommendation from my manager, but now have to determine it's worth in the larger picture. :nono: Tonight I was asked to alter records so that the floor wouldn't get wriitten up ("dinged"). I have to gauge the wrath of my superiors at my leaving earlier than planned :angryfire against the risk of being set into a dangerous (read litigious, harmful) sitiuation. I don't think I will be going back. At this point, giving up nursing would not be a difficult thing to do,if it comes to that. It's hard to know what effect an annoyed manager can have on your next job application. Anyway, pardon my rant, and best of luck, whatever you decide.

blueheaven · Apr 20, 2006

I worked at a psych hospital for a while and they kept floating me to the pediatric and adolescent units after I had specified that I DID NOT want to work in those areas. They would lie about the assignment, (to get me to come in) then pull me. They got my keys and a short letter of resignation after the 3rd time.

Lynn1956 · Apr 24, 2006

I am at a hospital where I have seriously considered leaving with no notice. I started in a preceptorship program last June with 8 others that was very disorganized (one manager left, an interim came on), no one knew when it would end, first it was 480 hours, then it was 4 months, then it was the beginning of January. November came around, and there were plans afoot to change some of the departments around and potentially open up some new positions that we, the new grads woould segue into. The old staff vetoed all of the proposals, and one week after that, the 8 of us were sent letters by certified mail (received the Monday before Thanksgiving), stating that we would be laid off effective December 3rd, and invited to apply for casual positions-we had been fulltime. This is a small hospital, non-JCAHO, many isssues with nursing over the years. I got another job 4 1/2 hours away; my choices aren't great, but kept the casual position at home because it was home. Act II has been frustration with the woman who does the scheduling. I have been butting heads with her over fairness of scheduling since we were put on casual status. I have gone to the interim manager and now most recently my new manager (#3 since June) with my concerns about the equity in hours-I would prefer to have a 3 minute commute. The scheduler is adamant that she is being fair even though the hours on the schedule do not add up, and when she would not listen to me I did chain of command to the new manager. I went as high as the director of nursing and finally got a response. I have since detailed all of the problems in an e-mail to both my manager and the director of nursing. The scheduler saw my e-mails at the nurses' station-I don't know how, maybe a bonehead move somewhere on my part and now wants a meeting with the manager and myself. I don't have a problem with the meeting, and there was nothing in the e-mail that I either hadn't already said to her face or would, but my issue comes down to this. I am quitting, it's a hostile environment and my other job wants me fulltime, they're a Magnet hospital, and they have student loan repayment that is amazing. Plus, my manager there is great. The concern in all of this diatribe is this: I am out-of-state until the first week of May, at which point I will be able to have the meeting. I do not want to go back to work another shift at that hospital, and I am next scheduled for May 16th. I was considering giving my notice after the meeting, but that would not give me the 2 weeks I need. If I give notice before the meeting, how does that appear? I have done nothing wrong and have been wronged but feel as though giving notice before the meeting might leave a black mark on my record. The small hospital has repeatedly told me that I am one of the ones they want to keep, but I don't want to be kept any longer. How do I handle an exit interview? I don't think it's smart to burn bridges, even though I have no desire to ever go back and was just going to say that I had a fulltime job offer I was going to take. I can't be objective about this because I am seeing it too close at hand. This hospital is a union shop, and her scheduling her husband shouldn't be done when there is competition for jobs and all things equal, whoever has the most hours gets it. There are also many other dissatisfied employees with how their schdules are done, so I am not the Lone Dissatisfied Ranger.

This is long enough. It's hard because it's my first nursing job and I had such high hopes after school, was at the head of my class, and made a wrong choice about where to start my career. I don't want that wrong choice to affect me for years from now, and don't know how I find out if I am a candidate for rehire or not.

Thanks for taking the time...

control · Apr 24, 2006

I would put in my two weeks before the meeting, meet with them to discuss the scheduling issues, and go on with my life.

In the resignation letter, I would just state that I'd taken a full time position elsewhere. That's all the explanation you owe them.

Or, I'd put in my two weeks notice and let it be known I could not attend the meeting. However, I think it's better to at least voice your concerns about the scheduling before you leave. Maybe it will change something for someone else in the future.

Goodby5 · Apr 24, 2006

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · Apr 24, 2006

I used to work for an agency a very long time ago and they would schedule me for weeks at a time. Once I had a temp job for about 4 weeks. The first night I went I was horrified to learn my patient load was 30-40 and half were on tube feedings. The hours were 11-7.I went to work at 2245 and did not get off until noon the next day. The minute I got home I called the agency and told them I was never going back and they never scheduled me again. I just did not care. I have not ever worked a ltc again. It was the most scary job I have ever done. This was a long time ago and I am semi retired now, but I will never forget that job.