Saturday my husband was brought my squad to MY ER while I was working for a serious avulsion to his ticep involving artery, nerve, tendon, muscle, and tissue. I worked day shift and was oncall for the afternoon shift the same day while they took him for emergency surgery.
My supervisor NEVER voiced concern or even talked to me about whether I would want to go sit in Surgical Family Waiting while my husband was in surgery. Nor did she ever say a word about getting coverage for my oncall or even the next day Sunday (7/3p) when he was to be discharged.
I spent the 2.5 hours while my husband was in surgery calling every nurse that works there to try and cover my shift. By 1030pm that night I quit calling only getting the first 4 covered. Not one time during that whole episode did my PCS ever talk to me. Actually when I approached her about getting the 7-11am covered, she never even looked me in the face when I was talking to her.
I am so hurt and upset at this.....I have worked there 11 years!!!
supervisors are an extension of managment and usually follow the manager's philosophy. i am sure that your supervisor made your manager aware of the situation & your manager is as much at fault over this as the supervisors are. this is why i used the words managers & supervisor interchangeably in my post.
you must have heard the expression that the manager sets the tone. those that do not act in accordance with higher management are usually let go. if you have 2 supervisors hat are heartless, it is too coincidental that they are not in accordance with management's wishes.
still think you should protest with your feet.
we actually have a new manager (1 month) and she is a very nice caring person. i haven't been back to work since this incident. but i know what you mean
Here, where I work they can be hell with coverage... also let me say that I too am sorry this happened to you and your family. I've been at work, puking my guts up, running to the bathroom every few minutes and they wouldn't let me leave because there was no one to cover triage. I was supposed to have a block done on my back once and the medication my doc likes to use requires an overnight stay, even though I let them know on a Monday and the block was scheduled on Friday, I had to work on Saturday and didn't get to have the block done because I work Baylor. My only uncle was in the hospital and coded (different hospital) but they wouldn't let me leave because there was no coverage. Thing is, everyone is done this way, there's no discrimination.
one problem is expectations. when you gave your news you expected something in return because of your loyalty and the gravity of the situation.
i agree with the poster above, you should have verbalized your needs. "due to family emergency i will be leaving now, how are you going to cover my shift?" perhaps she was thinking "there's nothing she can do while he's in surgery and recovery so she may as well work. that's what i'd do because it would keep my mind off the surgery". or perhaps she flat out didn't care. but don't mind read. don't put your needs in someone elses mind and expect them to meet them if you don't say out loud what they are.
also, i hope you talk to her/him in person. email is so passive-aggressive, and is now suddendly changing your work ethic out of anger. i wouldn't do that. i would however, change my expectations because they will always disappoint.
i'm certainly not saying what they did was right. it certainly showed a lack of concern and compassion.
she flat out didn't care. and as i've come to find out, they were actually one person over in staffing that next day. i shouldn't have to say outloud what my needs were that evening.....it was obvious that my husband was in the er, and even more obvious that he was going to surgery. i have been on the other end of the phone when the supervisors called me because they needed coverage for a fellow nurse who was under similar circumstances .....and i have covered their shift. my work ethic hasn't changed nor will change when it comes to my patients. as far as going over and above for my superviors ever again....that's not gonna happen.
I will be praying that your husband has a complete and full recovery.
Your anger, pain, and frustration are justified. She should have told you to leave and that she would help with the patients and get your shifts covered. Period. Her feelings aren't important at that moment...yours are.
Saturday my husband was brought my squad to MY ER while I was working for a serious avulsion to his ticep involving artery, nerve, tendon, muscle, and tissue. I worked day shift and was oncall for the afternoon shift the same day while they took him for emergency surgery.
My supervisor NEVER voiced concern or even talked to me about whether I would want to go sit in Surgical Family Waiting while my husband was in surgery. Nor did she ever say a word about getting coverage for my oncall or even the next day Sunday (7/3p) when he was to be discharged.
I spent the 2.5 hours while my husband was in surgery calling every nurse that works there to try and cover my shift. By 1030pm that night I quit calling only getting the first 4 covered. Not one time during that whole episode did my PCS ever talk to me. Actually when I approached her about getting the 7-11am covered, she never even looked me in the face when I was talking to her.
I am so hurt and upset at this.....I have worked there 11 years!!!
so much for your dedication and loyalty - not to have that time respected and reciprocated in a time of need is just a slap in the face and horribly rude. What an awful manager. He or she should have FOUND you the coverage, not you looking to cover your own!!! I'd put in for a transfer to another location after voicing your legitimate reasons for doing so. Shame on your manager and your coworkers. They need to know it too - how their actions effect the team where you work. How they could not acknowledge your need or offer to cover for you shows what kind of environment you are employed within. I'm sorry for you and I do feel for you. I know that I wouldn't tolerate that - poor management and poor coworkers. Leave it!
My issue is with my superivisor working that night, not my manager. I plan to speak to my manager about this and Tell her my feelings about it. In the end, my feeling is this. I have gone above and beyond for this department in the past.....let me repeat...the past. I will continue to work there as it is a good hospital, it just has a couple of uncaring supervisors. I will no longer participate on commitees, community functions, precepting, bulletin boards, teaching, organizing forums....I will be a staff nurse who goes in on my scheduled days and leaves at the end of my shift. I won't bend over backwards just to have my neck sliced. This has changed the way I respect my supervisor (x2) as well, and I won't hesitate to make them aware of my feelings. I expected more from them.
good for you - doesn't pay to stick your neck out and be a great employee cause they don't care anyway. Participation in their crappy committees is what pays where I work, as well as the meetings and forums, but obtaining your BSN - nope. Not a single cent more. Well then no participation in all of the other stuff if you can't recognize achievements. Hmph. I'm sorry it has to be this way - it's unfortunate and more speaks to the types of managers out there and their corporate mentality within healthcare. Sad.
I missed my favorite uncle's funeral because my supervisor(at a former job-don't work at that h#** hole anymore) would not give me the day off- I came in right after finding out he died and to tell them I need the day off for a funeral (four days in advance), only to be told "no you don't, no you don't". They told me if I just came in they would let me leave early enough to go to the funeral-of course after I came in they said it wouldn't be possible to let me leave. I had a great record, I never called in and often worked overtime, but it didn't seen to matter. I still regret not calling in that day and going to his funeral.
Luckily, I work at a much better hospital now. At least my supervisor pretends to give a crap....
Unfortunately the hospital I worked at when I first got out of nursing school was like the one you described. They didn't give a damn about what was going on in your life and your butt sure as heck better be at work!!!! LOL I called from the L&D unit to tell them I would not be in the next morning. This was before FMLA came along. Now I have a wonderful nurse manager who understands and works with us when things happen. (thank God and this is at another hospital)
so much for your dedication and loyalty - not to have that time respected and reciprocated in a time of need is just a slap in the face and horribly rude. What an awful manager. He or she should have FOUND you the coverage, not you looking to cover your own!!! I'd put in for a transfer to another location after voicing your legitimate reasons for doing so. Shame on your manager and your coworkers. They need to know it too - how their actions effect the team where you work. How they could not acknowledge your need or offer to cover for you shows what kind of environment you are employed within. I'm sorry for you and I do feel for you. I know that I wouldn't tolerate that - poor management and poor coworkers. Leave it!
My co-workers came through and covered for me. They're great! It's my supervisor (x2) that I won't hesitate to continue to let know exactly what I think of them.
I missed my favorite uncle's funeral because my supervisor(at a former job-don't work at that h#** hole anymore) would not give me the day off- I came in right after finding out he died and to tell them I need the day off for a funeral (four days in advance), only to be told "no you don't, no you don't". They told me if I just came in they would let me leave early enough to go to the funeral-of course after I came in they said it wouldn't be possible to let me leave. I had a great record, I never called in and often worked overtime, but it didn't seen to matter. I still regret not calling in that day and going to his funeral.
Luckily, I work at a much better hospital now. At least my supervisor pretends to give a crap....
They should be ashamed of themselves. Consider is a lesson learned and one you won't repeat in the future. Glad you found a better job. Their loss.
TraumaNurseRN
497 Posts
we actually have a new manager (1 month) and she is a very nice caring person. i haven't been back to work since this incident. but i know what you mean