Feel very disrespected by Administrator

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

I'm the Director of Nursing of an outpatient dialysis clinic. While I was off 2 days, the administrative assistant really dropped the ball and sent some very unfinished re-assessments to the Doctor.(note my secretary and my administrator are buddy-buddy and her behind the scene snitch so to speak). These were not going to be used and had been sitting in a back office since November pending the administratos instructions of when to implement thier use. Of course the Dr was angry he recieved about 20 to complete and wasnt aware he shouldnt have recieved them. Bless his heart he did every one of them in less than 24 hours! I had absolutely no knowledge of the incident until I got a nasty email from my administrator (her home office is in another clinic). She demanded I come in at 6am and was to have them all completed no later than 12pm that same afternoon. Also due to lack of licensed staff I have been working the floor 6 days/wk, 12hr days as the only RN staffing the floor in addition to my management responsibilites!!! Dr. completed his end now I must due to state inspectors most likely coming in so we have no choice but to use them.(The nursing section is 4 pages long including a careplan to it). Once I found out what was going on I stated to her "I understand the situation and wished you had called me at home as I had no knowledge of incident therefore was in the dark regarding your email until I spoke with the secretary. Rather than pointing blame we should be working on a solution" (Keep in mind folks, the secretary denied doing this and she is the only one that takes any files for completion to his office.) The response my administrator gave me was " I'm the Boss and I can say what ever I like when I like!" Needless to say I was floored as her manner was just very nasty and disrespectful. I had already been in and had over 1/2 of them completed before she came down to the clinic. I had no problem doing them as I felt as a manager the damage was done so work together to resolve it and get the paperwork done. So that wasnt an issue for me. I've been in nursing for 30 years and held some major administrative positions myself compared to this little clinic and I would never have spoken to one of my staff like that. I would never permit one of my charges to talk like that to any one they were responsible to supervise. Needless to say soon as she said this I gave a 30 day notice I am stepping down as her DON. Now she cant understand why I'm stepping down. How should I have reacted to her response? This wasnt she was just having a bad day deal. Last week she had sent an email to me regarding getting ready for state but didnt realize she had attached to it a previous email to the secretary stating "this should really set "So-So" off, LOL". It inadvertantly came not only to my email but 2 other peoples accidently!!!! Keep in mind these other staff members along with the Secretary are under my supervison in the clinic. I felt very belittled by it. I understand now she has treated staff like this long before me and was advised by others to just "take it" and not say anything. She has been unable to keep staff. Apparently she has been treating people like this for years. What would you have suggested as the best way to have responded to her? I'm a pretty tough cookie but I refuse to be verbally abused or disrespected by anyone, including the administrator. This is a position I wasnt hired for but drafted to when she fired the last DON. :angryfire I also think it's very unappropriate for her to be discussing and making statements to someone I am responsible to supervise as it undermines my position. Any advice, I love my patients and my staff and dont really want to go but I cant work for someone who can disrespect me or others that easilly. Plus I cant work any harder than I have been and I'm salary. So working 50-60 hours then to be treated like this? Bye bye is all I could say.

[Kymmi]

All I can say is wow......that whole situation is very disrespectful and it makes me wonder why she would treat the DON so badly because that would just mean she'd have to fill the position once again. Have you thought about going above her to her superior with a copy of the email and the facts of your experience with her since employment. I would think that if you are not the first DON or staff to go then whoever is above her would start to put the pieces together and add up the common demonitator however maybe they are not aware of how she treats staff and therefore she keeps her position.

[nursel56]

Had a job once where the dynamic was similar. The Team Leader and the Unit Secretary had a relationship like that. They would get together and gossip about people, try to trip them up,etc. They managed to drive out several nurses who had been there for 20 odd years.

One day, the so-called Team Leader decided to humiliate the longest serving nurse there by springing some "drug calculation" questions on her in front of everybody and saying, "can't you get that YET?" as she was nervous by being put on the spot like that.

Not saying nurses shouldn't know drug calculations but the way she did it was awful. She quit not long after that. So did I.. never looked back.

They feed on each other's negativity. Best wishes on your job search

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

All I can say is wow......that whole situation is very disrespectful and it makes me wonder why she would treat the DON so badly because that would just mean she'd have to fill the position once again. Have you thought about going above her to her superior with a copy of the email and the facts of your experience with her since employment. I would think that if you are not the first DON or staff to go then whoever is above her would start to put the pieces together and add up the common demonitator however maybe they are not aware of how she treats staff and therefore she keeps her position.

In the world of chronic dialysis it comes down to the $. We are a smaller corp in which the CEO also has her fingers in the daily operations. The administrator has been with her for over 14 years. Since we are the clinic at the bottom I really dont think it matters. We duck tape our chairs and our machines well they dont even make parts for them anymore lol. They gave us "new machines" and when we recieved them found out they were initially being thrown out and are older and more hours on them then the machines we have !!!! They are in such ill repair we havent been able to use them. So honestly I dont think even the CEO cares. As long as they have a body and dont lose any patients to other facilities. We have a couple of very abusive patients and when the staff tried to approach them about it we were told "But we cant afford to lose any patients". So I dont think going above her head would do a thing. As another nurse on wrote on the home page article "I'm too blessed to be stressed" so I'm taking the high road and getting out of Dodge. Considering returning back to CVICU. Wish there was a Burn ICU in this area I'd be there tomarrow LOL

[BEDPAN76]

Hi Lacie, I think your'e doing the right thing by getting out. That place sounds TOXIC! I'm sure you will find a better job soon. Because of your experience, they probably feel threatened by you. Also, although I don't have dialysis experience, the equipment sounds like it's junk, and only a matter of time before there is a major incident! Get out before State comes! Best of luck to you and please keep us posted!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I would not work for someone like that and I wish you well in your next job. Did you save a copy of the e-mail? I would print out a copy to keep and I would forward it to my home e-mail to have an electronic copy. You never know when a piece of evidence like that might come in handy.

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

I saved and printed out all the emails. In fact I presented the one about "setting me off" to her so she would not be able to deny it. After 30 years in the career I learned along time ago - document, document, document!!!! Next is checking the salary issue as in the long run - I believe they owe me some money also :)

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

It is obvious that you don't have the support of your administrator - in fact your administrator is working against you in many respects. You did the right thing by leaving. You are in an impossible situation. Given that you are working 72 hours a week it is also obvious that your company has no concern for you as a professional. I can understand having to cover in emergencies, but it sounds like this is an ongoing thing where you work. This statement speaks volumes:

" I'm the Boss and I can say what ever I like when I like!"

This tells me that your administrator has few real managerial skills, and she knows that her actions cannot be justified by any reasonable explanation. She falls back on the old standby of the weak manager: Because I said so.

Let your administrator play petty little games with someone else. There are far better jobs out there for you. There are few things more miserable than working for an unsupportive boss whose standards are a moving target. It's a game you can't win.

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

I went over our p&p and found it stated that on termination you are entitled to payout for your earned PTO. The last manager she gave a choice of resigning in order to keep her earned payout vs termination (I assume so they didnt have to payout unemployment benefits). We are an "at will state". I gave my 30 day notice but am afraid she will try to pull the same on me. Also I have verbally asked for 2 months now for reasonable accomadations due to an exacerbation of a known disability (also service connected). I'm just trying to figure the best way to handle this so I dont end up with a big black mark when trying to find other employment. Especially now with so many hiring freezes etc going on. I have tons of sick time due and thought about just requesting FMLA since I am currently being treated for the exacerbation. In fact I had been medically advised to be in a sedentary job. The only accomadation my boss has made was to get her DON from another facility to cover my regular 2 days off so I can recieve the injections (supartz). Other than that I am still covering the floor the other 4 days aweek. I dont consider this reasonable accomadation. I just dont know how to proceed trying to protect my own reputation when I seek other employment. Any suggestions from seasoned adm or managers would be very appreciated.

Whats really ironic is I spoke with the Medical Director who essentially indicated the administrator was the one who gave him the initial files that she's throwing the fit about!!!!!! I think this is why she responded to me the way she did rather than admit she screwed up.

[BEDPAN76]

Get the FMLA, ASAP! :wink2:

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

I posted in the dialysis forum but just to update. Today was my very last day!!!! Feels way to good:yeah:Dr. took me off work and I had a week left when I go back so she turned me loose today as soon as she waited for me to do the monthly reports for corporate. What a snake lol. Basis it would be no good for me to be off then return for only one week. Probably since I'm salary and exempt they would have to had paid me anyway lol.

Now anyone in need of an RN in central florida lol. I have no job, my bank account is crap but wow I feel so relieved!!!:loveya: all!!! Thanks for listening to my vents.

[BEDPAN76]

Here's to you, Lacie! :cheers: You will find a job soon. Sending best wishes and prayers to ya dear!