FELLOW Nurses please help with this dilema. I am so upset!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Ok, this is a VERY LONG STORY. I am sorry. Please dont let this keep you from reading it. I am so hurt at what has taken place. I need some fellow nurses to guide me in some decision making please. I thank you all in advance for taking your time to read this.

I am a new LPN. I graduated last August and received my license in September. I went to work immediately for a nursing home. I was not happy there from the start. I had interviewed with a doctors office while still in nursing school but never heard back from them. One day when I was on a lunch break at the nursing home, I received a voice mail on my cell phone. It was the administrator that I had interviewed with at the doc office. I called him back and within minutes, he invited me to interview with the doctor that I would be working for that afternoon. I did just that and I landed the job. I was ELATED!

I was not at all prepared for what this job entailed. The practice that I went to work for has two main doctors. Each doctor has their own nurse. The doctor that I went to work for uses this office as his satellite office. His main office is 50 miles up the road. He comes to our office on Mon, Wed, Thurs. On Monday, he doesnt get there until after he sees his pt's in his main office. He arrives at our office at around 4 p.m and will stay until around 9:30 p.m. I was told when I first took the job that I would be working late hours two nights a week. My duties were Mon, Wed, Thurs when my doc was there I was his primary nurse. (his only nurse) I would stand guard in the hall while he would breeze in a room do his thing and come out with a boat load of duties for me.

I would write all the prescriptions for him, follow orders for EKG's, Holter monitors, Injections, wound care, prepare the room for DRE's, Paps etc..Nursing stuff. I was also responsible for scheduling ultrasounds of any kind, Filling out paperwork for the pt's lab work and what they needed, coding it for insurance purposes (ICD-9 codes), doing their Flu tests, Strep tests, A1C's, UACR's, CBC's, UA's etc etc. This all had to take place right then as he come out of the room. By the time I was done with all of this, it was time to check out the next patient. This is a very busy doc with a huge patient load. When he was done seeing a patient he would write his orders in the chart such as ..schedule this patient with Dr. X for reason X etc..that chart would then be taken to check out and then would be sent back to my office and placed on my desk for the following day.

When my doctor wasnt there on Tuesdays and Fridays I was strictly administrative nursing. I get to my office and begin working on my stack of about 50 charts that were there on my desk from all the patients the day and night before. My duties on administrative days included scheduling all appts with other doctors that my doc referred them to, doing referrals for insurance, scheduling CT's, MRA's, MRI's, Physical Therapy, calling in all medication, faxing pharmacies with refills, reviewing labs from the day before, prioritizing Pro Time Labs, calling patients with results of tests, documenting, charting etc . During the day I would get calls from our patients constantly wanting to discuss this or that or get a med called in, I would get walk ins wanting to discuss meds or needing labs done that they didnt do the night before or whatever. I would have to stop in the middle of my doing a zillion things and tend to phone calls and pull charts to handle each event. This would pull me away from my main responsibilities.

This job was NOT EASY. This was one of the hardest jobs I have ever had. The pressure was so intense to get EVERYTHING done and I was the only one doing it. But I LOVED THIS JOB! After all the clinicals in nursing school and all the places I didnt feel at home with, I had FINALLY found my NITCH! I was actually being trained by a girl in the office that wasnt even a nurse. She wasnt a M.A or a CNA even, she had just been there for a while. She would show me how to do things but she wouldnt actually help. I wondered how on earth one person was expected to do all of this plus why is it that a patient can call the dr's office and the nurse get paged on the spot? I have never known of another office like this. The phone was like working in a call center and the pages were not stop over the P.A. I began to get impatient and would complain to the girl that was training me. I explained to her that I could not get anything done. I even went to my doctor and explained this to him.

He went to office staff and explained that when he wasnt there that I was the highest ranked person and I was allowed to get help with minial tasks such as phone calls and messages being taken and charts being pulled etc. As soon as the doc would leave and go back to his main office, everything that had been said was out the window and things were back to the way they were the day before. I couldn't believe the pressure but I was doing it. The girl that was training me was a snitch. She and the office manager were kind of friends I guess you could say. The office manager had been there 20 years and seemed to be two faced as all get out. I would catch her whispering around about this one and that one everytime I come face to face with her. She tried to micro manage everyone including myself. I felt as if I could not please these people. I was working so hard to do everything but I just had no help. I had been told that nurses never lasted in that position that I was in. Even my pt's would ask me how long I was going to put up with the pressure there. Some of the pt's had been coming for years to that one clinic and they would tell me how many nurses they had seen come through and couldnt take the heat and would leave.

I actually understood where they were coming from because I could see that there was no team playing at all. When I first took the job, I told the administrator that he must guarantee that I would have 40 hours a week. I explained to him that I am a single mother with three children and could not afford to leave my job at the nursing home even though I didnt like it , if I wasnt going to get my 40 hours. He guaranteed verbally that I would get that and most of the time way more than that with overtime. He didnt lie. I was getting overtime like crazy. I couldnt help but complain to the girl that was training me some. Her training only lasted about a week then I was thrown in there all by myself. I guess I was just trying to make someone see that this job wasnt hard, it was impossible to do all that was asked of me or anyone for that matter.

Now here is where this all gets ugly. I was online one night looking at the classifieds in my hometown paper trying to help a friend whom is also a nurse find a job. Low and behold I ran across an add looking for an LPN and it was my docs office. I was floored. I knew there was only two nurses there in that building and the other nurse had no problems because her doc was old fashioned and didn't see pt's after 5p.m and was off on Wed's. Were they replacing me? what was the deal. I worked so hard in that office trying to do my job and I felt proud of myself that I was actually getting it done. I worked so hard to impress the administrator and my doctor. They ended up hiring a girl which was a CNA that was supposed to help with tasks such as answering nursing calls and taking messages etc.

Then that is when the other "new girl" was hired. This new nursing school grad that is only around 23 y.o gets the new LPN job. She ends up being kin to a lady that is contracted in our office to do our ultrasounds twice a week. The new girl has graduated school but has not taken the NCLEX yet and is not a licensed nurse. Not that it mattered but she is a bleached blonde with a nearly perfect figure and wears enough make up that it looks like shes headed to a rock concert. She has a snooty attitude about her and I knew the day I met her that my doctor would really go for her. I have over heard him in the break room several times make comments about perfect bodies on girls and how much he is attracted to certain types etc. I thought to myself, oh no here it comes. A new schedule was put out right after she came to work there. She ends up being put on my hall doing all the nursing duties and I was put in triage.

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. I was totally stripped of all the duties that I had worked so hard to impress everyone with. Now she was on the hall and I was triage? I sucked it up and just was thankful that I had my job. I looked for encouragement within myself. I thought ; maybe they are just training this girl for some relief with all of the patient load. His load is very very big. He has two nurses in his main practice and he sees just as many patients here as he does there. I remembered the promise that the administrator made me about my 40 hours and I felt relieved. This girl was still in school even. She was only working two days a week and she was living with her parents. She was hoping to get into R.N school later this year, so I figured she was just being trained all the way around in case we needed her with me. Boy was I wrong.

This past wednesday the administrator called me in his office and broke the news to me that he was cutting my hours. I asked him why. He said that revenue was the reason and that I was the highest paid person there *ONLY NURSE* may I remind you and that my hours were the first to be cut. Was anyone elses hours cut? NO! I instantly reminded him in a very mousy voice that the new girl was not even needed. The only thing I had requested in the past was a little help with the hundred phone calls I got each day and pulling charts etc. Some referrals would have been nice too. That is what the CNA was originally hired for but they put her doing other things in the office part dealing with insurance and checkout /reception work. I worked so so hard to impress everyone. It was nothing for 50 charts to be on my desk waiting on me on my administrative days and maybe 30 voice mails , let alone the tons of labs and phone calls I had to make and rx refills etc etc etc.

I asked him how much my hours would be cut. He said I would be cut down to two days a week. 16 hours! I could Not believe my ears. I am a single mom. I have three kids. He knew this. Why would he do this to me? well today took the cake. We were handed out a new schedule. My hours being cut is effective next week. The slot that is listed on the schedule as being the nurse position was filled up with the new girls name. I was put in the triage column of the schedule for a measely 16 hour work week. She has been made full time. She took my job from me right in front of my eyes. Right in front of my face. She has even made reference to she couldnt wait to start work at the hopsital. She said she wanted to work in the O.R. I made a point to him about this. I had this job for a career. I was willing to stay as long as they would let me. I worked so hard! This is just a stopping post for her. She will move on eventually. Why did they cut me? I can remember running up and down the hall and being nervous all day about my work. She props up on counters and talks to the receptionist and never seems to get in a hurry. She swings her hips and just looks clueless to anything going on. She seems to worry more about her looks than anything. What will I do? I live in a small town. There is not much of a nursing opportunity here. I can only work certain hours. I reminded the admin that she the new girl lives home with her parents still and I have kids to support. I dont even know how the bills will be paid. I know my job performance was good. I worked so so so hard. Is there anything I can do? how can people be so heartless?

Specializes in ICU,ER.

I agree with the poster that said do not do her work for her.

I have seen her type come and go.

Trust me, she will go.

But probably the best advice would be to get out of that envirnonment completely. Even if they saw the err of their ways in this situation and give you your hours back, you can bet they will betray you again if they feel like it. I'd say Good Riddance.

About 7 years ago, I was called by my children's pediatrician's office and asked if I would come work for them in their satellite office that had opened the previous year and was growing so quickly, they needed another nurse. They only had one at the time. I loved the job I currently had at the hospital, but thought it would be nice not to have to work any nights, weekends, or holidays. I explained to them that I wouldn't be able to work past 5:30 each day so I could get back to pick my son up from the sitter. They said no problem and that Helen (the other nurse) would be grateful for any help she could get. I had to go in for an interview with the office manager just for formalities sake and explained the same to her and she also said that would be fine that I leave each day by 5:30. All went well with me leaving at that time for about 6 months. Then I was told by the office manager that I would have to stay until everyone left the office. I reminded her of our agreement and also pointed out that I came in each day 2 hours earlier than the other nurse. She said things have changed and I will now have to stay as long as it took each day. Well, I was determined that I was sticking to my guns about our agreement and if they wouldn't stick to their part of it, I would not stay. So, I turned in my resignation with notice and have been so glad I did. My point in all this is that I learned that any kind of agreement such as this will always be put in writing from the get go because they'll tell you anything to get you to start working there, but may renig on it once they think they have you and their verbal agreement no longer works for them. This wasn't the only thing that got to me about working for them though. If my children were sick, I had to bring them to work with me and stick them in the "teen room" to spend the day. If they got sick at school, I had to go pick them up from school (45 mins away) and bring them back to the office. I didn't like having to make my children spend all that time on an exam table in a boring room all day while I worked. It wasn't fair to them.

As for the other nurse, they'll soon see where they screwed up. If I were you, I'd get away from that office as quick as I can and let them realize their mistakes.

This job sounds like a nightmare - even before they brought on this new gal and cut your hours! They were working you to death. Maybe you didn't realize it yet, but I doubt you were paid enough for all you were expected to do.

My advice: Run, don't walk out of there! There have got to be better nursing opportunities for you.

Best of luck,

DeLana

WOW! What a harsh way to find out you are getting replaced et your hours cut. My first instinct is to say get out of there. But I too have three kids et am the main provider since my husband quit his job to start his own business. Very hard position to be in when things aren't great at your work. Believe me, I know. I would take my time that I was off et look for other options such as another job, or going back to school like one other post suggested. I know it is hard but believe me it is well worth it. And you can end up with a job where they really value you as an employee. And with your RN, there are much more options for you. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

Specializes in Med/Surg; Psych; Tele.

Immediately begin looking for another job, be it FT or PT. When you interview for the next job, you have a perfectly good reason to give them as to why you are leaving (they did not hold up their promise Re: your hours and you have a family to support). Despite their being the weasels that they are, leave out on a good note - do not burn bridges because you want a good reference from them. As hard as it will be, try to suck it up and continue to work the 16 hours/week until you find something else - less income is better than no income. Don't be afraid to take another PT job and keep working this one to make ends meet. If you live in a rural area (I think I read that you did), what about an urgent care facility - is there one of those nearby? They tend to have longer hours than MD offices and stay open on weekends, so you might have a shot at finding PT or FT at a place like that.

Also, I don't know how young your children are, but maybe you could have relatives stay with them for a time if possible. I say this because maybe you could do some local/regional travel nursing where you are only gone for a week or so at a time. Who knows? You might end up hitting it off with a really nice manager who takes an instant liking to you and hires you on permanently on the spot.

There is hope and this situation WILL work out - I know you're having a hard time seeing that right now. You are obviously a very determined lady as you made it through LPN school with 3 kids - YOU ARE GOING TO BE OK.

Please let us know how things are working out.

do not ding these people on your resume..simply state that your job became parttime and you need fulltime position

check back with the nh, home health, prn postions, anything as a stop gap to get some income..also you will meet a lot of people who may be able to hire you or steer you into a job

i know that md nurses have a variety of duties but you learned a lot there but walking away in good spirits is probably your best bet

The first thing i can say to is WELL DONE!!! for hanging on so long in a place with so little insight. They obviously had no idea what they had! Being a mum who has been in a VERY similar position to yourself (overworked & liking the work --> & under appreciated) ... try find a supplement income, try not to lose yourself in tears (but let them flow, they help with the healing) & let this little "blonde bombshell" prove herself as more than just a body. Try to befriend her but as they say... "keep your friends close & your enemies closer!" Best of luck & keep the faith~~!!

Specializes in Critical Care.

Call some nursing agencies in your area, you would double you pay and not have to work as many hours. Once hired elsewhere just quit.

Specializes in ub-Acute/LTC, Home Health, L&D, Peds.

I agree with not helping the other girl out. If she wants your job let HER do it. Also I have been a nurse for 17 years now and have learned the hard way not to give everything of myself to a job. You work so hard and you think you will get some loyalty for how hard you have worked but no in my experience you just get used...used up and they don't really care about how good of a job you have done or how hard you have worked. I worked home health full time. My husband broke his back so I was sole provider for my husband and two kids. For about 6 months I worked my rear off and loved the job. Then one day my supervisor hands me a paper and told me to sign it and give it back to her. I read the paper and it was changing my status from full time to part time. I said "Huh" to the supervisor and she said "Oh don't worry you will still get full time hours" Well great but you are taking away all my benefits. I talked to the owner of the agency and she said it was because I was the highest paid LPN they had. I said I would hope so since I had 15 years experience and the other 2 LPN's were new grads. But whatever then they told me I could either go on call or be laid off. I told them to lay me off. Then when I went in to sign my paperwork and give back my cell phone she wrote on the paperwork terminated I said no I am being laid off and asked her to change the terminology which she did. Long story short your job is a job not your life and don't expect loyalty, always watch out and stand up for yourself!! And always get any promises in writing!!! Good luck you sound like a great nurse!!

Get out. Find another job, even it is is not in nursing, then use that time to get your RN. THe more education you have the more valuable you become and the more versatile you can make your career. Those people are creeps. Get out.

Specializes in cardiac; adult medical.

do you really want to work in a place that does not support thier employee? you now see how this office function --was the pay that great? sound like you did not have much help or support to me why stay?? there are lots of nursing opportunity today try something else--if you stay at this pace you will be burn't out in a year or so.

Ok, this is a VERY LONG STORY. I am sorry. Please dont let this keep you from reading it. I am so hurt at what has taken place. I need some fellow nurses to guide me in some decision making please. I thank you all in advance for taking your time to read this.

I am a new LPN. I graduated last August and received my license in September. I went to work immediately for a nursing home. I was not happy there from the start. I had interviewed with a doctors office while still in nursing school but never heard back from them. One day when I was on a lunch break at the nursing home, I received a voice mail on my cell phone. It was the administrator that I had interviewed with at the doc office. I called him back and within minutes, he invited me to interview with the doctor that I would be working for that afternoon. I did just that and I landed the job. I was ELATED!

I was not at all prepared for what this job entailed. The practice that I went to work for has two main doctors. Each doctor has their own nurse. The doctor that I went to work for uses this office as his satellite office. His main office is 50 miles up the road. He comes to our office on Mon, Wed, Thurs. On Monday, he doesnt get there until after he sees his pt's in his main office. He arrives at our office at around 4 p.m and will stay until around 9:30 p.m. I was told when I first took the job that I would be working late hours two nights a week. My duties were Mon, Wed, Thurs when my doc was there I was his primary nurse. (his only nurse) I would stand guard in the hall while he would breeze in a room do his thing and come out with a boat load of duties for me.

I would write all the prescriptions for him, follow orders for EKG's, Holter monitors, Injections, wound care, prepare the room for DRE's, Paps etc..Nursing stuff. I was also responsible for scheduling ultrasounds of any kind, Filling out paperwork for the pt's lab work and what they needed, coding it for insurance purposes (ICD-9 codes), doing their Flu tests, Strep tests, A1C's, UACR's, CBC's, UA's etc etc. This all had to take place right then as he come out of the room. By the time I was done with all of this, it was time to check out the next patient. This is a very busy doc with a huge patient load. When he was done seeing a patient he would write his orders in the chart such as ..schedule this patient with Dr. X for reason X etc..that chart would then be taken to check out and then would be sent back to my office and placed on my desk for the following day.

When my doctor wasnt there on Tuesdays and Fridays I was strictly administrative nursing. I get to my office and begin working on my stack of about 50 charts that were there on my desk from all the patients the day and night before. My duties on administrative days included scheduling all appts with other doctors that my doc referred them to, doing referrals for insurance, scheduling CT's, MRA's, MRI's, Physical Therapy, calling in all medication, faxing pharmacies with refills, reviewing labs from the day before, prioritizing Pro Time Labs, calling patients with results of tests, documenting, charting etc . During the day I would get calls from our patients constantly wanting to discuss this or that or get a med called in, I would get walk ins wanting to discuss meds or needing labs done that they didnt do the night before or whatever. I would have to stop in the middle of my doing a zillion things and tend to phone calls and pull charts to handle each event. This would pull me away from my main responsibilities.

This job was NOT EASY. This was one of the hardest jobs I have ever had. The pressure was so intense to get EVERYTHING done and I was the only one doing it. But I LOVED THIS JOB! After all the clinicals in nursing school and all the places I didnt feel at home with, I had FINALLY found my NITCH! I was actually being trained by a girl in the office that wasnt even a nurse. She wasnt a M.A or a CNA even, she had just been there for a while. She would show me how to do things but she wouldnt actually help. I wondered how on earth one person was expected to do all of this plus why is it that a patient can call the dr's office and the nurse get paged on the spot? I have never known of another office like this. The phone was like working in a call center and the pages were not stop over the P.A. I began to get impatient and would complain to the girl that was training me. I explained to her that I could not get anything done. I even went to my doctor and explained this to him.

He went to office staff and explained that when he wasnt there that I was the highest ranked person and I was allowed to get help with minial tasks such as phone calls and messages being taken and charts being pulled etc. As soon as the doc would leave and go back to his main office, everything that had been said was out the window and things were back to the way they were the day before. I couldn't believe the pressure but I was doing it. The girl that was training me was a snitch. She and the office manager were kind of friends I guess you could say. The office manager had been there 20 years and seemed to be two faced as all get out. I would catch her whispering around about this one and that one everytime I come face to face with her. She tried to micro manage everyone including myself. I felt as if I could not please these people. I was working so hard to do everything but I just had no help. I had been told that nurses never lasted in that position that I was in. Even my pt's would ask me how long I was going to put up with the pressure there. Some of the pt's had been coming for years to that one clinic and they would tell me how many nurses they had seen come through and couldnt take the heat and would leave.

I actually understood where they were coming from because I could see that there was no team playing at all. When I first took the job, I told the administrator that he must guarantee that I would have 40 hours a week. I explained to him that I am a single mother with three children and could not afford to leave my job at the nursing home even though I didnt like it , if I wasnt going to get my 40 hours. He guaranteed verbally that I would get that and most of the time way more than that with overtime. He didnt lie. I was getting overtime like crazy. I couldnt help but complain to the girl that was training me some. Her training only lasted about a week then I was thrown in there all by myself. I guess I was just trying to make someone see that this job wasnt hard, it was impossible to do all that was asked of me or anyone for that matter.

Now here is where this all gets ugly. I was online one night looking at the classifieds in my hometown paper trying to help a friend whom is also a nurse find a job. Low and behold I ran across an add looking for an LPN and it was my docs office. I was floored. I knew there was only two nurses there in that building and the other nurse had no problems because her doc was old fashioned and didn't see pt's after 5p.m and was off on Wed's. Were they replacing me? what was the deal. I worked so hard in that office trying to do my job and I felt proud of myself that I was actually getting it done. I worked so hard to impress the administrator and my doctor. They ended up hiring a girl which was a CNA that was supposed to help with tasks such as answering nursing calls and taking messages etc.

Then that is when the other "new girl" was hired. This new nursing school grad that is only around 23 y.o gets the new LPN job. She ends up being kin to a lady that is contracted in our office to do our ultrasounds twice a week. The new girl has graduated school but has not taken the NCLEX yet and is not a licensed nurse. Not that it mattered but she is a bleached blonde with a nearly perfect figure and wears enough make up that it looks like shes headed to a rock concert. She has a snooty attitude about her and I knew the day I met her that my doctor would really go for her. I have over heard him in the break room several times make comments about perfect bodies on girls and how much he is attracted to certain types etc. I thought to myself, oh no here it comes. A new schedule was put out right after she came to work there. She ends up being put on my hall doing all the nursing duties and I was put in triage.

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. I was totally stripped of all the duties that I had worked so hard to impress everyone with. Now she was on the hall and I was triage? I sucked it up and just was thankful that I had my job. I looked for encouragement within myself. I thought ; maybe they are just training this girl for some relief with all of the patient load. His load is very very big. He has two nurses in his main practice and he sees just as many patients here as he does there. I remembered the promise that the administrator made me about my 40 hours and I felt relieved. This girl was still in school even. She was only working two days a week and she was living with her parents. She was hoping to get into R.N school later this year, so I figured she was just being trained all the way around in case we needed her with me. Boy was I wrong.

This past wednesday the administrator called me in his office and broke the news to me that he was cutting my hours. I asked him why. He said that revenue was the reason and that I was the highest paid person there *ONLY NURSE* may I remind you and that my hours were the first to be cut. Was anyone elses hours cut? NO! I instantly reminded him in a very mousy voice that the new girl was not even needed. The only thing I had requested in the past was a little help with the hundred phone calls I got each day and pulling charts etc. Some referrals would have been nice too. That is what the CNA was originally hired for but they put her doing other things in the office part dealing with insurance and checkout /reception work. I worked so so hard to impress everyone. It was nothing for 50 charts to be on my desk waiting on me on my administrative days and maybe 30 voice mails , let alone the tons of labs and phone calls I had to make and rx refills etc etc etc.

I asked him how much my hours would be cut. He said I would be cut down to two days a week. 16 hours! I could Not believe my ears. I am a single mom. I have three kids. He knew this. Why would he do this to me? well today took the cake. We were handed out a new schedule. My hours being cut is effective next week. The slot that is listed on the schedule as being the nurse position was filled up with the new girls name. I was put in the triage column of the schedule for a measely 16 hour work week. She has been made full time. She took my job from me right in front of my eyes. Right in front of my face. She has even made reference to she couldnt wait to start work at the hopsital. She said she wanted to work in the O.R. I made a point to him about this. I had this job for a career. I was willing to stay as long as they would let me. I worked so hard! This is just a stopping post for her. She will move on eventually. Why did they cut me? I can remember running up and down the hall and being nervous all day about my work. She props up on counters and talks to the receptionist and never seems to get in a hurry. She swings her hips and just looks clueless to anything going on. She seems to worry more about her looks than anything. What will I do? I live in a small town. There is not much of a nursing opportunity here. I can only work certain hours. I reminded the admin that she the new girl lives home with her parents still and I have kids to support. I dont even know how the bills will be paid. I know my job performance was good. I worked so so so hard. Is there anything I can do? how can people be so heartless?

I'll bet you were crying hard when you typed this, but hold your tears.

If I were you, I wouldn't want to stay there. Even if that little b*tch left, that office would still not be a healthy environment to work in. Remember, you have 3 children and they need you. You need a full time job IMMEDIATELY. Find some place that would appreciate your hard work. You will find it. After you get a job, save some money and do some investment: go do the RN program. You are a single mom with 3 children. You will get financial aids easy.

Best of luck!!!

+ Add a Comment