This is more for my wife and me asking about her being an MA.
She started at a Clinic as an MA Float at 20-25 hours per week. Her Doctor was a complete ***** to say the least was yelling at her ( screaming ) in front of patients and would degrade her every chance she got.
I told her to complain about the Doctor. She did, they reprimanded the Doctor by talking to her and saying that was unprofessional. ( big *** deal ) So they moved my wife to Peds and floated between general and peds.
They said they didn't have a doctor slot open to put her in, so she would fill in where ever they could fill her.
My wife would see postings for MA with other doctors and she would ask her HR lady, after telling her that she wanted a position there, why she was never telling her about these open jobs.
Basically they ignored my wife about any positions, and told her the doctors didn't feel she could keep up and that they wanted more experienced people. ( load of **** because they hired a person who was an intern for a couple of the positions )
My wife was supposed to have a review 5 months ago and was told every 3 weeks, "Oh we are waiting on HR to send us all the paperwork from the other Hospital you were at ( same affiliation with the clinic )
Finally, today she got her review, and it was crap! They were saying she wasnt doing this or that and was told on several occasions about it. ( wife has never been written up or told she was doing anything wrong!
And all the while, everyone in the facility has pretty much shunned my wife with nothing but a hello.
So they were saying to her to her, well, there are no spots here. I think maybe you should just quit, because if we have to fire you, then it would look bad on your record.
*****!! So basically they are telling her to quit and it seems like ever since she complained about how badly the Doctor was treating her, they have shunned her and pushed her aside.
Now my wife is up in arms wondering what the hell to do! They made her sign her review, ( which after she did I text her and said don't sign anything )
Seems like they are trying to force her out, because if they fire her, they could end up paying unemployment or get sued for firing her for false items.
A certificate does not require continued education, for example, nor a renewal from a governing agency- a license does. Problem with MAs, is that with the now constant over supply of nurses, and the downward pressure on nursing wages- any office can now easily hire an LPN, for what an MA used to be paid. But an LPN is licensed, can do IV stuff, and etc. So they get more and more out of their staff, and pay less and less.
Also, Paul- FYI- the advice, comments, concern, and the like that the posters in this forum present do not portray the normal reality of healthcare, especially nursing. Nurses are the only professional group that fail to 'circle the wagons' to defend one of their own. It's quite the opposite. My theory why is that it is because the field is maybe 95% female (and used to be more like 100%). I can't offer any other explanation.
"I am not sure if it is a Cert or a Lic, so I apologize if do not know.*"
You should probably be sure of your facts before you state them. Certification does not = licensure. Licensure as MA (IF it exists) does not share any commonalities with nurses. You are likely searching for information on the wrong forum, sorry to say.
Nurse: "A Person educated and trained to take care of the sick or disabled". I think an MA qualifies as a 'nurse', as does a nursing assistant, caregiver, whatnot. Even a nanny can be considered a 'nurse'? I don't think the poster intended any pretense, he was merely trying to determine why the healthcare environment, as it is, appears to him as being...toxic? Also, there are lots of folks in this forum that are not 'nurses'...
Nurse: "A Person educated and trained to take care of the sick or disabled". I think an MA qualifies as a 'nurse', as does a nursing assistant, caregiver, whatnot. Even a nanny can be considered a 'nurse'? I don't think the poster intended any pretense, he was merely trying to determine why the healthcare environment, as it is, appears to him as being...toxic? Also, there are lots of folks in this forum that are not 'nurses'...
Oh.My. That's quite the viewpoint.
But we digress. The reason for questioning the licensure was to try to figure out if OP's wife would have any type of organization/malpractice insurance that could offer support to her, not to drive non-nurses off the forum.
However, make no mistake about it, the MA is in no way, shape or form, a nurse. Nor is a nanny.
Perhaps now is the time to look for a new position, even if it is per diem. Home Health comes to mind, hospice, LTC....
Sometimes, there are unions that are specific to MA's, and perhaps there is one in the facilites if your wife got a review. I would ask to be able to answer said review for personell file. I would also ask if there's a plan in place for improvement (which often accompanies a review of this sort).
To the rest, no legal advice due to TOS, however, I would look for a new job as opposed to getting caught up in this mess if I were your wife.
Have they cut her hours? If she can still work, even if they are shunning her, I would say she should stick it out but start looking for work elsewhere. It is a lot easier to find work when you already have it. She can also explain to prospective employers that she is currently working somewhere and they don't know she is looking, so they won't call to ask for references.
Don't let her quit. They are pushing for that so they don't have to pay for unemployment. As far as unemployment, I highly doubt the review will deny her benefits. If it plays out like that and she is fired and they try to fight the unemployment the burden will be on them to prove she was such a horrendous worker that there was no other alternative. They would also be required to appear before the appeals panel to state their case. Some employers can't be bothered with that so the benefits usually go through.
Also, I don't know why she would be worried about being fired and not being able to be re-hired with them. This place does not sound like a good fit for her. I think the problem is complaining about the other doctor. I'm not saying people should be treated that way, but doctors talk and word might get around that your wife is a "trouble maker" and black list her from working with other docs. I think the best scenario would be to get a job elsewhere and then quit.
Sorry to hear it has played out this way. Good luck.
Thanks everyone for the comments, I know in the IT world, women ( no offense to anyone ) are sharks. They would kill their own young that is how vicious they are. That being said, I told her last night not to quit, just as you guys have pointed out, because they are trying to get her to quit. The issue is that she is now floating between doctors and non of the Doctors now want here and I am pretty sure it is because of the Old Girl/Boy Network of "she is a complainer" so I told her to tough it out and find something elsewhere.
One funny thing is, that she was also written up at the sametime, and the write up stated nothing but "She asks too many questions and doesnt seem to retain anything" statements. Funny, she works 2 days a week, for the last six month, and yet they reached all the way back to her first week and put it in her write up, funny they never mentioned it or wrote her up before. Now the document says, Final Warning?! Wow, they are really vicious and I told her to talk to her HR person and say they never provided a first warning, how can this one be the last, when clearly, you have to be repeat offender of procedures before they give you a final warning. Office Politics in Nursing must be terrible. I am sure not in all places, but wow! Thanks everyone!
In reading through this thread, I was thinking through ways to tell the OP what I am thinking without offending. And I'll do my best, but perhaps will annoy anyway.
Paul, as the husband of the person in the situation, you have no objectivity. You are there to support your wife, as is expected in marriage. But it does not allow you to have a full, total picture of both sides of the story...and I can assure you there is another side.
You are not in a position to watch your wife work, see her interactions with others on the staff, both equal to her position as well as her superiors. You know and love her OUTSIDE of the workplace, but it's not uncommon to find that people are a bit different on the job as opposed to at home.
She may, in fact, be a fabulous worker who is being railroaded by an angry MD. Or, she may be a less-than-stellar employee who has put the final nail in her coffin with this complaint. Are they looking to get rid of her for one misstep? Perhaps, but it's more likely it's the end of a string of missteps (probably of varying degrees of severity).
She may have never been slated to stay at this job for terribly long, as she may not be the fit that they want. That's not to say that she's not perfect for another spot in another facility, but HERE she isn't.
What to do? Have her start looking for another job asap, if she isn't already on it. At some point they probably WILL fire her, unemployment be darned. But rather than find herself fired and unemployed, or quit (without unemployment compensation), take the opportunity to get a job elsewhere.
SuzieVN
537 Posts
A certificate does not require continued education, for example, nor a renewal from a governing agency- a license does. Problem with MAs, is that with the now constant over supply of nurses, and the downward pressure on nursing wages- any office can now easily hire an LPN, for what an MA used to be paid. But an LPN is licensed, can do IV stuff, and etc. So they get more and more out of their staff, and pay less and less.