Does this make sense to anyone? LONG, sorry.

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

:angryfireI have just started a new job in occupational health. I took this job because I am in graduate school, pursuing a nurse practitioner's degree. I made very clear to the person who called to recruit me what my situation was and what my availability was before I agreed to take the position, which is per diem.

I should say first that this job is not hard. I love computers and I love nursing, and that is basically all I was told I would do, treat patients and chart in the computer, since I would be there for limited hours.

I have no problem with that at all.

The issues began after I had been there about a month. The supervisor had had the other nurses train me as to how to chart simple things and complex things like injuries, and I learned it fairly well. One day, as I am working on the project I was assigned, the supervisor came by and said, "Oh instead of that, you need to work on disability". I had never been shown how to do anything related to disability, and she and I were the only 2 there that day. So, I brushed it off, until she walked by again and said the same thing. At this point, I told her, "I was not trained on that yet. Can you show me how?". She walked off, and came back with a stack of papers, which she threw on my desk. The stack was titled "Work-Related Job Aid" and showed screen shots of the computer program I was to access. Problem was, I didn't have access to this program. While we waited for the access to be granted (which took 2 weeks), she would still had me things to put in under disability or under worker's comp, all things I had not been shown how to do. This went on for two weeks, "You need to be working on disability. Just pick a patient and play with it." Like I am going to know if i am doing right or wrong by playing with it. This was not a training program, this was real!

I finally asked her, "Can Cindy please stay up here after lunch and show me how to do this?" Cindy was the other nurse, who was assigned a "special project" down the hall. I was told no, that Cindy didn't know how to do that. The lady that did worked the days I did not, due to school, which I could NOT miss.

And so it went, every day, "You need to work on disability. You don't need to do that, you need to be working on disability."

Sorry for the length, but I have to ask, does this make sense? Does anyone on this board have the talent that, if you are berated and harassed over and over to be doing something that you have no idea how to begin to do, your brain suddenly clicks and "Oh!! I know how to do that now!" How the devil can I learn if the supervosor does not know how to even show me. How is handing me a sheaf of papers training? I appreciate any input, advice, or experiences.. Said supervisor is going to be out for a long time now due to illness, and although I would not wish illness on anyone, I have to say I am enjoying the peace for a while. Thanks.

That woman is nuts! Its almost funny. Can you imagine your name is in this pile of paper on a desk, and your info could be mishandled? I would just tell her next time that you decised to disable the idea of guessing at your work.

is it sensible to quit this job,while the boss it out on sick leave? youv'e worked there so short a time, u needn't mention it in your resum( u took some time off ,vacation, b/t jobs) on resume for next job. you were hired under false job description,so your justified. if you tell your next employer about the job(she doesn't know u,) u could come up looking bad(whiner, not open to change etc.) sue

Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

Oh, I don't know about quitting. I have told the woman I do not want to do case management (disability, work comp, etc. ) That was not what I hired in for. They can not get anyone to fill that slot, (who would train them?), so they just try to either throw you in or guilt you in. If she is not there, it's not so bad.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Sounds like she is trying to pass the buck to you, since she doesn't know how; if it is screwed up she can blame you. Do you have in writing what they originally agreed to hire you for? Did the supervisor have anything to do with hiring you?

I'd call the recruiter and tell her you are being pressured to do things you aren't qualified for nor willing to be trained for. If any of these disability claims get submitted for workman's comp or any other government repay, even unintentional poor coding can get the organization in big trouble.:nono:

Good luck! :behindpc::behindpc::behindpc:

I don't really see the supervisor as being the bad guy here. I think what she is simply trying to say is, "This needs to be done. No one here knows how to do it. Do you think you can figure it out on your own, that is train yourself, and get us going?" You are an employee, after all. She seems a little desperate because she keeps nagging you about it. You seem to be passive aggressive about the whole thing. Either take the job on and say, "I'm not sure how to do this, but I'm going to go through the materials you've given me and try to figure this out!" It's not rocket science. And, yes, I've had plenty of jobs where I had no idea how to do it and received no training and got no help from my supervisor. I remember once having a job where I had to audit travel vouchers for government contractors. All I was given was a giant manual written in governmentese explaining it. But instead of throwing up my hands I dug in and figured it out.

Why don't you see this as an opportunity. If you do take the job on, you may be able to earn equity with the organization/supervisor or you may be able to ask for higher pay/privileges because then you'll be the only one in the organization that knows how to do this! Let's say you learn how to do this inside/out. Then you tell them you need to work from home. You could be doing this on your own schedule!

On the other hand, not wanting to take this job on is perfectly okay. You're in school, your head is elsewhere, and you just want a relatively hassle free job. In that cas just be forthright and honest. Simply tell her straight out, "I wasn't hired to do this, I'm not interested in doing this, I don't feel comfortable training myself and I have other committments that prevent me from working more days here than I was originally scheduled." Believe me, after that conversation she's not going to bug you about it any more (although she may fire you -- but then it's not the job for you, is it?).

Or what about other options. You could bring a proposal to the supervisor to hire you as a consultant to learn the program and then train the other nurses, or provide an easy user manual for new hires and other nurses. And then give her a price you think is fair.

Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

I don't see the whol passive-aggressive side, but I have told her very clearly that I was not hired to to that job, nor do I want to, nor do I know how. She keeps coming back with, "Well, if we're going to keep you on days, you need to know how." Hello! The reason they need someone on days is because the last person they pulled this stunt on QUIT! I called her out of sheer desperation to ask if she could walk me through. She said that they did the exact same thing to her, right down to the stack of papers.

I have no interest in the whole consulting thing, I have no time for that. I'm under contract, so no negotiating for more pay. I'm just fed to the teeth with it and will probably quit after she comes back, if it continues. I can find something else, but I hate to job-hop. I'll be so glad when I get my degree.

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