i'm an lpn working in a geri/psych unit at a hospital in ne arkansas- been employed here since october and had 4 days orientation on the unit. previously i worked in a nursing home and before that worked at our family business. about 10 years ago, i worked at this same geri/psych unit for approx. a year, and oriented on the med/surg floor for a couple of days to do my iv therapy certification - not patient care. i had my first 2 stick done then had to quit my job to help out with our family business due to a disaster.
back to now: i came to work on monday morning, and our census was down to 2 clients on the unit. the house charge nurse called my rn and stated that they had 3 nurses call in on med/surg and i would have to go out there and work the floor. mind you, i've only been working here less than 90 days and have had absolutely zero orientation to the floor. i am not iv certified nor certified in cpr (i did my cpr certification on tuesday). my rn new my circumstances, as did my nurse manager when i hired on; they knew what i was and was not capable of doing. however, house charge came back to our unit and basically informed me that (quote)"you can either go work the floor or you can clock out and be charged with abandonment". he was very, very rude - he'd been working all night and just wanted to get home, i'm sure.
i asked him to please allow me 15 minutes to call my nurse manager and the program director, because we'd had this problem before with the floor pulling our nurses out - and we are required to have 2 licensed nurses at all time on the unit. (mazingly, when they try to pull nurses from the floor to help on our unit, they can refuse.) when i called the program director, she informed me that apparently on friday, administration changed our policy so that we only need 1 licensed nurse now on the unit, and that basically if i didn't go work the floor "you will be fired". (no one had informed the nurses of this change.)
i called my nurse manager, who better understood my situation, and she told me that "they can't do that!". she called the house charge and spoke to him, but he blatantly told her that i was either working the floor or he was sending me home. mind you, this entire time i'm trying to explain to this man that i have had no orientation to the floor, am not iv certified, etc..he stated to me that "if you're an lpn you know what to do - you can pass meds and give shots."
in short, i ended up having to float to med/surg, for fear of losing my job...shaking like a leaf and my cheeks stained from angry tears and full of embarassment. thank god my lpn instructor was working the floor as an rn and i worked under her. i was totally and completely lost as to what to do or how they did anything. she gave me the mar for 1/2 the hall and all i did all day - a 12 hour shift - was pass the meds. i thank god that i made no errors. it was the most nerve-wracking day i've had in years, and i ended up crawling in bed and crying myself to sleep thinking about how dirty they treated me (by making me float). this entire situation smells of illegality to me, but i've no idea what to do. the hourse charge nurse knew nothing about me, nor cared to listen to my concerns. he had even put me down for the code team that day! the rn i worked with that day was a saint, and helped me any way she could. she told me that i did a great job, regardless. i even had a chance to dc 3 iv's and started my first one on the first stick. that's the one good thing about that day. i did every thing that was asked of me, and more. the nurses i worked with were so apologetic about me being pulled out there; they were eager to help with my questions didn't mind showing me what to do. i'm grateful for that.
if anyone can please tell me what i can do to keep this from happening again, i would greatly appreciate it. i would like to make a complaint but am not sure of how to start. 2 weeks ago, i had gone to the nursing secretary requesting some orientation days on the med/surg floor, mainly because every nurse had warned me that they would do this to me. she had not scheduled me any orientation days yet. it's not like i don't want to work over there - i don't mind! i just want to know what to do and how to do it right....it's a matter of principles. it's not right to do that to a nurse, especially when that nurse wouldn't mind helping out when needed. i've even called the nursing secretary again to ask for orientation days. now they've got me so pissed off i could care less how short they are the next time. my husband wants me to quit my job and sue the hospital....as if we could actually afford an attorney. i can't keep the bills paid as it is now, and i fear that if i raise cain about what they did they will fire me anyway and force me to pay back the incentive pay they paid me to hire on there and work a year. please, anyone........any advice???????????????
