Hey, Managers! What's up with the "weeding out" of good nurses?

[UM Review RN]

Recently there's been a spate of write-ups I've heard about that are basically bogus. Minor infractions that no one else would get written up over. I'm furious.

On the surface, it doesn't seem to be a big deal. But anyone who's been in health care can tell you--our nursing culture teaches us that bogus write-ups are a warning to get outta Dodge; it's useless to fight; easier to just change units.

So these nurses have all left for greener pastures.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the nurses were targeted because they earned more than new grads. Because coincidentally, there are a few new grads on each of these units, and the basic "numbers" of the nurses has not changed. In years.

So 'fess up, Managers, what's the deal? Is this what really is happening out there? Is your budget such that it looks better for you to keep the new grads rather than the experienced nurses? Do you use bogus writeups to "encourage" certain nurses to leave?

Or is something else afoot here?

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

I know of someone who has been targeted by Directors. She is a Manager, not a floor nurse. When evil people decide to do evil things, it really doesn't matter who you are. If you are their target, you're done. They will keep after you until they run you into the ground and you leave. This usually happens when management has a "click" and no particular leader who knows what they are doing. It becomes a pack mentality. As for my friend, she will be on to bigger and better things. Why? Because she is good, and THAT is what they are afraid of.

Describes the classic Bully Boss. I have looked evil in the eye and it isn't pretty.

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

doesn't matter.

if 'they' want you gone, there's no saving yourself.

you're a goner.

leslie

:yeahthat:

I found that out the hard way eleven days ago.

When I was accused of "not meeting productivity" and countered with documentation that I had not received the promised necessary training to perform the job for which I was hired for, I was fired.

I should have ran for the hills the first week, when the TCM working in the cube next to me told me that she had just been assigned 800 case

files to clean up. Never mind that she was also receiving triage calls on her line at the rate of 15-20 per hour :uhoh21:

It was obvious from the getgo that this company was in desperate straits to begin with, and had NO plans to train me, contending that from day

one "I was supposed to be processing 25-30 cases per day". Yet this expectation was not conveyed to me until two days before I was canned.

And I was too blind to realize what this Manager was up to, when he passed by me the day before, with this epitath: "Take care of yourself".

But where was he, when I got "the call"?

:sofahider

You guessed right.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

I am absolutely certain that what Angie O'Plasty describes does happen, in nursing and every other field under the sun. It sickens me.

I know of at least 2 people who have been terminated and/or denied advancement in their positions because their families "over-utilized" health care benefits. These family members weren't hypochondriacs, but needed legitimate treatment for serious health conditions. Neither case involved the actual employee, so absence from work wasn't the issue, either.

There ought to be a special place in he** for those who terminate employment because a family member utilizes the very benefits the employee has EARNED.

Another argument for a single payer health care plan.

[rehab nurse]

Well, I was FIRED over 8 months ago for giving a pt xanax and restoril prn as ordered. I think it was because of my HIGH hourly wage and the fact that my Health insurance rate had gone WAY down! Was told that I had problem with "oversedating" my patients. Yet nothing was ever mentioned in my most recent evaluations, the last one being less than two months from the date that I was fired. Took me 2 months to find another job. The new grads were making 7 dollars LESS an hr than what I was making.

The boss used an 'incident', if you want to call it that, to have me fired. I attest to this day that I did nothing wrong. Even got unemployment benefits, so obviously the state felt that nothing wrong had occured either.

I miss my former colleagues, I miss the technology, but I don't miss the toxic environment.

nurselou, i know exactly where you're coming from. my DON actually suspended me the first week of her job when she found out *GASP* that as a 3-11 nurse, i gave my patients the PRN's they requested. one such order was for vicodin 5/500 one tab, ambien 5mg one tab, and a SCHEDULED hs Xanax 0.5mg. They claimed the same thing. No one else does that! they said. Well, of course day shift and midnights don't give HS meds. The 3-11 nurse does. Who's the 3-11 nurse? ME! The patient had orders for all of the above, and got the same thing, night after night.

It's such a joke that nurses get disciplined for giving patients their ordered meds, or the ordered PRN meds that they REQUEST. Nothing in the order said, "don't give ambien if giving a xanax", or "don't give this if you're giving that". It's such a joke.

I'll be glad when I am out of that place. They are just trying to find something, anything that they can fire me for. All because I "take too much medical leave". Well, that's a federal law, and there's nothing they can do about it. Oh, and of course I'm top of my pay scale, use a ton of benefits since becoming ill, and have been there longer than anyone else. Been through three sets of management in just five years. Went from no citations, to regular state visits due to complaints about poor care, understaffing, etc. Like I said, I'll be glad to leave.

I haven't been fired yet, but I know it's in the works. Even the docs told me "to watch my back". Totally pathetic management.

[TazziRN, RN]

This is not the first time a student has made a comment on a vent thread about scaring them off. We are not here to scare students off, we are here to vent. Before you jump to conclusions, do a search about how many of us love our jobs in spite of the boolchit. Students and pre-students are more than welcome here, but please don't assume that the licensed nurses at a nursing forum have a plan to scare you. Not to be mean, but "How can I scare a student today?" is not the first thought in our minds when we post.

[jenni82104]

So, is it better to quit, or make them fire you?

[TazziRN, RN]

Dunno.....sometimes it looks worse to be a quitter than to be fired.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

So, is it better to quit, or make them fire you?

I think it would depend on the situation.

If you are a new grad, mistakes are predictable, and write-ups will happen. A new grad's approach to a counseling or a write-up should be to show a willingness to take responsibility, learn, apologise, and move on.

In fact, insofar as new grads are concerned, I would just file away this information, but it really cannot apply to you by virtue of the fact that you are too new.

This thread is really directed to the more experienced nurses, ones who have proven themselves to be of good calibre, and who have worked for years in their specialty without a problem.

Sorry if you new grads feel that by discussing this topic, you're going to be scared away from nursing--and I hope you please take this in the spirit in which it is intended, because I know it's going to sound pretty harsh--but if all it takes to scare you away from nursing is a thread on an Internet BB by someone you've never met before, well, I have to think that maybe you weren't too committed in the first place.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

so, is it better to quit, or make them fire you?

i guess it depends upon the situation. i'd opt for finding a new job first, then quitting -- that would be the smartest thing. we don't always do the smartest thing, though. personally, this last time, i got angry and quit a week before christmas. (what could i do -- my house sold immediately!) i moved 3000 miles without a job, telephone interviewing with travel companies as i drove cross country with all my worldly goods. i landed on my feet.

[JenNJFLCA]

I think the system sets us up to fail, to be honest. Some people will exploit that to their advantage, and thus we have the situation that the OP presented. I have had my license for a little over a month and truly admire all the nurses that have stayed on the floor for so many years. I don't know if I'll last more than 5....I love being a nurse and am proud of my accomplishments, but it's going to be hard for me to stay working in hospitals where I see patients suffering because of the inefficiency of the health care system. I don't know if I'm really helping these people or improving their quality of life.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

new grads make less money, are usually more malleable, afraid to speak up, often have fewer health issues, what's not to love. Keep them till they start to "command" more money and then push them out and bring in some more new grads. Ever wonder why there are so many "new grads" at the bedside. And of course they burn out after a couple of years. Hopefully they won't leave nursing completely, but it seems like a lot do.The whole new grad thing is causing a little problem on my floor now because 80 percent of them are pregnant. I don't know how we are going to staff soon.

Exactly, exactly. You think mgmt would see some of the advantages of older nurses. For one thing, many of us will never have to take a maternity leave!

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Exactly, exactly. You think mgmt would see some of the advantages of older nurses. For one thing, many of us will never have to take a maternity leave!

Sorry, just had to respond . . . I'm an older nurse (49) with a 5 year old I gave birth to. :wink2:

Actually, the newer nurses I see are less apt to take the crap that older nurses did when they first started.

At least in my experience.

steph