Hostile work environment - considering breaking contract - any thoughts?
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I apologize if this gets too lengthy, but could sure use some nursing/career advice! I am 40 years old, went back to school a few years ago to become a nurse. I graduated in December, passed the boards in January, and found my first nursing job in February. I am an RN, and while I am a new nurse, I have worked in health care for the last 20 years. My new job, which I've only had for a bit over 3 months now, is in a small long-term care facility that has only 33 residents. I did not take a job in LTC just so I would have a job - I actually very much like the geriatric population and had worked as an activity director at a great facility for about 5 years, and really came to love this population, so much of my job search was focused on LTC.
So I was offered the job - it's full time, and the hours work well for me and my family. I also liked the fact that the home is really small - I felt like I'd really be able to get to know my residents and their families (which I have). But since I am a new grad, the company (which owns other facilities too) made me sign a 2 year contract and if I leave before the 2 years is up, I will have to pay them $5000 - supposedly that is the cost of training a new grad. I am kicking myself now for signing it, but at the time I thought, well, it'll be a job for 2 years and when the 2 years is over, I'll have 2 years experience that I can take elsewhere if I so desire.
My first 5 weeks were spent at a different facility that is newer, beautiful, and very well staffed - they wanted me to get practice as a new nurse doing meds, etc., etc. It was great there - staff was great, I got comfortable doing meds, it's closer to my house - everything was great and I was loving being a nurse. Then I switched to my "home" facility, where I had one week of learning to do charge, then was completely on my own that next weekend. I have discovered that my boss, the DON, is really crazy, and I'm finding that I cannot spend 2 years working under this woman. The rest of the staff does not like her either and I have heard so many bad stories about her that it makes my head spin. She has been there for just over a year, and the long-term staff are just holding out that she'll leave soon, but staff morale is literally in the toilet. I've never seen anything like it.
Here are just a few examples of what I personally have witnessed/been a part of (but there is so much more!):
- DON does not like to do nursing care - on 2 occasions she wanted to look at wounds that I had to re-dress, and she would barely even go near the resident, much less even touch them. How can you be a DON if you don't like doing actual nursing care?
- She makes up fake names and puts them on the schedule - yes, it is true - to make it look like there is staffing and when I call the agency (which she loves to use), they have never even heard of these people. So almost every weekend, I am extremely understaffed.
- She doesn't know her residents at all - she came out of a room one day and told me that Mrs. Smith would like a grilled cheese instead of the fish. Mrs. Smith is dying and has been on hospice care and hasn't spoken a word in weeks, but her roommate Mrs. Brown asks for a grilled cheese every day. So I said, do you mean Mrs. Brown? She said no, Mrs. Smith. Me: Are you sure it's not Mrs. Brown? Her: No - Mrs. Smith. Finally I asked her which side of the room this person was on, and it was Mrs. Brown that she meant. (And there are more instances of this type of thing!)
- But the icing on the cake was this past Friday. She called me and a CNA (who is an excellent CNA, by the way - probably one of the best ones there) up to her office. She needed to speak to the CNA because she had not stayed past her shift one morning (she works 11-7) and we were short on the day shift, and she needed to be "spoken to." I was called up as a witness. Instead of being professional and telling the CNA that if we are short, it would be nice if she were able to stay in the future, the DON proceded to yell at her, telling her that "from here on forward, are you going to pick your job or your family," then told her that maybe she should "go work in a bank and not work in healthcare, as maybe those would be better hours." She also pointed her finger right in the CNA's face and screamed "I don't care, I don't care about your family!" I have never witnessed anything like it in my life, and if I had been the CNA I would have up and left right there and never come back. I was even considering walking out myself if this is her attitude about mothers who work in healthcare. I am a mother, and most of the women I know who work in healthcare are also mothers or have some sort of family - boy/girlfriends, parents, etc. There was more to this intimidating, harrassing, discriminatory one-sided screaming, but that is the crux of it.
Anyway, knowing that this is her attitude about mothers who work in healthcare (and yes, this woman is not a mother and is single - I wonder why), I am having a hard time making myself go back to work in there. The environment is truly hostile and I am so stressed out every day that I have to go to work, but I have this contract hanging over my head. My husband says there is no way I am paying that money if I leave, as I didn't sign up to work under such hostile conditions, so I have started looking for a new job. I did apply to the facility where I did some training, because if I stay within the company, I'd be able to keep up my end of the contract. But part of me doesn't even want to work for this company at all, if this is how one of their administrators acts. Anyone have any experience with this type of thing? Thank you!