I Don't Think So!

Published

omg. :o last night at work was the worst night i've had there since i started.

from twelve midnight until five am, i was the only nurse in the place.

not even a med tech.

omg, i got so mad.

i called a nursing agency, but of course who's going to come out at midnight?

they overstaff the dayshift and leave nothing at night. this was the first time i have ever been there without another nurse and it's going to be the last.

it isn't safe.

there are at least sixty residents.

i told them this morning that, if they didn't get or find somebody (another nurse, be it lpn or rn) to work third shift w/me, that i would not be in.

then at 2:30 pm, this smarmy lpn called here and said i needed to make up my mind "because a no-call, no-show" wouldn't look good on my license!

how dare she threaten me like that!

in the first damned place, that has nothing to do with your nursing license.

i could walk off jobs from here to eternity and it wouldn't affect my license.

but the very idea.

instead of waiting to work with me tonight, when she already knew we would be short, she works today, then calls me and runs out of the bldg. before i could return her call!

as soon as i got it (on callwave), i called work and the b.itch had already left, so i called her house and left a message for her.

then i called work again and told them what she had done, and they said "well, we still haven't found anybody."

they had 3 nurses on days and at least 3 med techs; then expect me to do the whole house by myself after midnight ~ i don't think so!

so i said, "okay, then if and or until you all find somebody to work with me tonight, i am deathly ill and will not be in."

they don't even need to think they are going to pull that stuff on me ~ not for one second.

they just recently dropped all the insurance ~ i was planning to get that, except now you can't even get insurance there!

sometimes i wonder if i wouldn't be better off not working! hahahaha!

my fiance is supposed to work this week, though, and i get my check friday.

i am going to start looking around elsewhere if they are going to try to make me work alone; i won't do it. it isn't safe ~ not to mention fair.

i mean, putting "fairness" aside; it isn't safe for the residents.

they need at least an rn and an lpn there, around the clock, and hopefully a med tech.

they don't even need to start that stuff with me; i've been a nurse too long to take it. i won't.

>:(

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

Wow, way to take a stand.

Now the question is who gets to work the night and will they have the guts to call you up to help them, or will they do it alone?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i wouldn't have stayed and worked last night but i mistakenly thought the lpn who was there was staying all night.

as i said, she left at twelve a.m. ~ issuing this hearty reassurance to me on her way out the door:

"if you need anything, just call ~ i live right down the road!"

how big of her.

unfortunately, if someone codes it a bit late to call someone and wait for them to arrive.

i was mad last night at the position i was placed in.

as got what they did tonight? i haven't the faintest idea.

no one called me and i didn't call them to ask.

but i knew that the nurse(s) who were there couldn't leave unless somebody was coming in, so i wasn't putting the residents in any jeopardy.

if they had called me and told me they had help for me i would have went in because i need the money.

i don't know what they did, have no idea....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My passive-aggressive side would have taken over.

I would have told the supervisor that I would work alone only if I was allowed to clock in one hour early , and do no hands-on nursing care until my shift, but use that hour to prepare for what I needed in order to be there alone. Then I would have spent that hour methodically calling the residents' emergency next of kin #s to ask if it was possible for them to come sit with their relative overnight because "I will be the only nurse here for 60 residents, and I don't feel that it is safe".

Then before the beginning of my shift, I would turn in my two weeks resignation.

Bet they wouldn't staff so poorly for that two weeks. And even if they did, I bet there would be fewer residents to care for!

It doesn't hurt to fantasize anyway.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Everything except surgery.

:chuckle I like the way you think jemb!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

LOL!

Well, I realize you were just joking but I DO need to be able to get another job.

Not to mention, if you called alot of these folk's families and told them there would "only be one nurse", they'd probably ask you what the problem was......LOL.

I swear, NOTHING surprises me anymore.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Don't personalize that they are trying to pull something on you as it was the first time. But taking a stand and deeming it unacceptable and looking for another job should definately be on the adgenda, since they are going to keep doing it.

Were you the only person scheduled and they didn't try to find someone, or did someone call in.

Is there some state regulatory agency that should know about this? Are there state or JACHO requirements as to what is considered safe staffing?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

well, i guess they told me, lol!

i called work this morning to talk to the don and she fired me over the phone.

"don't personalize it"...okay.

anyway, i don't care. i would do exactly the same thing as i did, the same way. i didn't do anything wrong.

time to look for another job.

all the nurses i worked with and the cnas will give me good refs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Well now then you can personalize it.

(But I guess saying "Find someone or I'm deathly ill" made then fire you and put them on the hunt and they found either one fool to take your place, or two. )

Sorry. Good luck in finding a place that doesn't put you in between a rock and a hard place. If they would rather loose employees than deal with the real issue, it's their loss and they will continue to have problems. But that's not your problem. Best wishes.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Just an FYI,

No call, no show is grounds for losing your liscense. I think I would contact the BON about the situation before the DON does.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Robert

Up Vote Up Vote ×

~Hello~

I didn't do that, though.

I did tell them. Three times.

So they can't say that I did that.

I've already talked to two nurses I worked with and they both enthusiastically agreed to give me good refs.

Really, the only long-term employees of that place are folks who live NEAR IT and some of them don't have cars or licenses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Inpatient Acute Rehab.

:eek: I do not know what state you are from, but I imagine that the state laws governing staffing in health care residential facilities are pretty much the same in all states. The state law in Ohio mandates that there be at least one nursing staff member--be it a LPN, RN, or tech-- for every 15 residents at all times. It also further says that there has to be a nurse-- RN or LPN-- on at all times. An RN has to be on for at least 6 hours out of 24. If it is a skilled facility, an RN has to be available to come in when there is no Rn working. So with 60 residents, there should have been at least 4 nursing staff members on at all times!!! If the facility continues to do this, they can be fined thousands of dollars, maybe even be put on warning.

I blees you, and wish that more nurses had your determination!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion