omg. 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.
Actually in Delaware there are staffing mandates for both CNAs, and Nurses (can be a combination of RN and LPN but must have at least one RN) for Skilled Facilities, assisted living not a chance. And in Delaware the state can get your license for a no call no show if it can be deemed to have caused neglect (i.e. the facility is not able to replace and falls below the mandated staffing.) With a geniune no call no show that might actually happen, but the facility usually won't let that happen cause they will get dinged too.
Boy it does seem laws differ alot from state to state.
And in Delaware the state can get your license for a no call no show if it can be deemed to have caused neglect (i.e. the facility is not able to replace and falls below the mandated staffing.) With a geniune no call no show that might actually happen, but the facility usually won't let that happen cause they will get dinged too.
Boy it does seem laws differ alot from state to state.
Fcallicoat,
I have to believe that having one's license revoked for a no call-no show is next to impossible in any state...
If I live 30 miles from my job (a common occurrence) and I break down on a country road with NO traffic in sight, and my cell phone is at home, they can't take my license for that...Anyone could have a story...
Now a pattern of these (no call - no shows) might constitute abandonment...
Am I wrong?
Are they going to ask for my repair bill on my truck before deciding about my license status? Or a (passenger's) death certificate and my ER bill for the MVA that I was in?
abandonment is leaving one's assigned patient load...If I don't make it in...
and using a mandated staffing law against a nurse would be unconstitutional, and against the spirit of the law...The law is to protect patients from INSTITUTIONS that are trying to save money by cutting staff, thus increasing staff to patient ratios...the law doesn't hold the individual nurse responsible...
Oh I wasn't saying it was probable, just possible. I've never heard of anyone actually loosing their license for it. It is written in there, but it is next to impossible to prove. I am talking they would have to prove actual neglect occured due to understaffing. And like I said the facilities would get dinged as well so most would have the DON as supervisor or pay an agency LPN to work as a CNA if that was what was needed. No facility administration in its right mind would allow a situation like that to occur.
While I agree that there must have been more to the story, I have seen "no call no show" listed in the State BON flier as grounds for disciplinary action against a nurse in Nebraska.
I was not trying to say that what the original poster did was wrong, in fact, I would have probably done the same thing. However, I would have also practiced some CYA nursing by contacting the BON about the situation before a vengful DON did.
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!
In Pennsylvania, if you refuse to go to work for a shift, it is grounds for disciplinary action, but not for losing ones license. In PA you can loose your license for abandonment which is leaving a place of employment when there is no one comming to care for the patients, which is our number one goal.
My Suggestion for what it is worth:
When you meet with the Administrator, be calm. The DON I am sure has already stated that your blood was boiling.
Become educated. Call the Department of Health and find out what exactly the staffing requirements are for your state.
State the facts, just the facts. Do not fall into a bickering match with the DON, he or she may be waiting for that reaction.
If you approach your concerns from the point of view of the patients and from a patient's perspective, you may be able to solidify your stance.
I DID have a meeting set up with the Admin. and DON, however, I called the DON again and she advised me that, since this incident (my refusing to be the only nurse for 67 residents), "other things" have come up.
I asked her what she was talking about.
She told me that she had a "signed statement from a CNA" that I did XYZ (all false.)
I know who she got it from and the CNA worked with me ONE time.
Anyway, what it boiled down to is that the DON was trying to justify firing me after-the-fact.
I'm sure she was busy all day, interrogating people "have you seen anything unethical out of her", etc.
She probably BACKDATED the statement to look at though I had had a warning before.
I've never had any problems there, no verbal or written warnings....just BOOM, you're fired.
When I realized what she was doing, it became very clear to me that the best thing I could do would be to cut my losses and move on.
What a disgusting state of affairs.
All because I was concerned about the residents.
I swear, I think THE ONLY WAY THE KEEP A NURSING JOB is to not give a d**n!
last night at work was the worst night i've had there since i started.
Berkeley
12 Posts
That's nursing homes for you.