I Thought I'd Seen It All

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I am the DNS of a continuing care retirement community. We have a skilled facility and an independent living facility. One of the residents from the IL decided to speak to the ED about the 'problems' she thought we were having in the skilled facility. She's a nurse...yah..she went to school with Florence Nightengale...but has no family or any direct connection to any of the residents of the SNF. SO instead of telling her it's not her business, the ED gave her an audience and then told her I would be speaking to her about her concerns. I was so mad I almost slapped him. The unmitigated gall of a woman to try to dictate policy to us. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I make all the admission decisions based on bed availability, payer source, and clinical complexity of the resident. I denied an admission because I had no male beds. One of the people who lives in town called to berate me for not taking the admission. Mind you, she is not related to him and his not his health care proxy. She wrote a letter to the CEO and instead of telling her to pound sand because it is none of her business, he sent an email to the ED asking him what was going on. I'm done. Thanks for letting me spout off. I'll be looking for another job starting on Monday.

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Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU, Psych, Med-surg...etc....

I am so sorry. The CEO first off, should have never entertained this persons allegations because, as you pointed out, she is not family and there are HIPPA rules. She should have been told, "can't discuss- matter of privacy." I don't know what to say other than it is a shame that good caring nurses like you have to put up with crazy **** from the upper levels that have no clue what it is all about....Upper management (carpet people) kill me when they start sticking their nose into things that they have no idea what it is all about. They expect us (DNS) to make sure everything is fine, all beds are full, all care is the highest quality, all staff are happy, all positions are filled, and then ration this crap out because they have nothing better to do...sorry- I have had similar experiences and it just opened up an old wound...I am sorry for you...Good luck with whatever you decide.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS, Education.

Cape, So sorry this has happened to you. Have you spoken with the ED? Is ED the same as an administrator? I like Deb's term, "carpet people" :lol2: I would call them jackasses ! Are you really gonna resign? Please keep us posted. I will be thinking of you this weekend........:nurse:

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

yah....the ED is the same as administrator. As soon as I find another job, I'm out of there. Thanks for the good thoughts.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Politics is exactly why I went back to the bedside.........sigh............I guess carpet people have to find SOME way to justify their phoney-baloney jobs, eh?

So sorry, CapeCod, I know all too well where you are coming from, and the only answer I have is to get out of management entirely and go back to the floor, where the motto is "Keep 'em alive till 7:35". j/k

Seriously..........there are worse things than being able to turn over your keys at the end of the shift, go home, and not have to have your cell phone on 24/7 just in case something goes sideways at the facility. I highly recommend it for any burned-out manager who's sick of the politics and the general BS. :up:

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

This is crazy, you run a tight ship and it would sink without you, something is fishy,

I am sorry you have this, you deserve better,

I'll keep some good thoughts for you.

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Good luck with your job search. You are waiting until you find another job to leave. I once had a DON who hit the roof one time too many over the administrator's insistance on an inappropriate admission. She left on a Friday after forcing them to cut her check. Hopefully you will find something where they are more reasonable.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

If it were 2 years ago, I would have quit right there and then but in this economy I don't want to quit until I have another job. I really hope none of my co-workers read the posts on this site!

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Well, if your coworkers read about this, they should not go running to the boss to tell tales. It might end up backfiring on them someday if they do. Again, good luck getting a new job. I can certainly understand your frustration.

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

If your coworkers are smart they wouldn't get involved- after all what comes around goes around and they could be next.

Besides we have to stick together and support one another,

Based on what you wrote, you might be overreacting, the CEO might just be acting polite to return a favor, doesn't mean he is stupid enuf to fire you, Let your good work speak on your behalf, you have been such an asset to the facility, and it is always easy to criticize, just because he didn't defend you as he should have doesn't mean he didn't want to.

Why dont you put out feelers for better jobs but dont give your notice until you have one.

Keep your chin up, have confidence in yourself!

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Specializes in this and that.

Upper management (carpet people) kill me when they start sticking their nose into things that they have no idea what it is all about. They expect us (DNS) to make sure everything is fine, all beds are full, all care is the highest quality, all staff are happy, all positions are filled, and then ration this crap out because they have nothing better to do...sorry- I have had similar experiaences and it just opened up an old wound...I am sorry for you...Good luck with whatever you decide.

Carpet people :yeah::yeah::yeah:....thats why they fire me in my last job because if i had reported to certain upper management carpet people (ie DON/ADON) , the observation of elderly abuse would have been swept easily in the carpet......but i reported the case to dementia/alzheimers coordinator/educator who was"state trained" and then they started firing people including me before they investigate the incident .....

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