Has anyone else experienced this? I just accepted a new position in an acute rehab facility. During the interview I was told that I would be replacing someone who wanted to work a different schedule within the company. I was also told that I would only rarely have to stay past my scheduled shift but that most days I would get out on time. I told the interviewer that I will work my five days each week but do NOT want to be called on my days off, as I am not interested in any overtime and she said she would make a note of it and wrote it down.
I am now a few days into orientation and I have learned from the other nurses in the facility that a.) I am replacing a nurse who got fed up with the working conditions and left the company without a two week notice, b.) I will end up having to stay over the end of my shift pretty much every time I work in order to get everything done, and c.) I received a phone call this morning at 6:30 where I was pressured to come in and work to cover a call off, even though I told the caller that I do not want more than five days a week and I am still on orientation to boot. She was not very happy when we hung up.
I feel duped and scared that I have gotten myself into something that I will regret. I do not appreciate being lied to and I think it was unethical to do so. Part of me wants to run before I get in any deeper and part of me feels like I need to stick it out, except that I'm worried that I will decide to do so only to find that I am constantly pressured into picking up overtime, being forced to stay over, and getting nagged to come in on my days off, in which case I will kick myself for not getting out right away. I am not afraid to say NO to the requests for overtime, but if this is an ongoing thing, it will make my life miserable anyway.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate your feedback.
I did receive an email a couple of days ago from a dialysis facility of one of the Big Two dialysis companies that is literally two minutes from my house (I have a year and a half of recent dialysis experience with that same company) and it is a dream schedule: MWF 5:30-5:30 with no weekends. I would jump on this opportunity in a New York minute except that my work ethic tells me that since I committed to the rehab position, I have to try to stay and make it work. This dialysis company was not bad at all to work for, and I regret leaving. If I had it to do over again, I would not have given up my position with them, and now they are contacting me with this position that I could almost walk to!
It's really hard to commit to the rehab facility after being lied to, that is the problem, plus I actually did tell the dialysis manager when I replied to her email that I had accepted a position at this facility and had already worked a few days. If I contact her today and ask if she is still interested in me for the dialysis position, will she not think that I am a flip flopper and disloyal? If not, I could be tempted into pursuing the dialysis job.
Your gut is telling you that this job is going to end up being a bad deal. You now have an opportunity in front of you to work for a company you know doing work you know on a schedule that suits your lifestyle. What is there to think about?
Accept the dialysis job, give the rehab job notice, and move on. Why make yourself miserable? You don't owe that job anything, and it's highly unlikely that things are going to get better there.
Your gut is telling you that this job is going to end up being a bad deal. You now have an opportunity in front of you to work for a company you know doing work you know on a schedule that suits your lifestyle. What is there to think about?
Accept the dialysis job, give the rehab job notice, and move on. Why make yourself miserable? You don't owe that job anything, and it's highly unlikely that things are going to get better there.
It's time to beat feet.
I agree. There is no ethical reason for you to stay that I can think of so give notice, accept the dialysis job, and rest easy that you did nothing wrong.
I am so disheartened reading this, awful that within a profession that is so highly trusted by communities and requires that level of trust someone would so blatantly mislead/lie to you about the conditions of employment and working conditions when you clearly asked very specific and detailed questions. Sorry you are having to deal with this.
It is rather hypocritical that employees are allowed to be lied to in a interview yet if we lie, we risk loosing are jobs. I used to be a rehab nurse and it takes a special type of person to do that type of nursing. I knew after reality set in that I needed to get out of that type of nursing. The FIM scoring drove me crazy and all of the endless charting as well, because their was never enough time to do it. I didn't realize that the acuity of the patients would be what it was either. Most of the patients I cared for really had no business being in the facility. They should have been on a medical surgical floor. I didn't leave until I was hired somewhere else. Just start looking for something else. It most likely won't get easier. You will adjust to the position but the work will be tiresome and the demands of the job will only increase. There were many times that I couldn't move my body so I could get out of bed and go to the bathroom, on my off days. I was always asked to come in for overtime but I always said no. I knew what my focus and goal was and I didn't stray from it. Some of the nurses would get nasty with me for not coming in on my days off but I told them I would do it after I finished school. I recently had a friend that works at this place tell me that she went in on her day off to work extra but the place is refusing to pay her the overtime money.
Been there, done that, got the scrub top. It took me a few hard knocks to figure out that I don't owe a dangerous workplace a darn thing. DO think of whether you are burning any bridges - e.g. never being eligible for hire with that company again, possibly needing to put that info on your resume. If you are willing to take whatever consequences there are to your own future, if you have a job lined up with a job you know and a company you love, head for the hills.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
If they want you back into a job that you regret leaving a year and a half ago, I do not understand the problem here.
The issue is an unwavering, steadfast work ethic that dictates to the OP that the 'right' thing to do is to stick with the rehab nursing position she accepted.
Again, my conscience is not terribly active because I'd accept the chronic dialysis position in a New York minute, even if resigning from the rehab position so early in the game doesn't seem 'right.'
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate your feedback.
I did receive an email a couple of days ago from a dialysis facility of one of the Big Two dialysis companies that is literally two minutes from my house (I have a year and a half of recent dialysis experience with that same company) and it is a dream schedule: MWF 5:30-5:30 with no weekends. I would jump on this opportunity in a New York minute except that my work ethic tells me that since I committed to the rehab position, I have to try to stay and make it work. This dialysis company was not bad at all to work for, and I regret leaving. If I had it to do over again, I would not have given up my position with them, and now they are contacting me with this position that I could almost walk to!
It's really hard to commit to the rehab facility after being lied to, that is the problem, plus I actually did tell the dialysis manager when I replied to her email that I had accepted a position at this facility and had already worked a few days. If I contact her today and ask if she is still interested in me for the dialysis position, will she not think that I am a flip flopper and disloyal? If not, I could be tempted into pursuing the dialysis job.
Take the dialysis job! You liked it and were sorry you left? You'll be even sorrier you didn't grab this chance. The rehab people are ruthless. They lied through their teeth. You can be up front with the dialysis people: you accepted a position that was misrepresented and it turned out to be a big mistake. You'd like to work for them, again.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
It says to me that she knows what she is looking for and what she is not looking for in a job. If those are her "rules", and she is willing to accept that some jobs may not be options because of that, then so be it. I don't think its fair to judge if she would be a good coworker or team player based on that though - she very possibly is a team player in other ways. We all have deal breakers, that is just one of hers.
We've all had employers who thought they owned us and our time. Nothing wrong with setting them straight from the get-go. If not being at their beck and call makes me a non-team player, so be it.
If an employer straight-out lied to me about the working conditions I would be subjected to, and if I'd had another offer that's closer to my dream job and that other job was basically up-front with the working conditions... guess where I'm going to in fairly short order? Yep. The new job. I would put in my notice for the minimum notice required unless I wasn't worried about burning that particular bridge. There's a company (it no longer exists) that I resigned from "effective immediately" because of certain issues that had popped up in the short few weeks that I was there. I don't list it on my resume and if I'm ever asked about it, I simply tried it out and the company and I were not a good fit. Yes, I could bash them severely (and deservedly so) but I don't because it doesn't look too good for an applicant to do that.
"Funny" you would post this as something very similar happened to me this past week..I interviewed for baylor position..was told it was only Sat/Sun, 7a-7p, great hourly rate, benefits, etc. Between the 4 weeks I interviewed/was offered the position to actually starting last week the Nurse Manager I had been in contact with and who had offered me the position suddenly "left to pursue other interests" (after 20 plus yrs at the same hospital) which I wasn't aware of until I tried to contact her to confirm orientation..about a week before..I was given 2 other people's names that were "temporarily filling in for her" - ok - Day 1 of orientation those people are no where to be found, the new Nurse Manager I had never heard of or met until then..I find out the baylor agreement will not be honored, the nurse manager I interviewed with was terminated as was the CNO and CEO (both of which had been there over 10 yrs)...all due to a buy out..the hourly rate also changed as were the hours..Unlike the original poster here I was not about to stay. Fortunately I had another job offer, not my dream job but they at least are going with what they said..so I made it clear on Day 2 of orientation if the position I was originally hired for and the original salary would not be honored I would not continue. Little did I know 2 other new hires had the same thing happen to them..all 3 of us quit on Day 2. Do I feel badly? No. The employer is as much responsible as the employee in honoring agreements when hired. To say - even when the agreement was in writing as mine was - that the needs changed, etc..isn't sufficient..if the needs changed between the job offer and orientation in my case the employer had 4 weeks to contact me and let me know so we could potentially work something out - they didn't and I was blindsided and I felt mislead. My advice to the original poster is do NOT let your dream job pass you by over this position at the rehab..there is a reason the employer lied to you and you are already seeing some of the reason why..I can't imagine it would get better and if you are starting off mistrusting the leadership and HR there that says a lot about what the future could potentially hold. Work ethic works both ways -nurses work long, hard hours in the hospital setting and others places and we have earned and deserved to be treated with professionalism and respect...
Hey Lucky724, I just accepted a position at Baylor! I was just wondering what location and unit you are referring to . Please PM me if you would like!
. Please PM me if you would like!
OCNRN63, RN
5,979 Posts
Your gut is telling you that this job is going to end up being a bad deal. You now have an opportunity in front of you to work for a company you know doing work you know on a schedule that suits your lifestyle. What is there to think about?
Accept the dialysis job, give the rehab job notice, and move on. Why make yourself miserable? You don't owe that job anything, and it's highly unlikely that things are going to get better there.
It's time to beat feet.