Lied to in Interview

[westieluv]

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.

What would you do?

[lisaannjamRN]

About four years ago, I was exactly in your predicament. I was hired as a part-time RN in a Sub-Acute Care facility. Just like you, I said I did not want to be called in to work on days off. Well, I had to stay at least one hour after my shift ended to complete my documentation and was constantly asked to stay and work the next shift and called to come in to work on my days off. I stuck it out for a year to gain much-needed nursing experience, but it was a miserable year. They lied to me just as they have lied to you. In my humble opinion, I don't think this is about your work ethic. You made your needs clear, and they knew what they were. They also knew what their needs are. I would think long and hard about staying there. If you have another opportunity, I would strongly consider taking advantage of it. I wish you the best of luck!

[lucy100]

I would never be that loyal to any employer because no employer will be loyal to me in this day and age.

Commitment to a particular workplace is a relic of a bygone era.

.

Absolute truth! Most people have to learn this the hard way

[needlesmcgeeRN, ASN, RN]

Don't answer your phone when you're off.

[milesims]

If it is in the contract that you only work this certain amount of hours per day/week and both you and the employer signed it, you legally have the right to refuse. What was said verbally in the interview can be disputed, and the employer can easily say, "I did not say that."

In some states and provinces in North America, there are different amounts of maximum hours you can work in a week before you can rightly refuse. I know in my province, you can be forced to work overtime.

Read over the contract, and call your ministry of labor. If it is not in your favor, it's your choice to stick it out or leave.

[Dikid]

Start looking for a new job.

Inform hr what happened and that you were lied to and given false information.

Meanwhile, don't answer your phone when they call on your days off

[AlabamaBelle]

Caller ID....it's a wonderful thing. Voice mail is a wonderful thing, too.

[westieluv]

Caller ID....it's a wonderful thing. Voice mail is a wonderful thing, too.

I agree that it should be this simple, but when you work at a place where the culture is such that the other nurses are willing to work seven days a week and over at the end of their shifts (while griping and beefing about it continuously) and you are not, it's just not that simple. Instead of being the assertive one who has a life and is not willing to be manipulated, you become "the one who won't pick up extra" and leaves your co-workers working short. Not a great way to have great relationships in the workplace, and even though you don't have to be best friends with your co-workers, you need to get along and respect each other when you're together 40 hours a week.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I get the frustration over getting called in, but I otherwise feel it is absolutely none of your business who you replaced or why/when they left. .

That's one of the questions I ALWAYS ask in an interview! It's very telling when they say, for example, that the previous two people in that position left the company after a few months each, vs. the previous person was in that role for several years and left due to retirement or was promoted into a different role.

[westieluv]

I didn't even ask why the previous nurse left, I just asked how it happened that a full-time day shift position was open, as this is virtually impossible to find in most facilities and I was told that she didn't leave but just "wanted a different schedule".

I was getting ready to go in today and received a call that two nurses had called off and I was going to be on my own (with extra patients due to two nurses calling off), even though I have not completed my training on the computer or ever been trained on how to do an admission, which is a daily thing. I told them flat out, NO, and I did not go in. I also told them my back is hurting which is absolutely true. I am going to have to notify them that I am not coming back. Why continue orientation while I seek other positions, so that they can train me and then I quit? This job is not worth it. I do not care about future hiring prospects with this company, so if I burn a bridge I also do not care. Something in me just snapped today when I got that phone call. That is the third time that they have tried to pull me off of my first week of orientation to cover call offs. Absolutely not, life is too short to risk my nursing license and be used this way.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

If it is in the contract that you only work this certain amount of hours per day/week and both you and the employer signed it, you legally have the right to refuse. What was said verbally in the interview can be disputed, and the employer can easily say, "I did not say that."

In some states and provinces in North America, there are different amounts of maximum hours you can work in a week before you can rightly refuse. I know in my province, you can be forced to work overtime.

Read over the contract, and call your ministry of labor. If it is not in your favor, it's your choice to stick it out or leave.

OP is not in Canada, there likely is no written contract, and there is no ministry of labor.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Best to quit while in orientation. They shouldn't be leaving an orientating nurse alone. You are well out of it!

[Libby1987]

A few days into orientation and they expect you to cover a unit down two nurses? Good decision not to go in but I would follow that with a resignation notice.