I need to vent and get opinions from other nurses if this has happened to you (I'm sure it has!).
I'll preface this with the fact that I have 12 years experience, and have also held the position (at another facility,several years ago) of one of the people who is undermining me.
I am a LPN in an Assisted Living Facility. I "supervise" the med techs & aides on my shift, as well as work as an aide or med tech when necessary AND supervise. No big deal.
The problem is that my supervisor, the "Resident Service Director" (of which position I have held in the past and hated the salaried/on call aspect of and quit ) will tell me to do one thing with the aides/med techs (ie. enforce the rules), but when I do and they get angry, she will say to them, either RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME or behind my back "I never said that...Amy's wrong about that." :angryfire This supervisor also has allowed one aide to retain her job after being caught SLEEPING SEVERAL TIMES on the job AND refusing to do RESIDENT CARE!!! Our administrator is along the same vein...yesterday one of my residents was clearly in distress; either having TIA's or a cardiac event & I couldn't get a hold of the MD (you know, you have to call them first for the order to send out!). The prudent thing of course was to send her out...so I wasn't going to hesitate. My administrator says "Well of course, call 911 RIGHT AWAY!" So I'm thinking "911?" I should just call dispatch for the local ambulance service but I did EXACTLY WHAT MY ADMINISTRATOR SAID. Since we are a brand new facility WITHOUT A PROTOCOL IN PLACE as to what to do when you can't get a hold of the MD I did EXACTLY what Ms. Administrator said.
Needless to say the fire dept showed up first THEN the ambulance service. 911 did ask the emergency so they knew it was a 91 year old female, NOT a catastrophe. Well my administrator was upset that so many people arrived & said "I NEVER SAID TO CALL 911. Why didn't you call the DOCTOR?"
These are just 2 examples of the blatant baloney that goes on daily at my place of employment. It seems they value people who refuse to do their jobs & they want the nurses (there are only 3 of us right now) to enforce the rules but then they (management) wants to be the "good guys" and take the side of the employees who are clearly in the wrong! HOW DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE?! I thought we were here for the residents? And even if it IS all about the "bottom line" (we all know it is) , if you allow employees to neglect their duties, that will cost you !
I need to vent and get opinions from other nurses if this has happened to you (I'm sure it has!).
I'll preface this with the fact that I have 12 years experience, and have also held the position (at another facility,several years ago) of one of the people who is undermining me.
I am a LPN in an Assisted Living Facility. I "supervise" the med techs & aides on my shift, as well as work as an aide or med tech when necessary AND supervise. No big deal.
The problem is that my supervisor, the "Resident Service Director" (of which position I have held in the past and hated the salaried/on call aspect of and quit ) will tell me to do one thing with the aides/med techs (ie. enforce the rules), but when I do and they get angry, she will say to them, either RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME or behind my back "I never said that...Amy's wrong about that." :angryfire This supervisor also has allowed one aide to retain her job after being caught SLEEPING SEVERAL TIMES on the job AND refusing to do RESIDENT CARE!!! Our administrator is along the same vein...yesterday one of my residents was clearly in distress; either having TIA's or a cardiac event & I couldn't get a hold of the MD (you know, you have to call them first for the order to send out!). The prudent thing of course was to send her out...so I wasn't going to hesitate. My administrator says "Well of course, call 911 RIGHT AWAY!" So I'm thinking "911?" I should just call dispatch for the local ambulance service but I did EXACTLY WHAT MY ADMINISTRATOR SAID. Since we are a brand new facility WITHOUT A PROTOCOL IN PLACE as to what to do when you can't get a hold of the MD I did EXACTLY what Ms. Administrator said.
Needless to say the fire dept showed up first THEN the ambulance service. 911 did ask the emergency so they knew it was a 91 year old female, NOT a catastrophe. Well my administrator was upset that so many people arrived & said "I NEVER SAID TO CALL 911. Why didn't you call the DOCTOR?"
These are just 2 examples of the blatant baloney that goes on daily at my place of employment. It seems they value people who refuse to do their jobs & they want the nurses (there are only 3 of us right now) to enforce the rules but then they (management) wants to be the "good guys" and take the side of the employees who are clearly in the wrong! HOW DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE?! I thought we were here for the residents? And even if it IS all about the "bottom line" (we all know it is) , if you allow employees to neglect their duties, that will cost you !
Thank you for reading, and understanding !
It you decide to stay, document, document, document. Would also be smart to fill out incident reports if possible when patient care is compromised (i.e., "no protocol situation" in which communication or lack there of could have led to potential problems).
Make sure that you are documenting everything as it happened. Like I called the physician but obtained no response. I then contacted the administrator and was instructed to call 911. Document document document. You did the right thing because your situation would be worse if the patient died and you didnot call 911, i think a common error is that people such as physicians and EMT hesitate to treat geriatric people. Just becuase they are old does not mean that they should be left to die and not be treated unles sthe patient has it in writing in a supportive care plan. DNR does not mean do not treat. Also, you may want to think of terminating your employment with this company.
I need to vent and get opinions from other nurses if this has happened to you (I'm sure it has!).
I'll preface this with the fact that I have 12 years experience, and have also held the position (at another facility,several years ago) of one of the people who is undermining me.
I am a LPN in an Assisted Living Facility. I "supervise" the med techs & aides on my shift, as well as work as an aide or med tech when necessary AND supervise. No big deal.
The problem is that my supervisor, the "Resident Service Director" (of which position I have held in the past and hated the salaried/on call aspect of and quit ) will tell me to do one thing with the aides/med techs (ie. enforce the rules), but when I do and they get angry, she will say to them, either RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME or behind my back "I never said that...Amy's wrong about that." :angryfire This supervisor also has allowed one aide to retain her job after being caught SLEEPING SEVERAL TIMES on the job AND refusing to do RESIDENT CARE!!! Our administrator is along the same vein...yesterday one of my residents was clearly in distress; either having TIA's or a cardiac event & I couldn't get a hold of the MD (you know, you have to call them first for the order to send out!). The prudent thing of course was to send her out...so I wasn't going to hesitate. My administrator says "Well of course, call 911 RIGHT AWAY!" So I'm thinking "911?" I should just call dispatch for the local ambulance service but I did EXACTLY WHAT MY ADMINISTRATOR SAID. Since we are a brand new facility WITHOUT A PROTOCOL IN PLACE as to what to do when you can't get a hold of the MD I did EXACTLY what Ms. Administrator said.
Needless to say the fire dept showed up first THEN the ambulance service. 911 did ask the emergency so they knew it was a 91 year old female, NOT a catastrophe. Well my administrator was upset that so many people arrived & said "I NEVER SAID TO CALL 911. Why didn't you call the DOCTOR?"
These are just 2 examples of the blatant baloney that goes on daily at my place of employment. It seems they value people who refuse to do their jobs & they want the nurses (there are only 3 of us right now) to enforce the rules but then they (management) wants to be the "good guys" and take the side of the employees who are clearly in the wrong! HOW DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE?! I thought we were here for the residents? And even if it IS all about the "bottom line" (we all know it is) , if you allow employees to neglect their duties, that will cost you !
). The prudent thing of course was to send her out...so I wasn't going to hesitate. My administrator says "Well of course, call 911 RIGHT AWAY!" So I'm thinking "911?" I should just call dispatch for the local ambulance service but I did EXACTLY WHAT MY ADMINISTRATOR SAID. Since we are a brand new facility WITHOUT A PROTOCOL IN PLACE as to what to do when you can't get a hold of the MD I did EXACTLY what Ms. Administrator said. 
TheCommuter, BSN, RN
102 Articles; 27,612 Posts
It's time to run from this place. It seems obvious that they do not place high value on employees who seem to possess decent work ethics.