New ADON Job Concerns

[cmf2021]

I started a new job today. It’s for the ADON of a long term facility. During general orientation, the HR manager happened to throw in that I would also be the infection control nurse and the compliance officer. I also found out yesterday, while speaking to some colleagues, that although I did know that there would be on call responsibilities, no one discussed with me that I would potentially need to leave my home while being on call and come into the facility. I have been on call before and was under the impression that I would be "putting out fires" over the phone, answering questions etc, etc. They didn't tell me that I could potentially have to come in in the middle of the night. That may not be a big deal, but my husband works at night, so I am home alone with our 3 year old, so leaving the house at night is not even remotely possible. If that was a possibility of this job, and I had known about it, I wouldn't have taken it.  

I don’t feel they were completely transparent about the job (until I got to orientation, and while speaking to other co-workers! ) on what the actual job responsibilities would be.  (having the extra roles and the on-call expectation)  I'm not sure what to do.. I just started on Monday, I hate to leave a job this quickly. 

[cmf2021]

1 hour ago, SilverBells said:

Without knowing all of the duties that a ADON, Infection Control Specialist, or a Compliance Officer are responsible for, I would say there are many red flags based on your posts.  I personally would find them to be too many for comfort.  I’d probably start looking elsewhere if I were in this position. Good luck 

Thank you, I felt the same way. I didn’t like the way I found out about it either. Being told on your first day that “oh yea btw you’re also the compliance & infection control nurse “ I was like, what?!

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

Wow, they completely snowed you. That is just too much for one position, no wonder the ADON walked off. And having you wait outside the building? What is up with that? Yeah, that place sounds like a dumpster fire. 

[cmf2021]

9 hours ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

Wow, they completely snowed you. That is just too much for one position, no wonder the ADON walked off. And having you wait outside the building? What is up with that? Yeah, that place sounds like a dumpster fire. 

Yea, I went in a little blindsided to say the least. I think they wanted to fill the position, so they left out some key details about the job. And yea..just go wait outside in the cold while I make a phone call... I had to pick my jaw up off the floor!! LOL  Needless to say, another lesson learned!

[cmf2021]

16 hours ago, JBMmom said:

Sorry it sounds like your job isn't at all what you had anticipated. I hope that you can find something else that will work out better for you. 

No, it certainly was not. Which is unfortunate. I just wish these employers would be more transparent during the interview process so we know what will be expected of us when we start. It's such a waste of everyone's time for things like this to happen. 

Thank you ?

[amoLucia]

Wait! Wait! Wait! Wanna bet they didn't tell you that you'd prob have to plug into the weekend/holiday MOD (Manager on Duty) sched?!?! That's when all admin dept heads take turns at coming in on those days to be the House Admin. They could do their in-house hours and then get comp-time. 

Thing is, all the other dept heads could lock themselves into their offices to 'catch up' on projects & paperwork. But Nsg usually had to jump in for floor duties, like 'charge desk' or all admissions, etc. Never had MY chance to catch up on my stuff. Just curious - who did MDS & Staff Devel?

But TBH, the ADON position in NH/LTC is multi-functional. I have done that position with all those responsibilities. Usually depends on how many bed your place had. The bottom line is that were not up-front with you for al you'd be taking on.

And for you, the on-call responsibilities would be super problematic. I'll bet they have a significant problem with staff coverage that you'd be expected to cover - not a lot of time for alt Plan B for you. Also I hope you lived close by locally, because in bad weather, you'd be expected to be there! If staff must come in, so should you.

In today's Covid time, just the Inf Cont piece will be all time-encompassing.  Not something I'd be wanting to do.

If you've moved on, good luck to you, Hope next interview will be more honest & up-front.

[cmf2021]

15 hours ago, amoLucia said:

Wait! Wait! Wait! Wanna bet they didn't tell you that you'd prob have to plug into the weekend/holiday MOD (Manager on Duty) sched?!?! That's when all admin dept heads take turns at coming in on those days to be the House Admin. They could do their in-house hours and then get comp-time. 

Thing is, all the other dept heads could lock themselves into their offices to 'catch up' on projects & paperwork. But Nsg usually had to jump in for floor duties, like 'charge desk' or all admissions, etc. Never had MY chance to catch up on my stuff. Just curious - who did MDS & Staff Devel?

But TBH, the ADON position in NH/LTC is multi-functional. I have done that position with all those responsibilities. Usually depends on how many bed your place had. The bottom line is that were not up-front with you for al you'd be taking on.

And for you, the on-call responsibilities would be super problematic. I'll bet they have a significant problem with staff coverage that you'd be expected to cover - not a lot of time for alt Plan B for you. Also I hope you lived close by locally, because in bad weather, you'd be expected to be there! If staff must come in, so should you.

In today's Covid time, just the Inf Cont piece will be all time-encompassing.  Not something I'd be wanting to do.

If you've moved on, good luck to you, Hope next interview will be more honest & up-front.

I don’t know about the MOD, but who knows maybe that would come up on week 2! 
there is a separate MDS nurse, but staff development was my responsibility as well. 
The HR woman asked me if I could find a sitter on call for when I was on call & needed to leave the house. Which is not something that we can do. And she did tell me a lot of times because they are so short staffed I would be called in to cover a shift that they couldn’t find coverage of. 

and no I do not live close by, a good 35 minute drive in good weather. So not very convenient to just jump in my car & go. 

But like you said, if they had been up front with me, I would’ve known the job just wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t have ever accepted it. 

[amoLucia]

The MOD would be forthcoming! Dept heads would be sighing joy & relief. I used to HATE MOD - I called myself 'Master of Disaster' when I was on. Always disasterous shifts.

The on-call staffing coverage would be a killer for me. I always found that while I would get burdened with all the staffing, my job responsibilities would just be piling up. Do they NOT use agency to plug in, or have some kind of incentive program for staff to cover?

Was there a union? Usually CNAs are unionized; nurses, LPNs, maybe. So there'd be knowing the intricacies of any contracts. Employee evals?

One thing though concerns me - all those job functions (and I say 'FUNCTIONS') are just that 'functions'; that someone hangs a job title on. Like what did you think an ADON does? What kind of 'functions'?  Like what did you expect to be ADONing as you walked around the facility?

Multitasking or 'the wearing of many hats' is the modus operandi for most all LTC/NHs.  Not sure if you have any LTC/NH experience. But when you interview, always ask for a job description. I guess because my background has been lots of LTC, I have some routine 'tricks' that I employ while interviewing. I want to know what I'm looking at!

Just to say right now, with Covid, I'd be VERY cautious re specifics. Some titles, like 'Compliance Officer' is an all emcompassing title for 'Manager of all the Reports', like infections, falls, psychotrops, foleys, etc. To be fair, some measures could be in place to smooth the job, but here, I doubt it.

Good luck to you.

[cmf2021]

28 minutes ago, amoLucia said:

The MOD would be forthcoming! Dept heads would be sighing joy & relief. I used to HATE MOD - I called myself 'Master of Disaster' when I was on. Always disasterous shifts.

The on-call staffing coverage would be a killer for me. I always found that while I would get burdened with all the staffing, my job responsibilities would just be piling up. Do they NOT use agency to plug in, or have some kind of incentive program for staff to cover?

Was there a union? Usually CNAs are unionized; nurses, LPNs, maybe. So there'd be knowing the intricacies of any contracts. Employee evals?

One thing though concerns me - all those job functions (and I say 'FUNCTIONS') are just that 'functions'; that someone hangs a job title on. Like what did you think an ADON does? What kind of 'functions'?  Like what did you expect to be ADONing as you walked around the facility?

Multitasking or 'the wearing of many hats' is the modus operandi for most all LTC/NHs.  Not sure if you have any LTC/NH experience. But when you interview, always ask for a job description. I guess because my background has been lots of LTC, I have some routine 'tricks' that I employ while interviewing. I want to know what I'm looking at!

Just to say right now, with Covid, I'd be VERY cautious re specifics. Some titles, like 'Compliance Officer' is an all emcompassing title for 'Manager of all the Reports', like infections, falls, psychotrops, foleys, etc. To be fair, some measures could be in place to smooth the job, but here, I doubt it.

Good luck to you.

There were no incentives for staff to work extra. No Union. No agency staff. Honestly, I have ZERO LTC experience, it’s always been either inpatient or outpatient nursing, so that certainly could be a huge factor in all of this. I clearly didn’t know what or how a LTC facility runs and who does what.

what did I expect my job to be? I was told education, evaluations, competencies. Assisting with recruiting, she told me employee health as well. Those were my expectations. 
if that’s what they want their adon to do/be, all of those “functions” as you say, that’s fine, but it would have been great to have a heads up ahead of time. That’s all I’m saying 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

57 minutes ago, cmf2021 said:

if that’s what they want their adon to do/be, all of those “functions” as you say, that’s fine, but it would have been great to have a heads up ahead of time. That’s all I’m saying 

Even if you had been forewarned, it sounds like the volume of work expected for the role would not be doable. (Not unless you wanted to move in there and give up your life.)

It gets me riled that people call nursing a "profession" but that often it's still abused and exploited like it was historically. Do you think they'd try this with a lawyer? (Well, the lawyer might accept, but they'd be billing for all of those long hours...)

[amoLucia]

Like PP Jedrnurse said, they dumped ALL those functions (literally) on the ADON position. Even under the BEST-est of conditions, NO ADON should have THAT MANY responsibilities. Nah, DUMP JOB! And then tried to DUMP on you!

Sometimes, a facility's reputation becomes well-known within a community. Freq the area's 911 ambulance squad can give a great expose.

Despite your best efforts, you would likely have had a horrendous job trying to succeed. Then, you'd be out the front door - expendable. And that'd be their loss as you've got CM, HH & supervision. 

For your future, you can be better prepared. And don't be frightened off. LTC/SNF can be a very rewarding career. I retired a few yrs back, but I still like to research my old employers on-line, just to be nosey.

[Zyprexa_Ho]

Be honest with them and leave. Hopefully they'll learn their lesson and be more upfront with the next candidate. If that is a requirement and you're in that position, they're setting you up to quit without notice and that looks bad.

[vintagegal, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

RUN! 
Sounds like this LTC is looking for a slave. Salary at 40 hrs a week??? Yeah, they did this to me too, except I was working all day every day- sometimes 16 days straight without a day off. Just wait until word gets around they have a new DON. The staff will NEVER show up. Every day, someone on some shift will call off, and you are expected to work the floor. Even if it’s a double. And don’t complain because nobody will help you. They will leave you out to dry with empty promises. And when you ask if the position is supposed to be this hectic, they will only look at you and expect you to put up and shut up, else you are replaceable.