Not a good fit

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Hello.  I am in a bit of a pickle as I am very unsure of how to proceed.
 

In August of 2020 my family relocated to South Carolina due to my husband being active duty military and receiving new orders. Before moving I had the perfect job. I was PRN and able to choose between two different hospital to work plus I made my own schedule. I also had our son in October of 2019 which made this type of schedule even better. Fast forward to moving, that company I worked with has hospitals in South Carolina but they are about, at the least, an hour and fifteen minutes away from our home. When we moved, I decided maybe a set schedule would be a plus for our life so that I would not miss out on dinner time and bedtime, etc. I took a position with a stand along surgery center as a PACU/Pre-op RN.  Everything seemed pretty decent from the interview and touring the site, but I was wrong, wrong, wrong! This has got to be the worse healthcare facility I have ever worked at in my 10+ year healthcare years. I HATE to say that so please allow me to clarify.  “A few bad apples spoil the barrel.”  The team I work with is, for the most part, great. We are normally all on the same page and we all help each other out.  There are very few times that we have any issues with one another. This is great, because everyone knows that a bunch of nurses together all the time can, at times, cause trouble. LOL. But we all get along great.
The issue comes about from the DON. She is wild!  None of the nurses here have any say so or autonomy. Everything MUST be done a certain way.  AND I don’t mean patient care, I mean things like having an IV supply kit placed in the bay BEFORE a patient comes back and taking the supply kit out after using it.  If you forget, it is literally the end of the world! But, for months I was able to just keep and head down and work with issues but nothing huge that I could brush off. Then came the day that I still have not brushed off. Where I was in Pre-op and something was forgotten the previous day when I was not in pre-op.  It was a disaster. To the DON it was like every RN in this facility was incompetent. Someone in pre-op the previous day forgot to give a different person the chart that they reviewed for the current day which led to the physicians H & P not being on the chart. In all honesty, it was an easy fix. His office was open, have them fax it. BUT.... the DON made it her personal agenda to humiliate the pre-op nurses. She also “threatened” that she should not have even assisted in correcting the issue so that when the MD arrived he could yell at us. Let me side track here and say, I have NEVER been yelled at (especially for something petty like this), and I would NOT have accepted being yelled at. This continued ALL DAY LONG! 
After this, it has just been downhill. We work 5 days a week but can never have any type of structure to be able to plan anything after. But the last straw was yesterday.  
I am now 6 weeks pregnant. 2.5-3 weeks ago I let my supervisor know and know the date and time of my first appointment. With my first child I ended up with severe preeclampsia that led me back to being admitted and on a MG drip after I was discharged post cesarean. But as of yesterday, I was told I couldn’t have that time off. I was going to come to work, go to my appointment, and come back (of course as long as nothing negative came from the appointment).  Let’s just say that from the time of me letting her know when my appointment was to the time of my appointment would have been a good 30 days notice so I did not handle this well. Later in the day, I was advised that now I could just have the entire day off! What in the world?! They could not allow me to go to my appointment and come back but now they can allow the entire day off.
 

I’m just conflicted. I don’t feel that this is going to turn out well. With my first I had to have ultrasounds every 2 weeks until after 20 weeks. Now with taking my previous issues towards the end of my pregnancy into account and my age, I’m concerned they may make me high risk and also require more visits. My husband wants me to quit. He doesn’t care if I have a back-up position for not. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I am doing something wrong but I also feel like I’m not. I really just want to go back to that PRN position and drive there for two days (the pay is ?) and I feel like I’d ultimately get more time with my son. ??‍♀️

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I agree with your husband! Doesn’t sound like it will get any better. You have plenty of experience I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding another job. Good luck! 

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I wouldn't schedule appointments during work time if I had a set schedule, but maybe that's common for your type of position? I also wouldn't say anything to anyone about such an early pregnancy.

I think you're right that this job is not going to work out well. Assuming I wanted to continue to work, I would secure another position before quitting, though.

Congrats on the baby!

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Yes, sorry.  I don’t think I wrote that properly. My schedule is set to the point of Monday-Friday. I could be done by 12 or I could be done by 4:30. 
 

I wouldn’t say anything either; however, I felt like it would be important to know so that she would know the importance (to me) of the appointment.  ?

 

and Thank you very much! :)) 

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Of course it's not going to turn out well. The first time you need a day off... you get the run around. Hopefully this pregnancy runs smooth. However, you will still need quite a few days off in the future. Do you want to fight a power tripping DON for everyone of them?

Consider another PRN position that is closer. Work a couple of days a week to stay current. 

 Best wishes.

 

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Developmental Disorders.

It might be more worth it to you to go PRN at a better facility, or even just give yourself a break from work until you're more certain about how your pregnancy will go (not an OB nurse, so might want to take that with a grain of salt). It sounds like anywhere would be lucky to have you.

If you still want to continue working during your pregnancy and you like working in surgery, maybe see if the surgeons and nurses who work at your stand-alone facility also do surgeries at other facilities. If so, you can get information on what else is available near you and what those facilities are like. 

*Edited: initially misunderstood and thought the job with the power-tripping DON was the one with the great pay.

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Leave. Miserable people wreak so much havoc.

19 hours ago, BeachLife_AKB said:

I wouldn’t say anything either; however, I felt like it would be important to know so that she would know the importance (to me) of the appointment.  ?

Well, but be logical: Would you assess this person as someone who cares what is important to you? No. Telling her put her directly in a position to be the dispenser of mercy. That doesn't go well with this type.

Rather than take that chance it is usually better to keep private business private until necessary or an appropriate time. It sends a message. It is a way of maintaining boundaries and letting others know that there are  boundaries.

Anyway. Yes - congratulations. ?

 

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Specializes in Mental health.

Any DON who doesn't respect their nurses and humiliates them for petty reasons is selfish and controlling. She seems to like putting her staff down. I agree with finding a PRN position some where else. Most DON's would help out in situation you described. It blows me away why nurses don't understand that we need to help each other out and not point fingers. 

 

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Specializes in oncology.
On 4/1/2021 at 6:48 AM, BeachLife_AKB said:

In August of 2020 my family relocated to South Carolina due to my husband being active duty military and receiving new orders. Before 
I am now 6 weeks pregnant. 2.5-3 weeks ago

Congratulations! This should be the BEST time of your life! Don't spend it living at the whim of a control freak. Spend loving time with your husband, current child and child to be. Learn about your new community and explore the parks!  May be you could do some insurance or follow up calls post op at an agency? May be you can just enjoy making a great nest for your loved ones. Life is to dear in a young family to become someone's focus of anger.

On 4/1/2021 at 6:48 AM, BeachLife_AKB said:

I feel like I am doing something wrong but I also feel like I’m not. 

You are not doing anything wrong, your instincts are right to a good environment to work in.  To adapt you will either have to turn a deaf ear or end up defending your self -

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I wouldn't schedule appointments during work time if I had a set schedule, but maybe that's common for your type of position?

I moved from a midwestern city to a small city. I was amazed that services would ask, "can't you leave work for an hour or two" or "we'll call you at work to come home."

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