Has anyone noticed that the "onboarding" process today has changed drastically from yester-year? I seem to remember the big "welcome aboard" parade of papers, events, appointments , all with a cheer, a smile, and sometimes even a mug full of lifesavers. Because that is what we are. A process by which a new nurse is welcomed to the employ of the hospital, in a "we're happy to have you" schedule of events, days of classroom orientation, videos, catered lunch, and then off to our units to be what we are, spectacular nurses.
Fast forward to 2018, when I accepted the job from (you know where) . The hurdles I had to jump through for this job were higher and larger in number than any other place I had ever worked. It was a Behavioral Health facility. One thing I learned (I should have read the employee reviews PRIOR to taking the job) is that when the Onboarding process is toxic, so is the job. The job lasted a week, and here's why:
The big warm "welcome" from this facility was done by an "Onboarding" department, separate and distinct from Human Resources. I later realized that the "onboarders" who worked in the "Onboarding" department have a vested interest in constant employee turnover, to cement their cushy M-F office jobs. So it is not hard to see why continual employee turnover was in fact, caused by the "onboarders."
After a week of having it drilled through my head of 20 ways to Sunday employees will get fired here, and just dying to hear 6 ways to Monday , how we will be successful, me and four other colleagues decided to dump the job, mid-show. There were 25 of us this month. Last month there was 28. All in, they were the most negative bunch of sour puss employees I have ever seen on a "welcome wagon". One was repeatedly cursing as she gave her segment on day 1 and day 3. Another was dressed in a tie-die T-shirt, and a nose ring. A couple of others could not be bothered troubleshooting the computers we had to use for 3 days to complete the online drills. Oh, yours doesn't work? That's not my job.
So my point in all of this is, when we see Negative Nellies at the front door, sometimes we become them. They tend to have a trickle down effect. I have no regrets that I left before I actually started. I don't think the other 3 did either.
- If a hospital corporation is able to post nursing positions as "rotating locations/facilities, days, hours, shifts, weekends, holidays," etc....and post nursing positions that are no longer unit specific but are 'float here and there and everywhere' or 'X Cluster' float....and post positions where the job description has been copied and pasted from some all-encompassing master list of RN functions (plus the employer's own fantasies) such that a job seeker isn't even exactly sure what the role is.....well, you (corporate "you") simply can't say with a straight face that turnover is bad for business. Even the job postings themselves are the perfect picture of disregard.
There is a mega-magnet hospital in my digs that has had a hiring freeze for 2 years, ( and its well known) yet they gobble up broadband space on indeed.com and others spamming the job boards with fake ads, that they have no intention of filling. What is this called? Fishing. Let's see how many people are applying, so we can then , in turn , fire, and re-hire cheap (when we unfreeze the hiring freeze)
Wouldn’t it make more sense to fire the experienced nurses? What good is it to hire cheaper nurses for a week? They aren’t even on the floor. It’s just 40 hours of waste, albeit $2/hr less waste than last week’s group of new hires that were fired at the end of the week.
There ARE nurses who are employed in PA. Do they all just go from one on-boarding to the next and end up with 50 W-2’s at the end of the year? This just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to fire the experienced nurses? What good is it to hire cheaper nurses for a week? They aren’t even on the floor. It’s just 40 hours of waste, albeit $2/hr less waste than last week’s group of new hires that were fired at the end of the week.
There ARE nurses who are employed in PA. Do they all just go from one on-boarding to the next and end up with 50 W-2’s at the end of the year? This just doesn’t make any sense to me.
It doesn’t make sense because it’s ridiculous. I live in PA. I was a PCT in PA, went to nursing school in PA, did over 1100 hours of clinical in PA did my transitions in PA and was hired in PA. Currently doing onboarding and it’s going great. I know many many many nurses. This is not their experience at all. Most of the nurses I’ve worked with had been in their jobs for years.
The OP is significantly disgruntled with corporations, hospitals, nursing managers, hiring managers and other staff nurses. They have all “stabbed her in the back”, framed her, fired her without cause, talked about her behind her back, hired her just to laugh when they fired her, invited her to job fairs just to watch her fail...the list goes on and on.
In my opinion, this isn’t about nursing at all: it’s about the nurse. This particular nurse. Up until two weeks ago, the poster hadn’t posted since 2010 when she was complaining about the exact same things. Personally, I’m starting to wonder if we are being trolled because some of the things are just so out there....
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
48 minutes ago, Workitinurfava said:
Well why don't they do things right and prevent it?, it makes me wonder. I don't think staff want to quit due to the bad conditions of the place, improper training etc.
A hospital is only as good as the people who run it. Many (most) places have the Peter principle at play, unfortunately. What hospitals need are more good people in middle management who can balance the needs of the nurses with the demands of upper leadership and act as a buffer. Sadly, good managers burn out quickly, and you're often left with people who are able to maintain that soul-sucking role longterm because they just DGAF.
Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.
I graduated in 1993 and started working 2 days later in the area of my choice. I got 2 weeks of "orientation" with 3 other nurses. Went to the ER on days for 1 week with a preceptor that did nothing by tell me go do this and call if you have a problem. Then to nights (my desired shift) and my very first night an overdose. The other nurses ran as it was an overdose on pyridium. The ER Doc and I were left to treat this young woman. Lots of fun pushing methylene blue and watching your patient seize for a few seconds on you first night shift.
The ER Docs changed nightly and the second one in the group I worked with had a burn patient. He was giving me conflicting orders so I quietly told him to "make up your damn mind" and he stopped, looked at me (2 weeks into my job) and said OK take care of this. I did and figured the flow rate for fluids before he gave them to me, when his and my flow rates were 1 point off he nodded his head and said OK. A week later, same doc, patient brought in after falling through his shower door, sitting up on stretcher with no neck protection. Called X ray and got stat pictures done. He put the films up on the view box and asked 2 of us what was wrong with the picture? I was already running to the supply room for a C-collar. Yep I could see the hangman fracture!
The Docs called us the A-team. I was the de-facto leader. Night supervisors would tell others to call me if they are unavailable. One never even came to check on us unless he was absolutely needed. His response "I don't know why are you calling me - get (me) to take care of it.
I was an ASN. I was a "second career" nurse. I was a bit older than the others. I was the only one of the 4 that lasted. I watched as BSNs, after 12 weeks of orientation would break down crying because they did not know what to do with a patient, called in as an "unresponsive" could be hear from the elevator screaming "I CAN BREATHE". I was sent to be our representative for one of the first "chest pain clinic" meetings, I was sent for WMD treatment training, and I was sent for burn training.
I loved my job but exactly 9 years, 4 months and 17 days later I had a massive Latex Reaction that cost me my career. My hospital tried to say it was not that bad but I was put on disability despite their objections.
As I said I loved my job, my pay was good, my shift was perfect and when I asked for time off it was granted. Doctors wanted me called in when not working, I was called for certain types of patients but that all ended with a severe latex allergy that was to airborne latex from the beginning . I do not understand the apparent distain for nursing that so many nurses have. And the "looking down" at those of us that did not get a BSN. The best nurses I worked with were diploma nurses that "eventually got around" to going back to school.
Nurses eating their young has always been a problem but it seems worse now.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
On 6/1/2019 at 10:50 AM, klone said:
I didn’t miss your point, just don’t agree with it. It’s not a financially viable business model to not retain staff. Businesses, even hospital businesses, do not want to constantly hire and fire staff, because it’s a huge drain on resources and it kills productivity.
Agreed. I understand this coming from a middle mgt point of view. SO WHY IS IT they don't ACT like they don't want to see people out the door? This is frustrating to me.
panurse9999
1 Article; 199 Posts
There is a mega-magnet hospital in my digs that has had a hiring freeze for 2 years, ( and its well known) yet they gobble up broadband space on indeed.com and others spamming the job boards with fake ads, that they have no intention of filling. What is this called? Fishing. Let's see how many people are applying, so we can then , in turn , fire, and re-hire cheap (when we unfreeze the hiring freeze)