Some background on this patient- I only work Thursday evenings and the patient has nurses 6 days a week, used to be 7, but the nurse scheduled for Sunday is on an extended vacation as she is scared to work during the Pandemic. Mom doesn't want the office to send an unknown nurse as she doesn't trust anyone new during this time either.
I have other patients that I go see on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. I have filled in on some Sundays for the above patient, but then the office called me saying mom went over on her hours so I stopped filling in on Sunday.
Well on Saturday night, around 11:00 pm, mom texts me saying she has an emergency Sunday and needs me to come. I didn't come Sunday and I replied back saying I was busy on Sunday.
We had some problems with a lack of communication to the agency regarding scheduling, like for an entire week's vacation, and nothing being said. For quite some time. Then I got jumped on for it and had to inform the person berating me that it did not involve me. The clients have the obligation to tell the agency that they are vacationing for a week, not me. It was not my vacation. They took the other nurse with them on their vacation and she didn't open her mouth either. But I was the one who got jumped. In an entire week the agency didn't figure out that there were no nurses notes? They didn't wonder why? The nurse who went on the trip didn't do documentation until she returned because all involved did not want the tablet GPS to show where they really went. I get so sick and tired of being blamed for other people's big secrets. That is one of the disadvantages of not being the "favorite" nurse in home care.
Were you scheduled for that week but then canceled?
Were you scheduled for that week but then canceled?
Yes. I missed one week of work. Nobody noticed and nobody said anything until some time after the fact, when I got jumped.
I said nothing about this because I did not want to be interrogated and have to try to lie for the sake of the clients and the nurse that they took along. They paid for her airfare and expenses. She drew her "enhanced" salary (she always claims more hours than she is 'present for duty') by submitting documentation after the fact.
This episode demonstates just how far removed from reality, that agencies can get. Out of sight, out of mind.
I would have called scheduling when the client canceled, not to try to get someone in trouble, but to keep the scheduler in the loop. If the scheduler asked me why I was cancelled, I would refer her to the client.
I had one point where the client used two companies - two companies that I also worked for. Confusing, I know. In that home, I worked for the company that had first placed me. Anyway, one company wanted to know who was working when. I referred her to the client's mother.
That's what I did. I stayed out of it because I knew how the conversation would have gone. After all, they knew darn well what was going on since there had been lengthy discussion about the destination, what it could be and what it couldn't be, because the agency wasn't going to pay for the nurse to go there. They went there anyway. Not my circus, not my monkeys.
You have the right to refuse a shift that isn't your regular time, you have the right to not work during your regular shift time if you give them ample notice. That's the great perk of doing this nursing. I don't work any holidays and I don't feel bad about it. don't have to try and find someone to work for me either. The parents sign a contract stating they can take care of the client if a nurse isn't there. That doesnt mean I take advantage or I don't work extra if I want. It's my choice and I don't feel bad about it if I cant do it.
Kitiger, RN
1,834 Posts
Were you scheduled for that week but then canceled?