Per-diem ghosted us...

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

I'm a nurse manager for a public school district with 3 schools. We are hurting for substitute nurses, and next year, we will have none on our roster, so I began trying to recruit more per-diem nurses.

An RN who is also a parent in our district (our #1 referral category) reached out to me this past fall after speaking with one of our nurses about working for us. It took a few months, but eventually, she filled out all of the paperwork, got the background check and fingerprints taken (which was on her dime) and we were in relatively frequent communication via text during March & April. It seemed like she was really interested.

2 weeks prior to her scheduled paid training day, I texted her asking if she would be available to work a day in Mid-May (giving her a month's notice). She didn't respond to my first text, but I wasn't too worried because I knew we'd be seeing her soon. About a week out from her training day, I texted her about an additional day that I needed to know about ASAP because it was so a nurse could attend a valuable PD program and the registration was closing fast, and she didn't respond to that either. 

The day prior to the scheduled training day, I texted her to confirm she was coming, and again, no response. She (expectedly) no-showed to the training time, and the only communication we received was indirect, in that she called the school to report her daughter absent, but gave no reason.

I am incredibly disappointed and am waffling about reaching out. I am going to be the building-based nurse at her kids' school next year, and so communication regarding them is inevitable. Should I email her and try to find out the "why"? If she asks for one, should I give her a second chance? I'm worried I came on too strong, but I also have imposter syndrome and my gut is telling me that she likely just got cold feet and didn't know how to tell me. Any advice would be welcome!

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Thread has been moved to School Nursing for the most helpful response.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I would let it go.  And communicate with her just like any other parent. 

[dsaprog, BSN, RN]

I ghosted a job once in the middle of training because I just realized it wasn't worth it and I didn't know how to explain it to the management. Who knows what's going on with her life. At least she quit before the training so you didn't waste money and time on someone who wasn't going to stay and work.

[cowboysandangels, BSN]

My motto is if you have to chase them they are not worth it.  If she isn't reliable then you do not want her anyway. 

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

dsaprog said:

I ghosted a job once in the middle of training because I just realized it wasn't worth it and I didn't know how to explain it to the management. Who knows what's going on with her life. At least she quit before the training so you didn't waste money and time on someone who wasn't going to stay and work.

That's unprofessional and just plain rude. I don't give a hoot WHY she didn't show up, but it would have been nice to at least get a message that said "Actually, I'm not coming." It's common decency. And yes, I'm glad that I didn't end up paying her, but it absolutely resulted in wasted time. I spent hours setting up a comprehensive training day and my full time nurses spent hours making sure their sub-books were up to date. So just know, when you decide to no-show/no-call, even though it may seem like no big deal to you, it likely caused some scrambling and a headache or two.