PediRN

Oh my, I'm a supervisor in acute care and my base pay is $42/hr. Tell me where you're working :)

Call the hospital and ask them what their policy is for appealing a termination. If you belong to a union they can help you with this, otherwise call HR direct. Then DO IT in a timely fashion (whatever the policy states). What will probably happen is that you will then either receive a denial, or a meeting with a higher-up. If denied, your only recourse is to try to get them on a human rights violation, otherwise if you're in an employment at will state, they can terminate you for any reason as long as they are not discriminating against you based on any of the protected classes of individuals (i.e. sex, race, disability, etc). They ARE NOT allowed to contact other potential employers, you might want to seek a lawyer's advice about that. Most states have a free lawyer referral service, you can also google your hospital + lawsuits + wrongful termination and see what comes up. You may not be the only one to whom this has happened. Hope this helps, good luck

For that type of job I would definitely go for your MHA. You might also want to consider a combined degree (MSN/MHA, MSN/MBA).

That's basically exactly what I do. A few questions.... Who monitors restraint use? Is it done unit by unit or do you take part in that? What is your pay (feel free to pm me if you don't want to post it....then again, if I'm being too nosy, don't worry about it!)? How much experience does the position require? Do you employ resource nurses (rapid response)? At night? I'm sure there's other questions, give me time!

Ridiculous. If I were you I'd take my experience and certifications elsewhere. Sounds like a no-win for you. EVERYONE needs experienced L&D nurses.

I agree with the above poster. If you present the termination as a learning experience and you don't badmouth your previous employer, that goes a long way. You can also just say that it didn't work out, it was a poor fit, you realized it wasn't for you, etc. You don't have to come out and say you were fired. Spin, baby, spin.

It is a really interesting job, never the same night, lots of interaction with lots of different people. I was a nurse manager for about 6 years before this job became available (at a different hospital). I have a BSN. I had about 6 weeks of preceptorship, mostly on nights, and I thought it was enough. I realized soon after I started that most of the situations that confronted me would be unusual and hard to prepare for, and I was right! I have a lot of authority with staffing, but have to adhere to a budget, based on a grid, which is based on census. We're heading in the direction of acuity based staffing via optilink, but it's a slow process. I think my management background was invaluable in that it gave me the tough skin, however, I also think that the most important thing to have as a nursing supervisor is common sense. I also always ask when faced with a difficult staffing/bed management decision, what is best for the patient? That maxim seems to steer me in the right direction most of the time. Luckily I have a boss that tolerates mistakes as long as you are accountable and truthful, so that helps.

Any other nursing supervisors/bed managers of acute care hospitals out there? I'd like to network a little and get some feedback on a couple of things... I am a nursing supervisor at a 300 bed acute care hospital. I work 7p-7a. I am responsible for staffing and bed management and all the other disasters that befall a hospital at night!!

The only fair policy in this instance is zero tolerance. Fire a few people and the dye will be cast.

Simmer down kids. This is the age old nursing debate...i.e. "Nobody else works as hard as I do". I realize that the OP was put in a dangerous position, there is no denying that. From my own experience, I have often found that when staffing is bad, it's due to poor planning on the part of the unit management, not the supervisor. By the time I get to work at 7pm, most of the staffing decisions have been made already. I in turn make the decisions for the day shift. I think OP needs to focus less on what the supervisor didn't do and more on what could have been done to prevent this situation from happening, and to prepare herself if it happens again (as was previously mentioned, not accepting the assignment is a perfectly good alternative.). Maybe the supervisor is lazy, maybe she could have helped, but the important thing to remember is that you never should have been put in that position to begin with. And if the supervisor did help you, and you got through the night (or day, I forget which) unscathed, and no complaints were voiced, then your manager was just given carte blanche to do it again. I try really hard not to enable the staff. I will work tirelessly with them to figure out solutions to their problems, but I think that by jumping in and doing patient care, the supervisor may have done more harm than good in the long run. Just my humble opinion. Please stop fighting, y'all.

If YOU had a poop explosion I'd definitely help out....and fetch ya a pair of scrubs too.

Thank you. I supervise a 220 bed acute care hospital and my duties include bed management from the ED, PACU, and direct admits into and through the hospital; verifying that patients are where they are supposed to be based on their acuity, dealing with pt and family complaints, responding to every code/trauma/alert/PAMI/stroke alert, starting IVs on the impossible to stick pts, tracking down central supply when they don't answer their pages, staffing/covering sick calls, data entry of all of the above; so NO, I'm sorry, I don't have time on an average night to help out with routine tasks on a floor that the manager didn't bother to staff correctly. If I'm not doing anything else, I am happy to help turn a pt or wipe a butt, but if my pager goes off with a code blue or a trauma, you bet your ass I'll be off and running.

Many nurses I know, psych or otherwise, have mental health issues. We are a very high risk field to be in.

God, that sounds like a horrific situation....I'm surprised you've lasted this long!! Absolutely file a grievance...just make sure you have dates and facts to back your claims. Look at it as a trial with her as the defendant. When I was still a unit manager, a staff member yelled at me for something. When I told my supervisor about it, I said "She should respect me as her nurse manager" and my supe said, "She should respect you as a human being". You deserve more respect than this woman is giving you. Good luck...let us know how it goes!