Babzuptown

A nurse that I graduated with was married to someone who had graduated the year before us. He was working as an RN when he kidnapped her and held a gun to her head in a remote, mountain area. She was leaving him. She managed to talk her way out of it and escaped with her life. He lost his license!

Do as everyone here has said. Then find an attorney because the powers that be will begin harassment and drive you to resign or drum up something to fire you! Then be brave and enlist the attorney to bring a labor abuse case against the hospital.

Thank you, both, for your support. This is good advice I'm back doing per diem in the ED. I just wanted something less hectic. But, yeah, for so many reasons, love the "overwhelming floor specific policies and procedures" insight. I tend to jump in before thinking things through. I think I'm going to look for occupational health work. Something a little low key. There's always school nursing. I'm seriously considering it! Thanks again. Prayers appreciated.

I have worked the past three years in the ER. I recently accepted a float position in a hospital in NY. I lasted 2 months. I got 3 weeks orientation on one particular unit, the so-called toughest unit in the hospital. I survived, the assistant manager even asked me to consider joining them permenantly. I got three days on another unit. Survived that. Then I got one day each on three other units. Some were telemetry, some were not. My first day off of orientation, I went to a unit that I had not been to before. It was fast, I was bombarded by family members and stayed late to complete charting. We have 7 patients in NY. My second day, I went to a non-tele floor. I had not been to this particular unit before either. I had determined I would not be there late charting again, so, I assessed, passed meds, and charted assessments as I went. I got to my third patient that morning and was making good time. A cardiologist showed up to assess this 95 yo lady, she was not on tele, she was over the top anxious and hx of bipolar diagnosis. The Cardiologist no sooner than turned on his heel and left than she was calling after him. She yelled, "I'm having Chest Pain." I did not know this floor had a policy that when someone says the magic words, they call an RRT. I assessed her, no SOB, no overt sign discomfort, no diaphoresis, no SOB. I suspected she was being manipulative to get the Cardiologist back. I had been warned about her by the NOC nurse that she yelled out constantly. I paged the Cardiologist. A couple of minutes later, the Charge Nurse approached me and asked why I had not called an RRT. (In the ED we are the RRT). I told her I had paged the Cardiologist and did not know I had to call an RRT. She had described her pain to me as a breathing pain. Because she was yelling full voice and LS were clear, I didn't have a sense of urgency. Long story short, RRT was called. Cardiac event ruled out. I was on notice for not following the policy of this floor. The Manager of the floor demanded that I be put back on orientation and spend two days on her floor as an orientee before coming back (but I did finish out that day on my own). My next working day I went to a unit where I had prior orientation. It was stressful, but no issues. Then, on Monday, I returned to the Med Surg unit for orientation. My guard was down because, I felt I would be shown the ropes. I got assigned four patients and was working on my own with a resource. At 11:00 I discovered I had missed someone's 0800 medication. I reporte my error. I called the MD. I got a stat order to give the overlooked medication. I handed the omission report over to the Manager and was met with grave disdain. Later that same day, I could not find a patient's insulin. I requested from Pharmacy and went about my business. An hour later, the insulin wasn't there and I contacted the Pharmacy. They immediately sent the insulin. This particular patient was NPO. Her BS was 153 and the sliding scale started at 150. I marked the 11 am dose as "not given" and intended to re-check her BS to see if she even needed 2 units at that time. I informed my Preceptor. To my astonishment, he reacted as if I had injured this patient. He went to the Manager to inform her I had now two medication omissions. I was sent home. I was fired the next day. They cited the above reasons and stated my "critical thinking" did not match my background. My head is still spinning. I have never caused patient harm. I have never had my license investigated. I've been a nurse for 13 years. And lastly, in applying for a new job, I just found out a former Charge that I have been using as a reference for a couple of years now gave me a bad reference. The agency I'm trying to sign up with told me she had, "in no uncertain terms" not recommended me. She has not returned my gentle request to give me feedback. I feel right now like I've been thrown from a horse and kicked. I have recent letters and evaluations from recent contracts that support me as a nurse. I feel I am a strong nurse and competent and compassionate and spend the time educating at BS...and I do so much that goes unrecognized....like sooo many of us do. Can someone say something to help me put this to rest? I am so discouraged with nursing and Administration and nurses who have no problem throwing another nurse under the bus. I'm feeling a little sick from this profession.

That poem is fun and true for a lot of working/studying moms. If you don't laugh, you're gonna cry. And even if it was from the 60s 70s 80s 90s so what. Still true today. Hidden cat, what world are you living in? We haven't fixed it yet, it's still sexist. Look at your work environment? Ever see any female co-workers picking up the slack for the male counterparts? Co-dependency trives in nursing. Ever see Male nurses catapulted to management over equally competent female counterparts. I'm single and let my house go to hell while in nursing school. My dear little boy sacrificed too. Young, sheltered women...the road has been paved for you by women such as aluded to in this poem.

I hear ya summerscent. But, we have more control than many of us realize. Fight the good fight.

So, is this now a gang beating I'm taking on line?

"i always have to wonder when someone write that they're being railroaded, fired for no reason or excluded from the cliques because they're just so darned cute and everyone is jealous. several things make me wonder if this person didn't start the new job determined to show everyone what a "whiz" she is. she has a bsn from a good school, good scores on the competency exams, and is a "city girl" slumming in the country. if you self-righteously asserted that you can't participate because you're better than they are or because your religion precludes you consuming the particular beverages they mentioned, you can't have come across as wanting to be a part of the team. i can't help but wonder if her new co-workers caught on to her superior attitude . . ." yeah ruby, the above quotes from your post just reek of your benevolent intent towards me. it's just more of the same. and why i'm looking for a way out of nursing. your comments were not intended to be helpful. they were intended to be hurtful. maybe you are the one who needs the reality check.

"I feel like I'm not really living. I'm surviving work and then merely existing the rest of the time." So sad. So true, me too. I think I will find another way to use my license. or just cut back to no more than 2 days a week as a floor nurse. Hope you find your way.

if i weren't a single mom, living paycheck to paycheck, that would have been me at the first turn of events. thanks for showing support and taking me at my word. i honestly feel like i've been just beaten or run over in this hospital. and it is devestating because i tried and tried and tried. i was able to turn some of the negative around with the first preceptor. we parted on very good terms. the night just never worked for me. one of the other new nurses approached me and asked, "why are you taking 5 patients when the rest of us are taking 3?" she also witnessed my preceptor up in my personal space and commented, "i don't think i could work like that." very, very stressful and demeaning.

And..I don't see how anyone looking younger than their age has anything to do with anything. Valerie, from what I have seen, many new nurses (whether new grads or new to a unit) are at the mercy of whether they are accepted. I only mentioned I looked younger than I am because, it has been my experience that I have been talked to like I'm a kid. And pushing 50, it is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. That and I'm a mom of a great big football playing boy. I wish the power struggle didn't exist in nursing. Some here will admit they see it too, and some say it isn't so bad. My experience, it's bad. And I said I looked young, never ever said I was cute.

Ok, I've had a little sleep. I will review and re-think. I apologize if I offended and the intent was truly well-meaning. I am scared, and vulnerable and already getting bashed at work. Really don't need further bashing here. I'm careful for how I speak to others probably because I am very sensitive to hurtful comments. But will give some thought to these posts. Thanks again.

How cute! How clever. Love this.

"defending the missionaries who have interrupted your colleague's sleep is not a good way to get along. if you stay on night shift, you may understand that one day!" ruby, you weren't there. this is quite the assumption. for all we know it was her day off. your post is just unnecessarily hostile. really. and your assumptions about me are crap. i'm not self-rightous. your post is a reflection of you, not me.

Thanks Alexk49. See, I think like this too. I know there are nurses like you and me and so many others on this post. I will hope and pray for so much at my next job.

"There's only one thing to do, OP: Resign, do it now, don't even attend the meeting except to deliver your letter (better yet, deliver it to HR). Then run, don't walk, out of there." And so, my dilemna, if I resign, I have to pay back the sign on bonus...and I don't have it. single mom/paycheck to paycheck right now.

I don't remember how it came up that I was LDS, origionally. I do remember putting it out there after the first mean comment. And believe it or not, my thinking was, I didn't want the person who made fun to do it again in front of me and then, somewhere down the road have it be awkward when they found out I was. To my detriment, obviously, I'm a Polyanna. I was actually thinking of the other person. And re-reading some of my post, yeah, my feelings are hurt. I never went in there with an attitude. I really did try to be friendly and easy going. No one deserves this.

Thank you DeLana. Good advice. I had a great relationship w/HR on hiring. Scarry stuff.

So much of this has been helpful. And some of it is ugly assumption. Why assume so much. I offered background because I hoped for experience, feedback and support. I never imagined anyone was "trying to corrupt me" with coffee. I don't think like that. I'm having to guess as to why I have been rejected. I have worked agency for so long where I live, they would never pay a fee to hire me away at this time. Also, when the economy went south, agency jobs declined big time. I was offered a sign on bonus at the new job. I'm a single mom who went with very little income for 3 months. I live paycheck to paycheck. I stuck with it, even when it felt like it was going bad because I believed I could turn it around. If I sound jaded now, I have good reason. I put my best foot forward and went about trying to fit in with the best effort. Is it for the sake of a negative thread that this is getting ugly. Thank you to those who are offering advice and support. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Yes, this is a union hospital. They held their little "we're ready to part ways" meeting without giving me a heads up so that I could invite a union rep. I'm paying union dues. Some of these comments are giving me courage. I was just laying down because I have to work a night shift (agency/Providence...yeah!). I noticed I was feeling deeply depressed. Then after reading some of these comments (Comancheshadow..OMG!) I'm feeling strong again. Vito...I think you're right. I do expect they will fire me on Tuesday. I was told on the phone last Thursday they would be conducting an investigation and that they didn't want me there when they were investigating. I spoke w/my union rep on Friday, she had no idea they were investigating me. So, I assume they began the investigation without the rep present. I will hold off on response, verbal included. You are so wise. And just for the record, I never discussed my scores until here, just trying to give some background, I was qualified for that job. I will never, never get mean people. Thank God.

Yes, They want to import to weaken the union position in bargaining. They want us to feel replacable. They really bombed out with the Philapino nurses, remember 4-5 years ago. They found the nurses were not as educated as US nurses.

I will post here after Tuesday what has come of this. As a writer, this is such a classic scenerio of being set up for failure and such a danger for this profession. I sure wish there was something we could do to really make this stop. I posted somewhere else that I am considering walking coast to coast in protest of nurses feeding on eachother. Maybe this could/should be done. Maybe I could ask nurses to join me as I march through their states! See, I truly am the idealist!

Thank you NC Girl RN and TurnLeftSide. Yes it does suck. And I fully expect to be scapegoated with the bed sore, if it is a bed sore. I pray it is not. And I will sit with the managers on Tuesday to hear them tell me what an incompetent nurse I am. I've already prepared a written response. And if they don't fire me, I'm resigning. It encourages me to know that at least one other RN sees the group responsibility here.

Again, glad for the candid discussion. I think the push for BSNs was partly to dispell some of this. And now I'm going to get even more flack because, I have always thought that a 2 year trade school does not make for a well-rounded person. Most of the nurses I work with are 2 year RNs. Most have come out of rough circumstance. I am speaking from the stories I have heard told on the floor. I came from rough circumstances but by coincidence, ended up traveling the world...the world...and was an actor in NY and studied communication before coming to nursing. I feel like such an odd duck. I suspect I would have fit in better if I'd been an hair stylist or a waitress before coming to nursing. It feels like that to me. I know I'm gonna get it but this is what I seel

I brought in nice snacks every night and set them out for everyone. I sympathized when someone was having a rough night. I jumped into help. I am standoffish when it comes to clique stuff. I just started getting picked apart at work. I remember, conversationally mentioning that I loved Nancy Grace. She is such a crusader for victims. They had real (mean spirited) fun with that. "How can you stand listening to her voice?" I was like, "What?" I just don't know how to fit in with women. Yeah, if they fire me, great. If not, I'm resigning. Any thoughts on the license part?