livingonadream

Thanks for the responses. Who I report to has changed recently. It was more because I could not get any direction from my former boss unless he was randomly trying to micro-manage me. While health and safety co-exist, we have different functions. Now they big task at hand is trying to figure out who is responsible for what. I was doing responsibilities that were not part of my job description because safety didn't want to do them. I wish the frustration would end but I just have to keep reminding myself why I am doing what I am doing. I defend myself daily with what I have done and changes I have made. Work comp claims have decreased by 50%. There are still injuries but they are just managed differently most in part to stronger health staff.

I am looking for input and your experience on how you report to particularly if you work in a factory/company setting. Are you part of safety, human resources, corporate? Is your superior someone that has medical experience? I am currently told to report to a safety director that lacks medical knowledge and reasoning. I am struggling with the fact that everything is pushed by safety. It's hard for them to separate medical because in a way it has to be. TIA

For clarification: It's not necessarily related to work compensation insurance itself not state/federal laws, nor OSHS. I am looking for company policy examples. For example, right now we have a policy in place that says Employees must report injuries before they leave work if it happened on that day. I have a friend that says her company says it must be reported within 24 hours. Is that state/federal/OSHA/etc law? No. But it is something the company can enforce. Employees report it 5 days later or never and just show up with restrictions. I am looking for rules and policies made by the company that make the employee responsible. I do work for a large company and I am actually the one that deals with all the work comp injuries in my region. My questions are along the lines of: Do your employees get penalized if they miss their appointments? What if they don't give you return to work information? What if they fail to comply with their restrictions? What if they don't show up to physical therapy? Do employees get paid to go to appointments? How are employees getting to their appointments if while during their work hours? What if they don't show up to their follow up appointment, are their restrictions then void?

I recently started at a company and I am perplexed by the stuff employees get away with. I'm sure there is similar stuff everywhere but it's out of control where I work. There are little to no policies in place. People report injuries whenever they like. We have on site clinic and therapy. People show up when they want, follow restrictions when they want, and only give me return to work info when they want. The injury has turned into an excuse. They have no responsibility. Since I have started, I see it has been an issue. I replaced a CNA that sent everyone to the hospital and did whatever an employee told her. I have been given permission to develop a policy related to work comp. I have some ideas but don't want to miss any loop holes. What works for your company to get back the control.

Don't forget factories in the occupational role. We are currently looking for an LPN at my company and having a hard time finding one!

I wish you could post this is a file.

Ah what stress that was! Got the job. Interviewing and negotiations are sooo stressful!

Thanks everyone for your responses! I truly appreciate them. The interview and negotiation process was something very stressful and unique. I eventually did get the salary I was negotiating for and that was after mentioning a lot of the same things mentioned here! Excited to be starting soon!

I agree! I also was dealing with the idea of "anticipated overtime during busy season" and wasn't comfortable with it at the original salary they proposed. I talked with several people through 4 interviews and eventually it was my soon to be boss that came through for me. He actually listened and HR wasn't. Then again this is a new position to the entire organization so I can see why HR was not understanding.

I agree. I posted vaguely and tried to summarize what the general situation was. I need to make a point to them that it wasn't going to be less responsibility. I honestly think every nurse, no matter what position, has responsibility.

Sorry, I agree, I posted vaguely. After re-reading my post, I think that I was intending to say that I felt my responsibilities would not be less but of a different area of responsibility. They made the statement that they thought my responsibilities would be less as I was out of the hospital. I argued that the responsibilities would be the same or more depending on what things are developed, (ie wellness programs, education, teaching classes) I wasn't negotiating on the area of responsibilities but more on the challenges and the hard work I am going to face. I also failed to mention that this a large company and I am the first Registered Nurse that they have in the country. They currently have a CNA in the role and also had an LPN working with the work comp aspect of things.

I am currently in the negotiation process of a job offer. Of note, my experience as a nurse is mostly critical care experience of 5 years and also school nursing. The job I am being offered is for a Occupational Health Nurse position for a large company, where at the location I would work has approximately 1500 employees. The company has never hired anything higher than an LPN and hiring an RN is the first for the entire company. The negotiating has been drawn out and it is very apparent the company is very interested and wants me to work for them but they will not increase their base salary. In a conversation today, I stated that the salary being offered is not competitive to the market average and that with my experience and prospective job duties and responsibilities, that the salary should increase. I made a point to say there will be increase job responsibilities. The person I was talking to stated that several people felt as though my responsibilities would be less of a nurse working in hospital. Do you think that in certain positions there is a greater responsibility? For instance, I would be the only nurse, be the go to person for medical questions and there are no other employees who can do what I can do versus of that in the hospital. I am just perplexed why they think the responsibilities would be less. Not to confuse stress with responsibility.

What is happening when you are starting IVs? I was a phlebotomist prior to nursing and good at IV starts. The problem I see a lot is that some nurses can't feel the veins, they expect to see them.

Thanks for your response. The second interview was a long interview. I actually interviewed and then toured the plant. The company seemed receptive and enthusiastic. That interview was followed by a phone interview with an HR Talent Acquisition Manager and then today was another phone interview with the VP of Safety. Hopefully everyone has run out of questions. Today the HR Talent Manager talked with me on the phone and said things are looking great and hopefully everything will be through by the end of the week. Next problem is that it was originally a hourly wage job and now it's a salary. The originally asked my salary expectations, which I thought were low and kicking myself for after I told them. No one has mentioned a salary range or anything so I asked today. Yeah, even lower than my starting expectations. I am going to have to get my negotiating belt on. 50-55k is not going to work as I know I will go definitely be putting in the hours. Any suggestions anyone?

I applied for a position at a factory and got called for a second interview. The first interview was at a company wide job fair and was very casual. The safety manager that interviewed me mentioned that he would like to have me meet with other personnel for the company. I am wondering if this is what the second interview entails. I was told that I was the first interview for the position and that corporate as only agreed to interview me at this point. Anywho, I am nervous for this interview. The first one was very relaxed and I learned that they are opening up an RN position and that I would over see RN's in place. My weak points are that I don't have an case management/work comp experience. I would be essentially doing things that haven't been done for the company as well before by a nurse as this is a new position. I felt I stumbled on questions related to employees with malingering injuries and work comp cases. Tips? Suggestions?