pinoy_guy

i am not giving specifics, but i posted the gist of the situation. i am not saying it's a conspiracy involving everyone. personnel said it's the manager's decision. a coworker tried this, nothing happened. this happens at start of shift too, a coworker was called up and informed she'll be on call. when she said, have you called off this woman? personnel said so-and-so said it's your turn--even if she was just called off 2 days ago. a few had done this before, even talked to the house supervisor. i was shocked to realize this too--i didn't know this happens here. it is not fair. if you live near my area i can show you the schedules. i cannot take a vacation because my ptos are being used up. it's hard to understand because i cannot just leave at this point. a lot of the people who signed up here, left after a few months, asked me how i can work in such an environment. i am still bound here. thanks to everyone who shared useful input.

i have brought documentation to hr. the person i talked to said it's my manager's decision. i don't want to post more specific details as the people i've talked to will easily identify me. and yes, i now realized i'll have to get a 2nd part-time job. thanks for your input.

i am slowly and sadly realizing this. a few other forum members here know what i'm talking about. in fact, a lot of the newer employees left after orientation. the ones who remain are the ones bound by agreements/contracts. thanks for your input. i hope i can get a 2nd job without violating the terms of my contract with this hospital.

:chuckle please read my post--i do not want extra shifts. i am not happy because i am not working the 3 shifts per week that every full time employee is supposed to have. if i did not want extra shifts, why would my manager offer them?

thanks for your input. that's actually my plan b. i was just hoping there was another way to resolve the situation.

are there issues i should be aware of, why i should not take this to the state? i doubt this issue can be resolved, even by the ceo. a recent event proved this to us. this is my problem--i cannot quit here at this time. my manager--she is very much aware of how many hours each of her nurses works, as she's bean counting for cost-cutting. now this is ironic, because she would rather pay overtime for some of her pets, and deny me my pay. is there a federal law against this? there is in theory a logbook--but when i look at the logbook, the pets are usually recorded as being sent home once or twice a week--which is another lie, as i see them there almost everyday. the other issue is floating--they are recorded as being floated to another floor every week, but we all know they never float. heck, they cannot even do their jobs right in our own floor. it is impossible for them to work in another floor--people will find out their delinquencies. they spend more time in the break room rather than at the bedside. this is the sad part--no union here. basically the suck ups had successfully quashed any attempts at unionizing this hospital...and thus their perks. as i said, i don't mind favoritism--like some of the pets never having any weekend duties. but when this favoritism affects my being able to pay my rent, then i'm complaining.

i have copies of the schedules--this had been going on for years. personnel said they cannot do anything about it as the manager makes the schedules. on my managers' manager...let's say that the other nurses had questioned her sanity, as she rules with a dictatorial style...and this style necessitates have a coterie of loyal underlings, our manager among them. i found this out the hard way when i sent feedback to my manager regarding dubious practices by my coworkers...and this manager basically told me that my coworkers were just doing their jobs, and i shouldn't mess with how they do their jobs. i would have left this hospital a long time ago, but i cannot do so at this time--let's just say i have a contract.

finally discovered why i was often being sent home on call. our manager plays favorites. full time employees get 3 12-hour shift per week, then any additional shifts are paid overtime. on studying our schedules, i discovered that some suck ups get 5 to 6 shifts per week--and they are all labelled as regular shifts, not extra shifts. i get my standard 3 shifts per week. problem is, they usually send me home more than the other nurses--i'm using up my ptos just to be able to pay my rent. what sucks is these suck ups i work with brag about going on vacations in asia and europe. a coworker asked our manager regarding this disparity, and was told that the extra shifts are being paid straight rates, not overtime rates. now we all know this is bovine ordure. payment is being handled by payroll, not our manager. this means the suck ups are being paid overtime, while i'm using up my ptos. this also means that our manager is lying. now i don't have any problems with respecting seniority. but when this seniority is not being applied across the board, and when this seniority is at the expense of other employees, then i don't agree with it. i have asked personnel about this disparity--they said they weren't aware of it, as their software takes a long time to load one employee's schedule--so it would be impossible to cross-check all scheduled personnel's record to see who should be sent home on call. my question is, who can i approach regarding this issue? can i file a complaint with the state? a simple investigation of the pay slips and work record should expose this anomaly, but is this possible? can this be done anonymously? with all the shenanigans going on, i wouldn't be surprised if our manager will suddenly find a lot of things to complain about me, once she discovers i complained to the state. help please.

there was a study (heritage foundation?) 2 years ago that illegal immigrants pay too little taxes, if at all. of those families that pay, they get up to 5 times more (if i recall correctly) in benefits from the state--chief among them being education and healthcare. bottomline was the taxpayers were paying to support these illegal immigrant families--and this amount is much more than the benefits the us gets from illegal immigrant labor. anchor babies are being used as keys to access education, and some lawmakers are trying to address this issue.

woman indicted for smuggling filipinos into the us [color=dimgray]06/07/2008 just a friendly reminder to be careful whom you trust... and if any of these people are involved in processing your papers...i suggest you find another agency.

i was just surprised by his statement that they helped lobby for the lifting of the previous retrogression. this is the sad part. and reading some of their posts in various internet fora, clamoring for their right to get an immigrant visa just because they passed the nclex... a lot of them are going to be very disappointed. what's worse is that the real nurses (those who went into nursing because they like helping people...and not just after the dollars) will find it harder to get to the us too. exactly.

philippine news agency inquirer (inquirer.net) interviewed sentosa owner ben philipson on the sentosa 27+ case. let me point out the obvious bias, based on the lead line alone: sentosa warns nurses: 'they will know what slavery means' i wonder how much was filtered out, and what this alleged reporter focused on to create this biased article. fair warning, given all the grief sentosa had gone through, just because these nurses wanted to squirm away from $25,000 they committed to should they break their contracts. now they must be regretting their their ill-made decisions. i hope other nurses learn from this case. the painful thing for the nurses is that they thought they got away from the case...but this statement of intent to file slander cases, and intent to garnish their property...means the nurses are not working for themselves at this time--all the money and property they worked for will come to naught when they are garnished. the nurses are running out of bullets, and had now charged sentosa with slavery. reminds me of the saying "cooked in their own fat." now this is the bit of good news. i had received some emails from my students in the philippines saying they couldn't find any agency willing to recruit filipino nurses...at least sentosa is still recruiting there, despite all this mess. if you watch the video, though...the new nurses will have to sign more stringent contracts because of the actions of those who went before them. so the bill the nurses will have to pay includes the immigration fees. i wonder how they'll pay for everything when their property will be garnished? the shotgun approach and forum shopping have backfired on the nurses. then he referred to the organizations who joined the bandwagon without studying the case. not quite a nail in their coffins, but egg on their faces. now for the video. interesting that he implied that the politicians are not acting to lift the current retrogression because of the sentosa case. another loss for the other filipino nurses. the fallout for nurses who sign up with sentosa in the future. i think other agencies will be taking the same actions to avoid having the same problems. nurses stuck in the philippines have a lot to thank these sentosa 27+ for.

philippine news agency inquirer (inquirer.net) interviewed sentosa owner ben philipson on the sentosa 27+ case. ignore the melodramatic title by a biased reporter. sentosa warns nurses: 'they will know what slavery means' view the accompanying video on the page. interesting that he implied that the politicians are not acting to lift the current retrogression because of the sentosa case. the fallout for nurses who sign up with sentosa in the future. i think other agencies will be taking the same actions to avoid having the same problems. just a heads-up to other foreign nurses thinking of signing up with agencies to get to the us.

head surgeon a no-show at rectal surgery house hearing first posted 22:50:00 05/30/2008

is this possible? most schools have these down as 2 years and 2 summers. that's 6 semesters equivalent. if you took yours in less than 2 years, that means you finished it in 5 trimesters or less. how were your clinical rotations? what do you mean by fix your credentials "clean"? this doesn't sound legitimate to me. if you go to a legit institution, they shouldn't have to fix nor clean your credentials. can you at least give some hints on your very personal reasons?

came across the actual writ which stopped the april 28, 2008 court hearing. i think filipino nurses should read the material, as it could affect your chances to migrate to the u.s. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/files/writ_of_prohibition_final_version.pdf http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/files/memo_of_law_on_writ_final.pdf indictment number 00769a-k-2007, pending in the suffolk county supreme court, state of new york. the indicted nurses claimed that what they did were federally protected activities, that the national labor relations board has exclusive jurisdiction. they also claimed the criminal case violates the thirteenth and first amendments of the u.s. constitution. amazing what some lawyers can do. some of the published information had been transformed again. 1. housed in run down houses with rats -- houses with no heating 2. resigned as advised by vinluan -- resigned unbeknownst to vinluan 3. conspiracy to cripple sentosa operations -- self-organization 4. they claimed to be at will employees, yet claimed that sentosa was guilty of violating the thirteenth amendment: freedom from slavery and involuntary servitude. these two are mutually exclusive to me. if you're a slave, you're not at will. what bound them were their contracts--especially the $25,000 buy out fee if they resigned before three years. so please do not just sign contracts and plan to escape without any penalty. again adjusted--they previously alleged not being paid the prevailing wages in the area--which was found to be without basis, as one of the nurses was paid up to $40 per hour--which most other nurses in the us are not getting as new nurses. short staffing -- a lot of hospitals are doing this. last minute shift changes due to lack of management and planning -- this happens a lot in us hospitals, when census changes. jebus. this is what nurses do. i had been doing this in my job as a nurse. i change sheets when i transfer out or discharge a patient, and i'm getting an admission. i take out the garbage from the room and put it in the dirty utility room. i feed my patients. i clean up poop and change diapers. these supposed nurses think that feeding patients and changing diapers are not part of their jobs??? does this mean that they should ban agency nurses in the u.s. as it's disparate treatment? from being advised by vinluan that they had the right to resign anytime because they were at will employees to resigning unbeknownst to vinluan. from conspiracy to a labor activity. smart lawyers. just wondering...if they win this case, does this mean that nurses in u.s. hospitals can withhold labor anytime they feel like it? anytime includes middle of shift? i'm getting confused. anyway, just read the legal articles linked to get the facts straight from the source. (and not the angled newsday articles and press releases.) what troubles me is that some people found this writ to have merit, and stopped the hearing. do these people know what u.s. nurses do? for laypeople, a professional being made to feed patients, change diapers, and throw out the trash might sound insulting...but that's what nurses do in some (if not all) u.s. hospitals. if these nurses get off scot-free, this will be a precedent that nurses can break their contracts anytime. fewer filipino nurses will be hired. along with the news that california will have 10,000 nurses graduating this year...this means it will be much harder for filipino nurses to find jobs here in the u.s.

we always had these reminders to tell management when there were issues on patient safety or care. supposed to be confidential. what i later discovered was that everything told in confidence to the manager...her clique of nurses would know about it by the next day. btw, her clique of nurses were the ones i told the manager about--like leaving the hospital anytime they want without telling the other nurses, then being rude when i asked them where they went. (like a case when the secretary mentioned they saw a nurse drive back to the hospital.) so much for confidentiality.

happens all the time in my hospital. a group of nurses would leave the floor at the same time to have tea. that's a bunch of beeping iv pumps and feeding pumps and patient lights. incident reports are useless, as i have discovered that the supervisor has the authority to "hold" incident reports at the supervisor's level if the supervisor determines that the incident is resolved. so it pays to suck up as you can (maybe) get away with murder.

some supervisors are creative in how they can get away with this. the most common is being "proactive" in manipulating the time you clock out (for lunch or for the day)--if you don't have any "justification" why you worked overtime for 30 minutes, supervisor just chucks it. you eat your overtime. no pay for that. nada. they supervisor has a list of allowable justifications for overtime. funny. the list is too short, and it's too much of a hassle to "justify" your overtime, so most nurses just ignore it; some learned to make a lot of shortcuts just to get home. me, i'm still at the stage where i'm afraid of getting problems because of lack of documentation so i'm working for free sometimes.

ouch. you're correct. i remember when this thing started--and some people here suggested to just waive the entire thing and retake the december 2006 nle, so the nurse grads can move on with their lives. (i think only 3 people did this.) the ones who suggested this route were verbally abused in this and other websites. turned out the "whole retake stand" was right after all. just how right will be evident in a couple of years--if these tests 3 and 5 retakers can actually get jobs in the us. there are literally tens of thousands of nurses to choose from. a lesson to learn from--the shortcut might be the easier path, but might be a pyrrhic victory, if you cannot use your license to your advantage. i wonder where these tests 3 and 5 flunkers will go to now. a waste of time and money. what hurts more is if they work in philippine hospitals, they will probably work as "volunteers," or have to pay for the privilege of working.

pinay who died in canada won't get financial help from owwa i don't know if this is a scare tactic, but i think this is just plain wrong. even if this ofw was not an owwa member, she was still a philippine citizen, entitled to protection and services from the philippine government. that's what taxes are for. morale of the story? 1. don't die outside the philippines 2. stay away from trees.

this is weird. in a facility i know, they interpreted this law to their advantage: as long as a nurse gets a lunch break in 12 hours, it's all good. this had led to abuse--with the deliberate short staffing, what happens is that some nurses get their lunch breaks 45 minutes before they time out--that's 1830. now that is a lousy time for a lunch break. the nurse would be so hypoglycemic by then, and the risk for mistakes is high.

wow. and we had been having 30 minute breaks in 12 1/2 hours for a long time--and the admin makes people guilty if we take more than 30 minutes...only to learn that we are entitled to a 45 minutes (15 minutes every 4 hours is 45 minutes for 12 hours.) paid break per 12 hour shift! this means the hospitals are "skimming" the cream. and a lot of facilities give the "sign or resign" ultimatum. can these erring hospitals be held accountable??? is this legal?

talked with a friend, and he said he times in at 0700 and times out at 1930...and he gets a 1-hour break, plus an additional 30 minutes "courtesy break." he did say that he only gets paid for 11 hours per duty, but on reviewing his pay slip, found out that he gets paid for 12 hours--meaning his 1-hour lunch break is paid, but not the 30 minute "courtesy break." another friend said she gets to sleep for 1 hour per 12-hour shift, and she gets paid for that. a third friend said she clocks in at 1845 and clocks out at 0715, and she only has a 30-minute lunch break because all nurses are required to sign a waiver ("i do not want my 2nd break."). i'm curious: for 12 hour shifts in california, how long are our breaks supposed to be? and are they paid? and is this waiver of the 2nd break legal? it seems unsafe to be working for 12 hours with only a 30 minute rest period.

cellphones, videocams banned in clinical classes: ched the finger-pointing continues... now it's some unnamed medical student. if it really was a medical student, i don't think this medical student should be given a license to practice medicine. imo.