Emma123

Thank you for the excellent advice here. I thought about documenting the comments/behaviors. I will from now on. To be truthful, the "management" isn't the problem. It's only one particular one. But she has the power to terminate us. What's the use in following the chain of command to report the abuse she is giving us, when her superior is an old friend from nursing school? And that would be the DON. And the other ADON is the DON's daughter. Yep....we're pretty much in a rock and a hard place. It's just sad to see REALLY GOOD NURSES leave this facility due to their constant patronizing and put-downs, which were not done privately, either. I thought about placing a small piece of duct tape on my pen to serve as a reminder to "shut up and keep it to myself" any time I thought about speaking up for myself. I guess I'm just really sad it has to be this way. Because I SO TOTALLY LOVE my coworkers. We help each other out, no questions asked. A great group of people. Even the administrator is a nice person. But I fear going to the administrator would be "breaking the chain of command" and then if I truly DO make an error...they will jump right on that...to get me out of there. Sad. Because I love the patients. Love my work....Wish it didn't have to be this way. How one person could make good nurses leave like that.... Seems like the only way to survive is to be the "tattletale" the "martyr" the "narc" the "kiss-ass".....you know the type....I think that's the only way to survive there...

No. Just myself. They said it was "my voice" they heard. But all we were talking about is the way we've been picked apart lately. Especially when we've been picking up TONS of hours to help out. This manager also put me down in front of a physician a day after the write-up. It's getting worse, unfortunately...

So, I was in the med room at work, talking with two other co-workers (also nurses) about the struggles we're having lately. The door was cracked. Our voices were low. We were simply venting. Apparently they stated they heard my voice...they...being the "management". I got called into the office and was confronted about "making negative comments about management" in front of coworkers, thereby it is "insuboordination". Write-up stated "making negative comments about "management"." Has anyone else been written up for this? Is there truly a regulation I broke? Or is this about power and control? I ask because this particular member of management is the reason three nurses have quit in the four months I have been at this facility. I feel it's cumbersome to refute the matter, as the "higher up" from this person is....her friend. And the other member of management is.....the manager's: daughter. Our voices were low. There was nothing derrogatory stated. No foul language. Just generalized feeling like nothing we do is good enough, and it's hard to be constantly criticized. May as well shut up and take it. I decided to wrap a piece of duct tape around my mouth before going to work daily. (Kidding). I just feel I'd be better off, in say....Communist China?

LMAO!!!

I feel your pain, and here is what I did about it: I had a patient arguing with a family member at the nurse's station. I tried to put it out of my head, but I had a new admit and was confirming orders. I picked my head up, looked at them and said, firmly but politely, "Would you please take your conversation to the day room? The work that I do at the nurse's station needs to be accurate for this patient. Med errors can kill people." I know it was gruff, and to the point.....but the family DID move elsewhere, and they.....yes, they did....APOLOGIZE later. I have found that telling people "why" I am doing a particular task leads to understanding and better cooperation. I am firm when possible. I even set time limits (when possible) when I initiate care...ex: "Mrs. Smith, I thought I would take care of you right now while I actually have 10 minutes just for you." You are letting them know you only have such and such amount of time, but you are also "attempting" to make them feel "special." This doesn't work all of the time, but most of the time. Like I said, I feel your pain.... Emma

I am so sorry to hear about this situation in your community. I'm an LPN wishing to become a SANE but don't know if I need to be an RN to qualify. I'd like to see one here in my community in Michigan. Here's to wishing you well in your very important, and much needed, endeavor! Emma

Thank you for the extremely useful information. I could probably find another job....but in all honesty, the facilities are run pretty much the same that are in my area. This is the worst (management wise) that I've come across though. ALL of the employees are opressed, not just nurses. They treat the housekeeping dept this way, as well as the central supply director. They add more and more duties to them, cut their hours, and expect these things to get done. So what do you see? You see them running nonstop, winced faces, angry, short-tempered, and tearful. So another question I have....the union would be only for the nurses, correct? What about the CNA's? Another question: What about LPN's? I looked up the state association online last noc and it said for "Registered Nurses". Bummer!!! I'm an LPN currently. As you know, SNF's are pretty much staffed by LPN's. I truly do want to make a difference. I want to help. I want security not just for me, but for all of those involved here. Sure I could move on, but being an LPN makes it even harder to find work since hospitals in my area don't employ them, and the ones that do, pay very poorly and the ability to use my nursing skills is limited in that setting. So for now it's :bowingpur "yes maam, please beat me down...:bowingpur ...yes I'll kiss your butt....:bowingpur. Oh, sorry. Did I miss a spot?":bowingpur Thanks for all the helpful advice. I, too, am learning a LOT from this. Emma

I can't even begin to thank you for the information you shared. I will definitely look into it and see who may be interested in this. When you say it comes down to a vote, I am assuming that a for profit organization such as mine, that administration could over-rule the nurses. There are way more chiefs than Indians, as they say. We're short staffed and the same nurses pick up tons of extra shifts. (TPTB probably know this; that makes our vote even less, if it is democracy-based). As I said, the morale is really bad where I am at. My coworkers and the CNA's are exemplary in my opinion. We pretty much support each other. I recently read an article on this board about morale and loss of hope (I can't remember the name of it; I'll look it up) within the medical profession, and essentially being bullied into submission and being fearful of standing up or speaking out d/t consequences up to termination. I was told this morning that in two years, my facility has fired 40 nurses. YES, 40. I realize it works to the facility's advantage to pay the "nominal" fee of a physical/background check. The orientation was "watch what this nurse does" for three shifts for me. Not much went into training me, money-wise or even time. They didn't have someone off the floor go through admissions forms, etc. They made the poor preceptor work the hall PLUS try to train me. One of my former patients was a director of nursing in a prison and told me it is more cost effective to a company to have turnover than to retain and pay out long term benefits and retirement funds. Since I work for (my opinion here) and unethical company, the picture this pt painted for me makes sense. The long and short of it, when it comes down to voting, believe me, there are way more mgmt, marketing, and corporate fools than nurses. We are way outnumbered. So another question (sorry) is, if the facility and TPTB decided against it (as they, with 100% certainty, would), even if the nurses all decided "YES", it's still THEIR company, right? They can still have the final say? Or bully us to the point of being fearful to even vote in the first place. ? I just wanted to investigate into this some more and I really appreciate your posts and help. Thanks again, Emma

Thank you for your post. We think the same thing about the administrator. We just lost 5 people, including the ONLY full time physical therapist who was very good. So now my "rehab" unit is with fill in therapists, not those that know the facility and have 10 years vested in the company. This administrator has ruined a lot here, unfortunately.

Thank you for your response. So....how do I get a union involved in my company? (Or is that not an option....please excuse me if that is an "uber" dumb question).:sofahider

You will only know what has been described above once you are a nurse. There is no way anyone could explain it; it is very personal to nurses. I would not want my own daughter to be a nurse; I've adamantly told her to not even consider this profession. That being said, working for an agency is nice because you can avoid much of the politics. Provided you have a spouse with steady income for those in between times you don't have an assignment, and for the better insurance benefits. The happiest I was as a nurse was when I could go to work, do a good job, take care of patients, do my charting, and then drive home. WITHOUT all the politics.

1. I don't understand that, sorry? 2. No way in hell. Emma

I wanted to post this question under the thread which contained the objection form (taking an assignment and filling out a form, aka Safe Harbor), but did not want to hijack their thread. I want to know more about unions. Where I work, it is an "at will employer", meaning they may fire you with or without reason. Do unions protect you from this? If anyone has any feedback, another question I have is this: Does anyone know if union based facilities have better retention of nurses? Right now at work, there is a huge drop in morale, as administration stated to the nurses when corporate people were in , "When corporate is here, they are right. You are wrong. Shut your mouth." This came about after a condescending woman in a suit was watching me do my med pass and juggle an admit, then have one brought to my floor (without my knowledge). I simply stated to this woman, "Communication could be better here; If I'd known I had this other admit coming, this could be prevented." (referring to her negative comments and raising her voice about our attending being unprofessional and in a hurry and just 'horrid' to the patient caregiver). Anyway, the long and short of it, I was given a final written warning, stating that if I break any company policy I am immediately terminated. Because, "You are NOT to talk to other people about our problems. You do NOT talk to corporate. You refer them to ME." ("me" is the administrator who cornered me in the kitchen). I still have refused to sign the write-up. She says that what I did was unprofessional. (Umm...I didn't yell. I didn't REFUSE the assignment; I simply stated that advance notification would have been helpful). Imagine a woman and a man coming to you; man with huge wound on face standing in front of you. Woman starts asking you about how to treat it. (And you are in the middle of giving meds, and a new admit, and you wonder who these people are and why they are asking you medical advice). And this condescending corporate individual (who I didn't know was corporate) informs you that this is a new admit to your hall, and stated in a loud voice, "Don't you tell me you didn't know about this admit. The person sitting right here in this chair---as she's tapping gruffly on the chair with her ink pen---took this message!" Bottom line: I did NOT doing anything wrong. Well, I guess I did. I wasn't a good Stepford Nurse and cheerfully say, "Oh, so glad you are here. How may I help you?" I didn't have a right to feel under pressure? They get angry with us for overtime, but two admits plus medicare charting on 17 people, and all the other redundant forms they need us to fill out before we leave....isn't that enough already? I witnessed the administrator call our unit, get the social worker on the phone and, in front of all of us, instruct the maintenance man to "Shut up and quit complaining and just move these people" when we made several room changes and maintenance man was overwhelmed. I'm not kidding here..."Shut up." "Shut your mouth." These are ver batim words we are told. So the point of my vent is this: Would a union shelter/protect its employees from these bogus write-ups and mistreatment? Any thoughts? Thanks for your time Emma

ROFLMAO

....wondering....am i the only one reading these responses and actually saying OUT LOUD....yes! Oh yes, that too!! (Thankful to not be alone. Insane and in good company, much better)...