Jendes1979

I chose nursing as my profession and I go above and beyond and give a 110% every single shift. Nursing is a wonderful and fulfilling field. I'm so glad I chose this career. I absolutely love working as a nurse, and that's exactly what it is... work. My life does not revolve around being a nurse, nor should it. Because nursing is what I do for a living and not who I am as a person. I am not an indentured servant nor have a taken a vow to place all others needs above my own. I am an employee and should be treated as such with the same rights and protections as anyone else working in this country, including but not limited to labor laws and the ability to work in a safe, non life threatening environment. So, NO, I will not commit to working an indeterminate amount of hours/days putting my health and others at risk by sheer exhaustion. And if the facility I work at is in the direct path of near certain death, NO, I will not stay and work putting others lives before my own or my family's. If that cost me my job fine so be it, if that costs me my license then we as nurses need to be making A LOT more than we do.

Thank you for your support.

Great advice, thank you.

I just have to say what an amazing and supportive group this is. I can not thank you all enough. I had a meeting with the administrator, DON and ADON today about the the incident. During questioning I was told that it was illegal for me to refuse assignment of the additional hall because of my concerns for the patients well being. I'm absolutely sick, literally sick about the entire thing. The worst thing was hearing how much my patients miss me. I have worked hard to develop a relationship and getting to know each and every resident on my regular hall so that I can not only care and advocate for their physical health but also for their mental and emotional health. After much thought and consideration I've decided to resign and it truly breaks my heart. I never imagined there would be something I'd go through in my professional life as difficult as the grueling ups and downs of a nursing student but this emotional roller coaster is by far so much worse. The only thing getting me through is the love and support you all have shown me and hope that I too can someday help someone on here through a difficult time in their career.

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to reply and offer your advice. The first night this happened I called the on call rn, no answer, then my ADON, who then had the DON call me. During this time the mandated nurse of that hall left and placed the hall keys in a desk drawer in mds room, unbeknownst to me. After several attempts to reach him my Don called to tell me where they were. The following night one of the night nurses on the opposite wing took report and did the narc count with the mandated nurse when I once again refused, then left the keys on my cart. I once again called to report this, and was once again told to do my best, I also sent her a text with the same info just to cover myself. I just can't understand how they feel this was my responsibility. Once again THANK YOU! I feel so much better and will be taking your advice and contacting an attorney Tuesday when they are back in office after the holiday

In May of this year I was hired as a brand new nurse at a ltc facility to work the night shift. The facility has 2 wings and each wing has 2 halls. Being a rather large facility of 140 beds and a new nurse I was concerned with staffing but was assured that for my particular shift there would be 1 nurse and at least 2 cnas to each hall for a total no less than 4 nurses and 8 cnas. This was the case up until a few weeks ago when a new company took over and took away people's vacation time, increased the cost of our insurance and decreased our wages. It wasn't long before staff started dropping like flies due to all the resignations. Last week I came into work only to find out I was the only nurse on my wing, and to top it off I was down to one cna. The other wing only had it slightly better at 2 nurses with one CNA. This was not only unacceptable but extremely dangerous. I immediately called my ADON to figure out what to do since I and 1CNA couldn't possibly care for 67 high acuity patients only to find out she and the rest of upper management were well aware of the situation. She said that everyone was working hard and making sacrifices and that I too needed to be a team player. Incredulous, I explained my issue wasn't with working hard but with the safety and well being of the residents. She then tried bullying me with threats of abandonment until I told her I hadn't accepted responsibility of the additional hall nor had I been given report on it, and that I would not be doing so. She then said she understood my concerns and would get back soon with a solution. Within minutes my DON called me and was very understanding, saying she understood my position, that she would feel and do the same. She said that she knew how much I cared about the residents and hoped that despite refusing the extra hall I did my best to care for them in anyway I could because that's as much as she or the BON expected. That was 2 shifts ago, 2-12 hour shifts with no breaks or down time at all. Ive cared for my hall as I always do, albeit in an speedy and abbreviated manner(which still makes me nervous) and I've done everything I could for the other; including but not limited to passing the 11p to 5a meds, caring for an extremely brittle diabetic, 3 tube feeds, 2 trachs, prioritizing the most important treatments and dressing changes, and 1 brutal code. Yesterday I was nearly to work when I recieved a phone call from one of the day shift supervisors who informed me I was suspended pending further investigation for abandonment and dereliction of duty because I hadn't been passing the extra halls 6am med pass. I tried explaining that it wasn't my hall, that I never accepted responsibility, took report or did the narc count for that hall, and to talk to the DON because she knew what was going on. She told me that the DON gave her the order to suspend me. I'm shocked, hurt, and scared. I'm in desperate need of any and all advice I can get about what my I should do next.

I'd follow the chain of command and first speak to her about your concerns before running straight to management to fix it for you.

I couldn't agree more! It makes me sick that people with no medical background are in charge of making decisions regarding patients lives! What's best for the patient isn't even remotely considered! The suits can try to spin it anyway they want but the truth of the matter is it all comes down to greed. SMH

Thank you for responding. That is exactly what my gut was telling me to do.

I'm a new nurse who works in ltc. Over the past few months I've had several concerns with understaffing and the high acuity of my hall but nothing so serious that I feared for my license until today. A new company recently purchased my facility. They ordered new med carts, tiny lil med carts with even smaller narc drawers. This isn't an issue with the other 3 halls but it is for my hall. If you took all the narcs from the other 3 halls and multiplied by 2 I would still have more narcs in mine and with the new carts they simply will not all fit. Management's solution is to have the narcs that won't fit in my drawer placed in another halls cart. This makes me very uncomfortable for several reasons: 1) I'm the one that is responsible for those narcs during my shift. I must sign and be accountable for them even though they are on another nurses cart who holds the keys for that cart. 2) Most of my narcs are scheduled in the other cart but some are prn. I have to hunt the other nurse down everytime one is due. This means I have to know her break schedule to make sure I have them, but it is impossible to plan for prns. 3) I have to come in get report and do the count on my hall and then run to the otherside of the building to do my count there. Same thing for end of shift. This coupled with the second concern I listed is really causing me to run a great deal behind. Is this legal and if it is how do you suggest I handle it and best protect myself. I would appreciate any advice you can give me on this matter.

Thank you for responding, I really do need some guidance because something has to change. The hours are not from picking up shifts but rather being scheduled to work 4-12 hour shifts every week and being up for mandation every third shift. The rest of the hours come from mandatory in services and having to stay late so often from call offs and having to take on the responsibilities of an extra hall. When I first questioned my schedule and it not reflecting what I agreed to I was told it was for orientation because I was a new nurse. This made sense so I went with it for awhile. After spending over a month on my own I again brought up my schedule and was told that it would only be for a little while until they were able to hire more nurses. Since everyone else was working at least 4/12s, this too seemed reasonable and I wanted to be a team player. That was months ago and have since learned from coworkers that the scheduled hours were unlikely to change. I really think that the biggest part of my extreme dissatisfaction is from exhaustion. That if I was actually working the hours I agreed to plus a once a week mandation I would be able to get the rest I need to have a better work life balance. Do you have any ideas? Or do you think it's time to count my losses and move on?

Wow! Great question! Lately, I've been wondering the same. For me I can say for certain it isn't ltc. I have at least 33 patients every shift with only 1 aide and frequently have 63 due to call offs. My patients are high need patients with 3 being tube feeds, 2 trachs, 7 diabetics and let's not even get into behaviors. I was hired for 3-12hr shifts per on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and have yet to work less than 56 hours per week. I'm mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted and near the end of my rope. I was hired a year ago straight out of nursing school and have approached management with my concerns and have consistently been told they are working on a solution. Because of this I've been thinking about looking for employment elsewhere and am very excited to see everyone's suggestions.