Quit LTC after 6 weeks and without notice

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Specializes in behavioral health.

:( I was this job in nursing home about 6 weeks. I was very overwhelmed and thought it would get easier as time went by. My anxiety level just increased even more when I was no longer orienting. This was a decent NH with a very low turnover. But, the last few nights I worked, I did not even get a break, and worked an hour and a half over. (also, must clock out at quitting time, and finish charting)

Also, throughout all of this, I learned that my adult daughter had starting abusing benzos. This started about three weeks after I started this job. And, she goes to methadone clinic. So, she has a deadly combo here. I swear, at times, she sounds just like Anna Nicole Smith. I cannot even get her into a rehab because she is on a high dose of methadone. She needs to taper to a smaller dose, which will take about 11 weeks. She is a single mother of a 2 y.o. So, I have been watching him most of the time when she has him. She shares custody with the father every other week. So, I come home from a bad night at work, to only more problems.

Originally, I gave a two week notice, last week. But, last night, my daughter took my car in the middle of the night, leaving my sick 2 y.o. grandson. I had no idea where she was. I felt very spacy, and did not feel that I could provide safe care. I called off.

After much thought, I realized that I am probably more of a liability. I am delioursly tired at the end of my shift, and am forgetting things that I should have charted. I remeber them when I come home. Okay, these are legal documents, so that is a big deal.

I was only supposed to work three days a week. When I asked for more orientation, she merely put me on four days a weeek. All that managed to do was increase my anxiety.

She was quite peeved that I told her that I don't think that I could complete the two weeks. That I felt that I was not charting properly at the end of the evening. She did tell me that she was in a bind. HOwever, she could not in good conscience allow me to work. Also, I would be paid minimum wage for quitting without a two week notice. And, I would be placed on the "bad girl list". Meaning that I would be unhireable by the company in the future. Trust me, I will never attempt LTC again. But, I just feel awful about quitting this way. I have never quit a job without a notice. She is very disappointed, and I can't say that I blame her. I am very disappointed in myself right now.:(

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Specializes in Emergency.

look things happen. and your situation just happened to stress you out more than ever. so dont worry about the NH, just clear your head and start over. pray , pray , pray and get your daughter help. jobs come and go, but your daughter wont. ill pray for you even though i dont know you or your entire situation, but ill do it. you'll get another job when its the right time. dont worry God has a way.

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You attempted to do what you were supposed to do, that is, give a proper notice and work it out. Unfortunately you could not comply. The bad part of all of this is that you will suffer repercussions. As for your problems with your daughter, you should seek the help of a support group for families of people with these problems. You may be able to get much insight and relief just by finding others with the same problems that you can talk to and get advice from. When you look for a new job, please try to not have your daughter in your mind. You need to work without the strain of worrying about her. Good luck.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

iwanna,

i am sorry you are having to cope with all this stuff :redpinkhe. but you won't be of any use to anyone unless you take care of yourself first. you did the right thing.

there are a couple of things you mentioned - i wanted to provide some feedback. first of all, never clock out and then keep on working - even if it is just to finish up your charting. this is a violation of federal wage & hour laws. any employer who requires this should be reported. secondly, you said (quote)however, she could not in good conscience allow me to work. also, i would be paid minimum wage for quitting without a two week notice. (unquote). this is also a violation - retroactive salary decisions are not legal. they cannot simply choose to pay out your hours at a lower rate - hours you have already worked!!!

stand up for yourself girl! not everything is your fault, so stop accepting the blame for it. ((((((hugs)))))))

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Yes that little "retroactive minimum wage" trick appears to be a blatant violation of labor law. Try to talk to the labor board in your State if that employer actually shorts your pay.

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I once saw where the labor laws in my state say that the employer can change your rate at any time, for the future. They can call you in today and tell you as of tomorrow your new rate will be whatever, take it or quit. They can not make these decisions retroactively. You need to go to your labor board and make a claim for your wages. It is only right to stand up for yourself.

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I quit too after after 1 week of orienting in LTC w/o notice. i just walked in an turned in my resignation letter effective IMMEDIATELY, the lady said she will mail my check and it is the pay rate we agreed on when she hired me. I could not see my self working there, the people orienting me where making so many mistakes and i did not want to learn those mistakes. On my second day of orientation, the LPN training me had me pass medication on over 30 people, which took me forever, mind u i am a new grad RN, never did any of my orientations in LTC or worked in LTC before. I knew it would take me forever to remember my residents name and most of them do not have name tags. I was afraid of giving meds to the wrong person. Plus i am 5 months pregnant and i had to stand almost 6 out of my 8 hour shift. After two days off to think about the whole situation, i went in and turned in my resignation letter. No more working in LTC for me. Thank God, I got another job the same week.

Hang in there dear, i hope everything goes well for you and your daughter!

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You did the right thing, don't be so hard on yourself.

Your daughter is, and will always be, your number one priority. You did what you did because you are a wonderful parent and responsible nurse. The most important thing for you to do now is get your daughter help. You will find another job when the time is right, and the NH will survive without you. At least you gave them warning that you were leaving, it isn't your fault that you couldn't complete the two weeks.

This is one of my favorite quotes: It will all be alright in the end. If it's not alright, then it isn't the end.

You did the best you could, and that is all anyone can ask of you.

I hope that your daughter gets well soon, you all are in my thoughts

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Specializes in behavioral health.

Thank you all for your replies. On the last night that I did work, I had so many interruptions during my med pass. I took a quick five minute break because I knew that it would take me longer. At the start of my shift, I had one patient very agitated, combative, and I gave him a prn. Then doing p.ox checks, one patient registered at 91. I was concerned about him, and mentioned it to the other nurse on the floor with me. She was not concerned about and said that sounded about right for him. At 91 on O2 didn't seem right to me. His respirations were 48 and labored. She told me that he had Dilaudid ordered for that. I gave him some Dilaudid IM, took his vitals, BP was 100/66. Lungs sounded okay, anteriorly. I was unable to listen to the back without assistance. I checked on him frequently. HIs FU p.ox was 84, BP was 98/58. I called the charge nurse to look at him. She took his vitals and BP was now 94/57. P.OX was still at 84 and resp. was still 48 and labored. She told me to give him another dose of Dilaudid two hrs. later as ordered. Within 20 minutes his P.OX was coming back up and resp. were 20 and easy. He seemed okay the rest of the shift. I held his meds and only gave him the resp. treatments. I charted everything on him, but realized while trying to sleep that night, that I forgot to mention that the charge nurse was notified. Fortunately, his wife was in, and was aware that I called the charge nurse. However, I was upset with myself that I forgot to chart that the charge nurse was notified. I realized that I am way too overwhelmed by the end of the shift to think. I have a hard time concentrating because I am way too anxious from the night I had. I realize that I get forgetful and remember things when I am home in bed. Unfortunately, I read in the paper, today, this patient died hrs. after my shift. I had this patient on my mind all weekend.

As far, as the min. wage pay without notice, I did sign a paper agreeing to it during orientation. I never dreamt that I would quit without notice. That is not in my nature to work like that. I have never quit a job without notice. But, I guess it is legal if I signed the paper. After much thought, I decided that my license was worth more than the penalty that I would have to pay.(decreased wage)

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

Listen, you are going through a rocky period in your personal life, I wish you all the best in dealing with it and will add you and your family to my prayers,

That has to be your priority right now, forget the work etc, if you get what you deserve, great,

right now your priority is outside of work, if you ever decide to go back, I would hope people would understand and respect your decision.

Don;t make any long term decisions right now, life is changing in front of your eyes, keep all your options open.

Hope to hear better new,

AC

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

To me, the FIRST thing you need to do is file for an immediate, temporary custody of the grandson or call the father and have him take the baby for awhile.

This is a tragedy getting ready to happen.

I know this is your daughter, but you would never forgive yourself if something happened to that baby...a 2 year old can get into a host of trouble if Mom passes out...it could be days before it's discovered, and by that time, it can be too late...ESPECIALLY if she is driving around in a car.

I would give my daughter about 5 minutes to make that decision voluntarily, or you'll have no choice but to call the child's father or call CPS yourself.

Your daughter has made choices, but that baby doesn't get a choice.

After the child is protected, you can focus on your own daughter.

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Specializes in behavioral health.

Thanks again for all of the replies. I got my paycheck and it was not min. wage as threatened. Perhaps, it just a scare tactic. Or, she had a change of heart. Oh well, I am not arguing about being paid my actual wage. And, every night I clocked out and continued charting for at least an hr.

I have talked to my daughter's counselor at the methadone clinic and told her that we want her in rehab. But, as I stated nobody will admit until she is down to 50 mg. She is now at 100. This methadone is horrendous to get off of. I used to believe that methadone was okay, if someone could live a productive life, and stop their craving for opiates. But, when you have people who start abusing other drugs it can get ugly. Her counselor told me that she can be weaned down and go to rehab, but there is a high risk that she will continue to return to opiates after she is d/c/ It is a situation, damned if you do and damned if you don't. She found a new psychiatrist, and I called to tell him that she is on methadone and a benzo addict. He did prescribe her 7 pills of klonopin, and she was to give them to me, so I can administer to her. Well, one day she found my hiding spot. She had less than she should have in bottle. I immediately called up the dr. and ratted her out. I need to talk to my daughter's counselor again.

Yesterday, she told me that counselor told her that many women that let their parents manage custody of children, end up using more. I only believe about half of what she tells me. But, trust me, I am there for my little best buddy. For now, when it is her week to have him, I will be staying with her. I am thinking about getting a house to rent for us to live in. Currently, I am living with my elderly mother, and she can't handle all of the confusion. My husband works 80 miles from home, and I only see him on the weekends. Funny, at first, I loved this arrangement, but now I miss him so much. I want him to be with me all of the time, not just a weekend hubby. We talk every night on phone, and he is very supportive.

I think this job was way too much at the wrong time. It was just at the end of the shift, I was way to tired to chart, and would forget a lot of stuff. Then, I would go home, lay in bed, thinking of things that I omitted. Twenty-seven patients was just overwhelming for me. I usually had help with one hall, because I was taking too long to complete my med pass.(I was embarrased about that) Then, I had to tape report, and had much charting to do. I will really miss the residents. I do like working with geriatric, but not so many at one time. And, I must admit that the other nurses were nice to me, and trying to reassure me that I was new.

I know that I did the right thing, by letting the DON know that I may have to rescind the two week notice. I didn't feel that I would chart everything necessary. I was open to suggestions. I told her that I would her if she was stuck. But, she just got angry with me. I can't say that I blame her because she was counting on me. I can't help but to feel guilty about changing my two week notice to a two day notice.

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