Quitting with less then a two weeks notice

No Stars In My Eyes · Jan 31

Shift rotations were always a bad idea; It messes up a person's circadian rhythms. I had a hard time doing nights in a facility. I switched to an agency where I got more long-term clients, so I could choose day shift as a permanent thing. Only had to do nights in the Winter if we had a big snow or ice storm and the relief shift couldn't make it to the patient's house.

You have to look after your own health, and do what you have to do. Good luck in getting back to a routine shift. (Even though I am now retired, I wish they would go back to 8-hour shifts!)

JKL33 · Feb 1

Wow, that is an absolutely ridiculous schedule.

Reach out to managers again and ask what's the plan. You'll get a better idea what to do based on their response this time, since they have now previously been advised that there is a problem. Touch base with HR again, too. Although you are understandably exhausted, try not to make a long-term decision from a point of exhaustion. Everyone here can understand why you feel an immediate fix is necessary, but realistically 4 days is not an unreasonable length of time to have not yet been given a solution.

If it doesn't appear that anyone is planning to offer a reasonable alternative for you and you've 100% made up your mind about this, I'd still try to give two weeks' notice or consult your employer's policies and try to give the recommended notice as that might be in your own best interest when looking for other employment. As always, make sure you've thought this through and considered the consequences, for example they may not care if you quit and it may not be easy for you to find another position that interests you right away.

AutumnApple · Feb 3

So much not mentioned here.

In my experience, neither HR nor your manager can do anything to help you. It's just that way. If rotations are the expectation for everyone else, then in the absence of formal documentation that you can not perform said rotations (ie...a doctors note saying you can not work rotations), it will be the expectation for you.

Next thing I would mention to you is, if you are truly in fear of falling asleep while driving then this is likely not just a problem with working rotations. Part of the problem, perhaps, but far from "the only problem" I'd venture to say. You also mentioned fearing for patient safety. If that is the case, there is more to correct than working rotations. I do believe part of the reason your request for help was met by deaf ears is, you took no formal documentation of there being a problem in with you. I do realize obtaining that takes a good while but, you needed that to be taken seriously. Otherwise (pretty sure this is what happened too), they will just assume the problem lies with you and leave you on rotations till you correct the problem.

Either way, get checked out, report your symptoms and see what the doctor says. You'll probably end up needing a sleep study (two things you've already mentioned here, the drowsiness while driving being one, qualify you for it). Most likely will have cardiac testing too. Your nutrition and lifestyle (drinking, drugs, staying out late etc etc) will be questioned. In the end though, it will be worth it. You'll have documentation of whatever the problem is and/or that you're doing something about the problem. More importantly, you'll know for yourself if there is a major health concern here.

Lastly, think long and hard about requesting special treatment your coworkers aren't getting. This too is likely part of the reason management is being so obtuse towards your request for help. If you are taken off rotations while everyone else is working them, the likelihood of your coworkers protesting to managment (and HR)is a guarantee. This is why you need formal documentation of there being an issue. You being treated like an outcast is a concern, and retaliation hasn't even been mentioned yet.

Don't be surprised if their answer to not working rotations is to decide to place you on full time nights as well. That may or may not be OK with you, I wouldn't know.

To summarize this as I realize it's rather verbose: When you ask for help, have your part of things done first. Simply dumping it in management's laps and standing back with your arms folded waiting for a solution you like will get you.......well, pretty much what you got. Ignored.

JKL33 · Feb 3

A 2 week rotating schedule is ridiculous.

Though no one here is in a position to say that a medical evaluation is not appropriate there is no way in heck I would recommend extensive testing for someone who associated their difficulty with a two week rotating schedule.

The employers representatives absolutely can do something here, though it is quite possible the employer would rather lose an employee than be reasonable.

Aesopian · Feb 7

That's a BS schedule. Not everybody can handle that. Please don't feel bad at all. If it's giving you a hard time now, I recommend leaving. Your health and sanity is worth more than any job.

Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 7

AutumnApple said:

Lastly, think long and hard about requesting special treatment your coworkers aren't getting. This too is likely part of the reason management is being so obtuse towards your request for help. If you are taken off rotations while everyone else is working them, the likelihood of your coworkers protesting to managment (and HR)is a guarantee. This is why you need formal documentation of there being an issue. You being treated like an outcast is a concern, and retaliation hasn't even been mentioned yet.

I think you should seriously consider this before putting their back against a wall,

Best is to change to a non rotating job somewhere...I am speechless to find any hospital would still have this practice when it is know it is not good healthwise foryour patient and you.

good luck .

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Feb 8

Sounds like I may be the voice of dissent, but here goes...

While I agree that rotating shifts are terrible for your health and mental well-being, they are an unfortunate reality in a lot of hospital systems, especially for new grads. I've worked in several different brand-name, top-tier children's hospitals, and about half of them required new grads in all inpatient areas to start out rotating. In those systems, the rotations weren't even split up into different weeks - within a single week, you could have to do a night, a day, and then another night (although the managers tried to make the schedules as reasonable as possible). A couple of the hospitals required new grads to rotate for at least a year before they could be put on a waitlist for straight nights or straight days. One of the largest, most well-renowned children's hospitals in the country recently decided system-wide that they're expecting all new hires regardless of experience to either rotate or work straight nights (no option to apply to straight days).

Again, I agree that it's a terrible idea (which the administrators who make these decisions don't seem to understand), but depending on where you want to work, that may be the reality of working in an inpatient job. I would recommend checking out the hospitals and job market to get a sense for the opportunities in different hospital systems, especially if you aren't able to relocate.

Additionally, your managers will likely be way more accommodating to you going to straight nights than straight days. I'm not sure if that's what you discussed with your managers, but offering to do nights would be an easier sell.

Finally, check your hospital policies for expected notice time! Many hospitals expect that all clinical staff (including nurses) give at least four weeks. If you don't give appropriate notice, you could be labeled Do Not Rehire, and be blacklisted from any facility that is owned by or affiliated with your hospital. There often isn't anything you can do to get this changed (you can search on this website to see examples). This could have long-term repercussions depending on how big your hospital system is. If you're in a place where there's only a single large hospital, or the hospital system has bought up all of the local outpatient practices, or the hospital system is part of a larger system that operates over several states (HCA, Ascension), you could be limiting your employment options for the foreseeable future. You also never know when hospitals that are currently independent may be acquired by other groups in the future.

Here's an example of a guy who got blacklisted at HCA (which owns hospitals in 20+ states) for breaking a contract. The nurse figured it out when they moved to a new state several years later, and had trouble getting a job because all of the local hospitals were owned by HCA.

https://allnurses.com/blacklisted-hca-t724924/

All of that to say, I completely understand why you're frustrated and exhausted - your first year of nursing is hard enough, even under perfect conditions. But I'd recommend that you be very thoughtful about the decision, since it could impact you in the future in ways you wouldn't expect.

JKL33 · Feb 9

adventure_rn said:

I've worked in several different brand-name, top-tier children's hospitals, and about half of them required new grads in all inpatient areas to start out rotating. In those systems, the rotations weren't even split up into different weeks - within a single week, you could have to do a night, a day, and then another night

Well that's just crap treatment. Seems like moral gutter behavior, "top tier" or not.

I agree with your advice to think it through and weight things out carefully.

It comes down to what makes us tick. If "top tier" is someone's goal at all costs, so be it. I couldn't stomach working anywhere that would expect me to tolerate 100% completely shi**y treatment for the privilege of working there. And make no mistake, it IS 100% completely sh**y, especially because it is 100% completely unnecessary. When people struggle then these same clowns come around with silly suggestions on how to combat one's "burnout," as if it is a personal problem.

I thought it was normal...way back when...that we had to advise new grads they would almost certainly need to work nights for awhile. That made sense to me since clearly night shift nurses are needed in a hospital. What doesn't make sense and isn't needed is for everyone to flip back and forth on rotations too short to establish any semblance of sleep/wake pattern. That's just straight up telling people they must be treated like *** if they want to work there. No different than if they said the actual words.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Feb 9

JKL33 said:

Well that's just crap treatment. Seems like moral gutter behavior, "top tier" or not.

I agree, but I don't think it changes the current state at a lot of hospitals.

I can only speak to pediatrics, but from what I've seen most of the "Top 10 World News & Report" hospitals have a mentality that you're lucky to work for them - if you quit because you feel like you're being mistreated, there's a line of people behind you (especially new grads) who are willing to put up with crap treatment for a couple of years to put it on their resumes.

Ultimately, it's very short-sighted by the hospital admin because they have a lot of turnover, which increases costs and harms patient outcomes. But there will always be people to fill those roles, especially if they're trying to beef up their resumes for CNRA or NP school applications.

Some people who aren't tied to a specific location or specialty may have the luxury of finding a more supportive work environment, but that isn't the case for everyone. In my last post I mentioned a brand-name hospital that has done away with straight day shifts - the next closest pediatric hospital is over an hour drive away across state lines. It may not be a big deal for people who are able to relocate, but for local nurses (especially those who use public transit), there isn't a reasonable alternative.

JKL33 · Feb 9

Agree.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Mar 3

To the OP: Would you consider working straight nights? I bet they would jump at that deal. Your schedule now is quite unattractive.