Resign while probationary period

[Judy911]

Hello, everyone

This is the first time for me to use this forum to get some advice. 

I just moved to one of the southern state recently, and found the job at Med Surg floor. I was excited that I found the job with decent wage in the South. 

I did not want to change my job after commitment, so I was very careful to ask manager and director questions when I had a interview. How is the acuity of the floor? How physicians place the order, patient ratio, staffing etc. Manager said, " It's med surg floor with non complicated cases."

When I got to the floor, I found out that the manager did not tell me that it was a Covid floor. All my patients have Covid 19 with Bi-pap, non-breather plus HHF NC with maximum O2. Some of them came with significant medical history.

My concerns were, 

We take care of  5-6 patients with max assist, most of them have DM II and telemetry. CNA refused to help me if the patients were not theirs, such as get me water, change diaper etc. One day, I had a CNA who disappeared often, ran away from patient if she needed to change massive mess in the bed. Nurses know how the CNA behaves and they said, "That's how she is." I had 2 discharges and one admission on the day. The day was really bad. But it is norm for the floor. 

One day, patients family decided to show up to the hospital because they did not get any return phone call from physicians or nurses. It was a lie, I talked to patients family one hour ago, and already asked physician to call them back because the questions they asked were not suitable for RNs to answer. Charge nurse got phone call from entrance, and told Manager (not me, first). Manager and charge nurse called me in and said, family showed up at the lobby and was very angry because they did receive return phone call from you. I was told that I need to go and fix this problem RIGHT NOW.   I was running late for schedule meds, had no time to go downstairs and talk to family at this moment. But they forced me to go down stairs. 

I just started working this unit and still have preceptor to check my performance.  

I assume that situation like this, manager or charge nurse would go talk to the family member. Especially I had 5-6 patients who needs oxygen so bad. No time to sit down with family for an hour......if something happen while I go down to lobby and meet family, who will support my patients?? Of course nobody on the unit has time to help my patients at the time....they were very occupied with their won patients, and charge nurse did not offer me to watch my patients. At this time, my preceptor helped me, but how about in the future???

Also, most of the doctors come by between 8-11, and gave me bunch of verbal orders even though they have a computer access in 10-20 feet away....Even admission orders  for the new patients.......I don't have time to take every single orders form multiple physicians for multiple patients. But other nurses let doctor give orders even though that is not emergency one. I don't like to do this because I had situations that physicians declined to signed the verbal orders in the past. 

I am very concerned if I resign my current offer, I will be marked as "non-hire" in the future.... I worked for the same group hospital years ago, and it may reflect it as "non-hire" also.  I do concern if patients die while I was away from floor, they may put me in the position to take responsibility.

I feel very disappointed and still wondering what will be the best way.. 

 

 

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Sounds like a mess...but probably not that much of an outlier in terms of bad employment practices and lack of nursing management support which I'm sure was existing before COVID-19 and is more pronounced now.  I will say that my young nurse self would probably have taken all that @3$!% and keep working...because you know, I needed a job.  My present old and tired nurse self would have moved on, however, and searched for better opportunities. If that healthcare corporation exemplifies that environment in that one hospital, I have no confidence they are any better in their other sites...so good riddance.

[Davey Do]

3 hours ago, Judy911 said:

Hello, everyone

This is the first time for me to use this forum to get some advice. 

I feel very disappointed and still wondering what will be the best way.. 

Well, Hello there, Judy911! Welcome to allnurses!

Your post was one good read, and as juan de la cruz said, this situation "Sounds like a mess"!

As Will Rogers said, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression". The first impression of this facility's administration is that they are not forthright to their employees and the staff will not support and/or assist newly hired nurses.

3 hours ago, juan de la cruz said:

 I will say that my young nurse self would probably have taken all that @3$!% and keep working...because you know, I needed a job.  My present old and tired nurse self would have moved on, however, and searched for better opportunities. 

I concur with juan de la cruz and have taken a tact much as he described.

However, there are facilities that do deal appropriately with similar situations. Case in point, IMU at Anomaly Memorial where my nurse wife Belinda works: IMU became the Covid floor, some nurses refused their assignments, some staff gave little or no assistance to the nurses, and the nurses became highly stressed.

Management stepped in trimmed the fat off of the staff, giving the rogue staff fair ultimatums, and had nurses from other floors now rotate with the IMU nurses, providing care for the Covid patients.

The current status at Anomaly is definitely doable. Belinda is much less stressed and the work environment has improved.

I can only tell you what I would do if I were in a situation like yours, Judy911.

And that would be to not give a flying fruit basket if this facility marked me as a non-hire.

Good luck and the very best to you.

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Well.....it sounds like you may have given yourself the answer.

1. Management outright lied to you. BiPAP, high flow oxygen, etc are definitely not uncomplicated cases. In fact, in my facility, those cases would be a minimum of step down criteria if not higher level of care. Definitely not med surg criteria and certainly not “uncomplicated” patients.

2. It sounds like the priorities of leadership are not in the right place. They should have addressed the family situation and dealt with it. As a primary nurse, your primary responsibility is to your patients.

3. Yes, it probably will put you on a not hire list, but does it matter? It sounds like this is a toxic, unsupportive environment where you are lied to, thrown under the bus, and have your license on the line. Cut your losses and seek out other opportunities.

But that is just my quite honest opinion.....

[Davey Do]

13 minutes ago, speedynurse said:

1. 2. 3.

I love it when you use numbers, speedynurse. It's so attractive.

[JKL33]

You will have to evaluate your own personal situation to know whether this solution would meet your needs, but what I would do is 1) Provide proper notice even though you will most likely be relieved of your duties upon tendering it 2) State something along the lines that there is a personal reason you will unfortunately have to resign 3) follow whatever policies are in your handbook to effect a proper termination of this relationship.

There are obviously other options. I would not tolerate this; I have never been treated this way as a nurse and that is lucky for me because I just would not agree to tolerate it. If I couldn't get an upper-hand on the situation almost immediately I would make plans to leave.