Should I Quit (Sorry It's Long)

[kendratyler2001]

Hello everyone. I have a problem, and i would like to get the opinions of the more experienced nurses on this forum. I am a pretty new LPN. (6 months) and I work in LTC. I really enjoyed working there until recently. We have a new administrator and DON, and quite frankly, I don't have any confidence in their ability to manage the place. These people are rude, arrogant, and incompitent. I also fear for my license working in a place like this.

When they first arrived they admitted a patient who was suppose to receive IV antibiotics TID. I was the only nurse there that was IV certified, so it was my responsibility to give the medication. Our facility never accepted patients with IVs before, so I was not trained on how to use the pumps. I asked management to give me a demonstration, and the beginning of my shift. (I had 7 hours before i had to administer a dose). She never gave told me how to do it. She left the floor and said, "give it a shot, and if you are unable to figure it out, call the doctor".

Earlier this week they had me charge a floor of 43 patients. I only had 3 aids to assist me. We did not have a CMT, so i was force to do my own med passes. This was not my regular floor either, so that made the pass even longer. I spent most of the shift passing out pills and doing accuchecks and giving insulin. I did not have time to do any dressing changes or documentation.

This evening I was forced to charge for a total of 59 patients... (This time with a CMT), and do an new admission. Admission at our facility require a lot of paperwork, so i was unable to do everything completely. I also looked at the schedule tomorrow, and it appears that I am the only nurse in the building. My relief is notorious for showing up hours late, so i might have to be forced to work over.

For obvious reasons, i think i am going to quit my job. Without a 2 week notice, and I wanted to get a few opinions from my fellow nurses.

Do you believe i am justified in quitting without notice, or do you think i should give at least a 2 week notice?

How would it look to a future employer, if I did such a thing. Do I tell them the truth about the place and my reasons for leaving (I always heard it's not a good idea to make negative comments about a former employer.)

Anyway, thanks for reading my post, and i look forward to hearing your responses.

[csadam]

Hi,

Never worked in LTC before, but it does not sound safe for you or your patients to work in a place like this. I would give my two weeks notice and go. If mgmt. doesn't like it, too bad, I would go anyway.

What kind of a nurse manager tells you to call the Dr. if you can't figure out the infusion pump???

Good luck!

[chemonurse]

Don't burn any bridges. Give them 2 weeks written notice, to be professional. I was in a similar situation 3 years ago. It turned out to be a good decision for me to leave.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

HI and welcome. I say give two weeks notice if at all possible. And yes, this does not sound like a good job at all.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

If you plan on using this place as a reference, I don't see where you have much of a choice. Leaving without notice would definitely burn that bridge. The place sounds unsafe.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

Give notice ASAP. In the meantime, I'd be keeping detailed notes for myself of everything that goes on and of your attempts to get help from the DON and administrator. That way if later they get into trouble they can't come back and say "well we just had no idea how things were going, kendratyler2001 never told us a thing," etc etc. Keep those notes at home, plus keep copies of any paperwork done between your resignation and your final day. Put it all in a folder and put it away somewhere. (Not patient charting but any communication notes, write-ups, etc.) You want to be able if necessary to pull it out and say "see, this is a copy of the note I left the DON about the unsafe staffing level..." You hope that all of that will just collect dust forever but just in case, it's your insurance.

Good luck on finding something better!

[gitterbug]

Agree with other posters, give 2 wekks notice, do not gossip with other staff regarding reasons for quiting(they know just how bad conditions are),

look for another position on days off, and do keep detailed notes on staffing conditions and hazardous practices you have been forced to indure until your last day. Do not be surprised if the DON is cold and rude to you. It is a favorite ploy of these places to force the leaving nurse into a temper episode and have her quit on the spot to lose employment benefits. DO NOT FALL for that trap. Good luck, you can get another job, and one that is a little better staffed and has better conditions. Keep us posted.

[BJLynn]

Ditto on everything already said here. Get out and get out fast! That is Way to dangerous sounding. Not worth your liscence at all!

[kendratyler2001]

Allright, thanks for the advice. I think I will give them a written 2 week notice, but i am going to refuse any dangerous assignments. I will let you all know what happen.

[TrudyRN]

Always give notice. Do not burn your bridges. Keep your mouth shut, do not tell either your present bosses or any prospective new ones of any troubles. You need to work closer to home, you need a growth opportunity, you need different hours, the current facility is being sold and you love your current managers so much that you don't want to chance getting random new ones, your kids, your family needs, in other words, anything but the truth, which is that you are being exploited up one side and down the other.

Use a few sick or personal days during your notice.

The reason no one helped you with the pump, of course, is that they didn't know how to use it either. Did you figure it out? There is probably a phone number on the pump to the maker/seller of it and you could call them if need be, I would think. Or if you work for a big company with an Inservice nurse, she could be a resource. If really desperate, call a hospital and ask for a nurse in ER, ICU, wherever to help you with XYZ pump if they happen to also use it.

Of course, you could always just let the piggyback go in without a pump. Control its rate of infusion the old-fashioned way - with a roller clamp on the tubing. We never had any pumps years ago and I fail to see the need for them in sub-acute and long term care settings where the med being given is not something like dopamine, TNG, or other very serious drug.

Nursing if really messed up, isn't it? I am so sick of reading posts like this - nurses being exploited, politics, the underpaid led by the lazy, good for nothing's who know how to work the system and get away from the bedside, the poor patients and their families who must endure such disrespectful, inhumane, dangerous care. the destruction of our profession

[anne74]

Totally leave. Why would anyone want to work there? Save yourself. Give two weeks notice so you don't burn any bridges. And you'd be surprised on how easy is to get through your last two weeks at a crap job - because you know you're leaving!