Should I do more??

[Aloe_sky]

Hello all,

I am a lpn currently working in a small doctors office (assisting on average 3-5 Drs), I have worked in this office for 7 years. I recently have a new manager that is actually the receptionist (the clinic is cutting nursing staff, so it was cheaper to hire a non-nursing manager and the nurses are slowly being replaced with medical assistants). They are cutting staff BIG TIME! we went from 2 nurses a shift down to one and there are some overlapping with the receptionist. The pay is VERY LOW (I'm very embarrassed to let ppl know how much I make lol) and with the shift cut means more work.

My new manager is upset with the nurses not helping the receptionists (eg. filing, pulling charts and answering the phones). There is one nurse that ALWAYS helps the receptionists but hardly does any of her nursing duties (stocking rooms, call backs, referrals etc).

I am one that NEVER helps at the front unless I happen to pass by and I notice they are busy I will answer the odd incoming call. I feel there is more than enough work for the nurses to do that I shouldn't have to help in the front.

Since there is one nurse at a time, although we are legally suppose to have a break, WE DO NOT because it is really frowned upon by the management and the Drs (one VERY ABUSIVE Dr actually called management to complain on me when I went to lunch because he needed me!).

My coworker that always helps at the front told me yesterday that the manager is complaining about me and the other nurse not helping, she's becoming VERY ANNOYED recently. Im really at my breaking point with this job and I wish I could leave but nursing jobs are not easy to find in my city.

sorry but I honestly feel it is not worth me overworking myself for such a low pay. I have a BsN but I have not taken the NCLEX yet.

Should I help more in the front, especially since I may need her as a reference or should i stick to my nursing duties?

[klone, MSN, RN]

A lot of clinics have non-nurse practice managers. And a lot of clinics just have MAs, no nurses. What this manager does not seem to realize is that it is WAY more expensive to have a nurse do clerical tasks than it is to hire another clerk. It's not cost effective to expect the nurse to do these things.

It seems to me that the problem is not that your practice manager is not a nurse, but rather that she has no business sense. Until that changes, things will just continue to go from bad to worse.

My recommendation to you is to become more aggressive in actively looking for a different job (and take your NCLEX!).

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

I think the biggest thing you need to do is sit for, and pass your NCLEX RN

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Um, did you READ the post? She's an LPN. The N stands for NURSE

Since you have not yet taken the NCLEX, you are not a nurse and shouldn't legally have any nursing duties. You aren't a nurse.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

I work in a clinic and back staff (RN's, MA's and techs) aren't even TAUGHT how to answer the phones. We also aren't allowed to book appointments, that is strictly a reception duty (we can look at our schedule and choose where is best to work someone in, but the actual booking is not done by back staff). There ARE decent clinics out there, please don't let your experience with this one turn you off forever!

This is very true and I blame my coworker for going above and beyond her nursing duties that now it is an expectations for ALL the nurses. I am also to blame for staying in such a toxic environment.

Unfortunately working in a Drs office they do not care about how the staff are treated, the focus is seeing the most patients and paying the staff next to nothing in order for the Drs and the upper management to have more money. There are no unions that protect us and as my managers manager put it "everyone is replaceable, there are always people looking for jobs".

This was the first place I worked when I became an lpn and my focus was on getting nursing experience so I sucked it up. It has now become unbearable for me.

I will definitely look for another job, even if it isn't nursing and focus on the NCLEX.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

Seems the office is run by a receptionist or office worker and she, naturally, is going to want to take some work off of the office workers. Also, I think the docs don't really care about who does what, they just want someone to help. Thus, they do not care if you get a break. I would find another job and move, if I had to, to get another job.

[IsabelK]

Take the NCLEX-RN and find a new job.

[labordude, BSN, RN]

I would also see if I could backtrack all the days that I did not take a lunch break or 15 minute break, and when I left, I would make a large complaint to the Labor Board, for not getting you legally allowed breaks. You are legally allowed a 15 minute break for every four hours that you work.

You could be looking at getting a large check in the future.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

This is patently not true. NO state requires that employees be given 15 minutes for four hours of work. There are several that prescribe 10 minute breaks including California, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Several others have laws (Colorado, Illinois, Vermont) that exclude nurses and those covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Federal law only requires that breaks of less than 20 minutes are paid, not that they are given or even necessary to be given. Many people have worked in facilities that promise a certain amount of break for x hours worked. Those are facility specific and not necessarily due to any local or state law.

[Aloe_sky]

Eh, that happens to me sometimes. I don't think that particular example is that big a deal. I find that unless I physically leave the premises during my break, I am at risk of being bothered. That is what you should do.

The nurses are not allowed to leave the premises during breaks. There is only one nurse on a shift and it is the nurses responsibility to assess the patients before the Dr sees them. One nurse is assessing patients for the minimum of three Drs at a time and the rooms are not to be empty! It is a business at the end of the day, so if the rooms are empty that means less money for the Drs and the company.

Basically our break IF we get one is one foot in the staff room and the other foot in the hall, always looking at whether a patient just left the room so we can fill it again.

[Aloe_sky]

I work in a clinic and back staff (RN's, MA's and techs) aren't even TAUGHT how to answer the phones. We also aren't allowed to book appointments, that is strictly a reception duty (we can look at our schedule and choose where is best to work someone in, but the actual booking is not done by back staff). There ARE decent clinics out there, please don't let your experience with this one turn you off forever!

The nurses were not taught how to book appts! I still don't know how to book or bill patients! My coworker thought it was a bright idea to learn the receptions job to help out. That is fine but it back fired since she now gets in trouble for billing and booking incorrectly.

That has not stopped by manager from thinking the nurses should do reception work. Her focus is always on making the reception work easy, she knows nothing about what goes on in the back at the nursing station.

I shouldn't allow this to turn me off from clinics completely but I am scarred by this experience.

[Aloe_sky]

You're right, I should not judge my coworker harshly but I am really upset. I went in to work today, at the change of shift and the first thing she did after she put down her bag was open the second reception window yelling for patients to also go to her window so she can book them.

There is tons of nursing work not being done, there are tons of instruments piling up she could have sterilized or even started the referrals but her focus is now reception work. The work not done comes back on all the nurses when the Drs come and question us for not seeing urgent referrals or callbacks when it was her that worked that shift that could have had it dealt with.

The workload piles up sometimes that I just don't care to overwork myself anymore. Before I use to be ok with it and I would work myself to make sure I got all the phone calls and referrals caught up before I left my shift. I no longer do that. I love nursing and I once use to love going to work but the life has been sucked out of me. You wouldn't be able to tell by my attitude or facial expression, every patient comments on how I always have such a big smile but deep down I'm so sick of it.

its bad enough I work with some money hungry evil disrespectful Drs, very low pay with no benefits...now they want me to do more and I can't help but be mad at my coworker. She's so naive. She has a good heart but she is so foolish because she does so much for my manager (even buys her coffee almost everyday) and she is treated poorly.

It is time for me to move on before I really become bitter and become those people that complain about my job all the time. They announced to the nurses today that there will be further cuts in our hours so maybe they will push me out before I quit anyway lol but this is my drive to study harder for the NCLEX

[AspiringNurseMW]

Is it against TOS to link something with curse words. I hope not. Read your post and thought of this video I saw last week

[klone, MSN, RN]

The nurses are not allowed to leave the premises during breaks.

Yeah, that's illegal. Your lunch break is YOUR off-the-clock time, you can do whatever you want with it.

Run. Fast.

I'm SO glad I don't work for a private practice clinic.