i've always heard people talk about the horrendous staffing levels in ltc, but never did i think it could be so bad!!!one thing that i dislike the most about where i work is that, when you do decide to call in, if you do call in, you have to endure a long process of what's wrong, a sob story about short staffing and begging on their part! for instance i was not scheduled to work last night though i got a call from the evening supervisor 15 min after start of night shift telling me that i was scheduled to work! when i was not,then she asks ''where are you right now?'' (like its any of her business) then the night supervisor begs me to come in, mind you she called me 12a in the morning once before begging me to come in and then got into a huge argument with me about guess what- staffing on another unit!! so you can guess that i'm never coming in for her again!! then i called in sick for this evening! so the morning supervisor gives me a sob story of how she's already down 2 nurses but she finally lets me actually call out sick! then the evening supervisor calls me 3 hours later asking if i felt better and if i could come in for the shift i called out of plus if i could work the night shift! mind you this job calls me almost everyday sometimes more than once a day! its so annoying! i'm just one of their 15+ perdiem nurses yet i can probably bet that they only call me and about 1 other nurse, anytime their short of staff only because they know we have a greater chance of saying yes! but enough is enough, i've turned my car around and came back to work, worked back to back doubles! worked short and yet i still cannot escape the grip of this workplace! a new company has took the facility over and since then staffing levels have gotten worse!! they cut the amount of cna's and had talks of laying off some nurses!! the dns sends out a memo of how she wants the nurses to run the units almost every week!! the work is hard enough how can anyone possibly do more?? when we're short i had to do two rounds of medpass on a busy rehab unit of 40 beds!!! trying to avoiding the occasional med error (and getting written up for it), dealing with demanding family members!! following up on pharmacy deliveries( which we're held accountable of knowing), labresults!, admissions, transfers, dressings, .gt/feedings, the co-worker who won't help out, or complains about you! isn;t easy! nurses come and go at this facility, their either fired or quit! the regular nurses are fed up and the perdiem ones dare not attempt to work there anymore. and did i mention the paycheck is always missing money! some people's paychecks are missing a whole week worth of pay! i cut down on how much i work here! but i can't call it quits officially! i don't want to loose my union benefits + this place is 15 min from where i live!! i do have a job with an agency now paying much much more but they benefits just don't compare!! i'm part of my unions tuition reimbursement program under my mother (she's part of the same union) so i wonder if i can still get all the same benefits without working at this crazy place:confused:. i'm just looking foward to finishing my rn and working at a respectable facility where the job issues i have now arent so prevalent!!! i always wonder why doesnt this place hire and agency to fill in when short of staff! this kinda stuff is dangerous to not only pt's but our licenses!!
On the reverse, the way call-ins usually go in the facility where I work is we get a call and a big sob sister story about Uncle Joe being in the ICU three states away or someone threw a brick through my house trailer's window or I've got a fever of 101 (these were last nights call-ins where I work.)
There was no dining room help so the nurses had to leave their medicine carts to go run the dining room while the CNA's (who were short staffed as it was) fed on the hall. Meanwhile, while supper was going on I had to try to go start an incident report and do first aid on a patient who fell in the floor trying to put herself to bed because, being short staffed because of call-ins the CNA's had not had the chance to put her to bed when she was used to going.
Many more shifts like that and I know I will be looking for another job. Then, maybe all the frequent caller-in people will start to understand what it is like to work short staffed.
It's important to remember that this is not the same in all LTCF. I work in a great LTCF, the nurse:resident ratio, is , of course, high, but not un-doable. I've never had this issues regarding call ins or managers. You definitely should get a new job at a better facility.
I screen all my calls when I'm not working. I have a specific ring tone for the hospital, when I hear it, I don't answer. If they leave a message, I will listen, if it's "can you come in to work today?" and I don't want to, I can always say, "Sorry, I don't carry my cell when I'm home and didn't get the message until shift was over. This is not entirely untrue, as I often don't carry my cell when I'm home, and we have no home phone.
the supervisor always questions me the next time and asks why i didnt pick up or call her back!! she called me 4 times already for to day!!! they dont quit after just one call! she says i should call her back even if the answer is no!! so then she can plead and beg with me and tell me how short they are!! this is an everyday thing!! and then when you make a little mistake at work they all forget how much you've helped them with staffing and all they want to do is hang you out to dry!!! its so unfair!!
soulofme
317 Posts
When it is my day off...It is MY day off. They can call all they want... that is what caller ID is for...