Take this job and shove it!

[TTK RN]

Have to vent just a bit: This marks my last week at an incredibly mismanaged and dysfunctional hospital. I'm feeling great about moving out of a toxic workplace with all the incivility and safety issues you could imagine. That said, I'm pretty sad about not getting to work with some of the wonderful colleagues I'm leaving behind. They know I'm leaving because of the safety and mismanagement issues that they all see and care about but are somehow going to tolerate.

My question to the allnurses world: in your experience, does change happen in hospital administrations when strong, experienced nurses leave in droves? Do healthcare administrators discuss the reasons why and the frequency with which people quit their hospital, even if it is in private meetings behind closed doors?

[klone, MSN, RN]

Typically, no.

Generally, change only happens when you get personnel change in the highest levels of administration. Change is almost always going to be from the top down.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Agree with the PP. Turnover in a specific unit sometimes draws the attention of upper management, or at least the attention of HR, and the drive to figure out what the heck is going on comes from top-down pressure on that manager. House-wide retention problems are often overlooked, or chalked up to the cost of doing business, until a truly talented, committed CNO comes in who has both the strength of character and the backing of the highest leadership to enact real change.

Having said that - if you are given the opportunity for an exit interview - take it, and go in with nonemotional, factual, outcomes-focused examples and descriptions of what is intolerable anout the workplace.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Having said that - if you are given the opportunity for an exit interview - take it, and go in with nonemotional, factual, outcomes-focused examples and descriptions of what is intolerable anout the workplace.

That's my question: do folks give factual exit interviews, or are they afraid to do so? If they do give truthful interviews, do those interviews ever go beyond HR?

[klone, MSN, RN]

The last job I left, I gave an honest exit interview. It was conducted over the phone by a third party agency. Whether or not it made any difference, I have no idea.

[FLAlleycat]

Well, when the CNO of our community hospital asked this long-time L&D nurse to work with orthopedic patients, that was the last day she saw me. I was very honest in the exit interview. Others must have been as well since two months later she was fired

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I work at a dysfunctionally-run hospital. I've seen eight (8!) chief nursing officers in my five years with this company. Two of these CNOs were interim and simply filling in, whereas the remaining six were permanent hires.

The employee turnover rate suddenly spiked with the last CNO, who had been at our hospital less than six months before HR got rid of her in a constructive dismissal, a.k.a. forced resignation, earlier this year. While I usually do not like to see people leave, this particular CNO was targeting me to the point that I started looking elsewhere for employment, so I was relieved that she was gone.

She had issued a bogus written warning to me to establish a documentation trail for future termination of my employment, but miraculous intervention transpired because she was forced to leave only a few days after my disciplinary action. Anyhow, HR noticed the sudden uptick in the nursing employee turnover rate during this CNO's stint and I am glad they took action before she inflicted more damage.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'll let you know in a few months LOL We are having a mass exodus where I work. I don't know the details but some if it is upper management, too. Many of us staff nurses have NO idea what's going on up above us.

It is not toxic where I work, but many feel it could be run better at the unit level-there are inconsistencies from unit to unit, I think they are trying to make things more uniform

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

We are dealing with this currently. MANY of our long term staff are fleeing out of here. It wasn't just one major event that led to this either, but a series of poor choices by our employer. So it started as a trickle and now it is a flood. Those who can retire are, even though they had planned on working a few more years. Others are taking employment elsewhere, even if it means taking a commute 3x what their current one is. It is sad and my employer is in a panic as we have endless openings to be filled. As soon as one person is hired 2 more leave so it is an endless cycle. They of course aren't changing any of the ridiculous policies that got us into this mess. Instead they are happy that they will get to pay staff at a much lower rate as newbies than the experienced staff we had. This is starting to really reflect with the care given to patients.

[OCNRN63, RN]

No, not in my experience. As long as administrators and managers are fat and happy, they don't give a flying rip what's happening at the bedside.

The one exception is when JC or DOH is coming. Then they bring in extra staff, and problems are fixed with a lick and a promise.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

No, not in my experience. As long as administrators and managers are fat and happy, they don't give a flying rip what's happening at the bedside.

The one exception is when JC or DOH is coming. Then they bring in extra staff, and problems are fixed with a lick and a promise.

Yep for those few days that JC or DOH are there.. then staffing levels drop and problems return.

[klone, MSN, RN]

One thing I read recently, it takes at least 3-5 years to effect a facility-wide culture change, and about 10 years for a company to shed a bad reputation in the community.