Terminated from LTC!

GingerSue · Nov 3, 2005

sorry to hear about this

how long were you there?

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2005

So they fired your because you didn't have paid time off. What about just taking it unpaid? GRR.

Would whistle blower laws applie for anything you may have reported?

I wouldn't be concerned about getting my job back, but saving my name and doing whats right.

Good luck.

Serenity USVI · Nov 3, 2005

sorry to hear about this
how long were you there?

Hi GingerSue,

I was employed at this Facility for 3 1/2 years. I worked part-time. I had previously worked for this Facility on two different occasions. The first time as a call-in position approximately ten years ago, and than as a full-time Charge Nurse. Since than and now the upper-management has changed. It went from good to worse! And of course so hasn't the Rules and Regulations on Nursing Homes changed.

I frankly am appalled at the level of care that our elderly receive. It is actually quite pathetic. And to think the Government is reimburisng these Nursing homes(LTC) for such poor quality care. Do not get me wrong in any way shape or form. All of us that work the floor, Nurses, and NA's do the best they can. There simply is not enough staff to take care of these people.

I recently visited the Baltic Countries in Europe. They do not have Nursing Homes. Families care for their loved ones. I have been to Mexico, no nursing homes there. The US is in such a sorry state of affairs when it comes to respecting and caring for our elderly. Corporate greed and money is what rules the LTC industry.

I worked my butt off along with all of my collegues. You get burnt out real easily. And duh!!! to management that can't understand why we get sick! WE take care of sick people for God's sake, and when you are doing your job along with part of another Nurse's job and work under extereme stress, than duh to management when we might get sick!

I believe everything happens for a reason. There is definitely a reason I was terminated, and my wheels have been spinning. LTC is all I know since I have been a Nurse.

Enough of my rant! Thanks for asking! And for all of you that think that you have job security, think again! Montanta is the only state in the entire Country that is not a "At will Employer!" Learned all of this after my termination!

LoriAlabamaRN · Nov 4, 2005

I wouldn't WANT to stay on at such an abusive facility! And management won't help on the floor at all? That's absurd. Sometimes when staffing is awful, you HAVE to work the floor. I've even functioned as a CNA before when necessary. As for the resident abuse, that is horrifying. If I were you, I'd thank my lucky stars that you got out of there before the violations caught up with them and endangered your license. Find another facility that is actually SANE, and seek employment there. You might even want to try a medical temp agency so you can work at a variety of locations and find one you are interested in applying to.

Good luck- let us know how it is going!

Lori

HONEYBEAR · Nov 4, 2005

Hi there,

I am also very outspoken when it comes to my pts, and yes this also does not make very well liked, but I do not go to work to be liked.....I am there to make sure the pts are taken care of to the best of my ability.......my mouth has gotten me pulled into the D.O.N. office on more than one occasion, but I have always stood my ground. Good for you......sometimes we are all these pts have to stand up for them. :madface:

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Nov 6, 2005

Some days I come to this site and am very thankful for where I work. I am the most outspoken person in the building when it comes to resident rights and staffing, and since I started at the facility, I have been promoted from Nurse Manager to Day Supervisor to Utilization Coordinator and now am the ADNS. I don't rant where families or residents can hear and I always base my statements in facts such as "look at the numbers of pressure sores. When the numbers of staff decrease, the number of acquired pressure sores increases." In fact my bosses joke around about my outspokenness(not sure if that is a word!) and say they are going to add a column to the newspaper we send out called "Ask Leslie...but wait, don't ask and she'll give you her opinion anyway" We would never fire a good employee just because they complained about staffing.

sjb2005 · Nov 6, 2005

Wow, sorry to hear your situation.

My only advice....Nursing Unions....they would have protected you or at least given you the opportunity for recourse.

nurse_clown · Nov 6, 2005

:uhoh3: sorry about your job loss. i just finished my first year at a ltc facility. most of the time, i'm pretty outspoken mostly about everything. i mean if they need to hear the truth, they might as well hear it from me. i always try and think "really? what have i got to loose by telling the truth as i see it?" i pass it off to mere observation.

couldn't you grieve this with the union? i mean, when you're sick, you're sick. once i called in sick. my charge nurse called me back and said they couldn't fill the shift so they wanted me to rest and come in for 8 hours. i refused. plain and simple. i said "no. i am sick." i was expected to return to work for my shift the next night because they couldn't replace me. so, i went to work. when my coworkers saw me, i was shivering, sweating, coughing.... i had a fever... so they sent me home. i went to the doctor and had my x-ray and sure enough i had pneumonia. so, i wasn't faking...:stone :uhoh21: my charge nurse felt awful and apologized. i was off work for two weeks. my other part time job is on an oncology/palliative care unit. imagine that. me caring for patients when i have pneumonia!!! and my other part time job at the ltc place wouldn't even let me in the door!!!:rotfl:

when i was at a previous job, one of the managers was fired. but she grieved it and got her job back. in fact, one of the psw's at my nursing home job was fired because he was caught drinking on the job. he grieved it and got his job back. can you grieve this? do you want this job back? maybe you could demand severence pay or something for wrongful dismissal.

Serenity USVI · Nov 6, 2005

sorry about your job loss. i just finished my first year at a ltc facility. most of the time, i'm pretty outspoken mostly about everything. i mean if they need to hear the truth, they might as well hear it from me. i always try and think "really? what have i got to loose by telling the truth as i see it?" i pass it off to mere observation.

couldn't you grieve this with the union? i mean, when you're sick, you're sick. once i called in sick. my charge nurse called me back and said they couldn't fill the shift so they wanted me to rest and come in for 8 hours. i refused. plain and simple. i said "no. i am sick." i was expected to return to work for my shift the next night because they couldn't replace me. so, i went to work. when my coworkers saw me, i was shivering, sweating, coughing.... i had a fever... so they sent me home. i went to the doctor and had my x-ray and sure enough i had pneumonia. so, i wasn't faking...:stone :uhoh21: my charge nurse felt awful and apologized. i was off work for two weeks. my other part time job is on an oncology/palliative care unit. imagine that. me caring for patients when i have pneumonia!!! and my other part time job at the ltc place wouldn't even let me in the door!!!:rotfl:

when i was at a previous job, one of the managers was fired. but she grieved it and got her job back. in fact, one of the psw's at my nursing home job was fired because he was caught drinking on the job. he grieved it and got his job back. can you grieve this? do you want this job back? maybe you could demand severence pay or something for wrongful dismissal.

nurse-clown

i do not belong to a union.

thanks for your support!

Serenity USVI · Nov 18, 2005

Just an update on my situation, and I thank all of you for your kind words.

But check this out: In searching the internet I came across the www.medicare.gov website that list all the LTC Facilities in the Country. It provides lots of useful info and also gives the facilities Inspection Results from the State. Well, guess what? The LTC Facility I worked for that terminated me from calling in sick was cited in March of this year. The citation reads as follows: "Stop employees, who have a disease that can spread, from having direct contact with residents or food."

It is about time that the State has stepped in and says that Nurses's and food handlers should not be at work while they are contagious.

This was in March of this year, and they submitted a plan of correction in April of this year, and yet I was terminated in October of this year for calling in sick. I was puking, and running a low-grade temp. So much for their plan of correction.

Personally, I believe that when a person comes to work in a LTC Facility that is sick is violating the "Rights of the Resident's. It is not fair to have them subjected to infectious diseases, due to the fact that they are at increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases related to their age and their underlying medical illnesses. And many of these resident's are receiving chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, have PICC Lines, etc... I believe coming into work sick is contributing to resident's acutally dying. And than let's not even consider a MRSA patient who gets sick. What options are left for them? Not many.

So, what do you all think?

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Nov 18, 2005

Just an update on my situation, and I thank all of you for your kind words.
But check this out: In searching the internet I came across the www.medicare.gov website that list all the LTC Facilities in the Country. It provides lots of useful info and also gives the facilities Inspection Results from the State. Well, guess what? The LTC Facility I worked for that terminated me from calling in sick was cited in March of this year. The citation reads as follows: "Stop employees, who have a disease that can spread, from having direct contact with residents or food."
It is about time that the State has stepped in and says that Nurses's and food handlers should not be at work while they are contagious.
This was in March of this year, and they submitted a plan of correction in April of this year, and yet I was terminated in October of this year for calling in sick. I was puking, and running a low-grade temp. So much for their plan of correction.
Personally, I believe that when a person comes to work in a LTC Facility that is sick is violating the "Rights of the Resident's. It is not fair to have them subjected to infectious diseases, due to the fact that they are at increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases related to their age and their underlying medical illnesses. And many of these resident's are receiving chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, have PICC Lines, etc... I believe coming into work sick is contributing to resident's acutally dying. And than let's not even consider a MRSA patient who gets sick. What options are left for them? Not many.
So, what do you all think?

I recently read where the death of an elderly postsurgical patient had been directly linked to her own surgeon...who was infected with Staph. She died of a massive sepsis. I wouldn't want that on my conscience...and for that reason, I don't come to work sick, either.