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I currently work in a nursing home as a floor nurse but am a RN. I have held my position for close to one year and in that time, I have had 10+ unit managers, and even more house supervisors come and go.
Most of these managers and supervisors were 'promoted' from the floor and given these new jobs, only to be walked out the building in no time (some did not last 3 days in their new jobs)
I have basically avoided getting 'promoted' by laying low while doing my work. The problem now is that the DON and ADON have pretty much made it clear that I must accept a unit manager position immediately. This post has recently been vacated by a nurse who started out staff, promoted to quality assurance then to unit manager and out the door all within 6 months.
I hate that I have been turning down advancement opportunities at the facility and have been pretty much labeled a non-team player, but I just know taking on this new position is just a way to lose my job.
The expectations for these positions are ridiculous. They change daily, there is no written job description ( I have asked several times for one) so they can make it up as they go and then blast you if you do not get it done when and how they want you to.
I know the writing is on the wall, and I should look for another job, but I really need my medical benefits right now and can not afford to wait 90 days for new insurance to kick in. I am hoping if they (or when) they end up firing me, I can file for unemployment.
Anyways, that's just a bit of background and I would appreciate any ideas and suggestion. I have been filling out applications online, but ofcourse the market is not very friendly right now.
If anyone thinks am exaggerating, I assure you I am not. Getting promoted in this place is not a good thing.
I've seen this exact same tactic used to get rid of nurses in LTC where I used to work. My suggestion is to document everything, and try to get whatever you can in writing from the DON or ADON. If you are fired, you will have something to present to unemployment showing that you were not discharged for misconduct.
The advice to head them off is excellent and a job description is a must. It was said in a previous post that they might get you with the "other assigned duties" part of the description but you can tell them it is too vague and that you need clarification. After all, you want to be responsible and make sure you're qualified for these "other assigned duties". If you end up taking the job email them about every little thing you find wrong or that needs to be addressed so you have a solid paper trail. It will also go a long way towards proving that the problems existed before you were "promoted" to manager and that you have been trying your best to get the unit where it should be. As for getting fired, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I gather you don't want to be in management so you wouldn't need to put that you were unit manager on your resume and I'm sure one of your erstwhile coworker/managers would give you a good reference. Prospective employers want to know what kind of employee you are and want to ask someone who supervised you. It's of no consequence whether or not they still work at the facility. Employers understand that people move on. When they call the facility they can't ask much more then whether or not you work/ed there. Good luck and I'm sorry you're in this situation.
the advice to head them off is excellent and a job description is a must. it was said in a previous post that they might get you with the "other assigned duties" part of the description but you can tell them it is too vague and that you need clarification. after all, you want to be responsible and make sure you're qualified for these "other assigned duties". if you end up taking the job email them about every little thing you find wrong or that needs to be addressed so you have a solid paper trail. it will also go a long way towards proving that the problems existed before you were "promoted" to manager and that you have been trying your best to get the unit where it should be. as for getting fired, i wouldn't worry too much about it. i gather you don't want to be in management so you wouldn't need to put that you were unit manager on your resume and i'm sure one of your erstwhile coworker/managers would give you a good reference. prospective employers want to know what kind of employee you are and want to ask someone who supervised you. it's of no consequence whether or not they still work at the facility. employers understand that people move on. when they call the facility they can't ask much more then whether or not you work/ed there. good luck and i'm sorry you're in this situation.
there has been some great advice given. i have a question though, would it be legal for the op to bcc a copy of the e-mail to another off company e-mail address? i ask because if she does get let go she will be locked out of her account at work.
I am really sorry you are going through this. All the mental angst because of leadership, not respecting the employee. Is it too much to ask or think, leadership would actually see you as a person, working hard to provide for yourself and family, care and advocate for your residents and working as a team with your coworkers? I guess it is out of the question for them to care about your humanity. Who cares about how you will pay your bills, eat or have health insurance? Who cares about the state we put you in....we only did it, because we can. Peace!
This is why Personel is now called HR . We are now nothing more than a resource to the powers that be , by sucessfully depersonalizing their subordinates, management only see the numbers and no longer worry about the turmoil their decisions to downsize cause to others .
I totally understand your need to have benefits immediately so you can have health insurance - I'm not sure where you're located, but I know of at least one hospital near me that allows you to be eligible for health insurance on your very first day of work.
Just wanted to add, I just mean that is something worth looking into. Did not mean to trivialize your issue... when I read this again, I thought maybe the tone was a little unclear :)
Isn't LTC just wonderful? I have had sooooo many conversations with people about the LTC environment and these kinds of tactics with staff and the p*** poor quality of care for patients and their eyes just glaze over and they look at you like you're just making this stuff up.
So they're basically saying if you stay where you are we're going to find a way to get rid of you, and if you accept the promotion we're going to find a way to get rid of you. I guess if those are the terms I would either exit the building or decide the terms under which I was going to get fired and refuse the promotion. At least that way you can say that you got fired from the job you're doing rather than say you got fired because you couldn't handle the promotion. Which doesn't help much I guess.
The other issue is as some other posters have suggested, do everything you can to protect yourself with documentation, which is a good idea. But how sad that you have to go in to work and spend half your time trying to do a job that has no parameters or definition or training and the other half trying to protect yourself from your employer.
Gotta love LTC.
I'm not sure what part of the country you're in but my experience up til now is that all the nursing jobs I've ever had, the health insurance kicked in after 30 days. It was a surprise to me because before I was a nurse you always had to work 90 days. But one period of unemployment I went through when I could no longer pay cobra I picked up one of those basic individual catastorphic coverage plans for about $190 a month just so I wouldn't have those 63 days of no-coverage and the dreaded pre-existing condition designation. I got all my (extremely expensive) prescription meds free through the PPARX plan and managed to coast a year until I found a good job.
But I don't have kids and that's a whole different story.
I have a quick question about this: "The problem now is that the DON and ADON have pretty much made it clear that I must accept a unit manager position immediately."They can't make you accept something you don't want to. Maybe I am naive, but I don't think it works that way...
Yeah that seems weird to me too. I've never heard of a place saying "Either you accept this promotion or you're fired!" How can a person be good enough to promote but bad enough to fire if they don't take the job.I know if they fired me I would be taking it up with the labor board, lawyer or whoever you would go to in this situation. Then again if you are in a work at will state then I guess anythings possible.
I know it sounds odd, but I have a couple of friends that have been in a similar situation where they were "forced" to take a promotion. No, no one held a gun to their head, but it was made clear that they "had to" take the position.
I have a quick question about this: "The problem now is that the DON and ADON have pretty much made it clear that I must accept a unit manager position immediately."They can't make you accept something you don't want to. Maybe I am naive, but I don't think it works that way...
I admit I haven't read all the posts on this yet but just FYI, there are quite a few companies with "up or out" policies. Promotions are no longer offered as rewards for a job well done. They are offered because the company thinks you can be a bigger contributor in the higher level position. Turning down the promotion sends the message (in their minds) that you don't care about the company so they don't want you around.
In most cases, if you turn down a promotion, they just make your life so miserable you quit. But, in an "employment at will" state they can and sometimes will fire a person who isn't interested in moving up. Stupid? Yes, but as health care keeps moving toward the corporate business model facilities will adopt more and more policies that have been common practice in the business world for decades.
Yeah that seems weird to me too. I've never heard of a place saying "Either you accept this promotion or you're fired!" How can a person be good enough to promote but bad enough to fire if they don't take the job.I know if they fired me I would be taking it up with the labor board, lawyer or whoever you would go to in this situation. Then again if you are in a work at will state then I guess anythings possible.
reminds me of my workplace...happened to a lot of the staff who had been there for years...of course a lot won't take sh*t so they left...
Well folks, it is official....meet fallinnstyle RN, unit manager. I got my new badge handed to me yesterday morning in stand up along with a long list of things that must be completed by the end of the week.
Man I love it!!!
In my part of the country (the south) you get benefits after 90 days. Many places make CNAs wait a whole year before they qualify (can you imagine??) I wish I could find a place with day 1 insurance. (I applied to Healthsouth which is the only one I know that does that but they chose someone else for the job).
And yes, I know they did not put a gun to my head and make me take this job, but it was put very clearly that my choices were limited.
Wish me luck!
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
They would probably say that is covered under the "and other duties as assigned" clause that is usually the last sentence of any job description.