They won't stop calling me!

[optimist]

The facility I work in had an organized 'Wound care dept' consisting of 2 nurses during the week and myself on the weekends. We are the only ones that do wound care in the building because we recieved special corporate training and can provide consitancy with care and documentation. Something happened recently that caused the facility to lose both of thier weekday nurses at the same time. Since then the scheduler/don/admin have been blowing up my phone begging me (on my vmail) to come in and help since Im the only one left that knows all the proper documentation (anybody can read the TAR, but few know how to properly measure and describe). I havent returned their calls for several reasons 1)I dont feel like its my place to run in and rescue them, they should have had a plan in place before they let those nurses go. 2)With all of the drama going on in that building, Im afraid to do anything above what is expected of me for fear my head will be the next to roll 3)pulling extra shifts there does not earn you any brownie points or incentives, its just kinda expected and 4)I rather enjoy my weekdays off with my babies. So how do I get them off of my back. So far Ive just been ignoring their phone calls (and they are getting crafty using their personal cells to call me now). I hate to make up some excuse but Im not sure how honest to be in telling them I dont want within 100 feet of that place till saturday??

Thanks

[demylenated, BSN, RN]

What on earth is the nurse's creed?

This is what I could find:

"A Nurse's Creed- Sometimes I forget…why I'm a Nurse and what's really in my HEART. Sometimes I'm just too busy I don't know where to start. Then someone holds my hand, and greets me with a smile. They ask if I could stay with them for just a little while. If I could calm a sorrowed heart just because I'm there. Then I'm reminded...why I'm a Nurse. It's all because I CARE."

Nice, eh?? Great sentiment... but nothing I swore to. However, I swore to a lot of things when I took my marriage vows, and I promised to raise my daughter. Nursing is a great profession... to some, even a calling... But my "calling" included my husband and my daughter.

While I would not let them wonder what was going on (I would answer the phone and give a definitive answer)... My nursing career and the pts I help are not my TOP priority. My family is and always will be. Anyone who puts patients above their family, I think, are the ones who need to re-evaluate their lives - that they needed a job and strangers to make them feel like their life was worth something, and they felt they owed strangers something more than they owed those they CHOOSE to bring into their lives and love unconditionally...

So, I suppose I was a bad nurse when my 16 year old daughter was in the ER because she had a PE and I called off for that week. After all, there were nurses (strangers) taking care of her and I have my own patients to take care of... yeah... not so much.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

Tell them what you have written on here (maybe keep out the bit re brownie points and gloss over that a bit). If you keep avoiding them, they will keep calling. I find the only way to deal with management is to be upfront - and TELL THEM that you enjoy ur weekends with the kids and it is NOT your responsibility to cover for their a***s if they don't have enough staff. I used to do everyone's jobs when they were off sick/on leave/when their kids were sick, now I flat out refuse. Make a written complaint to the head person if necessary.

Also, why don't you suggest doing a paid teaching session re the documentation so someone else can take it over. Or whoever taught you can come in and teach other people.

You are taking the responsibility for this fiasco, and only have urself to blame for not standing up to them. Call them TODAY and get it sorted.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I agree demylenated

And my first post said "Just say no" and in order to do that you have to answer the phone once.

My "calling" is my family. I want to raise my kids and TIME is very important.

There is nothing wrong with working a weekend schedule or a per diem PRN schedule. That is what you signed up for and what you were hired for. Occasionally helping out is a nice thing to do.

But this situation is completely different - there are 2 full time wound care nurses gone - how does one nurse go 24/7 filling in? And why do it? You cannot solve this problem. It is up the management.

I've fallen victim to this and that's why I'm warning against it. Burn out is a real condition and a huge safety issue.

OP - call your supervisor, line out what you will and won't do. And then leave it there and don't answer any more phone calls.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

i agree demylenated

and my first post said "just say no" and in order to do that you have to answer the phone once.

my "calling" is my family. i want to raise my kids and time is very important.

there is nothing wrong with working a weekend schedule or a per diem prn schedule. that is what you signed up for and what you were hired for. occasionally helping out is a nice thing to do.

but this situation is completely different - there are 2 full time wound care nurses gone - how does one nurse go 24/7 filling in? and why do it? you cannot solve this problem. it is up the management.

i've fallen victim to this and that's why i'm warning against it. burn out is a real condition and a huge safety issue.

op - call your supervisor, line out what you will and won't do. and then leave it there and don't answer any more phone calls.

it most certainly is. i'm still feeling it now even though i've taken steps to correct my approach to things. hope it isn't too late.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

Any time you recieved "special corporate training" you are pretty much at their beck and call. Not answering or ignoring the calls can and will cost you your job. Many medical facilites have no replacements in line when some one leaves or is fired. It is up to the regular staff to pick up the slack. Working in the Medical Field holds a different level of responsibility and commitment then the other work force. Just think for a moment, what if your child, mother, brother, or other family member had a nurse like you that did not answer the call for help to do her job. How would you feel? It is Nurses like you and others like you that give the patients cause to complain. Nursing is not a job its a calling and if you are not prepared to fully commit to your duties as a health care giver, find another career.

IT IS A JOB. The facility should have forseen this possibility. Should the op be there 24/7 because of "special corporate trianing"?

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

Who says that the OP has to go in to work every single time that she is called? Who says that she has to give up all her weekdays to go to work? Who says she her boundaries will be violated if she answers the phone?

My point is that a relationship where the employee feels no obligation to the employer, and vice versa will ultimately fail. Ignoring a supervisor's phone calls is unprofessional and negatively affects the employee, the supervisor, other employees, and the entire organization. When did we forget that the patients are major source of income for the hospitals? If they are not satisfied, they will not return to the hospital and they will tell people about their bad experience. If this happens enough, the hospital will go out of business and guess what happens to the nursing jobs then? By ignoring the phone calls, the OP contributes to what seems like a pervasive lack of trust and respect between mangement and employees. Aside from that, returning important phone calls is common courtesy.

Nurses, think about how frustrating it would be if you had an important policy question and your supervisor refused to call you back? If you were locked out of computer documentation and the IT department didn't get back to you because their shift was over? An attending won't answer the phone because he is home in bed and thinks his residents can manage until he comes in?

There's never an all-or-nothing answer. The OP doesn't have to go in to work everyday, but a compromise is easily reached. Answering the call and saying: "I can't come in for an entire shift, but I can come for a few hours tomorrow." "I can come in for the shift tomorrow, but I'll need to take Sunday off instead." "I can't come in until Saturday, but is there anything I can help you with over the phone?" Any of these, actual conversations, are much more professional than ignoring the calls.

I often get called to come in. on days off, on the night before a scheduled day shift (?), on VACATION TIME. it never ends. It is unprofessional of me to not answer my phone when I am not on call? I strongly disagree. The IT department would NEVER GET CALLS AT HOME from nursing . at least not where I work. It is a huge facility that uses EMR so there are some IT people on call, they would be the ones answering the phone should an issue arise. Not the IT employee on his/her day off................ The attendings who would answer the calls from the residents are ALSO ON CALL at least in my hospital.

[greenfiremajick]

Great. Another martyr.

But the view looks so good from up here.......Sorry, couldn't resist....

[diva rn, BSN, RN]

This is what I could find:

"A Nurse's Creed- Sometimes I forget...why I'm a Nurse and what's really in my HEART. Sometimes I'm just too busy I don't know where to start. Then someone holds my hand, and greets me with a smile. They ask if I could stay with them for just a little while. If I could calm a sorrowed heart just because I'm there. Then I'm reminded...why I'm a Nurse. It's all because I CARE."

OMG, you mean this is real!!!!!?????

I thought it was something like what you said in the Brownies....I never dreamed there is a nursing creed...not sure how I feel about that...while I am a very good nurse and have worked in many different areas of nursing for many years, mostly my "thing" was the unit...I kind of thrived on the critical care stuff and never thought of myself as the "touchy feely type", especially when it's in the form of a rhyme....wow

[crb613, BSN, RN]

Any time you recieved "special corporate training" you are pretty much at their beck and call. Not answering or ignoring the calls can and will cost you your job. Many medical facilites have no replacements in line when some one leaves or is fired. It is up to the regular staff to pick up the slack. Working in the Medical Field holds a different level of responsibility and commitment then the other work force. Just think for a moment, what if your child, mother, brother, or other family member had a nurse like you that did not answer the call for help to do her job. How would you feel? It is Nurses like you and others like you that give the patients cause to complain. Nursing is not a job its a calling and if you are not prepared to fully commit to your duties as a health care giver, find another career.

Oh dear....is this for real??? I guess I am a bad, bad, nurse....I don't answer calls unless I want to, and...I don't stand when a doctor enters the room , or give them my chair either!

[bagladyrn, RN]

The best answer is to either answer your phone or call your supervisor and tell them "I am unable to work any other than my scheduled weekend shifts because of my other obligations." Repeat this line as necessary. Do not elaborate on those obligations. If you do they will try to persuade you of ways to cover them. You do not have to tell them any details of those obligations.

If you want to sound like a "team player" you can tell them that you will be happy to help precept any new wound care nurses they hire DURING your weekend shifts.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

Thank you, I found your post to be kind. Please forgive me if I came off harsh. It was not meant to be. I have been in this game a long time and sometimes forget others have a different view then me. I love my profession, my patients, Doctors I have worked with, and learn most from the families of patients and the patients themselves. I don't work OT for the glory of the pay, I do it because in my time that is what was expected, but most of all I do it for MY patients. :)

This is kind of a...."backwards" apology, since it then goes on to acknowledge that not everyone has the same "view" (read: loving the profession, etc). So, anyone who DOESN'T come in whenever asked, answer every cry for help with staffing, be a martyr... does NOT love their job, their patients? FYI, they're not YOUR patients, you don't *own* them. They are people, placed under your care when you are functioning in your JOB.

I began as a CNA and worked my way up the ladder. I have always answered the call to help, I have never and would never not answer the call to help even when I had pulled 72 hours in a row. Its what I do its what I CHOSE.

I also had childern at the time. They learned by what they saw not what I said. Thay are all in good professions. Its the LOVE not the TIME that makes a good parent. We are all very close, closer then most. I don't talk the talk with out having first WALKED THE WALK. Get it?

It is what YOU chose. Most would not agree with placing their JOB (not their "calling," sorry) above their children. If that's how you feel, fine, that is your prerogative...but in NO way should that be the expectation placed on every person that decides to become a nurse. It is both unreasonable and unattainable.

I had a great talk one time with a previous boss of mine. I was working 12 hour night shifts at the time, 3 days a week. I had taken an on-call position in a new department, to supplement that. The requirement was to be on call 40 hours per month. Doable. However, since it was a new program, it was very difficult to complete orientation...I would take the call hours required, but would not get called in, therefore could not get my training. I met with the director of the program to discuss the issue (she also happened to be our CNO). Essentially, she expected me to carry the on-call pager WHENEVER I wasn't working. I told her this was not feasible; if I just got done working a 12 hour shift, and had to come back that night, I couldn't be on call during the time in between (that's one example). I told her that I was taking the hours of call I was expected/required to take. Her response was, "this is not an *expected* hours only kind of job."

I walked out of that meeting feeling like complete cr@p. I relayed the convo to my boss, and he told me not to let it bother me. He said, she was the type of person that work was her LIFE, to the detriment of her husband and (now-grown) kids. He said, "I love my job, and care about my staff, but work is NOT my number one priority in my life. It comes somewhere after my marriage, my kids, my church, and that there is nothing wrong with that." And let me tell you, this man was a FANTASTIC nurse, and manager (we ALL cried when he left, and ironically, he left because he did not agree with the corporate changes that were happening, and he was powerless to be able to improve anything). He told me that there is NO reason at all to feel guilty for taking your own time for yourself, your family, or anything else important in your life (and he was TOTALLY RIGHT).

Now, the director that replaced him was his complete opposite. She went as far as to say, TO STAFF, "it shouldn't matter if you work holidays, you're single." So, because I'm not married (she didn't say this to me, but to a fellow unmarried coworker), I should be perfectly happy to work every holiday? That sort of thing. Completely disrespectful of her staff as people. She is one thing I DO NOT miss about that job!!! My time and my family are very important to me. I took good care of patients, I was dedicated to doing the best I could for them, but at the end of the day, it didn't run my life. They're not going to be the ones holding my hand when I'm taking my last breaths. No one ever looks back on their life and thinks, "I should have worked more hours when I had the chance."

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

This is what I could find:

"A Nurse's Creed- Sometimes I forget...why I'm a Nurse and what's really in my HEART. Sometimes I'm just too busy I don't know where to start. Then someone holds my hand, and greets me with a smile. They ask if I could stay with them for just a little while. If I could calm a sorrowed heart just because I'm there. Then I'm reminded...why I'm a Nurse. It's all because I CARE."

I never recited that tripe, and I sure as sugared beets never signed anything to that effect. Therefore I cannot be held to such hallmark greeting card standards of "professionalism." What I would do is keep my commitment. I would work exactly what I promised to, I would never shirk my responsibility and not be where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there. Neither would I be there when someone else was supposed to, greeting card suggestions notwithstanding.