Toughen up, or quit?

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Specializes in CCU, cardiac tele, NICU.

I'm currently working as an agency nurse. I'm dealing with:

1. No computer access - I have to find another nurse to log in for me to check lab values or orders. (You can imagine how thrilled they are about that).

2. CNAs who mysteriously "lose" the vital sign sheet or refuse to help my patients.

3. Up to three hours of (unpaid) overtime required to finish charting. I also recently found out that if I stay to cover the beginning half of an evening shift, the nurse coming on doesn't do or chart a new assessment. :eek:

4. Working without appropriate supplies (isolation gowns, etc) because "they're just not on the lift yet."

These are just a few examples. Other red flags include having the director of nursing at the place where I got my employee health physical tell me that new hires from my agency were in twice a day, and turnover was incredibly high. I keep hearing, "Oh, this is just how it is - you'll get used to it," or "oh, you'll figure out how to work the system." If this is "normal" then I'd rather be waiting tables - I don't think I should be expected to just get used to constantly flying by the seat of my pants and feeling like I don't have access to the appropriate resources to do my job. Are my expectations too high?

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic ICU.

i would certainly not work 3 hours of unpaid overtime on a regular basis.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.
i would certainly not work 3 hours of unpaid overtime on a regular basis.

I would NEVER do 3 hours unpaid overtime! Boy are u being used!

Speak to your supervisor or DON. What are you staying there for? Sounds like nil team work to me. I worked at a small country hospital with no team work - it got so bad that I quit after about 6 weeks. Staff morale was so low, all anyone did was complain (there were other problems too).

can u go 2 another hospital/facility?

I'd be outta there so fast - sorry, sound atrocious & unsafe.

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No pay, no three hours free labor. Plain and simple. If they don't like it, they know how to get rid of you.

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Specializes in CCU, cardiac tele, NICU.

Yeah, at this point I feel like I'm done. The money is good (until you factor in the three hours unpaid...then it's not...) but I'd rather be poor and have my nursing license safe than work like this and be constantly living in fear that I'm going to make a huge mistake.

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Specializes in acute care.

We have lots of agency and some work out and some don't. My place of work is so crazy, the charting is insane (especially if you are not familiar with ours, plus we double even triple chart) and we can have up to 5-6 patients on a "hi-ops" unit, vents, trachs, chest tubes, tube feed, blood, iv meds and so much more. So i always try to help as much as I can, but we are so busy ourselves. This week I was reminded that agency nurses can not use our code for the glucometer (CNAS usually do FSBS, but the CNA was agency too and could not use our code either, so we had to do our own plus agencies FSBS), but they have a code to get into the med machine, are you kidding me? So I can understand your frustration. I know for a fact agency gets paid for working overtime. It seems like agencies are always hiring. I would look into another agency if I were you.

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Quit.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Make sure you tell the agency re this place. They can investigate it and won't send any other nurses there. That way, the facility will have to shapen up to get agency nurses to go there.

It really amazes me when permanent nurses treat agency nurses like s**t, but when they are absolutely snowed under, they are screaming (through the agencies) for us to come in! And I used to literally drop everything to rush in to help out.

I so empathise with you. They sound like reall ayeholes to me!

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Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.

The greatest thing about agency is you never have to go back. Do you really want to put yourself through this for a few bucks?? Since I have matured, (yanno, got old) I have realized the importance of working in a healthy environment. When I was young, I put up a lot for a few dollars...now, I will never subject myself again to a toxic environment. We are worth so much more and your health will thank you for it. Peace!

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Specializes in LPN.

I did an agency job for a while, and quit for the same reasons you wrote about. I didn't put in the overtime, but there is a lack of support, if not downright rudeness to agency nurses. People feel you make so much more than them. I understand there are more than one side to this story. People have had experiences with angency nurses prior to you that shaped their opinions. Being new, you need to know where things are, and need the backing of your team. But, people expect you to come flying into a facility and know where everything is, and all the codes, and everyones names and quirks. The CNA's kind of look at you like a substitue teacher, time to goof off. It's hard and unrewarding work. You do it if you have to, and hopefully if you stay at a place long enough things will change for the better as you get to know where things are and people start to see you as a real human being.

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Specializes in Home Health.

Sue the agency for your overtime. Not paying you is illegal and against Federal Labor Laws! If you don't do anything about it, they are going to do it to you over and over again. Psst, your agency may well be paid for the overtime hours by the hospital, but they are just not passing the funds over to you!

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Specializes in CCU, cardiac tele, NICU.

But, people expect you to come flying into a facility and know where everything is, and all the codes, and everyones names and quirks. The CNA's kind of look at you like a substitue teacher, time to goof off.

It's almost like co-workers think I'm not paying attention or I'm bothering them on purpose. I have never done paper charting before - so when you give me an admit and a discharge on my second day, then ask if the chart is copied and I say, "No, can you show me which parts need to be?" it's not because I don't WANT to do it - it's because I legitimately do not know what needs to be done.

I'm going to re-double my efforts to find a full-time hospital position - I miss having a work "home," and from what you all have been saying, it sounds like I'm not being overly sensitive - there's some screwy stuff going on here, as I suspected. Thank you all so much for responding - my husband calls this board my nurse group therapy. :)

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