So I am an LPN & I work at a SNF in MA. Recently company ownership went from 1 man, 1 company to corporate (multiple states, multiple sites).
VERY recently we were told "no more overtime". Not the first time Ive heard it, whatever. But not very long ago, I was mandated to stay until a nurse could come in and take the assignment I was on. Because there was no supervisor there to literally say, "Im mandating you", they're now telling me I wasn't staying, I chose to stay... despite the fact that I HAVE been mandated for this same reason before (again, not very long ago) & despite the fact that it was because of their staffing cuts that there was no supervisor on at the time (7AM).
I have pointed out to them that had I left that would have been patient abandonment, and they acquiesced to that fact, but are continuing to say it was my choice to stay. I took it to my DON, she denied me the time & a half mandated pay that we have been getting for years when mandated, I then took it to the administrator, who also denied me. I then took it to a senior executive who is now fighting me on it, and today avoided a scheduled meeting (Ill give him the benefit of the doubt, he texted his secretary and said his wife was in the ER).
This is the first incidence of them refusing to pay for mandated time. They are now telling me that there was another nurse on the floor... there was. We have a 32 bed unit on the unit I was on, each nurse has 16 patients. They are saying that because one of the scheduled nurses was there, she should have taken both carts and taken on all 2 patients. The unit is a rehab unit (post op, usually, hips/knees, some respiratory) and we have been seeing patients come in that have more & more acute conditions since they took over as well, increasing the workload on every nurse. I told the DON that having one nurse on the unit (with no supervisor, no other staff) was unacceptable and her response was, "Its how many other facilities run. Its perfectly acceptable."
Im COMPLETELY bewildered, angry, frustrated... and soon we will be taking over some administrative duties as well as taking the floor and I doubt very much our paychecks will reflect the increase in responsibilities.
I have filed what I think is their very first "workplace grievance".
What else can I do about such conditions? Rarely does a day go by without a nurse doing a double or getting mandated and the aides are constantly doing doubles. Ive stopped picking up shifts completely since now they refuse to offer time & a half for picking up. Now they're offering "gift cards".
