Update- job from h*!!

Published

It's been almost 9 months or so, and I haven't been active much on the forum...but I had made some posts about the hostile work environment at my job, and how my nurse manager tried to write me up for med errors that didn't happen and for documentation errors made by another nurse. Well after submitting and resubmitting and resubmitting my transfer...I finally just quit. I'm now working in a different hospital...and it's like nothing I've ever experienced before. I'm still waiting for the "honeymoon" to be over, because everyone is too nice...It's almost unreal. It's not perfect, and there are still nurses who dont' give a $$it...but it's such a relief to not be held responsible for those nurses actions. To not have to micromanage every tiny aspect of care for everyone's patients because I'm charge and "it's my responsibility". I'm not quit making as much as I was before, and have had to economize...but I'm less stressed, and much happier...my husband and family have noted a huge change in me.I'm even having less back trouble. My new coworkers have told me they don't understand why I'm so uptight sometimes about checking and rechecking to make sure that how I'm doing something fits into any interpretation of the policies/procedures. It's been almost 2 years since I've had a nurse manager tell me that I'm doing an even halfway decent job, much less say "well done". It's still so alien to me to not have every incident with an irate pt/family be my fault...I was so shocked when my new nurse manager said "you can't please everyone...don't worry about it, you did everything you could and should have done."

I guess I'm posting this so that maybe someone who was stuck in a position with workplace mobbing/bullying can see that it's not always like that. I'm still very wary, and I won't stop watching my back...but I'm starting to regain my confidence in myself. And I'll never stay somewhere for the pay/benefits again...I don't care how great a paycut I have to take, or if I even have to take a second or third job. I can always make more money, I'll always have bills, but I feel emotionally battered from the experiences at my old job, and the pay wasn't worth the abuse.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Good luck to you. Sometimes the best solution is indeed to move on.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

Happy to hear that things have turned around for you. Good luck with your new position.

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Thanks. I'm so much happier these days.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Glad to hear the encouraging news :)

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Specializes in EC, IMU, LTAC.

Good for you. I was in the same position, and life looked up as soon as I quit. Don't you hate it when you're the one picked to be the whipping boy?

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hi elthia i know what you mean,and i know how you feel been there and done that. you know sometimes when im posting bullies in the work place, or harassment.it does make you feel that you're or i the only one that being bully or harass.but thing is you could never prove it to anyone and that what really hurts.

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Specializes in Long Term Care.

My Nursing Instructors told us at Graduation that If we were unhappy at a job, that we should move on. That there are jobs around every corner. They said that some day you will find you niche. That being happy is more important than anything else.

They were right!

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

YEAH!!!!!!! Congrats! I too just left a job because of that whole disrespect and constant cloud of "you will loose your license" micromanagment style crud!

I am working agency and loving it! Found a nice niche in med surge (and I swore years ago to never return to hospital...LOL!!!) unit with the greatest most laid back MD's and RN's!!!!! Things are so much more rational and they actually use this neat tx/dx tool...COMMON SENSE! LOL!!!!!!

I love it, and also was very leary at first...and couldn't understand or take compliments well waiting for that "but" part of the sentence I was so use to! Nope...there was no "but"...just nice honest compliments! And that is catchy too...I am doing it too!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
It's been almost 9 months or so, and I haven't been active much on the forum...but I had made some posts about the hostile work environment at my job, and how my nurse manager tried to write me up for med errors that didn't happen and for documentation errors made by another nurse. Well after submitting and resubmitting and resubmitting my transfer...I finally just quit. I'm now working in a different hospital...and it's like nothing I've ever experienced before. I'm still waiting for the "honeymoon" to be over, because everyone is too nice...It's almost unreal. It's not perfect, and there are still nurses who dont' give a $$it...but it's such a relief to not be held responsible for those nurses actions. To not have to micromanage every tiny aspect of care for everyone's patients because I'm charge and "it's my responsibility". I'm not quit making as much as I was before, and have had to economize...but I'm less stressed, and much happier...my husband and family have noted a huge change in me.I'm even having less back trouble. My new coworkers have told me they don't understand why I'm so uptight sometimes about checking and rechecking to make sure that how I'm doing something fits into any interpretation of the policies/procedures. It's been almost 2 years since I've had a nurse manager tell me that I'm doing an even halfway decent job, much less say "well done". It's still so alien to me to not have every incident with an irate pt/family be my fault...I was so shocked when my new nurse manager said "you can't please everyone...don't worry about it, you did everything you could and should have done."

I guess I'm posting this so that maybe someone who was stuck in a position with workplace mobbing/bullying can see that it's not always like that. I'm still very wary, and I won't stop watching my back...but I'm starting to regain my confidence in myself. And I'll never stay somewhere for the pay/benefits again...I don't care how great a paycut I have to take, or if I even have to take a second or third job. I can always make more money, I'll always have bills, but I feel emotionally battered from the experiences at my old job, and the pay wasn't worth the abuse.

I hear every single word you're saying, and I have to wonder: did we work at the same hospital??;)

Last winter I did exactly what you did---I up and quit my toxic job, and life has gotten nothing but better ever since. I don't earn as much $$, and right now I don't even have health insurance........but unlike the previous year when I ran up about $60,000 in hospital bills, I'm not needing it! I haven't been sick a day since I left there, and my new job is as close to perfect as nursing ever gets, I think. For one thing, I have lots of autonomy, for another, my boss is an administrator, not a nurse (and not a woman either), and he's all about the positive.......he doesn't have to lavish praise on me, I KNOW I'm doing a good job, but his utter lack of need to micro-manage and his confidence in me are such a balm to a sore and battered ego.

Never again will I sacrifice my mental and physical well-being for the almighty dollar. They couldn't pay me enough to go through that kind of abuse........no, never again!

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

How lovely to let us know how well things have gone for you. It made me smile to know things have turned out so well for you.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

I'm not a Nurse yet, but I went through ALMOST the exact same thing you did as a Social Worker. Like you I got blamed for things I did not do or say. Like you I tried to transfer departments without success. So like you I quit and moved on to a better environment. To ensure I would not be blamed for anything at my new job, like you I checked over my self so much that people thought I was ANAL!

After I had realized I took the same toxic reactive behaviors with me to the new job, I worked to change. It took me about 6 months to get such awful behaviors out of my system. It took an entire year to be able to relax!

The one positive thing I gained from the experience is to pay attention to how a job makes me feel and act around those I love. Hopefully your job works out for you. I, like you waited for the shoe-to-drop and it never happened because the new environment was not toxic.

By the way, later I ended up getting a really bad boss. But because I knew how to spot her a mile away, I took immediate action within my work place. When my actions (talking to her in private and asking advice from others I could trust on how to best deal with the situation) did not work, I submitted my letter of resignation.

No fussing, no asking for a transfer, no sadness or hassles at home. I just left and found a better work environment.

By leaving the way I did I managed to keep my good reputation, which was something she was determined to destroy while I worked under her supervision. The odd thing that occurred afterwards was that she was visibly shaken by my resignation! I later found out she had to scramble to justify why I left to those who thought the world of me! Although I tried not to make it obvious to others, people drew the correct conclusion that she was the problem.

Good luck to you and know you are not alone.

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