Vitas in dfw area nurses( beware)

RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2009

I had personal experience with these people.

Not as an employee, but as a customer. They were absolutely

horrible in my opinion. I feel that my loved one suffered unnessicarily.

Thank you for sharing, I've always wondered what it was like to

work for these people. Now I know.

Hal_Dol · Feb 20, 2009

There IS another view of the world---and VITAS.

Perhaps dfw has problems, all I can say is--as an LPN that has worked for VITAS in Florida for 3 years--the company has treated me very well. This includes tolerating me say "No thank you" to shifts because I have an assignment due in 2 days in my LPN-to-RN transition program.

In reply to the second post--from the client/family side--all I can add is that it truly pains me to hear that anyone has received poor service from the company I am proud to work for. People make mistakes, and I have no idea what happened in your situation; but I do hope you spoke to someone in the company about your problem. Most of the staff I know strive to live up to the company motto, "Today I'll do my best. Tomorrow I'll do better."

Pax Vobiscum

chill1965 · Feb 20, 2009

There IS another view of the world---and VITAS.
Perhaps dfw has problems, all I can say is--as an LPN that has worked for VITAS in Florida for 3 years--the company has treated me very well. This includes tolerating me say "No thank you" to shifts because I have an assignment due in 2 days in my LPN-to-RN transition program.
In reply to the second post--from the client/family side--all I can add is that it truly pains me to hear that anyone has received poor service from the company I am proud to work for. People make mistakes, and I have no idea what happened in your situation; but I do hope you spoke to someone in the company about your problem. Most of the staff I know strive to live up to the company motto, "Today I'll do my best. Tomorrow I'll do better."
Pax Vobiscum

well I heard that they treat their employees better in other places,but texas treat their nurses like crap and a bunch of cows.I had to go back up north to work.than take crap off these places in texas.my wife thinks it's ok,but she comes from another country where they treat people like texas does.LIKE ****.A lot of the people here ,not all have George bush mentality,so you can imagine why no one says nothing,about how some companies and hospitals treat nurses.

caliotter3 · Feb 20, 2009

I posted about how they treated me when I applied for work with them on another thread today. Not professional much less "compassionate" as far as I'm concerned. When you are treated that way when you apply for the job, I can imagine how they treat the patients and patient families. Something is very wrong with this company.

kat7ap · Feb 21, 2009

hmmm... I have had nothing but positive experiences working with Vitas. I am a newer employee and everyone I have experienced at the FW office has been nothing but professional and friendly to me. The clinical staff is excellent and very knowledgable. To someone who is not used to hospice/home health, the nature of the job is to go where the patient is and where you are needed. I know Vitas tries hard to keep my assignments close to my home, but sometimes that is just not possible. I realize that. I have a set schedule so it would be hard for them to "give my hours to agency". I have yet to be "canceled". It is defininetly not the norm for someone to be sent to so many different locations in one day. It's almost always the same pt the entire shift and usually you stay there for the duration of your work week.

All the family members I come across are very happy with Vitas. From the public, personally I've heard only very positive things. This is the first time I have heard such negative things. They have already approved for me to take some vacation days just a few months after I started. Not many places do this or offer any where close to that amount of annual PTO. I would be VERY wary about working at most of the nursing homes in DFW (from my experiences as a facility employee and agency nurse). Anyway... Just wanted to give another perspective... I am most defininetly NOT treated like crap or a "cow"...

chill1965 · Feb 22, 2009

hmmm... I have had nothing but positive experiences working with Vitas. I am a newer employee and everyone I have experienced at the FW office has been nothing but professional and friendly to me. The clinical staff is excellent and very knowledgable. To someone who is not used to hospice/home health, the nature of the job is to go where the patient is and where you are needed. I know Vitas tries hard to keep my assignments close to my home, but sometimes that is just not possible. I realize that. I have a set schedule so it would be hard for them to "give my hours to agency". I have yet to be "canceled". It is defininetly not the norm for someone to be sent to so many different locations in one day. It's almost always the same pt the entire shift and usually you stay there for the duration of your work week.
All the family members I come across are very happy with Vitas. From the public, personally I've heard only very positive things. This is the first time I have heard such negative things. They have already approved for me to take some vacation days just a few months after I started. Not many places do this or offer any where close to that amount of annual PTO. I would be VERY wary about working at most of the nursing homes in DFW (from my experiences as a facility employee and agency nurse). Anyway... Just wanted to give another perspective... I am most defininetly NOT treated like crap or a "cow"...

Vitas in other places are very good I heard,it's just the FT worth OFFICE,IT just like supplymental in dallas,They are just awful,but you go to FT worth Office is wonderful.Well what do you do?just try to warn other people about these places.

kat7ap · Feb 22, 2009

Vitas in other places are very good I heard,it's just the FT worth OFFICE,IT just like supplymental in dallas,They are just awful,but you go to FT worth Office is wonderful.Well what do you do?just try to warn other people about these places.

I'm sorry, I'm having an awfully hard time deciphering what you are trying to say due to your punctuation and grammar.

bikerbabe03 · Jun 4, 2009

I worked for Vitas out of Orlando for 3 1/2 years and a friend of mine was there for 8 years, he went to Naples and later went back to work for Vitas down there and it has mulit. problems as well as the Orlando office. Anyway when I was hired I was offered an extra $1.50 and hour for peds experience, the D.O.N. was fired and another took over I was then told I could not have that extra hour wage, then the nighmare stated, gasoline went up to almost $4.50 a gallon my last year there, but during those first e years they had me traveling hours away rom my hosue then telling me lies that there was on assignments close ot my home, one time we had an assignment two blocks from my house but they sent me an hour away and gave agency the assignment two blocks from my house, I would talk to other team members as to were they were working as we were being all separated due to the fact WE WERE TALKING to each other, we would pass on to each other where there was assignements and how many agency's were coming and going, they still sent me a long ways from home, several times I would be sent to assignments having to pay toll fee's of $5.00-7.50 just one way out of my pocket and when I got there they would tell my they made a mistake and it was already booked, so I would have to pay the same toll going another direction another hour drive, at times after a patient would pass they expected me to sit in my car in a bad area of town until they could find another assignment, one time i sat in a parking lot for two hours waiting and told them I was going home, I had to report to the D.O.N. whom told me I wasnt suppose to go home no matter what !! Another time I waited over an hour at a 7-11 when approached by two men on drugs called the office and told them I was going home, no one answered because everyone was at a party at a local club so I waited all this time in a parking lot while they were in a club. I can not tell you how many times I went into homes that were not safe I was scared for my life as other employee's with Vitas was and they could have cared less and times they would sent me out knowing good and well there was dangers in these homes and not telling me until after the fact, they did this to a lot of us both Nurses and CNA'S. Other times the patients homes were horrible with no bathroom nad I had to use the back yard to do my thing, thank god for taking along toilet paper, and roaches about two inches long with cob webs about 2 feet long on the walls, and HRS was never called and I had a patient and family in need here but Vitas did not care as long as they got their money, I like this one I was again called into the office by the D.O.N. because I violated proceedure. I walked in this home, huge two story house and heard my paitent screaming in pain, the Team RN jsut left and never placed her on pain meds, patient had been like this for three days, by now the Vitas phones are switched over and Daytona is answering the lines, I get an RN on the line and the Doctor, ordered morphine and ativan to be picked up at the Walgreen a block from this home, I tell this RN that I will go get the medication myself that I could see Walgreens just by standing in the patients yard, so I did, the family was for ever grateful for this as no one could drive, it is against policy even if I got permission to go get it as they have a runner that does this but the runner could not get to walgreens for at least four hours. DAH and I was within a block away so they just wanted me to make the patient suffer more. I am an LPN and can not push meds through a line another patient is alert x 3 has no pain not anxiety the whole 13 hours, I get called into the office AGAIN wanting to know why I did not give Ativan IV PUSH for this patient, 1st I told her patient did not need it and said she didnt want anything 2nd told her I was an LPN and it was not in my scope and the D.O.N. told me it was, come to find out she had been telling all the other LPN'S it was ok to do IV pushes it was in the line of scope for them so these other nurses were doing it, then the Medical Director got wind of this and was UPSET so a letter went out to all the LPNS that they could not do IV pushes and he did not know who told them they could (DAH) D. O. N. did this. It is true in Orlando they will place agency before they will full time employee's, my first year I asked for day shift and every 6 months I would check to see when an opening was available but again I was always told there was none due to the fact they used agency on days so I had to continue to work nights, I was hurt on the job torn rotary cuff and placed on light duty, we had a huge building many many employees there working and there was NO jobs for light duty employees, so I remained doing my job lifting patients and turning them, Vitas could have cared less about my injury, after three months I had to quit short of almost 4 years being there because they had nothing for me to do but each week I went into the office I saw new employees hired to work in the offices. I have a friend there another LPN that has been with Vitas for 8 years and only hanging on due to her retirement but she hates working for them, another friend has been with them 19 years and she started hating her job at the time I had started working for them. They gave Nurse of the year to an RN that I had known prior to her coming to work for Vitas and she told me she was goign to get a job with Vitas so she good be lazy well as it turned out she was lazy all right and several people that I know personally working with Vitas said she was a lazy b******, so true when they had another nurse RN that had been well over looked for her hard work. They have big Christmas parties and seem to forget those in the field that are working and on my third year gee we all got a $10.00 gift certificate to Publix. I would never go back to work for these people if they doubled my salary......They lost a lot of their employees to Hospice of the Comforter and these people got better salary as well.......My friend in Naples said the office down there was as bad as the one in Orlando.

chill1965 · Jun 5, 2009

That sounds about right,the same thing is going on in FT worth vitas office.Looks like my buddy was right this a ****** company to work for since roto rooter bought them.