What is my right to transfer to another unit

[riken25]

Presently I am working as a staff nurse in the medical Center and I worked there for the last 6 years, I wanted to transfer to intensive care unit. In december the manager of ICU was willing to take me, but d't short staffing my manager didn't let me go. I was promised by ADN as soon the position will open and my HN will be OK for me to go they would transfer me. Today, I heard that 5 positions were opened in intensive care units, the ADN asked me "How did you know?"I was OK from my HN to leave my unit. There is no officials posting to apply, there is no longer intertransfer forms to submit (d/t a new rules everything is online HHC hospitals) When I called Nursing reqruitment she told me that the 5 positions were filled with applicant from outside of the Hospital and If they will transfer me my position will be opened. I told to wait for when a new positions will open. However, as I checked There were no positions posted, How could I apply? NR unofficialy is providing with posting numbers to selective applicants. I believe, I do quilify to wor in ICU position. I am upset about it. I believe, I wasn't given opportunity to at list have a chance for an interview. Can you please give me an advise what should I do?

Thank you

[riken25]

Thank you for pointing out to me that English is not my first language. Yes, I was upset yesterday and I did not check all my grammar. I function quite well in 5 other languages and yes, I am continuing my education. Sorry, if I am a little snippy it is still one of my weak sides, but I am working on it! The quality of my work is not an issue here, the simple fact is the hospital at which I work has not hired fulltime staff, they are operating with agency nurse who they do not pay benefits for. For all these years my hospital not hired full time staff, which now affects me. The critical care managers asked me would I transfer, but because there are very few full time staff nurses’ left in my unit, my HN and ADN will not let me transfer. The management has explained this as a reason for not letting me transfer. I do not know if you work in a union hospital, but if you are qualify for the job you should at least be given the opportunity to apply for the job, or is it the good old boy system if you know somebody or you are friends with somebody you can have the job and forget about the hard working people. Why should they be allowed to advance their career? I was once told, Why advance a good worker, because who is going to do the job? This instance in my life has proven to me, why we need unions and seniority! Again, I much appreciate your kind comments, thank you

Sincerely,

[riken25]

Hi KeepItReel RN,

Thank you for understanding my problem. I was very upset at my situation and being honest it is causing me a lot of stress. I am not entitled to anything, but I believe in fair play. I do not feel because is hospital is short that it is my fault. My hospital is hiring nurses for intensive care units, why can't they hire for med/surge units? The problem is, they never posted the positions tp allow any staff nurses or other nurses to apply. So, where did nurses come from and how did they know about the positions being open?

Once again, thank you for keeping it real!

[riken25]

Hi nynursey,

Thank you for your coments, I don't feel that I should have to leave my job because of unfair treatment! I think, that if you have a job, and union rep that you should fight for what is right! because when you let them away with it, it means that nobody is entitled to a fair shot. Unfortunately, it is very stressful, nursing is already stressful it should not be who you know to get the job, it is simple, you are either qualified or not.

[mhy12784]

Thank you for pointing out to me that English is not my first language. Yes, I was upset yesterday and I did not check all my grammar. I function quite well in 5 other languages and yes, I am continuing my education. Sorry, if I am a little snippy it is still one of my weak sides, but I am working on it! The quality of my work is not an issue here, the simple fact is the hospital at which I work has not hired fulltime staff, they are operating with agency nurse who they do not pay benefits for. For all these years my hospital not hired full time staff, which now affects me. The critical care managers asked me would I transfer, but because there are very few full time staff nurses’ left in my unit, my HN and ADN will not let me transfer. The management has explained this as a reason for not letting me transfer. I do not know if you work in a union hospital, but if you are qualify for the job you should at least be given the opportunity to apply for the job, or is it the good old boy system if you know somebody or you are friends with somebody you can have the job and forget about the hard working people. Why should they be allowed to advance their career? I was once told, Why advance a good worker, because who is going to do the job? This instance in my life has proven to me, why we need unions and seniority! Again, I much appreciate your kind comments, thank you

Sincerely,

Unions dont do anything about the good old boy system, where its who knows who.

State, public, private, union, non union doesnt matter. The overwhelming majority of the time its going to be who you know, and how you get along with them. People prefer to hire people they know, like, or find personable. Even large government run union hospitals which are completely run by the state so they "have" to use fair hiring practices, dont. Its always going to be that way, and nothing can ever change that.

Either gotta get lucky by being at the right place at the right time, or get to know the right people.

[mhy12784]

Hi nynursey,

Thank you for your coments, I don't feel that I should have to leave my job because of unfair treatment! I think, that if you have a job, and union rep that you should fight for what is right! because when you let them away with it, it means that nobody is entitled to a fair shot. Unfortunately, it is very stressful, nursing is already stressful it should not be who you know to get the job, it is simple, you are either qualified or not.

Its not about leaving your job because of the unfair treatment. Its about leaving your job because why would you want to work for an organization that sucks? If they consistently outsource new positions in the ICU its because they either dont give a crap about their employees, or they think their employees suck. (or i guess the 3rd option is that they think that hiring outside would save them money?)

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

When ever I have an opening, I do two things. I send a req to HR, and I post it on my unit bulletin board. This notifies current staff that I have an opportunity, in case they want to change shifts or increase their hours. Then no one can say didn't know there was an opening. Then it eventually ends up on the website.

Everyplace I've worked has a method for internal candidates to apply first. There's no right to getting the spot, or even necessarily to interview, but everyone gets their shot.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

Legally, you don't have a "right" to transfer to another unit. I would ask human resources what the policy is.

Our facility passed a measure about two years ago that if a nurse had been in their unit a minimum of one year and applied for another position, if they were hired by that nurse, their home manager could not refuse the transfer, unless the home unit was listed in 'critical need'. In short, that pretty much meant that if you started working in the Med/Surg unit, you were stuck there. Everyone knows this, so they have a hard time getting anyone to take those jobs. The policy was changed because nurses were quitting and going to other hospitals in order to get into the area they wanted to work in...so it was better to have them quit and still be in-house than quit altogether.

There may not be anything you can do.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Thank you for pointing out to me that English is not my first language. Yes, I was upset yesterday and I did not check all my grammar. I function quite well in 5 other languages and yes, I am continuing my education. Sorry, if I am a little snippy it is still one of my weak sides, but I am working on it! The quality of my work is not an issue here, the simple fact is the hospital at which I work has not hired fulltime staff, they are operating with agency nurse who they do not pay benefits for. For all these years my hospital not hired full time staff, which now affects me. The critical care managers asked me would I transfer, but because there are very few full time staff nurses’ left in my unit, my HN and ADN will not let me transfer. The management has explained this as a reason for not letting me transfer. I do not know if you work in a union hospital, but if you are qualify for the job you should at least be given the opportunity to apply for the job, or is it the good old boy system if you know somebody or you are friends with somebody you can have the job and forget about the hard working people. Why should they be allowed to advance their career? I was once told, Why advance a good worker, because who is going to do the job? This instance in my life has proven to me, why we need unions and seniority! Again, I much appreciate your kind comments, thank you

Sincerely,

I'm envious of your fluency in five languages, but that does not change the fact that your written communication skills in English need some work. That may be something holding you back. You sound very angry, and if your manager and the manager of the unit on which you want to work have noticed this, it may also hold you back.

No one has "a right" to transfer to a different unit -- that unit's manager gets to choose whether or not she wants to hire you. She may have wished to hire you at one point but has changed her mind for some reason . . . has anything changed that may have influenced her decision?

Make sure you understand your facility's policy on interunit transfers as well as the union contract's language on seniority as it applies to transfers. You may be overlooking something. Contact the union's grievance officer and have them help you out with understanding the union contract, and if you still believe you're being unfairly denied a transfer, find out what recourse the union allows.

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

"Managers who work like that are complete and total idiots. If a nurse has decided it is time to move on then that nurse is going to move on with or without the managers help. To not let someone make an in house transfer because the unit is short is stupid and terribly short sighted. The unit is going to be short one more nurse either way.

It is reasonable for the manager to give a time frame on when you can transfer so as that he/she has time to replace you. Allowing a transfer but making the employee stay another month or two is not unheard of, but not even allowing you to interview is total asshattery"

I could not agree more. My facility was recently bought out by another company, effective the first of the year. It is a great move and it will do good things for the place. My department however is hell on earth. We have been pitifully and in my opinion, dangerously short staffed. In the 9 months I have been there I have seen a near complete turnover in nurses and it seems that the techs run rampant over the nurses. We have a seemingly untouchable charge nurse who has been an RN for I think like 2 years. Her behavior is the antithesis of professional. i will not even repeat some of the things she has said or done because it baffles me how such behavior is tolerated. We are on our 2nd director in 4 months. This current director is i feel a carbon copy of her.

After one particular episode of being screamed at (no i am not embellishing, she really did scream at me) I applied at other hospitals in the area, owned by the same company. I was invited to interview a few days prior to the new year. I did so and following the new year, an offer was extended (at this point it is now a inter-company transfer) and i accepted. As i understood, my current department could keep me 30 days. Great, no argument. i totally understand that policy. What is interesting is that after breaking the news to this director, it seems he is ok with it. A few days later I am told, by him, that the parent company has blocked all transfers out of the facility for the forseeable future. Long story short I was lied to. I'm told the transfer is a no go, yet per corporate HR it is still on. Now that I am really confused, i then get written up for "unprofessional behavior" and then told that a write-up quashes my transfer eligibility. Anyone else see the games being played here. Based on the timeline, I hope that corporate HR will see what is happening. This exact sandbox behavior is why I want out. This is a fantastic way to induce employees to stay, yes?

Any others out there with this experience?