Written warning for a care plan written prior to my employment

[LTCNS]

I just started my new job as a MDS nurse with this facility 3 weeks ago (Have 15 years MDS experience) and this morning I was called into the DON's office and given a written warning over a care plan that had not been changed to reflect this particular patient had had both legs amuptated back in September, so another MDS had been done since then AND another care plan, but was not updated to reflect this change, nor was a significant change in status done.

I signed it, stated I understood, and just went back to the office and cried. Maybe I'm making too much out of it, but I fail to see why it is my fault that this care plan had not been updated for 5 months.

I guess I just needed to vent. Moving on and trying to stay out of trouble.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

can you see yourself simply selecting a certain number of charts and putting them on the other MDS nurse's desk and saying "these are yours", and walking away...?

Well...I was talked into staying in my current position as a MDS nurse, and since then have been subjected to some fresh new hell everyday. If the 32 hour a week floor position is still available I am going to jump on it. I will know when the Staff Development Nurse comes back from vacation.

Makes me look wishy washy but I just want my sanity back. People think "oh...you have a cushy office job" but don't realize what comes with that office job. To be honest? I would rather work as a cashier somewhere than do another MDS or care plan for the rest of my life, or at least in the facility I work in now. Money's good, but it's not worth it if you're utterly miserable.

I know bedside nursing has its problems and challenges, but I can handle it better than I can what I am going through now. I just want to give meds., take care of the lil' ol' people and go to the house without having to worry about reimbursement, case mix audits, coding the MDS perfectly and care plans being nit-picked apart. I just pray the floor position is still available. If not, I don't know if I can take the mental strain of my current position much longer

[LTCNS, LPN]

Morte, I did, in fact tell the other MDS nurse I am overwhelmed and need her to help me for a bit so I can get my head above water and breathe, and she said "I have my own work to do. I don't have time." I went to the ED and she basically told me there was nothing she can do. She is leaving in a month anyway so really doesn't care I suppose.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

My point was you don't ask, just put them there and walk.

Morte, I did, in fact tell the other MDS nurse I am overwhelmed and need her to help me for a bit so I can get my head above water and breathe, and she said "I have my own work to do. I don't have time." I went to the ED and she basically told me there was nothing she can do. She is leaving in a month anyway so really doesn't care I suppose.

[LTCNS, LPN]

Well see? That's the thing. That's why the MDSs got so far behind in the first place. The last nurse left after just three weeks and the other MDS nurse refused to keep them caught up. Nothing was said or done, so she got away with it. She's been here for about four years and has skated along, getting away with doing as she pleases. If I put some charts on her desk and walked away, she would put them back up and the work wouldn't be done, thus falling on me. The more I have piled on me, the further behind I get. I cannot do anything right in this office. I cry myself to sleep, I cry in the bathroom at work and I cry on the way to work. It's time to make a change. I can't function like this.

I know this will be an ongoing problem with her after I leave this position. Maybe one day someone will get a clue as to why MDS nurses keep leaving and will do something about the real problem.

[pfchang]

This is unbelievable, well, not really. I would add to get out of there now. Go to Costco or anywhere else. But before you go, attach an addendum to that write-up. Tell the facts to support why you are not responsible for their errors. Make sure you document the details, with dates, etc. That write up can follow you. A friend needing multi-state licensure almost lost a job over something similar but she had detailed documentation of her side of the story which saved her.

[LTCNS, LPN]

They let me go today. The dietary manager coded IV/parenteral feeding on two MDSs and I was blamed. When I asked how it was my fault, I was told I should have caught the mistakes before the MDSs were submitted. The Dietary Manager has been at that facility for 22 years so I thought maybe, just maybe she might know what she's doing so I didn't check behind her.

It was a mess when I started there. I guess they just needed somebody to get them caught up and I did. I'm in too much shock to be angry. Too scared to cry. I don't know what I'm going to do now.

I have an interview at a family health clinic in the morning and another at an orthopedic clinic Wednesday morning. Hopefully one of them will work out. I need to work.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Good luck to you. You deserve better.

[pfchang]

Yes, you do deserve better. Fifteen years of experience and it comes to this with this new facility? Good riddance and good luck to you.

[LTCNS, LPN]

Thank you both. Feeling a bit like a failure at this point you know? They gave me two months and that was it. So many times I wanted to just get up and walk out but didn't want to do it that way. I wanted to find something else and give proper notice. I kept telling myself it would get better. Just give it a chance. I don't think I want to look at another MDS for as long as I live.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

So glad you have options already at hand.

[LTCNS, LPN]

Me too Roser13. Hopefully something will come along soon.

[toomuchbaloney]

They let me go today. The dietary manager coded IV/parenteral feeding on two MDSs and I was blamed. When I asked how it was my fault, I was told I should have caught the mistakes before the MDSs were submitted. The Dietary Manager has been at that facility for 22 years so I thought maybe, just maybe she might know what she's doing so I didn't check behind her.

It was a mess when I started there. I guess they just needed somebody to get them caught up and I did. I'm in too much shock to be angry. Too scared to cry. I don't know what I'm going to do now.

I have an interview at a family health clinic in the morning and another at an orthopedic clinic Wednesday morning. Hopefully one of them will work out. I need to work.

Collect your unemployment and keep your head up.

There are unscrupulous employers everywhere, you had the misfortune to connect with one.

You will find something.

There are lessons to be learned from this experience.