NursingLink

Been there Done that! It's miserable to work in an environment like that. The morale's gotta stink. I put up with it for 2 years because of the patients, but finally I just couldn't take it anymore. It wears you down- physically and mentally. There's never a pat on the back for a job well done. But if any thing goes wrong, you'll hear about it. We were always short-staffed. Never enough supplies, No money for additional staffing or incentives to work extra shifts, but money to decorate the front hall with antique furniture and a chandelier. Everything was about cost. Whether or not to send someone to ER because the nursing home would have to foot the bill for the ambulance. It was just ridiculous. I could go on and on. I will never work in an environment like that again. It's too hard on the soul.

I learned the hard way that not for profit organizations are not always altruistic

Yeah tell me about that...I fell in the parking lot on my way into work two days before Christmas two years ago. I smashed my wrist up pretty good, and ended up missing a total of almost 3 months of work due to surgeries (removal of one bone in my hand, a plate, and four screws to hold everything else in place) and subsequent PT. I found out that the hospital that we're attached to is responsible for the groundskeeping...well needless to say the parking lot that day was like an ice rink (and as employees, we have to park in the lot northernmost from the building). It's an uphill walk from the lot to the door, and I went down FAST! I tried to file a suit with the hospital for not keeping the area safe for pedestrians, as the greeter had called for them FOUR times prior to my injury. The clinic administration stepped in and threatened the witnessing staff. Essentially saying to them that if they gave any testimony (which according to them "it was not their place to do") they would (not in so many words) lose their jobs. Needless to say, I was given about $600.00 for my loss. What a waste. I have very little respect for the company itself, but I love my job, and the people I work with.

I also work for a not for profit organization and I feel your pain. I have been there 17 years and like you have wonderful benefits and a retirement plan that I refuse to give up! Salary sucks but again Monday thru Friday with one call and weekends only every 6 wks. 8 yrs to go and I can retire. Rarely ever is a compliment given or a simple thank you for staying over for taking care of that mess for dealing with blah blah. But if you forgot something, didn't relay a message (especially a personal one) look out. We are all treated like a classroom of children. You know the drill, if one screws up, is late with paperwork, too much OT ect we ALL get a lecture. Never do they take the offender off and privately discuss the issue with that person.
Last but not least I had a workers comp injury on the job (of course) and they have appealed all the way to the state supreme court........but I am not to take it personally! How else do you take that?

Try working as a military nurse where you cannot call in sick. You don't have set hours and you have to work overtime and don't get paid for it.

nurz4life said:

Try working as a military nurse where you cannot call in sick. You don't have set hours and you have to work overtime and don't get paid for it.

cdnurse said:

Wow. nurz4life: and I really thought I wanted to join the service and be a nurse when I was a kid.

I need to vent, or maybe drink. Ok-here goes...I think I'll drink, don't know if venting will release my frustration!!!!!

Drinking when your frustrated, puts a headache on top of a headache. I like to calm down first, and then have a drink. Try venting first, then have the drink, it works for me.

Drink, but only in moderation...for me that would be...hhhhmmm, maybe 1/2 of a mixed drink! That''s almost like sniffing the cap, right?!!!

I drank, I'm still steaming. I only have one month of school left...all I need to do is play their game and I'll pass. Who cares how stupid they are. Just play the game, GRRrrrr!!

Hi there, I am just a STNA, but I admire the nurses that work so hard. I am trying to become a nurse, I must be crazy...LOL

Ok, just had my review, and I smell a backstabber in the department...in fact, it reeks of someone who just wants me to leave!  Which makes all that MORE inclined to make the place more like home...(not that it has much to do with it, but I'm a Taurus-stubborn bull).  Anyway, it was supposedly reported to my assistant mgr who did my review, that I make multiple "personal" phone calls...I had to laugh.  The only one I really know here is my husband, and he could most likely count on one hand how many times I've called him in the past 6-8 months, at least!  I DON'T HAVE TIME for personal calls!!!  I have five hours to review labs for 3-4 doctors, call patients back with their results, patient education, prescription refills, prior authorizations, and then if needed, I also room patients, do procedures, injections and blood pressure checks...I barely have the time to take a quick repreive to the bathroom for goodness sake!  Yet stated on my review was that I need to help out more! (What the...)

The thing that irks me about the whole thing, is that I used to work specifically with one provider.  I roomed all the patients, did lab reviews and call backs, procedures, blood pressure checks, injections, prior auths, and Rx refills...and only averaged two hours of OT in a 2 week pay period!  Now, my current position was created to help eliminate OT for the department, and there has been MORE!!!  Only I have the stress of completing my work in such a restricted time frame...my hours are from noon to 5 PM, and I get NO overtime, even if I have to stay late to complete my job, because I average only 25 hours, not 40, per week!

To top it all off, I brought home a copy of my written review, and never noticed until reading it that night that at the very end it says that I may want to consider moving to another department!!!

I have never, nor will I ever point fingers directly at any specific person for "wrongdoings" in the department.  I feel that it's management's job to address theses kinds of issues, not mine.  It's different if someone were say, harrassing me, or contributing to a unhealthy working environment, but that's not the case.

UUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!  Why do people have to be so sophmoric? 

How discouraging. How can that manager put in your review about phone calls if she/he did not witness it? Even if you did make calls, review time is not the time to reprimand someone. The things in your review are all a sign of piss poor management.

I suggest that you put something in writing to go back to her with and ask that your part be paced directly in your file. Don’t let it get you down. You can even write up one that you tear up and she does not see just to let off steam..

Its about who's ass you have your lips attached to here.  Retaliation, even if done appropriately, will get me no where.  Been there, tried to do that, and ended up getting stuck with NO RAISE for almost 3 years!  Can't afford that again, so I guess I'll just suck it up...thanks for the advise though. 

Shan4691, you have a good point too, and I never would have considered it, but it makes complete sense!  I'll just keep trying to make everyone "look bad"!  God, I LOVE MY JOB!!!  (he-he-he)