My nursing job is so not right!

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Reply Sat 28 Jul, 2007 04:18 pm
My nursing job is so not right!
Confused Mad Okay, where do I start here? I need some advice as well as to vent! I started working at this nursing home 6 months ago as a night shift LPN. Everything was fine. The staff is terrific for the most part and the pt load is ridiculous (60-75) per nurse but I'm used to it even though I'm not completely comfortable with that. Considering the fact that more and more residents are acute care on medicare or medicaid and only their to recover brings up the percentage of full codes indefinitely. Okay, whatever right? Well, here is the part that is so illegal it stinks! Our DON has religiously forced nurses to "re-write" nursing notes to be worded better. In other words, so they don't get in trouble. Everyone has done it there and it's terribly uncomfortable. Now, I've never lied about anything on my own notes, I have re-worded them in say........a more timely manner or in a more suitable chronilogical order, but not lied. I'm a good nurse that provides safe care and I'm not lazy, I actually do my rounds....go figure with this many pt's right? Well, I do. Anyway..........We have had an incident where one of the pt's was observed to have a very large bruise on her hip and ankle and 5th toe, x-ray revealed (+) fractures. I was not on duty when this was reporeted although somehow because of my good nurse note taking I'm one of the nurses who was called into the DON's office to answer questions to public health on my day off and mind you in the afternoon when I was suppossed to be sleeping!!!! I had nothing to hide so everything went fine. But I felt that the nurse who had reported it should have been called in to answer questions. I later found out that the am nurse also had to answer to public health. It was an uncomfortable situation anyways though. This place also "lost" a resident. Let me explain. The family of the pt whom was not the POA did not sign out the pt and no one even noticed he was gone till later that evening or afternoon, whatever it was, I was not working that day. But the family dropped the pt off at the bank and believed the pt that he was going to take the bus back, yeah right, and now I've had to endure 3 endless meetings on the subject of census and how it's going to cost the facility $50,000 in fines and it may affect admissions of new pts and re-admits from the hospitals because of this incident. I feel I'm working for a bunch of idiots. Totally unprofessional and at the same time.....I've been looking for a new job and guess what? More idiots. I applied and was hired by Care Centers, yeah you know the one, and I went to orientation with HR and was then sent to the nurse scheduler who surprised me that full-time was 32 hrs a week, fine, but I wanted 5 days a week (for the money) We talked to the DON who then said not to worry that they would iron something out for me fine. I never once said I didn't want the job if it was only 32 hrs a week. I already gave my 2 wk notice to my present (idiot) job and was looking forward to starting in 2 wks at the new job. Well guess what? Your not going to believe this crap. I just happened to call the morning I was to meet with the medical director for a physical and I'm told that my position was filled by someone else! What?!!! The DON told me that she tried calling me several times (which she did not) and left a message that they could not give me 40 hrs, only 32, and since they did not hear from me they went ahead and hired someone else! They even mailed me a check for my orientation! And they didn't know I wanted the job? I was livid! I was now in the position of having to stay with the idiots I work with. I did work it to my advantage with the idiot nursing home where I got a $2/hr raise and put on days where I wanted to be but I'm floating which I hate. In other words, I get what all the other nurses don't want. The DON from Care Centers who is new apoligized and said she would call around for me but guess what? I had to track her down again and she told me there were only part-time positioins available. This is so not fair. What can I do about it? Nothing I guess right? I want to quit my current job so bad but I need another job and no one is hiring for days where I live. Any suggestions? Should I try to talk to the big chief at Care Centers? If I do, and I have to work with the DON who messed me up it's not going to be comfortable. Help!!!
 
stellar 1
 
Reply Tue 31 Jul, 2007 03:13 pm
I don't have any advice, but I wanted to give you support. It sounds like hell! 60-75 patients? Aren't there laws that limit the numbers? Anyway, the best I can say after 30 years of nursing, is that the internal culture of nursing loves to blame nurses for everything, even if it is subtle, and nurses/women just love to TAKE on all that internalized guilt. It keeps them suppressed and disempowered. They have been socialized since birth as females to do this! I don't know what your options are to advance your degree, but getting an RN would help some as related to employment options. If not, KEEP A JOURNAL. I have learned the hard way, that it is important to keep a running journal each night when you get home. Write quotes and events, dates/times. It will help you later if something comes up. If something is blatantly illegal or unethical, GET OUT. It is your license, your future. Nothing is worth that. Something else will open up. Good luck.
 
lpnlimbo
 
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 05:02 pm
thanks stellar. I appreciate your support. Just today I had a day from hell from this idiot nursing home I'm at. All I know is that I need to get out. I can't find anything in the papers or online. I'm not interested in homehealth and that seems to be the only thing. And yes, I am working towards my R.N. Why is it you have to scream to be heard and then when something is done about the problem you don't care anymore because your so upset? Or there is yet another ridiculous problem? I have taken initiative to talk to the administrator/owner today and all he did was smile and thank me for all my hard work? What is that? Is he literally retarded? I'm telling him how horrible it is and he's shaking my hand and patting me on the back? A**hole!
 
indiana nurse
 
Reply Sat 9 Feb, 2008 01:55 am
That is crazy!
 
AG1KULRN
 
Reply Sat 15 Mar, 2008 06:07 am
Get out of there now!
First things first -- like you mentioned, REWORDING YOUR CHARTING IS FRAUDULENT CHARTING. It is something you can LOSE your license for. 2nd - 60-75 patients to 1 nurse (or even a team) is so unsafe it's mind-boggling. How do they keep staff? Get the heck out of there before something REALLY BAD happens.... And you end up in court.
It happened to me once. Worked in a locked psych nursing home for 3 months. Staffing: 50 geri-psych, 3 aides and ME on the night shift. The nurse that worked opposite me had a pt code on her shift, and coming from a nursing home where almost everyone was DNR, she didn't act fast enough. The pt died. The nursing home doctor told her not to bother calling 911 because the woman had no family, then turned right around and CALLED THE STATE ON HER. Long story short, the nursing board sent someone to my house to collect a statement (I wasn't even IN THE BUILDING on the day in question) at 9 in the morning after I had just worked a shift so I would be tired and not have the wherewithal to "change" anything in my story. After hearing my story 4 times they decided I had nothing to do with it, but that the nursing home's code and charting system was to blame (you couldn't tell by the bracelet that the pt was a full code). When I was called to testify FOR this nurse, the nursing home put all these different staff members on the stand AGAINST HER. By the time they were done with her, the lawyer knew she was toast and DIDN'T EVEN CALL ME TO THE STAND. The nurse lost her license for 6 MONTHS. After experienceing that as just a witness --- believe me --- you never want to be the DEFENDANT. NEVER.
Get the hell out of there and get a real job in a hospital where there is staff and support.
Angela
ER RN, 12 years
 
 

 
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