The work situation sounds awful, Tris. Unfortunately, I agree with picunurse. However, I also agree with the suggestions that you find a way to bring the situation to the attention of a compliance person or entity. You should never be in a situation where you’re wrong, no matter what you do.
Good luck! (And nice vacation pics, by the way.)
GT
My recommendation would be to retire. 28 years is long enough to do anything.
Oddly enough, incompetent management, pay rates, and everything, I still love my job. Like I say, no ambition.
Thanks a lot for the help. If they call me, I will come. If they don’t, I will play video games, and surf the web.
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~ Lao-Tzu ~
A suspension such as this would cause my hospital administrators to hire agency personnel, because we have all done this at one time or another.
Tris, you mentioned that this was your second offense. Did the first one involve you getting hurt and having to file a Workmen’s Comp claim?
I’m just thinking that your employers are “keyed” into this because a lot of heavy lifting is required.
I also know that my hospital and where you work are like apples and oranges, and I too have a lot of respect for what you do.
I agree with you working to take the load off your colleagues, but 9 hours is a long time to sit in a chair, not to mention the decubitus ulcer risks.
Jesus, that’s a tough call: A great work ethic, but you violated policy.
Quasi
Nope.
I have five Group offenses in my record.
The biggie is the one for lifting a client previously, by myself. She wasn’t hurt, I wasn’t hurt. She weighs less than 80 lbs. I weigh more than 200 lbs. The main failure of fact is that I don’t watch to see who is around. At the time, I didn’t trust my coworkers to do a two man lift, because everyone was getting bruises on their arms from bad lifting technique. So, I did one man lifts to avoid that. (I don’t leave bruises.)
The biggest other one was licking my wrist while feeding someone. (I did wipe my hand with a washcloth afterwards, and was not feeding my client with my fingers anyway. I tested the temperature of her food with a spoonful dropped on my wrist. Then I licked it off, to see if the stuff was palatable. (It wasn’t bad.) Then I cleaned my wrist with a washcloth. I got a group II for that one too, after it was mitigated down from termination.
The other two (minor ones) no one but me remembers what they were for, cause no one who was in management then still works here. I ain’t telling. The actual operant cause of my cumulative bad record is my unwillingness to lie about it all. Since the system is set up for everyone involved to be as self serving as possible, all the bosses blame their subordinates as a reflex first response.
I really don’t mind the bad rep with management. The clients, parents, and relatives all have complete confidence in me. And, if they actually do fire me, I have the name of a lawyer who is currently 9 for 9 against this institution for reinstatements of fired employees. (Two of them should have been arrested, rather than fired.) He says it doesn’t matter what I do, they don’t enforce their own policies in anything like a consistent manner, so they get overturned in court if they go. Now days, they deal with him as soon as he sits down.
In a few years they could make me retire, I suppose.
Tris
You were wrong so you need to take your lumps. But your other option is to blow the whistle on your employer. Nearly all nursing homes suck. They’re understaffed, the employees are underpaid, and the care is sub-par, even in the most highly rated places. If they’re making it impossible for you to follow safety rules, they need to be reported. In my opinion, every home should be reported. Everyone should try to figure out a way to ensure they’ll have private care should the situation arise. Nursing homes simply don’t cut it.
My boss’ boss’ boss called this afternoon. Ooops he’s sorry, he forgot to call yesterday. Nope, don’t need to come in thursday or friday. What? What time Saturday? Oh, . . . well, I don’t really know, you should call the unit. What? You’re not allowed to call the unit? Why? Oh, because of the suspension. Right, I forgot that. Okay, I will check and call back this afternoon, before I go home.
Time now, 6:20 PM. No further calls.
Yeah. I will be there at my favorite time. What the heck.
Tris
Depositioned???!? Is this jargon for being fired? Wow.
Sounds like you might have some really good advice for HeyHomie in this thread