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Thread: Quit the nursing home

  1. #1
    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Quit the nursing home, applying to Hooters

    I'm working at a nursing home as a nursing assistant until I get accepted into nursing school, but I just wrote out my 2-week notice to quit because it's the shittiest job ever. It's always understaffed, often 3 NAs and 1 nurse taking care of 60 totally dependent patients. Management actually encourages drama, and accuses you of being lazy if you actually do your job right b/c they want you to look quick, never mind the fact that you're not wiping down their BM-caked bottoms and letting them get bedsores. The other NAs are often hired out of desperation and I wouldn't trust some of them to take care of my dog. Oh yeah, I was making $6.90 an hour for this. The facility claims to be a charity and a blessing to the elderly, but all nursing homes are nothing but businesses that take advantage of people who are too senile to complain that they're left in their feces for 8 hours at a time. To top it off, state is being called in b/c a patient was strangled in his bedrails when he tried to crawl out of bed and wasn't discovered for hours. I love helping people, and I love the patients, but the work environment is grueling, impossible, and hellish. I can't take it, and I'm not going along with the management's orders to pretend like we're always fully staffed and capable. I'd rather shoot my parents than put them in a nursing home. When I'm a nurse, I'll at least I'll be able to choose fields.

    That said, I'm going to apply to Hooters. I refuse to strip in Houston due to licensing. Any advice? If I don't get a job there, I'll try waitressing in general because it's actually less stressful and can pay better than what I'm currently doing. Yeah, you have to put up with rude people, but I've had dirty old men grabbing my tits and getting away with it by playing senile, I've had bratty princess patients who screamed at me and reported me because they wanted more ice cream never mind the fact that their roommates were drowning in their own mucus, I've been beaten up by Alzheimer's patients, I've had families scream at me because they wanted me to put their already skinny mothers on crash diets, and to top it off, I once had a senile old man who gets into his diapers every day, plays with it and even eats it, and threw it in my face and mouth once. In waitressing or retail, at least I won't be responsible for 20 people's lives in impossible conditions.
    Last edited by Krazyjane; 03-21-2006 at 03:09 AM.

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    God/dess GoldCoastGirl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    ..... okay, not totally similiar however it can be: working in a child-care centre.

    I loved working with the children, I really did.... then I saw the crappy wages I would have to endure as a child care assistant... not only the wages.. the hours were ridiculous... plus I didn't want to be burnt out by the age of 25 (if I had become a child care assistant at age 19 like I was planning at the time). I ended up going back into hospitality as it paid more.

    I too would rather be shot then placed in a nursing home.


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    Featured Member lunchbox's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    If it's a question of license in Houston, there are clubs just oustside city limits that don't require them, like St. James.

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    Senior Member lilriot_atl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I can completely relate. I am a RN. When I was going though school I did most of my clinicals at the nursing home where my mother was being kept. (My mother had a stoke and was completely paralysed) So needless to say I noticed everything that went on in the home. GA isn't any better in their homes unless you are in a private facility which of course is extremely outragious in price. Anyway, the majority of the days there would be 3 RNs on a shift, basically 1 on each wing, and 2 NAs per RN. So this meant that approx 25 to 30 people per RN and 2 NAs. They just couldn't keep up. When the students came through it was like a god send. We would actually get the residents cleaned up and comfortable for a change. There is a reason the homes smell the way they do and its not the cleaning solution.

    When I got higher up in my clinicals I was transfered to the hospital. Now here is a comparison..... 1 RN and 1 NA per every 5 to 7 patients is the average. Not to mention the ICU staff.... 1 RN and 1 NA per 2 patients. Talk about a change. I can see why people prefer to work in a hospital now. It's not just the pay its the environment.

    All I have to say is keep up with the schooling. I danced the whole time I was in school and I had friends that worked in homes etc. They did not have any more knowledge per say than I did when it came right down to it. Nor did they get better positions than I did after graduation. And I didn't have to struggle for moneyor time to study and they did. Although, I will say this. I am currently dancing again. Here in GA the pay is really not that great unless you have a masters degree or a hell of alot experience. I have been dancing for so long that I just can't live on what the degree pays.

    -e

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    God/dess Emily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    the other day I saw one of those lawyer commercials about "if you or someone you love was abused in a home for the elderly, please call...."

    It then occured to me that I'm sure it happens all the time. Kinda sad.

    But sorry to say...from what I heard, you probably won't like Hooters either. A lot of BS and not that much money.

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    Senior Member lilriot_atl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I second that about Hooters... I made it 1 day. Its the same hassle as dancing but you get paid 1/36 of the money. If you have ever danced you will want to kill people by the end of the night when you count your money.

    -e

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    God/dess FrustratedBunny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I recall when my aunt was in a nursing home we bought her a wheelchair. Shortly after buying it the foot thingies that you put your feet on were broken. My aunt weighed 80 pounds! We know that one of the staff was playing in it and broke it because there is no way she did so it was scary to think what goes on there. Yeah, I would never want my parents in there. It is sad too because a lot of the elderly really need help and if you aren't wealthy you're screwed.

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    God/dess whirlerz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    The expensive nursing homes aren't much better. Better staffed, but outragiously priced, & far under value for what you're actually paying for. The people running them are basically greedy, ignorant, connving b*stards that would steal the eye out of someone's head just for meaness, let alone $. When you try to get someone out of there, they will fight tooth & nail (so as not to lose the $ they get) including making false accusations about someone.

    As far as working @ Hooters, check out the Other Work forum, & you will find a lot of negative info. The consenous being that working @ a nice restaurant/bar will bring you better $ & working conditions.


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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Quote Originally Posted by whirlerz
    The expensive nursing homes aren't much better. Better staffed, but outragiously priced, & far under value for what you're actually paying for. The people running them are basically greedy, ignorant, connving b*stards that would steal the eye out of someone's head just for meaness, let alone $. When you try to get someone out of there, they will fight tooth & nail (so as not to lose the $ they get) including making false accusations about someone.
    Amen to that. Nursing homes are the epitome of exploitive capitalism. The more expensive ones actually are harder on the workers b/c they have to cater to rich people and their families who equate nurse/NA with "maid," and constatly threaten to sue because. "I'm paying more than I'd pay for a 5-star hotel!" if they don't get ice cream right away.

    Now I can see why my parents had 6 kids, so we can collaborate on hiring personal care nurses rather than lock them away to a slow death. Goddammit, I see Terry Schaivos every day. It's a Catholic nursing home, so they don't believe in DNRs or "letting people go" because "life is holy." Pfft, it's not life anymore when you're so senile that you're eating your own poop. Old age-related illnesses are a sign that it's fucking time to die. Once the mind is gone, the soul is leaving this earth. People think that taking their parents off the machines would be murder, but I think that it's for more evil to keep someone locked up in the prisons of their broken bodies. Some of the patients would actually try to rip out their stomach tubes and beg to die, but their children would cry and claim that their parent don't know what they're doing.

    I don't mean to sound naive or delusional, but waitressing doesn't sound so bad because that's 2/3 of what I was doing anyway, and it probably won't involve projectile diarrhea, spoon-feeding people who spit, physical assult from senile people, etc.

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    God/dess leilanicandy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Krazy Jane I understand and agree with what you are saying! I am a cna also going to school for my Rn. I just could not work at a nursing home. I did some of my clincal hours in a nursing home. I will just keep trying to put my application in for the hosptial. Keep bugging the hosptial and they will hire you! Trust me! In the mean time I will go for an receptionist job! Or try being a caishier at one of the stores. A waitress is not a bad idea! Oh have you ever thought of doing private care. working with an at home care business. You do not have to just work with the elderly. You can work with children with a disability!
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    Featured Member thechaosfairy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Have you considered going on "dancing vacations", working hard for a week or two in another state, and then off for a while?

    Searching "hooters" in this forum does not come up with good omens, to say the least . . . you might be better off with a minimum-wage job outside the adult industry, if getting a paycheck is what you're looking for.

    I used to work at Radio Shack. It was pretty shitty, but in busy stores (which I wasn't in; I stayed because my manager treated me very well and did not force the company bullshit on me) the cellphone sales bonuses can be decent.

    Good luck, whatever you decide! I hope things turn up for you soon!

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Wow, it's nice to know that there are other sexy nurses on the forum. Speaking of which, I have a great joke: Q: Why do nurses make lousy lovers? A: Because they're taught to wait for the swelling to go down! Thanks for the encouragement. Although the job is hellish and discouraging, I know that I'll have more choices once I get my degree.

    I talked to a friend who used to be a Hooters girl, and I've ultimately decided against it. There's an upscale Japanese restaraunt in the neighborhood that would probably appreciate my Japanese skills. Thanks for the advice.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Oh, I've done home health. It seems like good money, but think about it: You have to drive to the place, spend about an hour there, and make semiweekly trips to the central agency to fill out paperwork. It doesn't work out to be as cost effecient as going to a full time job, especially if they send you way out. Gas is averaging $2.50 a gallon. You really can't do private duty as a CNA, only hour-long visits to help people take showers and stuff. Also, they don't give benefits like insurance, and you're not guaranteed full time work. I might do some home health on the side when I get accepted into nursing school, but I'm working fulltime till then.

    Thanks for the advice. I've come home from my job several times crying because it's impossible and stressful because people simply stop showing up. Today, one of the nurses told me that it's not going to get any better when I'm a nurse. I hope it's not true, that they're LVNs in a world where they're being phased out in favor of RNs (I've noticed that administration tends to think that 2 LVNs = 1 RN, which contributes to understaffing). lilriot, I'm surprised that the nursing home employed that many RNs. Most nursing homes staff a majority of LVNs because they can do about 80% of what RNs could do in the job but pay about 50% of what they'd pay an RN. Don't get me started on how they expoit CNAs, as I get paid $6.90/hr. Oh yeah, when the geriatric patients come back from the hospital, they'd actually look worse and usually have bedsores. I guess it makes sense, as the majority of people in hospitals can at least roll around in bed by themselves.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I'm applying for waitressing jobs at the local strip clubs now. I have a friend who used to do that, and she told me to do strip clubs because men tend to tip a lot more if there's not a woman there to inhibit his decisions. Thanks for the advice.

    I'm actually reconsidering nursing as a career choice because you don't see physical therapists, respiratory therapists, dental hygeinists, x-ray techs, etc putting up with the same shit from patients and doctors, and they don't have the same stereotype of "people too dumb to become doctors," or "glorified handmaidens." I fucking hate people, and I don't want to be in a job where I'm heaped with impossible tasks, can't unionize, and constatnly have to put up with lawsuit-happy idiots. Last night, the nurses told me that it's not gonna get any better when I become a nurse, and that if I'm gonna reconsider, then I should do it now.

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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I hear you. I am a LPN, I mostly worked in the hospital and doctor's office though. I worked in the nursing home one day and quit. Of course I had to do some of my clinicals in the nursing home. Fornuately, it was a half decent nursing home. The hospital isn't all too bad in my opinion, especially if you can work in the ER or L&D. I would work three twelve hour shifts and get paid for forty. I hated working 9 to 5 because before I did nursing I worked in a office. It just seemed like all I did was work. However, it wasn't as nearly as "dirty" working in the doctor's office. You didn't have to deal with as much blood, urine and feces but just more paper work instead.

    I think cocktail waitressing for a while would be a good idea for you to keep you from getting burnt out before getting your RN. At least with cocktailing you have the opportunity to make some half decent money. There are many fields of nursing you can go into. I would suggest something dealing with more acute care patients such as the ER, OR or L&D. I hope all works out for the best for you.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Update: I was fired 2 days before my 2 weeks' notice was up! We were understaffed as usual, and I knew that I would not be getting a lunch break for a damn long time, if at all. While I was feeding the elderly residentsin the dining room, I sneaked a few bites of my dinner to keep my energy up. I would have done it in the break room, but there was no time. This normally is considered a minor offense, punished by a warning. I was fully aware of this and was willing to take the punishment because I was starving, on my period, and had not had time for my 15-minute break. However, a coworker (who spends copious amounts of time on her cell phone on the job and taunts the residents cruelly), ratted me out to the nurses. I admitted to my offense, but someone called up the nursing home administrator (it's the weekend, so they the took the trouble to call her at home). They probably assumed that I was going to slack on my last day of work. I was informed that I am not to show up for my last day, which was supposed to be Sunday. They're already understaffed, and to eliminate me would make a ratio of 55 residents to 3 CNAs and 2 nurses. They're shooting themselves in their collective feet. The staffing situation is downright illegal, and I would feel no grief if state found the nursing home unsafe.

    Fuck them. A lot of the nursing assistants were the dregs of society. The people who remain are the type of people who I wouldn't trust with my houseplants. They skimp their work and report false records, whereas I would never leave a patient in her own feces. It's sad that a fast worker is more highly valued than a good one. The reason that I got caught is because I didn't use their tactic of committing offenses, but tattling on everyone else in order to look good. I found out that a decent amount of the problems was a race thing (I was one of 2 white people staffed on the station), as well as the fact that everyone else gave stank attitudes to the nurses, so the nurses would give me 10X the bullying/authority because I cared about my job.

    Question: In future jobs, can I say that I resigned rather than was terminated?

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    God/dess GoldCoastGirl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I don't see why you can't say you resigned/quit as you bet them to it ultimately. You gave them the 2 weeks notice so you in effect quit/resigned two weeks ago whereas they only 'fired' you a couple of days before you were due to move on anyway.


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    Veteran Member madison_leigh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    Since they fired you rather than letting you quit, you should be able to claim unemployment benefits from them.
    My breasts have a career, I'm just tagging along

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I only worked for 3 months, so I highly doubt that I can qualify for uneployment. Also, I don't know if I'm considered terminated or resigned.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    I'm looking into reporting this nursing home, but I'm going to have to do it anonymously due to the lack of whistleblower protection policies. However, most of the methods, like contacting the state ombudsman, require names and addresses. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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    Senior Member quequisiera's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quit the nursing home

    File an annonymous report? With some organizations you must state that you wish to file the report annonymously. Or maybe you could just fax a letter with an alias. Anyway in the future the conditions at this nursing home need to be metioned if anyone asks why you left or were fired.
    As for working at hooters. I would not do it. They rarely hire any latin or asian chics. So I would just cocktail waitress if I were you.

    Good luck
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