Anyone need a "used" nurse?

[Selena]

I just got the news that my job has been eliminated.
I've worked here for over 9 years and now I'm out. I was told my position is obsolete due to the fact that my manager now has software that does what I used to do.... which is not strictly true. Some one still has to maintain the software which is what she catagorically stated only a few months ago.

So does anyone want a "used" nurse? I can do lots of things and I am good value for the money - I only take days off to attend Farscape Cons.... no sickies - much as I feel I need them.

[kechara420]

:hug: Sorry to hear about this, Sel. I hope you find something else soon! :hug:

[Selena]

It's not easy when you're 50 something and have a permanent physical injury to get another job.
A friend who was only in her late 30's took 6 months to find another job. I can't so that - I have a mortgage and lots of bills and no-one else picking up the tab.

[who45]

Sheesh...so sorry Selena. Sending prayers that you find something soon. :hug:

[Jim Reaper]

So does anyone want a "used" nurse?
Move to England. The NHS is drastically short of nurses. and doctors. and cleaners. and theatre staff. And physios. and brain-dead managers (actually, that's the one thing we have an excess of....).

Seriously though, I'm sorry you lost your job, but if after nine years they can't appreciate the work you do, then maybe this is a good thing. Always look on the bright side and all that.... :D :hug:

[zahncrelnik]

:hug: sorry to hear it, Selena
there is such a shortage of skilled nurses in the US

Don't know the entire situation, but there is a real need
for nurses in the Chicago area.....

[Jim Reaper]

It's not easy when you're 50 something and have a permanent physical injury to get another job.
A friend who was only in her late 30's took 6 months to find another job. I can't so that - I have a mortgage and lots of bills and no-one else picking up the tab.
Whoops! That wasn't there when I started my last post. :O
OK, maybe it's not a good thing. I'll be sending good vibes in your direction and hope you find something else soon. :D :hug2:

[StephX]

Selena, that sucks!! :(

[Selena]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it.
I am so numb right now I'm just not at all sure I know what to do or how to go about doing it.

[who45]

Do you have friends that are in the same field? Maybe they can help put the word out in your favor that you are looking.

[Johnsgirl727]

I just got the news that my job has been eliminated.
I've worked here for over 9 years and now I'm out. I was told my position is obsolete due to the fact that my manager now has software that does what I used to do.... which is not strictly true. Some one still has to maintain the software which is what she catagorically stated only a few months ago.

So does anyone want a "used" nurse? I can do lots of things and I am good value for the money - I only take days off to attend Farscape Cons.... no sickies - much as I feel I need them.

Oh, Selena!:hug: :( I know that someone as smart as you will get a better job in no time!! Are you at least going to receive a severance package?

[trinamick]

Man, that stinks. We have a shortage of nurses in NE (especially good ones), but that's a ways from you. Hope things work out! :hug:

[scrape_medic]

Selena! Thats farbot.........sorry mate, hope you get something soon....if not I will put in a word at my local.....I am sure your sisters flat is still vacant.

Joking aside, how on earth anyone can justify eliminating nursing staff, no matter what level is beyond me. It should be a job for life...sorry mate..:hug:

[BrowderChick]

:hug: Sorry to hear about this. :( I KNOW you can find something else. Look in other area hospitals, school systems and nursing homes. Contact a local employment off for any openings. Most places do not put ads in the papers but will only do so through these agencies so that they get only professionals that apply. Sending a prayer out for you. :hug:

[Selena]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

If I can't find another job within the system in 30 days I will get 3 weeks pay but I end up losing over 140 hours of sick leave that I've accumulated before they changed the time off policy. So I'm not really getting anything that I haven't already earned.

A friend recently looked for almost 6 months before she found a job...
and she was tall, gorgeous and well endowed with loomas ... :rolleyes:

The difficulty is that when you're a highly skilled professional in one area, you can't just work anywhere else. I've been in surgery for over 20 years. I am totally out of touch with floor nursing or critical care or the ER.
Add to that, that I'm over 50, plus I have a permanent injury from a few years ago when I intervened and stopped a restless patient from falling on the floor.... my future prospects are really limited.

But I'm not going to give up - I just finished filling out 6 applications for other positions - some of which I know I'm not going to get even if Hezmana freezes over. So my boss will have 6 references she'll have to fill out tomorrow - :D - revenge is sweet .... I hope she gets writers cramp. She's been absolutely awful to me over the last 6 months.

[harveywhispers]

Selena...

Bosses... :rolleyes:

I'm sure that you will find something good soon. :)

[I-am-so-Johns-girl]

I'm so shocked Selena!!! I'm soooo sorry to hear this news!!! I hope you find something you like soon! :hug2:

[jagwriter78]

:hug: I know how that feels.... I lost my job last week, and no new one in sight.... and the bills are gonna start piling up soon as well

[JadeScape]

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[La Bomba]

Ohhhh, Selena...:(

I suck at words for times like this, so...:hug:

[divinedaydreams]

Selena I'm so sorry.

Something you may want to check out till you get a better position ( you will ) is try doing some medical transcribing. You can do it from home and since you are familiar with medical lingo you shouldn't have a problem with it. There are tons of places on the net were you can register and bid for jobs or you can look in the paper.

[Shipscat]

Oh, Selena, I am so sorry. There are shortages of nurses everywhere, I'm sure you can find something. :)

[Milaya]

That's so sad to hear.We need workers to our company, but it only fits guy.It's too hard for women.I tried it and it didn't work.So I'm only do secretary job.(We really did employ an "used" nurse who was over 50 and came from another country)

[DRD50]

Frell. That is awful news. I wish you the best of luck and hope that a better job comes up quick!

[SabaceanBabe]

Selena! :hug:

I'm so sorry to hear that. It stinks. People can be such frelling morons, only looking at the short term. :grr:

Somebody above suggested medical transcription; that's a very good idea. Also check in your area to see if there is either an employment agency that deals in the medical area or... I don't know what the official name of something like this would be, but my husband's aunt is a nurse and she worked for years for a temp nursing agency. A couple weeks here, 6 months there. She never lacked for work and never got bored or into a rut working for the same idiots for years. When she found a place that she really liked through this agency, there was no problem turning it into a permanent position.

I'll see if I can get some information for you.

[SweetpeaAeryn]

I'm so sorry, Selena. I hope it all works out. Maybe you'll find a much better job with a better boss. And where they truly appreciate how wonderful you are.

[mgraylorn]

So sorry to hear you lost your job. But seems every day I hear stories about how understaffed the medical profession is. I would think a surgical nurse, even at a young 50 years of age, would find another job quickly. All those years of experience, plus computing experience, I would think make you very valuable. I would think there would be a large need for people in medical records, as well as working the floor.

I have no idea what sort of comparable salary this job has, but if you didn't get something right away, you might consider home health care nursing. I think that's what they call it. When my mother who had Alzheimers got really sick and had to be hospitalized, my brother hired a "day nurse" to basically babysit her in the hospital during the day when none of the family could be there. This woman used to be a regular nurse, so she had medical training. She did not do anything strenuous, but did things like read to Mom, make sure she was comfortable, gave her sponge baths, called the hospital staff if there was need, kept up with Mom's meds, etc. This lady was highly regarded and she had all the work she wanted. I think she got pretty good pay. I don't remember if she was her own boss, or if she worked for a company.

[DRD 1812]

:bigger:
<Me> <Your Boss>


:hug2: Aww Selena! You'll find a new job for sure. Trust me my mom went through the same thing. She is over 50, and has had an permanent injury since I was three. There is a mass shortage of nurses. I'll look up the information in my area. Maybe we can have another one join Philly. :)

[SabaceanBabe]

Selena, I just sent you an email...

[LiLOrion]

Medical transcription would be something to look into. Assuming you can type fairly fast of course. :) Thats what I do. I started in a neurology office first and then found a company that allowed me to work from home, though I am considered an independent contractor so I have to take care of all the taxes and business fees, etc.

Spherix (I think thats the name of it) is a big transcription company. They do a lot of hospital transcription work. Now, I know that two of them merged and I cannot remember if Spherix is the name of one of the original companies or the name of the bigger company after the merger.

[Zimtsternchen]

I am so sorry. That sucks. Good luck to you. Sad to say, same thing happened to my mom too not too long ago. Used nurses unite.

[NYPinTA]

:hug: That sucks, big time.
You could also look into getting a job at an insurance company. The place my mom works at has lots of medical professionals on their pay roll.
Just and idea.
*fingers crossed for you!*

[Selena]

Thanks again for the kind words. It's good to have the Scaper family so close by when my RL family is so far away.

I find it ironic that my boss categorically assured me only 4 months ago that no way would my job be eliminated as she really needed me for more than just the one thing that we were focusing on at that time. What a difference a few weeks make.

It's very tough to be in the job market again after 9 + years of steady employment (with great skills and a resume as long as one's arm) when one is over 50 and has a work related injury that is considered a disability. I really need to be on your prayer list please as this is financially a disaster of biblical proportions when one is the sole income provider and has commitments up the ying yang.

[Selena]

BTW thanks for all the great suggestions. :hugz:

[NYPinTA]

My mother had a hard time of it because of her age too. Really sucks, cuz she knows her stuff! She used a temp agency and that is how she got her foot in the door at the place she works now.
Another idea.
*still have fingers crossed for you*

[BrowderChick]

Oh NY...I completely forgot about that. Insurance Companies need professionals to go to the houses to evaluate injuries... :yes:

[Selena]

Reminds me of the movie RISK .... it has Wayne Pygram in it BTW .... it's about evaluating injuries for an insurance company .... good Aussie movie although Brian Brown really sucked in it! Claudia Carvan played the female role - very good (she was the blue taloned creature that Scorpy had the hots for on the shadow depository planet.)

[kymom5613]

Sel, sending good vibes & TONS of prayers your way...I know you're resilient and this will be gotten through. All those folks have great suggestions, and I'll add that there are always a gazillion ads for nurses in our local paper...Not sure of the pay scale, since you've been in the profession for a few minutes, I'm sure your pay is above the average starting wages. Keep your chin up, the baby's bouncing around for you right this minute!!! :hugz: and more :hugz:

[zahncrelnik]

Thinking good thoughts for you Selena :meditate:
Hope you find something local. :hug:

[faustus]

:hug:

[Selena]

Thanks for the Scaper :hug: faustus ... I need a little TLC right now.

After working for more than 9 years with my current employer I was told last Monday that my job had been eliminated due to budget constraints and the introduction of new software (that would eliminate one of the many tasks that I currently perform).

I was dumbfounded when I was told. I had asked my manager only 4 months ago whether my job was one of the ones that was on the table for budget cuts and she openly declared no, and catagorically reassured me that my job was safe as she really needed me and that there was tons for me to do. So I haven't been looking and let quite a few good jobs that came up in that time pass.

I feel like I've been lied to and that she has single-handedly destroyed my chances of retiring with even a meager pension.

The job market is very tight, I have a 30% permanent disability (from a work related injury 5 years ago) that prevents me from lifting over 30 pounds and I have less than 30 days to find another job before I lose all my benefits. On Thursday I found that the 8 jobs for which I had filled out transfer forms on Monday afternnon (I applied for everything I thought I was capable of doing) were still sitting on someone's desk as they wanted a clearance certificate from my physician.

I've had 3 sick days in the last 5 years and there are people who have days off every few weeks. The other fact is that the hospital has records from the courts that define my limitations and I always thought that the words "permanent disability" meant that one does not improve beyond that. What on earth will a doctor's certificate say that was not already said by the PT that evaluated the work related disability and was ratified by the Worker's Compensation board? I feel as if I'm being jerked around and almost as if my employer is hoping that I don't find anything within the 30 day period so they can get rid of me. I have applied for about 4 or 5 jobs in the last couple of years but have never been asked for a certificate for any of them and transfers within the company are considered as continuing the current job and not new employment.

I don't think I'm paranoid, but my I've notice that my manager has systematically shut me out of my former duties. She has limited my access to the software so I can't even run a report and when I've asked why she told me there was a glitch in the system ... but that was 3 months ago. She has not provided any training in the new application that we have bought to provide a computer based instrument tracking system and I've had to pick it up by trial and error. In spite of her attempts to undermine me at every turn I've managed to catalog and identify over 40,000 surgical instruments in just on 4 months.

She has had meetings with the rest of the staff behind my back that I have found out about after the meetings were over. She has parceled out tasks that were my responsibility and listed in my job description, to other departmental staff who complain bitterly to me about their extra work load but say nothing to her. I was accused of mislabelling sets that I never ran bar code labels for as I was working in a totally different area with specialty sets at the time. I know for a fact that my manager ran those labels and she screwed up but I was blamed for it. I've sent her e-mails requesting clarification for questions I have about the new software but she doesn't respond to them. Only a month ago I opened the Synthes small fragment set and found there were no instruments barcoded in it, but all the tubular plates and DCP plates had been marked. So we had to toss over $4,000 of implants and she couldn't even see that there was a problem with it. The barcodes are put on using a chemical and a laser. The company who makes the chemical says that it is not intended to be in contact with tissue. There are no studies on the long term effects of contact with tissue. The person who authorized the barcoding of the implants still has her job and as far as I know wasn't even chastized or made accountable for her blunder. My manager has in fact made sure through her actions over the last 3 months that my job looks as though it's unnecessary.

So what does one do in this situation? I have a house, I have a mortgage and bills (like everyone) and I can't just up and move anywhere. Houses in my area have taken up to 18 months to sell. If you rent your home you run the risk of people trashing it ... I am totally lost - I really don't know what to do.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom? Have you been in similar circumstance? How did you cope with it? What should I have done to not let this happen or do you think there's noting I could have done?

[scrape_medic]

Take a deep breath......the worst may be yet to come but you are not there yet.....and it may not be as bad as you think.

Even if you don't get a job in time..(worst case scenario) you have a bit of time to mitigate the consequences.

Look into you bills and mortgage and ask them what will happen if you are unable to pay the full ammount right away, can you pay them a small amount until you are employed again. Whatever you do, don't leave them in the dark, they can't help you if you don't inform them of the situation. Most Utility companies and mortgage companys don't want to go through the trouble of trying to recover debts if they can help it.

I don't know what the situation for finding more employment is like out there, but keep hopeful. Fretting and worrying will sap you of your energy and will reflect in how you come over to potential employers. And if you don't get another job straight away, do something nice for yourself everyday.

And remember Scaper love is a many splendoured thing.:hug:

[LiLOrion]

Does your manager have to answer to someone? You maybe should have been documenting everything that you listed above, but then again, no one thinks of doing that, cause you expect people to be upfront/straight with you.

Maybe going to ummmmm....human resources ? I'm not sure thats what its called now that I think about it. It would be where ever you would go to report for example: sexual harassment. But maybe if you filed a greivance with them. I have no idea.

[Selena]

Fortunately, LiLO I've been documenting events for almost a year as there were some disturbing things going on. My manager has stepped into her current role from a floor nursing position and she knew nothing of Sterile Processing when she started. I've helped her over the last 5 1/2 years (and made her look good.) Recently I revised all the department's policies and procedures according to AAMI and AORN standars. She dumped the entire task in my lap as she was clueless about both standards. When done she presented them to administration as her policies - no mention of me in there anywhere. Next time joint commission comes around she's going to have to do it herself.

Unfortunately, Human Resorces could care less what goes on. If you're not blatantly seen to be stirring up trouble or breaking the rules then they would most likely claim I was the trouble maker (disgruntled employee) and she was the angel of light. So I've kept my mouth shut and done my job and part of hers. But I do have the e-mails documented and also a portfolio of my work - that she presented as hers - I have it on disc and the dates the files were created so that's evidence if things get ugly.

[AgentSun]

aw Selena, I wish i had seen this thread earlier. Things are all right, you'll see. :hug:

a lot of insurance companies hire medical staff because they need that medical expertise.

maybe you could go into forensics and be part of the RL CSI?

[Selena]

Oh AS you are so sweet. I would have loved to have done that - in a former life. But I'm 50 something and most companies will not train somone my age. :bawl: it's though when you get to a certain age, your skills and expertise are no longer required and what you know and can do become a liability not an asset.

I applied for a job on-line at Monster.com and the person interviewing me wanted to know how someone with such great qualifications could get such miserable pay. The truth is that in nursing only a rare few make good money - the rest of us are on crappy wages in spite of our degrees and if we want to get paid more we have to leave nursing to get the money.

5 years ago, 30 seconds changed my life and my career. I stopped a patient from falling off the Operating Room table. He was semi conscious but very restless and combative and as I tried to help anesthesia move him off the table and ont a stretcher his 260 pounds of thrashing bulk rolled onto my left shoulder and against my neck. He ripped up my left shoulder and prolapsed my C5-6 cervical spine. I had 2 major surgeries in 4 months and spent over 6 months in rehab.

I wasn't able to work in Cardiac surgery any longer as I was limited to lifting no more than 30 pounds. I spent 12 weeks on "light duties" while we waited for workers' comp to figure out my disability and what function I would have left. I was finally told by the hospital management that I had to find another job outside of surgery or leave. That was the thanks I got for preventing the hospital from getting sued for millions.

I took the first job that came up and a $16,000 pay cut. That's right $16K. I still had my skills, I still had my degrees and I still had my faculties. I just couldn't lift patients any more - but the way I was treated by my employer you would have thought that I was a criminal. So that's been my life for the last 5 years. A real struggle on a salary that is less than a graduate nurse receives straight out of school. So how does one explain that to a prospective employer?

The woman interviewing told me that she didn't know if she could "sell" my reason for my low salary. So even working in another job at a lower salary is now a deterrent for a prospective future employer. It's a catch 22 situation and I'm damned no matter what I do.

[AgentSun]

That really sucks. I'm sorry :hug:

i hate to even think this cause i know what these people go through, but what about school nurse positions? all schools have some kind of medical treatment department. it's not great pay but it's pay nonetheless.

[zahncrelnik]

That really sucks, Selena, you did what needed to be done -the right thing,
and you get penalized for it all on down the line. Something is really wrong
with the 'system'.
I will continue thinking good thoughts for you :meditate:
:hug:

[I-am-so-Johns-girl]

:hug2: OMG Selena....I just can't believe your bad luck! I'm sending lots of positive/good vibes your way! :kotc:

[NYPinTA]

Me too! :meditate:

[mama scaper]

My prayers are out for you, Selena. I'm 55 myself and it took me a year and a half to get a steady job when we relocated back here to Philadelphia. My heart goes out to you.