You will recall from my post in May the manager of the ED calling me in to the office to tell me that “people” were complaining I was too slow. I proved, using the analysis tools in our charting software that I wasn’t slow. In fact, I was in the middle of the pack. That first conversation was in April.
In May, we had another talk that I wasn’t seeing my share of patients, and “people” were complaining I wasn’t carrying my share of the load. That’s what prompted the post in May. Again, I turned to the charting software and showed I was the third most productive nurse in the ED in terms of number of patients, even though I am PRN and worked far fewer days.
In June and July, I was getting some serious overtime with bonus money. In July, the department announced only full time employees are eligible for bonus money.
Two weeks ago, I was working with a pair of charge nurses. A patient came in and they were assessing the patient. They missed the fact that their patient was having a stroke. I pointed it out to them, and they said they were handling things and not to worry about it. The patient was in fact having a stroke, and the hospital is now freaking out about liability. I got called into the office and was asked about the case. I responded things could have gone better. The manager told me I was being written up for not overriding the charge nurses. I responded by telling her I didn’t want to be a scapegoat, especially since the two charge nurses aren’t receiving any discipline. I was overruled by the charge, I don’t see how that’s on me, the patient wasn’t even my patient. She replied by saying I am a nurse just like they are, and I am legally responsible for whatever happens to the patient, since I was in the room. She said she didn’t care if I signed the discipline or not, it was going in my file. The other manager who was there as a witness was sitting behind her, nodding at the points I was making. I got up and walked out of her office, walked over to the charge nurse and told her I was going home, clocked out and left. When I got home, I called the manager’s boss, who agreed with me and said I should not receive discipline for that.
It turns out my plan from May didn’t mean a thing when you can get disciplined for what your boss did:
So my plan here is now: No write-ups, no escalations, no drama, not being the fastest, best, or most efficient nurse. Keep my head down, collect my $50 an hour, and go home at the end of the day. If someone says something to correct or counsel me, the answer will be “Got it—I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for your input.”
My next shift, and the manager acted like nothing happened. This morning, the new schedule came out. I am not scheduled to work a single shift for the next schedule period. That schedule means I won’t be working for most of October and all of November. Since she can’t write me up or fire me, she is going to just not schedule me to work.
The part telling you this is a personal thing and not a management decision: two of the nurses who work there got ten overtime shifts between them, complete with $500 per day bonus money. Each of those bonus shifts is costing the company $800 to $1000 more than a PRN nurse (me) working that same shift. I asked why I wasn’t scheduled and was told it’s because we “are fully staffed, so there is nothing left for you as a PRN.”
EDITED TO ADD:
The charge nurses are supposed to randomly choose 3 patient charts to audit from the previous month. There were 1100 charts available to be audited from last month. Both of the charge nurses on the night shift picked my charts for all 6 of them. The odds of 6 charts being randomly selected from the same nurse out of a pool of 1100 charts are 1 in over 700,000.
END EDIT
This is like a girlfriend who doesn’t want to date you any longer, but doesn’t have the guts to break up with you herself, so she makes you so miserable that you initiate the breakup, then she gets to play the role of the injured party.
This is why it sucks to work with women or have a woman as a boss. Women are scheming, drama seeking backstabbers doing underhanded passive/aggressive stuff like this while patting themselves on the back for being a powerful boss woman.
Anyhow, I am looking for another part time gig. In the meantime, my income is still higher than my expenses, so I don’t need to work. The loss in income will just cut into my guns and ammo budget for a bit. I don’t think I want a regular job any longer, unless someone comes along and offers something awesome.
I’ve been getting recruited pretty hard for travel positions, so I may just take a 13 week contract January-March. There are a couple available that pay more than $2k a week. One of them is just a 90 minute drive from here. I will call the recruiter and see what they can get me. I won’t quit for now, because I get to say I still work there, which makes a resume look better.
I thought about putting in for unemployment, but you only get $275 a week, and that isn’t worth the hassle.
Part of me wants to take the fact that young nurses are being paid overtime and bonus money while a PRN nurse who is older is being cut out of the schedule. Isn’t that how people get ahead now?
23 Comments
Steve S6 · September 4, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Boss girl will call you in at the last minute after not scheduling you and it will be your fault if you decline (you should).
Georgiaboy61 · September 4, 2026 at 1:35 pm
@ DM
Well, you’ve heard the old saying, right? “no good deed goes unpunished…”? Welcome to the club.
Being an ethical human being in today’s world comes with costs, and you’re now feeling them. You deserve better. I used to be in healthcare – I wish my qualifications were/are as stellar as yours. I am certain you will find it to be a favorable market if you test the waters. Management at your current gig seems toxic.
hh475 · September 4, 2026 at 1:45 pm
Walk. It’s only going to get worse. Get a lawyer to make sure they don’t blackball.you. Other than that, you can’t win. In my opinion, of course. Fighting battles like that never worked out well for me.
Jeff · September 4, 2026 at 2:52 pm
I’ve been in radiology for 32 years last month. 7 years in an ER and 2 on the trauma team. The people going into medicine these days just don’t seem to have anywhere near as much compassion for patients as they did years ago. BUT- the scum in charge have nearly always been the same- don’t get in the way of their quarterly bonus checks or they will try to destroy you.
31 years ago I had just taken the Radiology oath- which included at the time a pledge to educate my patients where applicable. I showed a patient where he had a pulmonary embolism on his images. The ER doctor apparently missed it, and he was sent home and died the next day. I was immediately investigated for passing information to the patient he apparently shouldn’t have had and almost lost my job.
Many years later I passed into administration and found out what could only be described as a twisted and evil place to be. The lower you kept your staffing compared to recommended levels basically meant the higher your quarterly bonus checks were. The harder you worked your people the more money you made. The butt kissers and the lazy always complained about other workers to try to make themselves look better. Sentinel events always seemed to have a group formed against the person who would make the rest of them look bad.
PS: My hospital allows you to go on Antifa and BLM sites, but blocks yours- I wonder why? LOL
Noveskes Rock · September 4, 2026 at 3:04 pm
FWIW if you elect to leave, it wouldn’t hurt to send a recap of the situation to a member of the hospital’s board of directors. They probably only get one or two letters a month at most. They should be concerned because the situation shows poor financial management, increased liability for the organization and corporate culture issues. Presumably they would at a minimum be concerned about paying more overtime than necessary if none of the other issues. Even if they do nothing, at least you have the satisfaction of knowing they were made aware of the issue.
Divemedic · September 4, 2026 at 3:09 pm
It’s not a battle worth fighting. You can’t win, and all you accomplish is making a bad name for yourself. Just go, and find a better job. The funny thing is, I worked for this hospital chain before, although at a different location. When I put in my notice there, they immediately took me off the schedule. So they will get the same courtesy when I leave this time. It will be “I resign, effective immediately.”
I’m done with the one way street of 2 weeks’ notice.
Grumpy51 · September 4, 2026 at 4:09 pm
SMO – I think you’re going to enjoy this new situation. You’re moving to realizing that ONLY you is gonna look after you. While I’m patient-focused, that does NOT relieve me of the responsibility to my family. I’ve only worked fulltime a handful of times for the past 16 years – and that was only to get insurance. You have a unique skillset that is in demand. I encourage you to practice “Whack-a-mole fu” – the only way to win that game as the mole is “keep yer head down.”
One of my forte’s is finding holes in systems. That seems to be desired for about 2 months, then admin sees it as a liability. I used to be able to trust at least ICU/ER nurses. The past couple of years have disabused me of that notion. Now, I’ll only say if you have a loved one in the hospital – someone MUST be present 24/7 and question EVERYTHING (every procedure, every IV, every medication, every decision), ask WHY these are being used, what are the risks/benefits, ask for alternatives, etc. If they cn’t answer, ask to speak to the charge nurse (though I’m finding even them have severe limitations).
Stealth Spaniel · September 5, 2026 at 12:04 am
OMG! This attitude is killing every fXXking thing in this country. And it IS everywhere. Imbeciles get promoted, idiots issue stupid edicts, and the rest of us pay the price. My mom-former RN-would be appalled. The BIGBOX is filled with the unqualified. We had a supervisor literally say “I can’t take anymore” and walk out. I vote for the travel job-it is hard to hit a moving target and no one has time for preconceptions. They are short duration and you move on. I agree, you cannot win with complaints and reality letters. The only thing you can do is bad mouth them to the general public and advise not to do business there.
The thought of going into a hospital is terrifying. I changed from a doctor to a NP this week; she seems on it. Aesop named his new place Castle Anthrax; I think that we all need one.
RetiredRN · September 5, 2026 at 7:03 am
Working with women, lol, welcome to the party pal! On the plus side, I never made one of my nursing assisstants cry, on the negative, after I retired, one admitted to me they were scared of me.
grumpy51 · September 5, 2026 at 3:16 pm
LOL….. we just switched EHR software packages (from CareVue to Falcon). I found some fatal flaws in it and went through 3 different onsite roll-out techs trying to explain it. Later in the shift, the ER charge nurse commented how “I’ve never seen an IT guy cry. What’d you tell him?”
Um, yall know there’s fatal flaws here right?? (Then proceeded to show him)
We now find ourselves as Colonel Jessup – “Truth? You can’t handle the truth!”
Himself · September 5, 2026 at 8:08 am
Unfortunately for you, that’s how the field is striped. You work in a very gynocentric business. So do I sort of. I have three childless middle aged aunties in the org chart above me. I told myself I’d never work for a woman again. But then my company got bought and I was placed here.
I’ve never worked for a woman that was normal. They are either insufferable box chick queen bees or doormats. In my chain of command there are two queen bees and a doormat.
FWIW, I prefer male nurses. Every one I’ve encountered was way more competent. I went in for a colonoscopy. As usual the nurses had problems putting in the IV. Since I lost weight and am more fit, drawing blood isn’t an issue. As each nurse struggled, sizing up and poking my hands I’d say, “you know, you could use this big vein here”. The one that goes past my wrists and up my arm. They ended up getting the anesthetist, a dude, who started sizing me up the same way when I told him the same thing – “why not use this big vein right here?” One stick.
BTW – While laying there I saw a really unprofessional catty flex. When they had me get in the bed, it had no pillow. So the nurse, an sweet older lady, went to look for one. A little later, another nurse, shaniqua, flexed on her telling her not to dare come into the ‘room’ when she was working with a patient. This was an area with ‘rooms’ curtained off. Everyone could hear this.
Don’t know how you do it, man.
Jim · September 5, 2026 at 8:35 am
In related news, Gloria Steinem just died. Rest in hell bitch!
Jester · September 5, 2026 at 2:56 pm
I can tell you working on the admin side in a hospital it’s absolute hell. I’ve been denied jobs (Why the fuck is it always women on the interveiw boards that have 0 to do with the job anyway?) I’ve been told I’m hostile when I call out problems. Always, always, always by women who get promoted to a job that they run like their own personal tree house club not in the interests of taking care of their patients under them. Patients see what’s going on and complain and they get mysteriously reassigned to other care teams.
Always women nurses in charge are the source of the situation.
Not to say there are not some competent nurses that are female that end up in a position of a supervisor, but they are the outliers.
Seems a good example if you can’t do the job you teach how to do the job.
Cato · September 5, 2026 at 5:11 pm
Sounds like a cause of action for age discrimination.
Disenfranchised · September 5, 2026 at 8:04 pm
I work in a government job where the executive director is a tiny blonde woman with a massive Napoleon complex, a 12 year old daughter that she drags into all her “women can do anything” BS presentations. She is “happily” married, and is now a secret laughing stock – one of the fellas in the organisation recently found her active Hinge account. It’s been screenshotted & archived. She’s over 18 and it’s her choice, but seriously – WTF? She has two two directors running the show beneath her, and they are actually sisters-in-law. How the eff did this get through the approval process? Executive appointments are based on demonstrated talent and must be open, transparent and fair RIGHT ?
One director is a hard-charging, no-bs woman that has EARNED her was to the top – we love working under her as she tolerates exactly ZERO BS. The other is a smoke-show blonde with fake boobs, and plays stupid games with all of her subordinates – and has one “pretty-boy” under her that she is constantly batting her eyelids at – it’s embarrassingly obvious.
But I’m in a very situation. You can’t win. I just keep my mouth shut, do enough to get by while I am doing my damnest to find another role in a different agency.
You know you’re buggered when one of our “leading” Australian female politicians is married to a convicted heroine smuggler – who is also in a top-level political appointment. As if the average convicted heroine smuggler could be considered “reformed” and given such a role. It’s a BIG CLUB and the average competentent man isn’t in it. You just cant make this shit up.
Exile1981 · September 6, 2026 at 11:06 am
I work at a facility with 0 women and 35 guys. A woman applied for a job, HR at corporate flagged it for high priority review as its the first qualified (barely) female application in 10 years.
Problem was her cover letter said she ‘thrived on drama’ and was ‘smarter than any male’. To me those are both red flag statements, hr which is all women thought her resume was wonderful.
The only reason we didn’t get overridden by hr was her license to operate a boiler was suspended, so she was not legally allowed to run a boiler unsupervised.
CE · September 17, 2026 at 8:55 am
I was employed in a large petrochemical outfit. Top performer. One day when I was leaving the little mental case of an HR lady said “your name came up in the “random” drug testing requirement. ugh, I had just urinated 5 mins. before, so I made a pot of coffee and after wasting half an hour waiting to p*ss, I gave her my precious bodily fluid. Then, I proceeded to a local outside drug-testing lab, paid them $175 and squirted in the jar. This I did, as insurance in case the petrochemical outfit somehow got a false positive. Next day, HR lady said I was in the clear. Whoop-de-do. Three weeks later, she showed up again stating I had come up “randomly” again (facility had 300 employees), so I filled the bottle of the urin-ophillic HR minion. Then, up to the outside lab for another $175 third-party test. All negative. The company closed the facility and offered me my job, and relocation expenses, at a new facility in another town. I declined and went off on my own. Fk these people, I’m not their little doggie. I don’t take drugs, even prescription ones, at 66 I’m in the minority that does not take a single pharma med. Those fkrs’s system is eating itself.
Ivan Sokolov · September 18, 2026 at 2:45 am
Sounds like “people” are good at complaints but not so great at facts! Middle of the pack and still getting heat? Classic case of management needing to check their metrics instead of making things personal. Keep pushing back with those analytics, they might just realize they’re barking up the wrong tree! playhopearth.com
Lukas Brenner · September 18, 2026 at 3:05 am
Sounds like the classic ‘he said, she said’ game where the manager is just passing on gossip. It’s frustrating when you’re already in the middle of the pack and still get blamed. I’d take the proof you have and keep it handy for round three. pdftranslate.io
Silas Bergman · September 18, 2026 at 3:45 am
Sounds like classic gaslighting! It’s wild how they’ll throw around “people are saying” without any names. Those passive-aggressive tactics just make the workplace toxic. Good for you for relying on data, but I’ve learned that numbers don’t always win the argument in these situations. meltcheck.com
Lewis Barragan · September 18, 2026 at 5:27 am
Sounds like a classic case of mismanagement! When your performance metrics say one thing and the whispers say another, it’s time to question the motives behind those complaints. Keep fighting the good fight; they’ll see your true value eventually. stubmath.com
Priyanka Raval · September 18, 2026 at 5:47 am
Classic management tactics, right? Blame the staff instead of addressing the real issues. I had a similar boss who’d throw everyone under the bus to cover up their own incompetence. You’d think they’d want to support their team instead of creating a toxic environment. coloringloft.com
Now It Makes Sense – Area Ocho · September 18, 2026 at 3:16 am
[…] you will remember, I couldn’t understand why I was being disciplined at work. Now I know. If you will recall, the last time I was written up was because a charge nurse had […]
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