I was just hired today at Life Care of Ocala, which specialized in subacute care and rehab. It was my first choice other than the VA, and I am really excited.
It's a little scary too, as I am going to see a lot of things I have no experience with, as 80% of their people are rehabbing from major surgeries. I have a ton to learn, and am pretty excited over all. They pay is competitive, about what I was making as a manager for JCPenney (or a little less), and they allow overtime.
I have to wait 2 weeks for them to do a background check on me and check all my references, but other than that I am good to go.
I can't wait to start.
[ April 01, 2010, 04:09 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Yay! Congrats!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Thanks.
Onward with life, then. Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
See? I knew you wouldn't have a problem finding a job. Congrats again.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Congrats!!
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Congrats!! Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Very cool, Rob. Congrats! Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Posted by LargeTuna (Member # 10512) on :
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Congratulations! What great work that is, helping people to recover from injuries or surgery! That's really awesome. Good luck. I'm sure you'll do a very good job.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Congrats!
Posted by Sala (Member # 8980) on :
That's fantastic!!!
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Hoo-rah, rob!
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Yay, Kwea!!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Congratulations, Kwea!
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Good job old bean!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Thanks everyone!
The temp place keeps calling me talking about working for Hospice, but to be honest doing that as a new nurse scares me a little. I mean, I know what I want to do, and that stuff is what I KNOW is great. And I am grateful for the opportunity, which most new nurses would never get......but there is a reason for that.
If you actually pay attention in school, guess what the biggest thing you learn as an LPN student is........that even experienced nurses don't know everything there is to know about nursing, and school just trains you to ask the right type of questions, and gives you a VERY general base of knowledge.
I am sure I'll do fine, but it is a little intimidating at first.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
LOL
I just checked my email, and 2 other recruiters contacted me. One of them from one of the largest staffing agencies around, and they don't take new LPN's according to all of their postings. I wonder if they actually LOOKED at the resume I sent them.
I wonder if I could start a bidding war.......
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Great idea to start a bidding war. I would send messages to your top few favorites saying "Well, I'm leaning strongly towards you guys because you're so wonderful but the problem is this OTHER place offered me more money and I have to think about my family..." etc. I'd be surprised if you didn't get back something saying "Oh, we'll meet their offer, no problem!", then rinse and repeat. Lol! Good luck.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I am having an issue with the staffing place.
Has anyone ever worked for one of these healthcare staffing agencies? I have a few questions on how they handled a few things, and I need someone who has been though this if possible.
I may be over reacting, but something just doesn't seem right.......but it could be that I am not used to how these places work.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I worked the first shift with this temp agency, and I liked it. We will see if my other issues were baseless now though.
I don't work another shift until I get paid for this one. Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I've worked for a healthcare staffing agency and I loved it. What sort of problems are you having?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I got my packet and inside it it mentioned that I was paying for my own drug test and background test. It seems that the agency should be paying for those, doesn't it?
Also, I went up to an orientation for hospice, which was a little bit over an hour away, and then it was canceled. I went back a week later, and it took over 2 hours. I had not received my packet from the agency yet, so I looked around and saw all of the other agencies having time sheets signed.
I asked how I was getting paid when I left, and THEN was told that we are a newer agency and as such hospice doesn't compensate us. So I spent over 4 hours driving to this (in addition to the 2 hr 15 min orientation itself), wasted 2 days, and then was the only person at the orientation not getting paid?
Not cool.
[ February 25, 2010, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
And quite possibly illegal.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah. I figured that too. I am not sure about the rules governing agency work, but it just didn't seem right to me, and quite frankly it pissed me off.
That being said, it is beyond rare around here for a staffing agency to hire a new LPN, or any new nurse, to work for them. It's quite an opportunity for me, and it allows me to experience many different types of nursing I wouldn't get to experience for years otherwise. And it pays well....between $21-22 an hour, at least. I just worked for 7 hours and took home $108, after she took out taxes and $10 for my testing.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Any chance that you were just supposed to work directly with the agency to get paid instead of getting some of the paperwork done through the people at the hospice?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I got my packet and inside it it mentioned that I was paying for my own drug test and background test. It seems that the agency should be paying for those, doesn't it?
I can't speak to nursing specifically, but requiring the employee to pay for drug tests, background checks, and other such pre-hire requirements is very common (albeit not universal).
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I did work though the agency, and what every other person there did regardless of what other agency they worked for was to take a time sheet and ahve the hospice people sign off. Then they turned it in to their agency and got paid, thtough the agency as always.
MY agency said "We don't pay for those things.".
Rivka, I have never heard of anyone being charged for their screening by any reputable company. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but that in all of my years in food service, retail, and warehouses, the employer was responsible for testing costs and background costs.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I've never experienced it personally, but a lot of what I've read about companies that do require drug tests, etc., backs up rivka's assertion. Though, most of what I've read applies to lower income, near minimum wage jobs, and labor disputes between unions and employers, which also tended to be somewhat lower/middle income jobs.
I too have never read it in relation to nursing, however.
Posted by aeolusdallas (Member # 11455) on :
Congrats!!!!
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
"MY agency said 'We don't pay for those things.'"
That sucks. I too suspect they are doing something wrong here. But when it amounts to less than a day's pay, and may cause some antagonism you probably want to avoid right now, you have no great options.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Well, I do. I got hired by another company, full time, less than 2 blocks from my house.
Once the background check goes though (next week more than likely) I'll be working 40 hours a week there, at $18 an hour with full benefits.
I will still keep in touch with this agency, so if I want to work on one day off once and a while I can. Daily pay rocks....you get paid within 24 hours of submitting your time card. Well, of when they process the time card, anyways.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Congrats on the full time gig.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Yo kwea I'm really happy for you and imma let you finish but ...
um, yeah, no, just happy for you. Congrats!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
lol
Thanks. I didn't know if any of this was NORMAL for temp stuff, as I have only worked for one once, and only a few times. It struck me as odd, but not so far out of the norm that I wasn't willing to try it.
But when the only shift they ever offer you is overnights it gets a bit old.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: Well, I do. I got hired by another company, full time, less than 2 blocks from my house.
Awesome.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
I think you definitely made the right choice, Kwea. One of my best friends is a nurse of some kind or another (one of the lowest on the totem pole... nursing assistant? I don't remember the correct title) and he worked for an agency for years. He loved some of the flexibility but it did seem like they jerked him around a lot. He's been trying to switch over to full-time somewhere for a while now.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Certified Nursing Assistant? They do a ton of work, and the pay is decent....a lot of the nursing students in my class started as CNA's.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah, I can't wait to get my first paycheck and dig myself out of this hole. I mean, we are ok, but not having any savings at all scares me.
I plan to buy a house this year, before prices start to rise again. I qualify for a VA loan, and am in the process of getting my Certificate of Eligibility for the VA loan process. I need at least 6 months worth of pay stubs, so the sooner this background check comes back and I can start working the happier I am.
Besides, I can always work here and there for the agency on my days off, or on vacation.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: Certified Nursing Assistant? They do a ton of work, and the pay is decent....a lot of the nursing students in my class started as CNA's.
Right! CNA! That's what he is. Or, was. Like I said, he got sick of his agency jerking him around. He's going back to school now.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Good for him!
I just got the call today from the full time place saying I passed my background test, and my orientation will be next Tuesday. Yeah me!
The bad part is that the staffing agent just offered me a 3 day job, and said it was "to keep me from straying" to somewhere else, because she felt I was a good nurse and she wanted to make sure I made some money.
It will be about $500 for 3 8 hour days, with instant pay, so I am taking it. But now I have to tell her I am moving on to full time somewhere else. I just hope she will let me stay with her part time on call. I'd be glad to pick up 2-3 shifts a month for extra cash.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Congrats Kwea. Nice to have the problem of people fighting to hire you!
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
$500 for three days or $500 a day?
And, congrats! Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
$500 for 3 days. If it was $500 a DAY I wouldn't even be considering switching jobs.
Thanks.
[ March 06, 2010, 06:31 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Roger that. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
So...it's been almost 7 weeks, and to date I have worked 12 hours, all orientation. I am so fed up with the run around they kept giving me that when I called today, as I was told to, I ended up saying something I shouldn't have said. Had I intended on actually trying to work there after this, I wouldn't have called their training problem and process a cluster-F&%$ over the phone.
I made myself 100% available for them the past 7 weeks. It took them 3 weeks to call me back, and I had to call them 5 times to check. Took another week for the orientation class, and I was told I would be on the floor the following week.
Then they realized that their training person had not ordered more IV books, and I couldn't get to the floor for my 2 week training until I was IV certified, so I had to wait. I was told they would have the book for the course by that Friday. It took a week and a half to get it, though.
Then State showed up for the yearly inspection. That set me back another week. No one ever called me back when I called 5 times, all at times I had been TOLD to call.
I finally take the course, and the lady never faxed my test in to be graded, which takes 3-4 days at best. I showed up early, and the lady giving the course never showed. We had to track her down, and it took over 40 min just to get started. Then, after I take the course, she set me back another week by not sending the stuff in as promised. If it had been sent when I was done, as she said she was going to do, I would have been good to go.
So when I called yesterday and was told they had to RESEND it, and it would be at least another week before I could start, I lost it. I didn't yell, or call anyone names, but I did say their preparation was poor, and that none of this was my fault. The training manager agreed with me, and said it was their fault, and that she had never seen anything like it in 15 years with the company.
I gave up 14 shifts at $21 an hour the past 3 weeks so I could be ready to start. I didn't want to hold up my training. I had trouble getting in touch with these people, and half the time they never called me when they said they would.
I am pissed, worn out and just plain disgusted. Both by myself for letting my frustration get the batter of me, and at the way I was treated at this place.
So I went in and apologized to the training lady. It wasn't all her fault, and she was nice, if incompetent. Just because she messed up was no reason to be unprofessional. She said it had not bothered her, and that she was going to expedite my stuff as best she could. She also said they had really messed up, and THANKED me for being so patient over all. LOL
I told her I had been fired, and that I wasn't back to ask for a job still, as I didn't feel I had had been treated well. Then I asked to see the Director of Nursing. She refused to speak to me, and shut her door in my face after telling me I was "off the schedule".....as if I had ever been ON it in the first place! THAT WAS THE WHOLE FRIGGIN PROBLEM!!!
So rather than getting my IV certification paid for me, and working at a decent pay rate for a company right around the corner from my house, this job has COST me over $1400 in lost wages. Not to mention wasted time, 2 other jobs I turned down to work here, and the over all aggravation.
[ April 01, 2010, 04:37 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
That sucks.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
You don't know the half of it. I left out some of the calls, 4 trips in while they weren't ready for me, and a few other things.
Plus, my wife's father is now in hospice, and not doing well. We just dropped almost $500 on a ticket for her to go see him.....and since I didn't work those hospice shifts, we are broke.
As in I can't even go to the funeral if it happens tomorrow.
At least I still can pick up shifts for hospice now. I don't have any more scheduling conflicts. LOL
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I'm impressed that you've managed to hang onto your sanity amidst that sort of frustration. I'd have gone crazy by now.
Hopefully things can only get better from here on out!
Hang in there.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Thanks. To be honest I was very polite and understanding until yesterday. Overly so, actually. I understand that crap happens.
But 7 weeks from hire to work? Really? Who can afford that? I mean, isn't the reason MOST people apply for a job is that that want to work, and need cash?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
I think you have a really legitimate complaint Kwea. I think you should consider filing a formal complaint. I'm not sure who you should complain, perhaps the person above the one who hired you, maybe the licensing board. Does your state have an ombudsman?
Really, the situation you described is utterly inexcusable, it cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars and they fired you for getting angry about it. Don't stop by complain to hatrack, complain in writing to some who has power and influence over this jerks.
Posted by BelladonnaOrchid (Member # 188) on :
That's awful Kwea! I think I'd have lost it long before the 7 week mark. It's a testimate to your patience that you were able to wait that long before getting in their face about it.
Hopefully your father-in-law will pull through. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah, I have the name and number of the regional vice president of the company. I am writing it up tomorrow, and will read it of to him, along with actual dates and times of each visit and phone call. This isn't my first rodeo. Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: Yeah, I have the name and number of the regional vice president of the company. I am writing it up tomorrow, and will read it of to him, along with actual dates and times of each visit and phone call. This isn't my first rodeo.
I was waiting for that shoe to drop. LOL
I hope to hear that someone gets canned. I really have a special hate in my heart for incompetence.
Keep us updated.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I doubt they will, to be honest. I just think they should know how bad I wanted to work there, and the real reason I got mad. Judging by the voice mail I got from Adele, someone isn't being honest.
Regardless of why, 7 weeks is too long to wait for training or hours.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Sucks, doesn't do your situation justice Kwea, hang it there. Maybe follow up on some of those jobs your turned down?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah, I am still working for the staffing place, waiting for shifts. They got some new clients, some of who are local to me, so THEY are happy my availability improved again.
I called both jobs and left messages with the contact person I had, and applied at 4 jobs online yesterday. What sucks is that I'll probably spend 2-3 weeks looking for a new job, a week or two training, and THEN got on the floor. I'm really no better off, time wise, than I was at Life Care.
The GOOD news is I still have one job, regardless of how erratic it is, and I have my LPN licence, which means sooner or later I will be able to find work.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
And, almost on cue....ACE called and asked if I wanted to work.
On Easter.
I am working 4-12 tonight, all the way out in Crystal River though. It's a hike, but it will work for now.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
ACE is the agency? Hope you continue to have the temp jobs you need until you get a steady job--at a place that will treat you right. Sorry to hear about all the mess and uncertainty and lost wages. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yeah, ACE is the agency.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
actually, that might be a way to finally get through to the DON. "I'm interested but I need to have a conversation with her first."
It sounds like they still never got all of the preliminaries taken care of, so you're probably not actually eligible to take that shift even if you wanted to work on Easter. Which is your way out of the "I'm interested" portion of the above.
In either event, I'd make sure to get guarantees in writing regarding when these preliminaries will be completed, pay schedules and rates, etc. I'd probably also be sending the DON a letter confirming the contents of your conversation, including recapping the last seven weeks. And I would absolutely still have that conversation with the VP and copy him on all of that written correspondence between you and the DON.
And I do think you may have grounds to sue for lost wages and possibly some pain and suffering compensation. I would wait until after the conversation with the VP so you can have additional documentation to share with a lawyer, but I would definitely at least have a consultation meeting to see if it's worth pursuing.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Nah....different place. Sorry I wasn't clear enough.
I never quit my temp agency, ACE. was hired by Life Care of Ocala, and that is the place that was a problem. I will be following up with the VP, and will be documenting all of it.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
And the hits keep coming......
I had a client for hospice, and she said she really liked me. So did her family.
I just got a call canceling my shift for tomorrow morning. She wants a female nurse. She said I was great, polite, friendly, and a great help.
None of which pays any of my bills.
While I understand her feelings, and of course they matter far more than what I am feeling....she is the hospice client, and her needs are the most important....it still sucks.
Huge.
Everyone wants a male nurse to help move clients and carry things. I guess we aren't suppose to know how to do anything else in a professional manner, though.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I doubt they will, to be honest. I just think they should know how bad I wanted to work there, and the real reason I got mad. Judging by the voice mail I got from Adele, someone isn't being honest.
Yes, lying to Cover themselves is a common tactic of imcompetent idiots.
I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble getting full-time work. Good luck and keep looking. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Thanks. I am sure it will work out, and there are other people calling me at least. We will see.....if I can get enough hours for hospice I think it would be perfect. I make my own hours, make good cash, and have a somewhat flexible schedule.
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I too suspect they are doing something wrong here. But when it amounts to less than a day's pay, and may cause some antagonism you probably want to avoid right now, you have no great options.
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