Feeling so down - need advice please

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

jojofruits — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 10:04:14 GMT

Glad you're doing better! you'll look back in the future and know why this has all happened...

onwards and upwards! you've got this!

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 14:48:21 GMT

So I am the OP. I've had a couple of interviews and both went well so am spending some time at both practices to see which suits me best. It's super scary and my heads pickled trying to make a decision but I know I can't stay where I am and life's way too short to be miserable at work!

Thank you to everyone who posted and gave me advice. It's great to know so many people out there care x

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Geniverger — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 11:16:15 GMT

What a horrible situation to be in, my sympathies! Look at it this way - a nurse with your level of hands-on experience will be snapped up, and just because a job ad states one thing doesnt mean you cant negotiate it to something else eg more in-patient nursing :)

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Sal the 1st — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 21:56:32 GMT

I know sometimes it seems like a big, scary jump to make your own changes but swap the word scary for exciting and see how that changes things wishing you all the very best - you deserve better

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 20:29:56 GMT

I've decided I'm going to speak to my boss tomorrow and find out for sure if there's no extra hours and if that's the case then I'll be off to pastures new when the next suitable one comes available

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Sal the 1st — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:39:23 GMT

depends on what is in the contract. If the OP was doing a job share with the other nurse that left and they have now taken on one full time nurse instead then the job share position may no longer exist

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

FINNIGAN — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 18:44:19 GMT

Can they actually do that legally?? Especially if they have replaced you with another nurse now doing the hours you used to work?? I would be looking at getting some legal advice on this

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Kate Richardson — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:07:31 GMT

If you can face it, worth getting some legal advice, something sounds fishy to me. But otherwise, sometimes the best thing to do is look forward and move on. Which you should probably do anyway, as even if you did manage to resolve the hours and pay cut, would you still really want to work for someone who treats you that way? best of luck, the world is your oyster

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 18:28:17 GMT

Hi Sal

I think that I'm going to try to get some locum shifts booked until I find a permanent position that I like as I can't carry on like this.

I've also found a course that I'd really like to do that thankfully you can pay monthly so if I get some locum work I'll easily be able to afford it and it'll be something to get my teeth stuck into. Onwards and upwards hey!

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Sal the 1st — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 19:40:41 GMT

Do you work nights? - would you be able to pick up some shifts for an emergency clinic?

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

jojofruits — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:36:44 GMT

I would be writing it all down and getting some HR advice on this after hearing how you are feeling.

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:18:52 GMT

With regards to the extra day shifts offered to the other nurse - I'd asked the day before and was told there wasn't any extra and that if there was they'd tell me then the next day that nurse tells me they've asked her that day to go onto days. Its like a stab in my heart when I heard that. Other than my family and furbabies, my job is my world

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:11:00 GMT

I work at an independent practice and my contract basically gives me no protection as it does say that they can alter my hours according to the needs of the practice. I thought nothing of this when I signed it 5 years ago but am now regretting it!

I thought I'd found a practice that I'd stay at for the rest of my career and it does make me very sad thinking that I may have to leave but equally I know that something needs to change as it's now started to affect my sleeping and it's literally all I can think about

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Sal the 1st — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 08:16:48 GMT

Have a look around and see what is on offer. In agreement with Apache that your employers may have had to do a swap around to accommodate the incoming nurse which is no reflection on your nursing ability but getting an extra person in to keep the job running. Another nurse being given extra shifts - would you have been able or happy to have filled the extra shifts on offer at the times they were offered? or would it have meant more swapping around? I know its hard but don't take it personally see what is available there are always jobs for good nurses. I have had my hours swapped so many times over the years to accommodate others sometimes it is for the best and sometimes it is just time to find something better.

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

Raffles — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 06:40:16 GMT

Hey

Sorry you're going through this, what a horrid time it sounds like! I'm not sure if the legalities of reducing someone's hours, do you have a contract? Are you independent or corporate? There must be someone you can speak to about this and try to resolve.

If it's just your bosses that you can approach then request amother meeting and go in fully prepared. Is there a colleague, mentor or head nurse you can take in with you for support? Before the meeting write down everything you need to say. Explain why you feel upset, and suggest ways of solving it. Also ask if there is any problems with your work. If there is, they should really be telling you and not just pushing you about.

Good luck, i hope you get it sorted

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:34:48 GMT

Can I just add that I've never been in trouble at work or anything like that so there is no justification for the way I've been treated

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

VetNurse Anon a/c — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:31:55 GMT

Thanks for your reply. The £200 a month is what I'll be earning in Dec with the new rota which is absolutely ridiculous and no one can possibly live off that. I used to earn £11k a year so this is a huge pay decrease for me and I was already struggling on what I was on.

I feel like I've been pushed out of my job just so this new nurse can join us. I've been replaced despite not actually leaving.

I asked my boss if there was any extra hrs going and I was told there wasn't yet I hear from another nurse that she's been asked to come on to days. I feel like it's all personal and I don't understand why my rota even had to be changed.

I guess not being offered the job I had the interview for has really dented my already fragile confidence and tbh I'm scared of putting myself out there to be rejected. It was the first job that I've not been offered so it's also come at a really bad time

RE: Feeling so down - need advice please

apache — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:44:05 GMT

Realistically, assuming you are a qualified RVN, the world is your oyster. There will be heaps of jobs for nurses, and if you like in patient stuff, I'd say more people want to be involved in surgery and consulting. You have a great niche.

I think you need to sit down with a blank piece of paper and work out:

how far you are willing to travel

how many hours you want (full time/part time)

what your ideal job is

where you are willing to compromise (would you do 1 day consulting, 1 day in theatre and 3 days inpatient?)

where you want to be in 5 years

And get on and apply for some suitable jobs. If you don't think you can talk to your boss then that's the only way forwards.

The only slight sympathy I have with your boss is why has he done what he did? Was bending over backwards for the new nurse the only way she would work for the practice? Was he desperate without her? I can slightly sympathise if she is full time and you are only part time (very part time if earning £200 in a month)