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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hand my notice in a week after starting my new job

70 replies

jammiedodger79 · 17/08/2013 19:20

Have started a new job which has turned out not to be anything like what I imagined or what was described to me at the interview. The culture there is to work through unpaid breaks, never to leave on time, also unpaid and to basically be highly stressed from the minute I arrive. I have been told im expected to arrive to start early (unpaid of course). I have a young baby and there is no way i can juggle everything not knowing exactly when i'll be home. For some reason I feel terrible about leaving so soon and am nervous and dreading telling them on Monday. It took a couple of months for the paperwork to be sorted and in that time they could have found somebody else. Has anyone else been in this position? AIBU to leave so soon, or am I being a bit pathetic worrying so much, should i just grow a pair and tell them straight? Any advice on how to approach this?

OP posts:

pinkstinks · 17/08/2013 21:58

Do it if you have something to go to. I have just handed my notice in for this reason amongst many others. Unfortunately I have to work 8 weeks notice....
Good luck!

MrsWedgeAntilles · 17/08/2013 21:59

Voerendaal, sadly I've heard that so many times before. They know the majority of nurses won't walk away and leave their patients in danger , even if its only to protect their registration, so the hospital bosses can carry on with impunity.
Sorry to hear about your sick leave and I second you're advice to the OP.

VivaLeBeaver · 17/08/2013 22:04

I've never heard of a shift changeover where there's no overlap time for handover even if its only 15mins. Is it private hospital /nursing home? I'd like to think all nhs wards have a proper handover time.

Mintyy · 17/08/2013 22:04

Just leave! seriously. I have left countless jobs because they piss me off. There is always something better just around the corner.

VivaLeBeaver · 17/08/2013 22:07

Leave for sure if you've something better lined up. I left a job after 4 days once without any notice as I had an interview for a better job.

TiggyD · 17/08/2013 22:12

Sounds like most nursery jobs. In nurseries they tell you that you have to do all kinds of things that cannot be done when you're counted in ratio. They then don't give you any 'non contact' time to do the jobs, so you have to come in early or leave late.

MrsWedgeAntilles · 17/08/2013 22:14

LesMissAbs, I don't think you can compare law and nursing in these terms. The OP is describing a situation where she is responsible for the lives of a number of patients for what can be up to 13 hours a day. The number of patients in these types of wards is pretty much invariably too many to be safe and the longer she has to go with out breaks the higher the likelihood becomes that'll she'll make a mistake and harm someone. When she does this type of nursing management will blame it on her rather than look at the culture which lead to it. And she'll be getting paid buttons compared to your average lawyer.
No wonder so many folk on this thread are urging her to bolt.

holidaybug · 17/08/2013 22:20

I once gave up a job after a week. I'd never done that before, had a glowing record in middle management but I knew early on that I'd made the wrong decision. Stressful commute, expectation of staying long hours, poor atmosphere. At that time, I thought my career was in tatters. Looking back on it now, leaving was the best thing I ever did. I soon got another job, better pay, better prospects, better all round.

It might be worth a chat though before you make that decision. I knew it just wasn't going to work out for me so I was past that.

LessMissAbs · 17/08/2013 22:37

Val Many of the clockwatchers I've met are single. Those with families are some of the hardest working I know. One partner with 3 dcs works 4 days a week and most of those days she ends up working late. Another salaried court assistant works the longest hours there and has 2 dcs and a wife who also works full time. A fellow trainee solicitor at another firm was a single mother of two and worked 7.30-5.30 every single day while the contracted hours were 9 - 5.30. They're tough, tough people.

I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't entirely unreplicated in the nursing profession. I wouldn't also think one week gives a fully accurate idea of what the entire job will be like.

I also don't think its entirely unheard of in nursing to have to work beyond contracted hours, and it wouldn't appear to be the profession to go into if that's vitally important to you.

But its academic as the OP has a much better job to go to already, so I'm not entirely sure why she's asking.

LessMissAbs · 17/08/2013 22:40

Trainee solicitor recommended minimum salary (some firms pay less) is I think 16k pa.

Voerendaal · 17/08/2013 22:50

OP is discussing handover times. As far as I am aware most wards have a 15 minute handover. I cannot speak for the wards but I struggle to give accurate information to next shift in that time. It can take me about 30 minutes to hand over 7 ICU patients sometimes to the senior nurse in charge of next 12 hour shift. How you can hand over 30 odd patients in that time GOK.
I am not precious, but there is an awful lot to hand over from one shift to another to ensure continuity of care.
Nursing management also seem to accept working through breaks as okay. It is not okay. It is dangerous. But it ain't the managers who will get disciplined for a drug error.
Sorry to go on...
OP when you leave(if you are sure you will not want to work there in the future) I would request an exit interview. I would also write to Director of Nursing. Name and shame the managers. You can but try..........

PresidentServalan · 17/08/2013 22:55

Doesn't sound like they will be surprised - if it's a job requiring lots of extra time and you are unable to do it, you are better off leaving anyway - otherwise you will either do the hours and resent it or not do the hours and feel under pressure. Leaving is a good idea for you and the firm you work for.

iliketea · 17/08/2013 22:59

YANBU - alarm bells were ringing when you said the cqc were visiting weekly (!!!!!). Ime in most healthcare environments, it is nurses who are blamed for whatever goes wrong (as we all know, low staffing is not an excuse for not meeting your duty of care ).

You need to protect your registration, as selfish as that may sound, without it you cannot work. But make sure you are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire and that the plAce you are going to doesn't just appear better from the outside.

Original poster

jammiedodger79 · 17/08/2013 23:07

Just to be clear its 25 patients to one nurse and 3 carers in a nursing home. Terrible communication between different levels of staff, I feel it's a time bomb. And thanks for all the supportive comments.

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 17/08/2013 23:10

I'd usually say don't leave after a week give it longer. But in this case, unless you think it will have a negative impact on your career, then I would say definitely give the appropriate notice period and leave. Especially as you have another job lined up. You never get any thanks for all this martyrdom and doing extra.

iliketea · 17/08/2013 23:19

I've worked as a carer in a nursing home with similar ratios before I did my training - with the exact issues you describe. Shift pattern was 8-8 (nights and days) and the RNs were expected to come in early and leave late for handover as there was no handover time. Plus the RN rarely got a break because they couldn't leave the unit without a RN on duty.

I resolved never to work in a nursing home when I left - I think it takes "accountability" to a whole new level, plus it's near on impossible for residents to get basic care never mind quality holistic care with ratios like that.

soimpressed · 17/08/2013 23:27

I haven't read the whole thread but I have had a similar experience.

I left a really lovely job for another one because the travelling was getting me down. As soon as I had resigned though my new boss phoned me to say that the job I had been given was going to be changed and I would be doing something different. I was so upset as I would never have applied for the job under those circumstances.

As soon as I started there were other red flags. I stuck it out but I wish I had left immediately as in the end I became so ill with stress.

garlicagain · 17/08/2013 23:29

I'm so pleased you got the other job :)

I agree, formal complaints after leaving can't hurt you and may even do some good for others, who knows? I also say quit as soon as you can afford to! It's your life, your sanity.

I've left jobs after one day.

garlicagain · 17/08/2013 23:30

I wish I had left immediately as in the end I became so ill with stress.

This also happened to me. I stayed under pressure from everyone else, who thought it was a great position. It was great on paper, but everyone else wasn't living my life.

breatheslowly · 17/08/2013 23:49

It's not rocket science to know that the teams need a 30 min handover so you need to employ the staff for an overlapping 30 min session at each handover stage.

Are you sure that the other job will provide enough hours - are they guaranteed.

I recently rejigged my working hours and asked to have a 30 min lunchbreak instead of an hour. I felt quite bad asking for that as I work through lunch so felt like I was "stealing" time from my employer and it didn't feel like a very reasonable request. I soon got over that though as it is perfectly reasonable to ask to work through less of your own time.

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