[tlam]

I would like to talk to some older nurses that may be able to give me some clues as to why with the shortage I am treated so poorly

[grapejam88]

Could you define "older" please? Then maybe I can help you.

[cassioo]

what is older and what is treated poorly and treated poorly by whom?

[tlam]

45 years and up
treated poorly is just that, told by younger nurses to go onto disability,

[grapejam88]

In a forum/web board such as this, I feel at a great disadvantage to remark on a question such as the one about being treated poorly. Now, let me preface what I am going to say with the fact that there is absolutely no judgement intended in my reply and this is not a finger-pointing statement. The point I am getting to is that when people come into a forum looking for advice or comments on being "treated poorly", it is difficult to speculate because none of us happened to be present when the "poor treatment" took place to know what truly happened. Perceptions can be so different from one person to the next. The thing about younger nurses telling you to go on disability? Well, first of all, if you are healthy, active and reliable in the workplace, then that would be an unfounded and snied remark. However, again, none of us know your complete situation or what preceded that sort of remark to be able to fairly say whether it was a valid suggestion. Please don't think I advocate for one second that nurses of ANY age have the right to be rude. That certainly would be wrong. I hope you find happiness in your job soon.

[GratefulTedd]

treated poorly?? as a nurse?? say it isnt so.

I agree with grapejam, hard for us to tell if you are physically fit...or if they were joking and you took your age too personally...or if they were just rude.

[tlam]

They were rude and it was a way to steal my job from me

[cassioo]

as grapejam said it's hard to judge here is it co-workers or bosses trying to get rid of you. Do they want your job because you have a better shift. Do you pull the same number of patients with the same problems as everyone else. If there's no reason for them to be saying it go to the supervisor if they are harassing you..if it's the supervisor the DON. I work with a LPN who is 65 that works her tail off and wheezes like a choo-choo but I'd never suggest she take off. Work with another about 45 who's off more then on with neck pain, back pain, twisted leg, grandkids dumped on her etc etc & another 39 who has kids and grandkids calling numerous times and she can't get anything done they both have FMLA (family leave) and their jobs are held when they take off which does cause scheduling problems for others and they abuse the system by calling in 2 hours before scheduled work. So all the situations are different for everyone all you've told us is they want your job but why?

[tlam]

I wish I knew why. They got my job. I was constantly pulled into the office for stupid stuff. I got written up for excessive call ins. I called in 5 times in 15 months and 3 of those days were for the flu which I caught there. But that's not why I am here they did what they did for what ever reasons I just want to move on but I can't because of this place. I have not been here for very long and that place is my only reference. I was there for 15 months, my yearly evaluation was good. It was a bad place and there is a lot more going on that I wasn't aware of. Supervisor was always trying to get me to say something bad about the African Americans or the Philipino nurses that work there. Like I said I am not sure what their motives were But, I am in a bad situation now and need some help on how to move on and not get caught up in that nonsense again>

[grapejam88]

What were the ages of the nurses you worked with? You referred to age as a factor for your job threat, which if unfounded is a discriminating thing to say. Yet, later in your last post, you mentioned being absent 5 times in 15 months (regardless of the flu..5 times in that time frame is a lot)and I see mention of being called in the office for "stupid stuff". Again, I will say that with bits and pieces of any story, it is hard to formulate an educated idea of what really happened. You also mentioned that you worked in an ethnically diverse population and that your employer was trying to get you to discriminate. This sounds very complicated in some regards, but very simple in others. Up front, my opinion is that somehow your employer did not regard you as dependable and for reasons I don't think we are being educated on, wanted you to leave. Without knowing everything that happened, it is not possible for a person such as myself to hazard a guess as to how you could avoid this in the future. I feel sorry that you are in such a predicament, I just don't think I can help.