I have been.......

I love science fiction.
...and science
...and fiction

Thank you for the advice, all. Dulce and Cryptic, you both said it a lot calmer and reasonable than my sister did! But maybe that's because she's related to me.

The way my workplace is, we're veeery small to the point that if one person calls in on the shift, we have to actually close the unit. Our work days aren't consistent (like I work every 3rd weekend; sometimes I have a Monday or Thursday off, sometimes not), and the schedule is planned out until end of September. So I gave warning ahead of time so that they can have someone hired and ready to work the next schedule. I'm only leaving because of relocating to another state: both my parents and boyfriend are moving.

I'm a little too soft in a cutthroat job-seeking world. I did find out that I am in the state (or city?) with the second-highest unemployment rate. Where I am going, the job market is ample.

@ Hayven - I have been thinking of you and wish you good luck in the next adventure.

You meant well to give them a heads-up, but people don't usually do this. It adds to stress on the work place. The minute you say, you are leaving, you become worthless to them. The minute they have then a replacement, they will toss you.

2 weeks notice is usually the norm in the U.S.A. During that time, the parting takes place, they find a replacement, you leave everything orderly, they may ask you to stay a few days extra and TRAIN your successor. The work place separation is never easy and all the good work and good will you have previously put in, is forgotten.

Well, take it easy, you can do it. "Toughen up" a bit.

Ahhh the stress. Hayven, I wish you good things with your move and your job seeking journey.

I think you did the right thing, Hayven. One of my colleagues was in a similar situation a few years back when her husband was transferred to a distant state. She gave notice as soon as she knew she would be leaving, well in advance of two weeks. Her entire caseload had to be reassigned and people brought up to speed on dozens of files, so two weeks would have been totally inadequate. As I recall, there was no animosity whatsoever toward this woman. We had a great going away party for her, in fact. I'm not a fan of sneaky, surreptitious behavior and if I ever left my firm I would try to do right by them because they've always treated me well. Two weeks notice can add up to leaving people in the lurch, depending on your field.

It's great if you can give longer than your industry's standard notice (I have done so a couple times), but this whatever- week standard AFTER you find new employment is standard for a reason. It sounds like Hayven's situation is different because she is moving to another state with or without a job, but under normal circumstances, announcing your intentions to leave at some undetermined future date is illogical. How does your current employer know when to hire your replacement? Once they find someone, that someone needs a definite start date. And giving more.than the standard notice after.finding a new job can sometimes take you out of the running for that new job, as employers often need you to start as soon as possible. Of course this is all assuming one needs steady employment without open-ended gaps.

I once gave a longer notice because my replacement quit after a week, and thankfully my new employer was agreable even though they desparately needed me, probably thinking, "If she'd do that for them she'd do it for us." But I work with some.highly skilled professionals who are leaving months long projects and long-term client relationships when they quit and take a new job and 90% of them give a 2-week notice.

I also think you did the right thing Hayven, that's what honest people do.

I too have been suffering workplace stress but I also have a solution. I will not be a victim and I will not be a statistic either.

Things need to be done in order, all else follows.

I did give them a date of September 27th as a goal when I would leave. I will be doing travel nursing, which is something negotiated with contracts and have to be set up weeks or a month in advance to obtain a license in the state I'd be working in. But like you said, my situation is different and otherwise isn't often acceptable what I did.

I'm learning a lot about other people's careers, the good and bad sides. Very good advice here.

Hayven, as you reveal more and more information, your sister berating you makes less and less sense.

Still, without a firm leave date, most employers would have little use for a long notice. This is simply how things are done in the business world. Honest people acrosss the country are giving 2-week notices every day of the week.

Your job sounds so unique and interesting. Does your unit close when one of you takes planned vacation, or is there backup in place for that? If the unit closes when someone calls in sick, do you all get the day off?

That's very true. In past jobs (offices and retail), I gave a two- week notice.

What we do in my unit is transfer patients from the ER, admissions from other hospitals, or people directly from the doctors' offices and do the admission process: take medical history, enter the patient's medications in the system, update old information if they have been at the hospital, etc. We'll give patient's routine medications, something IV push like antibiotics or pain medicine, insert foleys and IVs, etc. We are lucky that we have a department to do it as most hospitals either have the nurses on the main units do the admissions themselves or hire a nurse to go around the unit and admit them. We're basically a luxury for the hospital and have been downstaffed significantly in the past year. There used to be 3-4 nurses a shift with a PCT, now we're down to 2 a shift and usually no PCT. So if one of us calls in sick or is on vacation, we cannot be open for the shift as a nurse cannot work by him or herself. They give us the option to work on another unit to earn our pay (we are paid by the hour); otherwise we can stay home but not be paid. Usually there is no backup as the rest of the hospital has been downstaffed significantly and no extra help is available. That's part of why I need to get out of there.

Sorry for the long explanation and information for others reading this thread; sometimes when someone asks "So what exactly do you DO?" I get super descriptive like this guy:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGS2tKQhdhY

AH ha Dlane. I see many perfumes in their future.

Good, now you can convince me to buy.

Hayven --- Haha! Office Space is a masterpiece, one of my top 5! I love it when he says, "Yes ... no ... well sometimes."

Hearing about your job is interesting. I bet you're a great nurse that any hospital would be glad to hire.

Btw, who is the.beauty in your new avatar, a family member? She bears a strong resemblance to my mom in her youth.

Dlane -- apparently you couldn't guilt yourself out of buying the Mona di Orio sampler, huh? Take comfort in the fact they're samples and not FBs. You weren't as bad a girl as you could have been, right?

I have been burning up in this heat we are having on the coast of South Carolina. I am ready for fall....yes I am ....ready!
I have been walking at 8 pm and still hot as hell

I'm ready for fall too. It's too humid and the mold in the air bothers me. I'd rather have a dry nose and skin than this.

I have been...doing laundry. Had 4 days off, now back to work tonight.

I have been thinking who is the girl in your avatar?

I'm sorry for those of you dealing with stifling heat and humidity, I know how miserable that is, but I have been enjoying our mild summer out here, and even though the warm weather usually lasts almost to Halloween, I am already anticipating my usual end of summer blues. The Fall weather, when it arrives, gives me the feeling of receiving bad news in the mail. I am not a fan of crisp and brisk.

Not to mention the shorter days. wah, wah, wah.

Poor Finn!

Can dogs be trained to enjoy water? I bet if he got over his fear he would enjoy swimming.

One of my dogs growing up would break free from us and jump joyfully into any body of water he encountered, leash and all. My parents had to unexpectedly enter the water themselves many times to retrieve him. Lakes, pools, ponds, fountains, you name it. The boy was cookoo for water!

Dlane, you have a beautiful family!

May I join the Ready for Fall Club too? Especially since we are now in the middle of the Da Shu (Big Heat) period by Chinese folk calendar. Urgh! I certainly was not made for this type of climate! I love staying cool and fresh and not having to blot my face constantly. Besides, I'll take beautiful elegant Fall clothes over the skimpy Summer stuff any day of the week, not to mention the perfumes.

I've been suffering from insomnia recently. It's all gotten out of hand really, I'm afraid I'll have to finally see the doctor or at least consult a pharmacist and get some meds. Haven't slept at night for two weeks