need to vent

[solobiker]

I will try to make this short. I am an Occupational Therapist and I work in a small office ( about 13 x 8 ) which I share with 7 other people. The thereapy gym is quite small too. I feel like I am in high school because of the catty behavior, the passive agressiveness, and the list could go. There definately is not a team atmospher in there at all. I have an assistant that documents things that did not occur which I have signed off on and later I found out she did not do what she wrote down. Can you say fraud.... I have no power to dicipline her and my boss really won't. The 2 PTs and rehab aide and the COTA ( certified occupational therapist assistant) are extrememly passive aggressive which makes the work environment uncomfortable and just not enjoyable. Aren't we all adults?? I am the oldest one, 38. The others are in their late 20s to early 30s. The COTA has lied to me countless times and when ever I ask her for help or ask her to fix a note she says "yeah okay whatever" and then rolls her eyes. She also does not work on things with the patients that I ask her to work on. Very frustrating as she is not addressing the issues that need to be addressed. There is a lot more I could write but it is the weekend...YAHOO so no more work talk. just needed to vent. OH yea can you beleive that she is always sucking her thumb, and not just the tip, she has it all the way in her mouth. She then proceeds to touch my arm when she is talking with me. YUCK.

[Bruno28]

Look for a new job. Life's too short.

Bruno (who is about to re-enter the job market).

[Zen]

The job market is wide open for PT's.

Go.
Do.
Now.

[sundial]

Solobiker, with your training you have so many opportunities in your field. I would definitely look for a new employer. You should enjoy your work, not dread it.

[solobiker]

Thanks for the adivice. I have been thinking about getting a new job since Dec.

[sundial]

Well.......what are you waiting for?? Just a little boost from your TE enablers?

I have worked in those kind of environments and it won't do you any favors by staying there. My hair started to fall out. I thought to myself that this was for the birds and I checked out of there pronto. I went back to school, got my art training, and launched my new career. I've never looked back.

[solobiker]

The main thing that is holding me back is vacation time. I get about 2.5-3 weeks a year including holidays and I don't have to work weekends. I probably could find a job closer to home to. My commute is about 22 miles one way and the way the gas prices are going it may not be a bad idea. I also talk myself out of it because..maybe it is like that everywhere, even though I know it isn't because I have worked in lots of other facilities. I also try to reason with myself by saying it's just a job and ignore all the BS and do my job and go home. But I hate that feeling. It would be nice to work in a team environment where the therapists all help each other out. What a dream that would be..

[KnottedYet]

It would be nice to work in a team environment where the therapists all help each other out. What a dream that would be..

I'm in one of those right now. My manager is not only a PT, she's also an MBA with a lot of management experience, a truly fabulous dream of a manager. It's lovely.

[solobiker]

My mangager had no experience with management. She is just starting year number 2 with trying to manage. I don't think she has enough clinical experience yet as she only graduated in 2003. She gets overwhelmed very easily, gets frustrated easily when ever someone has to "bother" her with a question she sighs heavily. When I approaced her with my concerns regarding the COTA's documentaion and lack of correct treatment my boss pretty much told me to deal with it. I have no power to deal with it. My boss also said ..." I can't be a babysitter" and people have to stop being"petty".

[alpinerabbit]

I also talk myself out of it because..maybe it is like that everywhere, even though I know it isn't because I have worked in lots of other facilities.

I thought that too on my first job, and I had nothing to compare to. It's not. There are normal, stress-reducing environments with colleagues that are all pulling their load.

[ridebikeme]

AHHH unfortunately I think that most of know that feeling all to well... what is to gain by these people? I worked in the ski industry this past winter as a retail mgr. Like you, I had a couple of those people as well. My boss the mgr/buyer hired a younger attractive woman... all of a sudden all of the guys were falling all over her (including my boss) and things started going crazy. Being the ***'t, several of the employees started bringing this up to me(obviously I was seeing it as well) and felt a bit out of place. I even had a couple of customers mention it as well. When I mentioned this to my boss, he simply dismissed it because of jealousy.(believe me none of these other women were jealous at all!) It even came down to others having their hours cut, and the younger woman had hours added to her schedule! Go figure...

But the moral of the story is leave... it sounds as though you have alot of talent and can be appreciated somewhere else! For me, I am out of that job and feel incredibly less stressed and once again workling on bikes!

[Velobambina]

There's always at least one doofus (gossip, liar, meanie, manipulator, negative nellie, etc) in every work situation, in my experience. You can choose how you react to that person. That said, sometimes there are so many of them and the place is so effed up that for your own sanity, you have to leave.

You are lucky that you have a relatively "portable" career/specialty. Seems like there are more to in your work environment to make it worth sticking out. YOu might get better benefits elsewhere, given your experience. Listen to and trust your instincts. You'll get yourself to somewhere better....

My last two assignments were nightmares. Eighteen (18) months of dreading having to go to work, being unhappy, & resulting in my seriously considering leaving federal service. Now I've landed in an interesting assignment working for a wonderful boss. I have two coworkers for whose personalities I find annoying (50 year old frat boy who thinks he's a woman magnet & a young female know-it-all w/a chip on her shoulder), but I just limit my contact with them and remind myself that their issues are NOT mine.

[evangundy]

The main thing that is holding me back is vacation time. I get about 2.5-3 weeks a year including holidays and I don't have to work weekends. I probably could find a job closer to home to. My commute is about 22 miles one way and the way the gas prices are going it may not be a bad idea. ..

Don't let that stop you. I was at my previous job for 28 yrs and liked what I did and the people I worked with, but corporate management in another state controlled everything and things were slowly getting worse, and the stress I started feeling was beginning to affect my health. Then just over a year ago, I got offered a great job, but my commute went from 4 miles each way to 22 miles each way, and I went from 4wks vacation per year, to no time off the first year, to two weeks this year. And I couldn't be happier. This was the best thing I have done for myself since I got married (30 yrs ago). I'm happier at work, which carries over to home, and I sleep better and I'm healthier, and losing weight (a good thing), and I smile and laugh more, etc, etc, etc.

Life is too short to be unhappy and just "doing a job". You need to enjoy your work, just as much as you need to enjoy the rest of your life too.

Edna

[bmccasland]

Solobiker - you have a marketable skill. Other offices / clinics will have sick leave, vacation time too. They should be paying you the earned vacation time when you leave, so if nothing else, bank the money to fund a trip at a later date.

Save your sanity, dignity, and credibility and leave these malcontents.

I left NorCal because of a bad supervisor. One of us had to go, and she wasn't worth going to prison over. Was much happier, and saner after the change.