Venting - Childproofing/Grandparent Classes
Okay, so this has been stewing inside of me for almost a month. I had tried very hard to keep my mouth shut on it, but now I am not so happy about doing that. Anyhow, here is what happened (I am hoping that by venting here you ladies can help me process my upset and then I can move on).
Earlier this year one of my past doula clients (it was a volunteer client) - her mother called me and kept insisting that I should apply for a childbirth education job at the hospital she works at. I checked out the requirements and it said the applicant must be lamaze certified. Well, I am not - I am CAPPA certified, so I didn't apply. The same woman kept calling and asking me if I applied. I told her I didn't because I didn't "qualify" and she told me to apply anyhow. Well, I got the job! I then spoke with another doula who also eaches within this system (she is Lamaze certified as well) and she told me that the nurses do not like the doulas teaching and to be careful as it will cause problems. I followed a series taught by one of the nurses, and then was allowed to start subbing in classes. I taught a few all day classes that were only mine, but ended up subbing a lot. Some weeks during the summer I was subbing three times a week. When I taught my classes I taught them "as a doula" and apparently the nurses didn't like that.
I had my three month review and got rave reviews. My supervisor even gave me the highest ranking in one area of a 5, which she told me she NEVER has given anyone a 5 before. So I left feeling really good, but then came the next schedule and I was hardly working and was no longer working at the hospital, but instead was switched to the outpatient center, which hardly had any classes. I was now given the grandparents class to teach, which really bummed me out because that isn't what I came into the program to teach. I was so sad by it and then my supervisor requested a meeting with me. Apparently the nurses don't like the fact that I am teaching comfort measures that aren't medicated along with teaching about medications. i believe that expectant parents should hear both sides, and therefore teach both sides. I practice comfort measures with them as well, but the nurses don't like that. They want complient patients!!!!
I was then told by my supervisor that next year I will start getting a series at the outpatient center and that she will see how those work out there. She first told me January and now she told me March. I am getting the feeling that she hired me to get through the huge load of summer vacations that people were taking and because she wanted to offer the happiest baby on the block class - so that she could say they are the only hospital in the area to offer it.
I have tried very hard to be okay with this, but am not happy that I am teaching the grandparents class. I do not want to. These aren't the people I want to teach. I do not want to teach childproofing your home, and how to be a good grandparent. I wanted to teach about labor and delivery and comfort options. My supervisor keeps insisting that if I just teach the class I will love it, but I just don't know about that! I looked at the curriculum and it doesn't look appealing to me. Plus now I have to create another powerpoint presentation (not get paid for my time) and that bothers me. I typically teach by powerpoint so when I was first hired I created powerpoints for all the classes I taught. Now I have to create another one. The other thing I hate is that my supervisor had me e-mail them to her for her approval, but I think she did it so that other people can use them too. How heartbreaking to know that others might use my work (modified of course to remove the comfort measures they don't approve of), and I didn't get paid extra for that.
So that's my vent for today (sorry but this has been stewing for about a month, and I am about to burst). No advice is needed, I just wanted to get this out.
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