As if working in the healthcare industry isn’t stressful enough, I’ve had to deal with some real B.S. from my employer when it comes to scheduling. It’s like they have this twisted game they play, trying to make my life a living hell through the way they structure my shifts. And the worst part is, it’s not just one or two people – the whole dang clinic seems to be in on it.

Let me give you an example of what I’ve been going through. A few months back, I raised some concerns about a questionable practice at the clinic. I thought I was just doing the right thing, you know? Trying to protect patients and follow proper procedures. But boy, did that come back to bite me.

The very next schedule that came out, suddenly it looked like I had all this “help” – they’d scheduled me to work with all these other people. At first, I thought, “Great, maybe they’re finally going to give me a hand around here.” But nope, that couldn’t be further from the truth. When I showed up for my shifts, it was just me, alllll by my lonesome, running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything done. I could just see the staffing department and my coworkers snickering about it in the back office.

Then the schedule started getting even more bizarre. They’d put me in a different department for a day or two, just to mix things up I guess. And then the real kicker – they’d schedule me for, like, a half day in one place, and then shove me into this other department that I absolutely dread working in for the rest of the day. It’s like they know it gives me major anxiety attacks and makes me physically sick, but they just keep doing it anyway. And the management team, they’re all in on it too, just laughing it up while they make my life miserable.

I can just imagine them all sitting around in their little clique, the staffing coordinator, the department heads, the clinic director – they’re probably high-fiving each other every time they come up with a new way to torture me. “Ooh, let’s put Tina in pediatrics for the morning, then send her to the lab for the afternoon! That’ll really mess with her!” And then they just sit back and watch, giggling to each other about how I’m struggling to hold it together.

I’ve gone to management about this scheduling nonsense multiple times, but of course they deny everything. “Oh no, Tina, we would never do that! The schedule is made fairly based on the needs of the clinic.” Yeah, right. I know exactly what they’re up to, and it’s a classic case of retaliation, plain and simple. They’re using their power and authority to try and push me out, simply because I had the audacity to speak up and do the right thing.

But you know what? I’m not going to let them break me. I’m going to keep standing up for what’s right, even if it means dealing with their twisted scheduling games. Because at the end of the day, I know I’m doing the right thing, and that’s what’s most important. Wish me luck, friends – I have a feeling I’m going to need it!