Job Responsibilities; the goal post keeps moving...

[ORPAFL]

So I'll provide a little background...

I am one of a few PA's who work for the surgical service line in a small, privately owned, community hospital. We are assigned to the OR and provide first assist to any surgeon who requests. We also provide post op rounding, pre-op chart evals, pre-op orders, along with preference card maintenance. Usual hours are 730-330 however recently started to stagger to cover cases 630- 430. Over the last year the job responsibilities have "evolved". We all do our part in ensuring the OR runs efficiently, if that means mopping rooms, we mop rooms. Recently we were strong-armed into taking weekend call, which was never part of the job description, and honestly the most appealing aspect. Now we are required to be "available" until, "8 or 9pm" on weeknights without and compensation. They have also required us be available to the PACU/Recovery for anything they may need. They are currently short staffed, so we've been called to recover patients or even just be a warm body to keep up with the ratio. The newest requirement is med recs on any patient. They did a chart review and noted that none of the surgeons were doing discharge med recs and naturally the resolution to this is "make the PA's do it". 

I guess the feedback I'm asking for is- is this bordering on abuse, or is this how the PA job landscape looks (I've been practicing for over a decade)? Also, is it reasonable to be concerned about completed discharge medication reconciliations on patients you do not know, have never met, will never met, procedures you were not a part of and physicians you don't work with?

[Cideous]

It'a in every specialty I see now.  Urgent care is no longer urgent care.  It's weight loss, drug trial monitoring basically any form of revenue stream they can think of.  It's stupid and dangerous the stuff they tell us to do now.

[sas5814]

well..... welcome to the jungle.

Yes it is abusive... when the job changes the salary changes too and, in a well led organization, changes are negotiated and discussed and not handed down from the mount. This type of behavior is, sadly, not uncommon. Good employers value their people and treat them like they are valued. Bad employers treat them like a commodity that is easily replaced.

Is it the employment landscape? Probably but not always. It is a tough market in some places and really good jobs are hard to come by. If an employer leverages that against you it speaks to the quality of the employer.

The question is are you willing to throw yourself on your sword over it? Only you know your situation, your job market, and your negotiating power if any. I think you would be within your rights to refuse such big changes without discussion or compensation. It may cost you your job. So.... you have to decide. it is too easy for a 3rd party to say things like "quit" or "just refuse" when those choices have real world consequences.