[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by morte

she should have been able to win that one, you are "at work" while on their property...for this purose....not the prof liab issue

Off the clock = not working = not covered by WC. She lost the appeal.

[MUUGUZI]

Here is my situation r/t this topic. I work in a LTC. I work 3p-11p on the skilled in unit and am the only nurse on that hall. I almost never have time to take any type of break, because I have to take care of any and everything that comes up. If the complete shift goes off without a hitch, I get out at 1-1:30 am. If any incident occurs or something else comes up, I am there for usually another hour.

If I take my 30 minute break, it only prolongs my shift by thirty extra minutes. So I skip it. The nurses are supposed to fill out a "time adjustment" sheet to explain why break wasn't taken if they want paid that thirty minutes.

The problem is that if you write 3 or more of the time adjustment sheets in a three-month period, you receive a write-up. Three write-ups and you are out the door. (The last DON/DNS claimed each of the time adjustment sheets costs 35$ to process).
So the nurse just don't fill out the time adjustment sheets. Effectively saving all kinds of $$ for the company Of course, we never hear about not filling out the time adjustment sheets. And as long as OT is somewhat under contril, the administration remains quiet.

The whole situation sounds illegal.

It fries my egg to think of all the money they save off of the nurses with their devilish ways!

[elizabells]

Yup. We even have to fill out the justification for overtime sheets when the nursing supervisor calls us at home, on our day off, to ask us to come in because the floor is short.

The other day the NM got an overtime slip for EVERY nurse on the floor (28-ish) because one of his stupid staff meetings went until 0745, meaning that not a single noc nurse got out the door until at least 0800.

[ingelein]

What is so wrong about this is that IF staffing were adequate nurses would not be doing so much overtime. That is why I am always ragging on LTC, the GREED of the owners causes us to try to do the job that two nurses used to do years ago. The audacity to actually discipline for trying to do your job properly. THAT is one of the many reasons LTC needs STRONG union presence ,no wimpy ineffectual union will do, we have had that in the past. This situation is only getting worse, but I wonder how much worse CAN it get?

[jack of trades!!]

Your situation sounds like many other nursing homes, do 1 or 2 things either buddy up with another nurse ( a friend) that can help you with some of your extra work on the floor, or leave. It is not the only place to work

[jack of trades!!]

Originally Posted by jack of trades!!

Your situation sounds like many other nursing homes, do 1 or 2 things either buddy up with another nurse ( a friend) that can help you with some of your extra work on the floor, or leave. It is not the only place to work

[Mulan]

Originally Posted by janfrn

In our unit it's common for breaks to be short, interrupted, or missed altogether. The only ones who get paid for missed breaks are the code team... two RNs and an RT. The rest of us may end up missing our breaks because of a code, but that doesn't count. We also put in a lot of extra time at the end of the shift because our reports are given face-to-face at the bedside on patients with multi-system problems, each of which must be given due attention. Although we usually have only one patient, when the oncoming nurse arrives at the bedside at 7:05 and report takes 20 or more minutes to complete to hospital standards, no accommodation is made for the fact that the clock stops at 7:15. When you have two patients, and are giving report to two different nurses, it could be 7:45 by the time you're done. And that doesn't even consider the late/early admission, the critically unstable patient who needs two nurses for a period of time and there's no extra staff coming on, the change-of-shift code (and they happen often enough!)... and on and on. When you fill out an OT slip, it might be weeks before it comes back to you "not approved" with a note attached... you didn't tell the manager/charge nurse in advance that you weren't going to get your break/your patient was going to destabilize/your relief was going to be late/you had two hours of charting from an event in the last hours of the shift... whatever. We are continually getting emails from management reminding us that breaks have to be completed by a defined time and that we're responsible for making sure we get them when we're supposed to. Nothing is ever said to the ones who are habitually late going for or coming back from theirs which makes me late for mine, or the fact that we can't be compelled to take our breaks in the first or last hours of the shift. I often find myself sitting in the break room when the next shift starts rolling in because it was the only way I was going to get a break at all. Makes me so mad!

Until recently OT was such a bad word that we'd work dangerously short for days at a time. Then the professional responsibiblity complaints started piling up and now we have approval to call in OT to fill the gaps to staff us to 16 nurses per shift. If we can get people to come in... That kind of OT is different.

Do you think that maybe you should take all those OT slips and emails
to the Labor Board. I bet you'd get paid all that back pay PDQ.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by MUUGUZI

The nurses are supposed to fill out a "time adjustment" sheet to explain why break wasn't taken if they want paid that thirty minutes.

The problem is that if you write 3 or more of the time adjustment sheets in a three-month period, you receive a write-up. Three write-ups and you are out the door. (The last DON/DNS claimed each of the time adjustment sheets costs 35$ to process).
So the nurse just don't fill out the time adjustment sheets. Effectively saving all kinds of $$ for the company Of course, we never hear about not filling out the time adjustment sheets. And as long as OT is somewhat under contril, the administration remains quiet.

The whole situation sounds illegal.

It fries my egg to think of all the money they save off of the nurses with their devilish ways!

It quite possibly could be illegal; but as long as employees continue to work for free without complaint, they will continue to get away with it.

[MUUGUZI]

Emmanuel Goldstein:

Believe you me!! I have been complaining about it for a while now, but the other nurses basically just accept the situation.
I have yelled, been nice, tried cajoling, and everything else. But the other nurses simply accept the situation.
What really gets me torqued is when we are in the break-room, some nurses just gripe up storm about staffing issues, the time adjustment sheets, and other perpetually on-going (is that redundant?) issues.

But when the DON or ED come in the break room or if we are in a nurses meeting, the other nurses act as if everything is peachy keen, hunky dory, not a care in the world and all is great. Won't say a thing.

GIVE ME FREAKING BREAK!

I am looking for a new job and plan to be gone by the end of January.

If they want to be used like this, that is their perogative. I refuse to be abused any further.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[Aminah]

Nursing is a 24 hr a day job so the employers should know that we have interuptions in our shift to prevent us from completing our task . If you are to take a break take it we are paying for it anyway.Prolong your life stay stree free.