Monthy doc visits for job excuses

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Okay...not sure of the title, but here is the gist. Alot of staff in my facility have doc excuses that state they are not permitted to work more than 8 hrs per day (24 hr period). Most are due to heath reasons...one nurse was errr, should be say older and had a myriad of heath problems, most are CNAs that have had previous injuries on the job. We have had a problem with mandatory OT and it was becoming rather frequent.

Now...the administration is saying that these excuses must be update monthly by a doc. Just wandering if this is acceptable?

I do not have or need one of these excuses, but heck...I'm thinking that if I was being required to stay OT after busting my butt for 8 hrs every shift.....I might want one.

Discuss

[DaMale Nurse]

Frankly, I think it's a pretty cheap shot at those with real health concerns.

Although I believe there are probably some who will use this just to get out of mandatory overtime I feel that a review of the reason for the limited shifts would be better. For example, if someone has chronic back problems and can't work longer than 8 hours without it causing severe pain issues should not be questioned. But if someone has had a shoulder injury and is currently receiving PT and possibly surgery for that then you should reevaluate the condition periodically.

For the hospital to order a blanket policy like that leads me to believe that the management doesn't believe any of there staff and should really be looking at why your employees feel the need to deceive the management.

It sounds like the typical bottom spiral when management is not empowering the staff. IE Staff feel management don't listen, so they do things there own way. Management jump all over staff for not following procedure. Staff gets bitter and feels they should just work enough not to get fired, then they hate there jobs, then they do everything they can to get out of anything the management says. Anyhoo, got off topic but the point is bad management always leads to staff/management conflict which will ultimately get in the way of patient care.

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

I had a note from my OB to only work 8 hour shifts in the last trimester. Wish I'd done it in my previous pregnancy, it would have been a lot easier. I can understand why someone with health problems would want to work shorter shifts. I'm glad mandatory OT has not made it here yet. Management should really try to work with people on the length of their shifts though and not make people have to get notes.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I think your management is being quite clear about this -- they want to be able to mandate employees to stay beyond their previously scheduled 8-hr. shift.

But if they want to be chasing extra pieces of paper as staff visit their PCPs monthly and submit the required paperwork ... hey, give 'em what they want.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

Just curious

Is this a hospital or a LTC?

What type of health insurance does this facilty provide? It will either become a hardship on the employee to pay for monthly dr. visits to 'reevaluate' their conditions......or if most of the employees are covered by the company health plan - the insurance won't be happy paying for all those visits.

[noc4senuf]

I seethe bigger and main problem is that they "need" the staff to do the overtime in the first place. Why? Do they need to hire more staff, improve retention, raise wages??? If there is so much overtime, that should be addressed since it is proven that more errors are made with staff continually working overtime.

[candida]

the problem is not illness excuses - the problem lies in "mandatory" over time; administration should either hire more staff or limit "services"; to demand that people must work over a 40 hour work week is archaic. it sounds like the work environment in which you and your co-workers are in is highly stressful. technically, i think they (the corporation) want to cover their butts because if a person has a true illness or disability and the corporation took it upon themselves to force the mot upon the worker a suit could be field against them.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Um....yeah...Thanks. That was the point. Madatory OT and how we can keep it up.

This is a LTC (go figure) . The other point I was getting at is paying for the docs visit or fees. I don't have insurance with work (It would be like 600 a month if I worked FT and carried my family) buts still...co pays add up!

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Yeah....as far as the retention...There are quite a few of us that are long-termers, but for the first time in all the ups and downs.....I'm really ready to shake things up.

[noc4senuf]

If I have staff that call in or do not have a position filled, then it is up to one of my managers or myself to work that shift, unless on the the nurses offer to pull the extra shift. There is NO mandatory overtime in my facility. Our turnover rate is average. We have staff that never pull an extra minute of work and others that relish in getting the overtime. Personally i do not like to have anyone working overtime and make sure that my scheduler does everything possible to avoid it as it wreaks havoc on my budget.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

OT is the problem alright. Here, if excuse is demanded to be updated monthly, and many do demand this, several docs just have form excuses, office staff write in reason for limited work and then stamp docs name. Cost is $15.00. Yes, I know this is shady, but so is not hiring adequate staff.