Clock out by 8am or get reprimanded!!!

Nurses Activism

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To all,

does anyone else get this at their job? I mean, for the most part depending on how your night/day went you would clock out right about on time or a little/waaay past it if you had a grueling shift. BUT!! what if now you receive a memo about all nurses, not just you must clock ou tor are ENCOURAGED to clock out at eight am/pm because accruable OT is too expensive and being busy that shift is not an excuse. TOP that with being told that having not complied with this matter you will get reprimanded. Hell, some nurses I have wokred with started clocking out at 8AM and going back to finish off charting and even report at times just so they wont get written up. Mind you we do have small forms that we can present to state why we are late clocking out etc which in turn has to be approved by the manager and supervisor, but with the staffing issues at our hospital of 3:1 AVERAGE IN ICU and even worse on the floors (we're not union) that has been recently brought forth our clock out times on average has been 30 minutes -1 hour from the set standard. Anyways, just wanted to pose that in the event the hospital fires or forces nurses to clock out on time secondary to an ultimatum is that illegal? this is for the state of NJ.

thanks all:bluecry1:

Specializes in Psych , Peds ,Nicu.

dialysis12041999 whilst it is true there are some nurses , that no matter how long there shift was , would never get there work done on time ,they are a minority .

Whilst from the number of threads there are related to overloaded assignments , it is a normal practice to staff to the bare bones , giving no room for the patient crashes that are occuring more frequently , due to the ever increasing acuity of patients . In the past there was some leeway in the assignments enabling the bed side nurses to absorb the deteriorating patient .Now d/t higher acuity ,there is a higher risk of patient deterioration and greater probability of it occuring .

Poor staffing leads inevitably to overtime , if floors were staffed adequately , the nurses who are chronically late would stick out like a sore thumb , staff would in this circunstance understand management taking disciplinary action against them . But whilst nurses are being treated almost as indentured labor , by some employers this tardiness is not seen as unacceptable by bedside nurses as they have or will be there at some point

If you clock out and get into an accident at work, you cannot file a workman's compensation claim because you were not "on the clock".

I am also wondering if there is additional liability for late entry charting that is outside of the "clocked" hours that he nurse has.

It is illegal for employees to work off the clock. Nursing positions that are non-supervisory in nature, the hospital isn't even allowed by law to pay you salary, because of the job description, requires them to pay you by the hour....what kind of jobs that a hospital is required to pay hourly vs salary is not determined by the employer but by the US Department of Labor.

Remember a few years ago, they were trying to get all nursing positions EXEMPT from overtime to allow hospitals to pay everyone a salary????....didn't get through Congress.

At my SNF (where I have 41 residents) they have started having "mandatory inservices" or "meetings" at least once a week at the start of my shift. The shift starts at 3pm, and by the time I attend the meeting, get report, and count meds, it's already 3:30-3:45pm. And they question why I am punching out late!

I feel like knocking on their forehead: "Hello? Is anyone in there??"

I'm no lawyer but I am sure this is illegal. You all get together and whup these evil creatures into shape, i.e., UNIONIZE. And do call the state Labor Board. It cannot be legal to REQUIRE

Specializes in Psych , Peds ,Nicu.

The bottom line is that this policy is illegal , the management is trying to bully staff , into acquiescence and accept working off the clock rather than really staffing to acuity and safety .

consider yourself very lucky. about 98% of end-of-shift ot is caused by poor staffing ratios combined with endless charting--which isn't done during the shift due to time constraints..:banghead:

and you probably don't usually get bathroom or meal breaks, either, i'd guess.

Specializes in ER, PCU, ICU.
And you probably don't usually get bathroom or meal breaks, either, I'd guess.

Actually, about 90% of the time, I take an hour for lunch (two combined 15 minute "rest periods" and 30 minute lunch) and use the restroom whenever I need to. Of course if I have a pt going south or am getting an admit, I plan accordingly.

My post turns the topic away from the original post, so I'm not going to press it, but I'm still curious about why all the added time. Am I busy? Most nights, yeah, but other nights there is time where I'm struggling to find things to keep busy with. I'd say that one, sometimes two shift in six, the unit will be very quiet so much that I'll get to crack a book for at least an hour. We sit right outside our pt's room so we can watch monitors and do other things.

Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

It is true that you should never clock out and continue to work,even if is just charting. What employers can do is require you to get an overtime slip signed and if you do not get it signed they can say you did not follow work instructions. That is what they do at my place of employment. Sometimes I can not get anyone to sign it so I just blow it off and do what is best for the patient. I refuse to work for free and I sign out when I am done, It is illegal for anyone to alter your punches or change your timecard without your permission.

Never clock out until you leave. God forbid you get hurt you can't collect WC. You also aren't covered under hospital insurance if you aren't on the clock. Either of these two things occur and the hospital will be lying through their teeth that they never said to clock out and you will have an unnecessary mess on your hands.

My employer hasn't tried this as of yet. I work with great nurses and support staff who are mature and competent professionals. If we can't get out it's because we were totally understaffed which is par for the course. Trust me we would love nothing more than to clock out on time after putting in over 12 hours. I'd gladly forfeit the O/T but it's just not realistic.

Specializes in Staff nurse.

It is rare indeed to have my 30 min. lunch AND two 15 min. breaks in my 8 hour night shift, very rare! It's not my time management, it is life. When the pts. all want their PRN pain and/or nausea meds and they are IVP and I want to get that done so the day shift nurse can get started w/o doing that...

Yes, we are encouraged to clock out no later than 0730. I am sometimes there after 0730 because of being unable to give verbal report because of late staff, interruptions, etc. I now leave the floor at exactly 0730, go out to my car and continue with verbal report by calling from my cell phone. This way I am off the clock, starting my drive home and still completing my duties. If I have had a hectic night and paperwork is not completed I send myself an email outlining the situation. The email is timed, dated and stamped. This way if I am called in for paperwork violations I can show them I made an effort. Of course I always complete essential documention (I&O's, change of status), but the fall risk, skin score and endless repetitive nonsense I will not complete if running behind.

As an oncoming nurse I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting an assignment that I don't get report on until the off going nurse is off the clock and on her way home- no way.

Give me a good old fashioned hard nosed charge nurse any day. There would still be overtime- but good charge nurses know who is goofing off, and put a stop to it.

They also make sure that nurses aren't sitting when others are running. (My biggest peeve-surfing the internet, looking at catalogs, chatting, while the rest of us are taking care of human beings.)

I haven't seen effective charge nurses in years-

There will always be frequent justifiable overtime, due to our line of work, and management will always complain.

And, true- some abuse the system, hurting the rest of us.

Nothing to do but pray you get a good hard nose charge nurse.

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