Do Not Work Off The Clock, Nurses! - Page 3
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Aug 24, '12 by jrwestQuote from kcmylornQuite obvious- we are the ****- ants of the hospital. The rich get richer - and do less, and the poor get poorer- and get dumped on.So true- these CEO's don't work for free, why are we nurses????
Underlings will always be dumped on. That's the way it is, and always will be -
Aug 24, '12 by nguyency77I'm just a CNA, but I see nurses do this a lot at my work. Many of them stay way past 10 o'clock, which is when our evening shift is supposed to end. One nurse told me she stayed til 11:45 to give report and chart!
I thought it was normal and expected, but at a recent staff meeting the managers came down quite hard on us for working off the clock. My facility has 74 beds. On a normal day, our census is about 65-70, give or take a few. We have two nurses. So that's like what... 20-something/30-something patients to one nurse? Ridiculous.
There's this other CNA who works day shift. She's great and always tries to stay and help the evening shift get situated but I usually have to beg her to go home. No sense in working for free, and what if she got hurt?lindarn and Cold Stethoscope like this. -
Aug 24, '12 by blondy2061hHow timely. My unit has been a zoo lately and most days in the last 2 weeks I've been staying a half hour or more past the end of my shift to wrap things up. We don't clock in and out, but rather fill out an OT form if we stay late. I have been doing it because, like you, I firmly believe that management will get the idea that this is acceptable staffing if I don't do it. Tonight I again stayed late when I ended up with a 4 patient assignment that my hospital's own acuity rating system said that each patient should have been part of a 2 patient assignment. With no aid, of course, either. I didn't fill out the form tonight. I didn't want management to think I have been making a habit out of staying late, and actually, just didn't want to deal with more paper work after 13 hours of it.lindarn likes this. -
Aug 24, '12 by redhead_NURSE98!Quote from Cold StethoscopeIn some facilities, if you raise a fuss about it, you will be fired. It's a sad situation. That is one area where a union contract might be of help.
Aaaaaaand then I'll have a retaliation lawsuit on top of the FLSA lawsuit! - Aug 24, '12 by redhead_NURSE98!Quote from lockheart678Seriously. If I started getting pushed for being past the clock, I'd start putting notes in each patient's file: "Unable to chart I&O's due to requirement of clocking out by 19:30." See how they like that one in there during quality review.I must be spoiled where I work. This has never been an issue for me, and if my workplace decided to make it an issue, I'd be gone in a second. Nowhere did I say I'll work for free, and if they don't give me enough time to finish everything I need to do, then that's their problem. It amazes me how much money these hospitals make, yet they'll try to get rid of you over the extra $5 you deserve for completing your work. They're so short staffed, but they'll have all of these meetings to let everyone know the patient comes first. When are they ever going to realize you can't have it both ways?
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Aug 24, '12 by Cold StethoscopeQuote from redhead_NURSE98!As crazy as that sounds — you're right.Seriously. If I started getting pushed for being past the clock, I'd start putting notes in each patient's file: "Unable to chart I&O's due to requirement of clocking out by 19:30." See how they like that one in there during quality review.lindarn and Laura Z. Pam like this. -
Aug 25, '12 by Laura Z. PamQuote from redhead_NURSE98!I think the place would threaten to sue for "patient abandonment" counting on you knuckling under to being bullied. I think if you pushed back with a lawyer, they would most certainly be the ones to loose.Seriously. If I started getting pushed for being past the clock, I'd start putting notes in each patient's file: "Unable to chart I&O's due to requirement of clocking out by 19:30." See how they like that one in there during quality review.lindarn and Cold Stethoscope like this. - Aug 25, '12 by Laura Z. PamAfter working hard for my RN, I worked in a series of situations (ICU stepdown, LTC, many agency jobs) that required giving sub-standard care via understaffing and careless staffing, and underequiping. Once, I was sent back to an agency job that I had worked before and left for these reasons. When I arrived and found it to be unchanged, I refused assignment. Threatened with "abandoning patients", but they never carried through, as I had refused during the first part of report.
After only 4 years, I quit nursing. I would rather work at Starbucks or McDonald's than let some filthy beancounters use my hands to hurt people and other nurses (by being tolerant of these practices). I ran a small ebay business for 11 months.
I am now back at nursing with an arm of a company that staffs fully and is fair to pts and nurses. When they stop doing that, if they stop doing that, I will walk, and not look back.
We nurses are the only line that protects patients from understaffing. Unless you want your family and yourself in an understaffed hospital, prison, nursing home or daycare, WE have to unite to stop this from happening. Its totally up to us. - Asst. Admin
TheCommuter likes this. -
Aug 25, '12 by montecarlo64I advise that if anyone gets a write up for staying over to complete your work to write this directly above your signature: "As a professional nurse (CNA or whatever your title is), I was required to work past my shift due to inadequate staffing (heavy workload, emergent situations, or whatever applies). Failure to have worked over in these conditions would have resulted in patient neglect, safety issues, and potential documentation errors (or whatever applies)." My guess is this write up will then end up in the shred box...We must stick together!! Thank you for this wonderful article!
