Can they force me to do it?

Nurses Safety

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I've been a mother baby nurse since graduation. At my current hospital they have 25+ nurses who work on my shift and 7 of us float to L&D to take care of their antepartum patients. I am completely uncomfortable going there and have addressed the issue with my clinical leader and my unit manager. Their response is that I have to go there despite the fact that I fear losing my license because I am not properly trained to go there and I was never asked to take on the task of being an antepartum RN. The other RNs on the unit do not go to antepartum just the 7 of us. I called HR and was told that the hospital can make us float anywhere if the census requires floaters.

I have no problem floating to the NICU or even going to L&D and being a baby RN or recovering a postpartum patient but going to antepartum and having to read the continuous fetal monitoring strips scares me to death.

3 of my antepartum floating co workers feel the same way I do but it feels like it's us against the world because management and HR won't back us up. Is there anything we can do other than get new jobs elsewhere?

Specializes in NICU.

I am *baffled* that you can be written up for refusing to come in on your night off if you're not on call. I really, really think you need to at least speak to a lawyer, if not hire one. This place is so shady, it's unbelievable. Someone is going to get hurt, and one of you unlucky 7 is going to get thrown under the bus. I consider myself a strong NICU nurse, but if they sent me to antepartum? I'd be a mess. My interpretation of FHR strips would amount to heartbeat/no heartbeat.

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I am *baffled* that you can be written up for refusing to come in on your night off if you're not on call. I really, really think you need to at least speak to a lawyer, if not hire one. This place is so shady, it's unbelievable. Someone is going to get hurt, and one of you unlucky 7 is going to get thrown under the bus. I consider myself a strong NICU nurse, but if they sent me to antepartum? I'd be a mess. My interpretation of FHR strips would amount to heartbeat/no heartbeat.

It was my night to work but she called me 90 minutes before my shift started to tell me that I was floating to L&D and taking care of 2 patients. One of the patients was on continuous monitoring. After I refused, another coworker of mine was told that she had to float to antepartum to take my place yet her assignment consisted of only 1 patient who was not being monitored continuously :rolleyes:

At the meeting my unit manager said that what I did constituted abandonment in her eyes because I abandoned the patients. How is it abandonment if I wasn't even at work, didn't swipe in, and didn't get report? :banghead:

I swear this hospital is very highly ranked in my state and gets very high patient satisfaction scores but if the public knew how the nurses were treated they would be shocked.

I am so frustrated with my clinical leader, my unit manager, and HR I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my job I just don't want to be forced to work in an area I haven't been trained to work in. Is that asking too much?

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Specializes in NICU.

That's not abandonment. It's, at worst, a no-show, or I guess a call-off with inadequate notice, which is a write-uppable offense, but it is absolutely not abandonment. Your sup needs to review your NPA before throwing around heavy words like that.

And no, love, it's not too much to ask. I think someone upthread (or maybe another thread; I'm tired) asked: how has it come to this? Why do we see these threads EVERY DAY? "My boss wants me to do something incredibly, stupidly unsafe, for which I could lose my license (not to mention kill someone), and if I say no I'll lose my job, which is not an option." We are educated professionals. How did we end up in this position? Please, please don't think I'm blaming anyone in this situation; I'm not. But how in the name of Flo do we put a stop to it? I'm a union girl, I'm relatively safe. But I also know that my union is better than most, and that not all unions actually protect their nurses. How have we let our fellow nurses, our sisters and brothers and OURSELVES become so manipulated and beaten down that this is acceptable? How have we allowed people like this manager get this kind of power? This is clearly not someone who gives the slightest fig about patient safety. My unit was 20 patients over census last month, because my unit brings in 70% of the profit for our hospital, so they just keep stuffing in transfers. Why is this okay?

What the hell, you guys?

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Met with my manager today and she wrote me up for refusing to go to L&D to take care of a patient I am not properly trained to take care of. She then informed me that I will not get my yearly bonus and my raise will be cut in half.

Way to treat your employees ________ Hospital.

Get a lawyer. This is really outrageous and you need to stomp them. figuratively, that is. Legally. No violence but do NOT take this kind of monstrous injustice lying down because the next step will be to fire you.

How did she justify this? How can she justify punishing you for being a safe nurse? You must speak up to those who are above her. Remember how English Prime Minister thought he'd throw Czechoslovakia to Hitler and Hitler took it and wanted more. He wanted all of Europe and some of Asia and Africa, too, not to mention the middle East. War followed this "appeasement" process. War, death of millions of people, and the enslavement of even his fellow Germans. Maybe not inconcentration camps but mentally, religiously. You must take a stand or she will do to you what Hitler did to the world.

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Forgot to add that I got a final written warning today at the meeting. Not sure why it was a final one because I have never been disciplined before today.

Oh well, guess managament really doesn't care about their nurses.

Now you're learning. And they can do whatever they want. It's time to get a new job or fight back. No more dealing with this alone. Get a lawyer, involve the state Board, etc. You have no choice. her intent is to fire you. If you spit on the sidewalk or smile crosseyed, she'll fire you.

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It was my night to work but she called me 90 minutes before my shift started to tell me that I was floating to L&D and taking care of 2 patients. One of the patients was on continuous monitoring. After I refused, another coworker of mine was told that she had to float to antepartum to take my place yet her assignment consisted of only 1 patient who was not being monitored continuously :rolleyes:

At the meeting my unit manager said that what I did constituted abandonment in her eyes because I abandoned the patients. How is it abandonment if I wasn't even at work, didn't swipe in, and didn't get report? :banghead:

I swear this hospital is very highly ranked in my state and gets very high patient satisfaction scores but if the public knew how the nurses were treated they would be shocked.

I am so frustrated with my clinical leader, my unit manager, and HR I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my job I just don't want to be forced to work in an area I haven't been trained to work in. Is that asking too much?

You have already lost the job unless you get a lawyer. NOW. And in their eyes, yes, it is asking too much. You see, you are being reasonable and you are standing up for yourself, which, to the bully, which is what your bosses are, is a terrible threat. They want you scared and compliant. bossable. Get it? GET THAT LAWYER, FRIEND. And, no, abandonment requires you to first have accepted the assignment, I believe. Check your state Board website, your state's Nurse Practice Act.

But it doesn't matter what it says there unless you fight back. Wise up, wake up. Get :madface:. don't get careless. Don't give in to fear. Again, GET A LAWYER. If you have malpractice coverage, they can get you a lawyer. It might not be the greatest idea to call them, I'm not sure. But I like what someone above said - an anonymous call to JCAHO and an anonymous call to the hospital's insurer and/or it's attorneys, if you might know who that is.

BTW, you can write out your side of things and have it attached to the write-up. Just write, "SEE ATTACHED" on the write-up.

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Get a lawyer. This is really outrageous and you need to stomp them. figuratively, that is. Legally. No violence but do NOT take this kind of monstrous injustice lying down because the next step will be to fire you.

How did she justify this? How can she justify punishing you for being a safe nurse? You must speak up to those who are above her. Remember how English Prime Minister thought he'd throw Czechoslovakia to Hitler and Hitler took it and wanted more. He wanted all of Europe and some of Asia and Africa, too, not to mention the middle East. War followed this "appeasement" process. War, death of millions of people, and the enslavement of even his fellow Germans. Maybe not inconcentration camps but mentally, religiously. You must take a stand or she will do to you what Hitler did to the world.

She said that by me refusing to take care of the patient and calling in sick that I abandoned the patients (who weren't even patients on MY unit). So then with that reasoning aren't we all abandoning our patients when we call in sick?

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Specializes in NICU.
She said that by me refusing to take care of the patient and calling in sick that I abandoned the patients (who weren't even patients on MY unit). So then with that reasoning aren't we all abandoning our patients when we call in sick?

No. She's wrong, whether because she's an idiot or she's trying to scare you. This is NOT abandonment. Check your Nurse Practice Act for the actual definition, but usually abandonment requires that you be in the building, on the clock, and have taken responsibility for the patients by accepting the assignment (i.e., taken report) and THEN left without ensuring coverage.

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I agree with the above posts that you are in a position where your job and your license are on the line. This is unsafe practice and it is a losing battle you would be fighting to continue to work for a unit that floats you where you do not have the training to practice safely and could possibly make a mistake that would be of negative consequence to the patient. Your manager sounds like a bully and this write up she is giving you for abadonement (which this is not, you did not receive report nor were you clocked in) is the formal process by which she is going by to terminate you. She is just trying to manipulate things to make it look like you are a problem employee and she needs something in writing that makes you look bad, negligent, etc prior to a termination. You should add an attachment to the write up and ensure it goes in your file with the write up. After that you should put in your notice for employment and if I were you I would report this to higher ups because it is unsafe practice and needs to be addressed by your facility or even JCAHO.

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