Forced to stay and work under mandatory evacuation?

[squatmunkie_RN]

I live near the gulf where evacuating for hurricanes is a possibility around this time. The hospital where I work places nurses on teams. One team is forced to say, the other forced to come back 24 hrs after the hurricane is gone, and the other can come back when regular citizens come back.

My question can they legally do this? I was placed on the team that's forced to stay in the hospital with pts. They'll keep ICU, ER and MY floor open only.

There will be no extra pay, no bonus, just regular pay and time and 1/2 when you're in over time. Expected to sleep in the hospital, in semi-pvt room WITH ANOTHER CO-WORKER!

If the evacuation is mandatory how can they legally tell me to stay and WORK? Can I be fired for leaving?

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

Before anyone gets too judgmental on those who do not want to stay during an evacuation, I'd suggest they read this blog from a nurse who stayed during Hurricane Katrina.

auryn24: Hurricane Katrina update #1

It's an important read for any of us. Note at the end of the blog she loses her job, health insurance etc for her trouble.

Has this been bumped?

[Good Morning, Gil]

What most people are posting about, hurricanes, snow storms, etc, very few nurses actually have to endure (other than those living in those areas, which is a small number of nurses). Would I do it? Yes, but I don't blame you or think you're "less of a nurse" for not wanting to help during a disaster. If you live in an area that has these often enough, then you may want to consider moving or working in an outpatient clinic, seriously.

There are those nurses that want to help during disasters, and those that prefer not to, but I don't think it makes anyone any "less of a nurse" if they're not into helping in disasters. What matters most is taking care of your patients, providing quality care during your shift, as the OP mentioned. Yes, we're nurses when we're not at work, but we're also hourly employees. It's awesome when people want to go above and beyond, and volunteer for the Red Cross, etc, but to those that want to work their 12 hours and leave, that's okay, too.

However, I must say: should that happen where you're already at work, and there are patients there, then yes, you are obligated to stay, both ethically and legally (d/t patient abandonment, etc). I think some nurses would be better at this than others as some can handle stress better, etc. Maybe hospitals could ask first: "would you be willing to help, etc" to their nurses first, and then mandate the rest to fill in the gaps. I don't know that they can mandate you to come in during a hurricane? One cannot make it into work in one piece during the active part as things are flying around, so I'm assuming your hospital is mandating people to come in once the dust has settled, but things are still in disaster-like state. Really, whoever's regularly scheduled shift it is should be coming into help, but they're going to need extra hands. To me, yes, it is a sacrifice, but the patients and the extra patients that will be coming in need care.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Having to share a room with a coworker really can be risky, not to mention having to ingest hospital food for extended periods of time.

What exactly is your unique skill? Grave digging?

LOL love it.

And I was referring to the nursing skills that we all poses here. Not just myself in general.

[Stephalump]

LOL love it.

And I was referring to the nursing skills that we all poses here. Not just myself in general.

Well, that was anticlimactic. I was expecting something rare and exciting, like cadaver dog handling or deep sea body recovery.

[Hygiene Queen]

Before anyone gets too judgmental on those who do not want to stay during an evacuation, I'd suggest they read this blog from a nurse who stayed during Hurricane Katrina.auryn24: Hurricane Katrina update #1It's an important read for any of us. Note at the end of the blog she loses her job, health insurance etc for her trouble.

Wow...

That was an incredibly fascinating and horrifying read.

I could not imagine...

[OCNRN63, RN]

what piglet said, paco. note the winky face. we sooooo need a sarcasm font though!hehe!

​i'm giving up on sarcasm here.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

​i'm giving up on sarcasm here.

don't do that! it's sometimes my only reason for logging in!

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

i am only on the first page so i assume many posters have replied in a similar way BUT i cant believe some of what i read on here!!!!! this to me is nothing but a job. some of the attitudes are a slap in the face to labor laws and employees' rights!!!if you are stuck at work, that is one thing , forced to come in is another completley. all i can think of is the nurses and drs that were villianfied after they risked thier lives during katrina. no one thought they were heros or thanked them. opposite

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

Here I goI choose not to nitpick the exact points of the OP, but I am going to give my opinion on the generalized point raised.In my area there are no hurricanes, no earthquake fear, no crazy devestating tornadoes.As an ER worker, we have to take enough minimal training through FEMA and Hazmat though, and the areas we most focus on for disaster training is biological, nuclear accidents/disaters, natural epidemics, terrorism.To me this topic is not black and white, as a lot of people are making it.It is a dangerous shade of gray.If we had a "snowmaggedon" coming...I would pack my bags and stay, very happily...I love a good adventure, and I love to help, I would do it without thinking, it's why I'm a nurse...However.If we had a nuclear disaster, and we were doing emergency triage out in the parking lot, leading people through Hazmat tents, and placing "black tags" around their necks....I would leave work and hold my son in my arms, and pray he didn't vomit and I would not see the last 24 hours of his life.I would sacrifice my job for that without thinking.That is the true gray area of this moral question.I am human.As flying Scot said, no patient is worth dying for.No patient is worth more than my son's life

yes , that is it. just like the nurses in katrina saw hundreds die and more left to die for days and days. i have stayed during a big natural disaster in my area . i have volunteered to come in during massive floods and ice and snowstorms. if i thought my own life was on tbe line i might never board the ship and stay home or leave town. if that means being fired and only employeed in made at home Mediaography with that other couple, that is a bridge i would cross when i got there.

[Piglet08]

Anotherone, I am all for employee's rights and don't think we have enough of them. Howevah, the OP took a position knowing the terms and that she either could not or would not oblige, and asks after the fact, once she's agreed to the terms by accepting the position, if those terms are legal. She needs to know that yes, it's legal for them to require that, and she could be fired, and her license could be at risk. It isn't logical or rational for her to take the position if she finds the terms unacceptable.

Our posts are a "slap in the face to labor laws and employee's rights" ? Not so much. Labor laws and employees rights are being slapped, stretched, trampled, and smashed but not by us. However, since we work within this system, we need to know what the laws, such as they are, are. If we have no protection, we need to know that. That doesn't mean we agree with it. Just, we need to know it.

And Katrina showed us that even if we DO respond, and find ourselves in the most ghastly of scenarios in which we have ZERO options and tools in hand, and no way to help people, we might still lose our licenses. Okay, we should know that, too. So we pray to avoid disasters, and maybe step up and advocate more for our profession. Seeing nursing as "just a job" that's over when the shift is over, might work as an individual's viewpoint but not as the viewpoint of the nursing profession. And it only works as an individual's viewpoint if that individual takes care not to accept employment that requires more than that.

And finally, come on, the original objections of insufficient reward and having to share a room, in the face of some disaster striking her community, are just too self-absorbed to resist bashing. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was just venting off the top of her head and isn't really a self-absorbed person. And if some nurse here refuses to take that role in a disaster scenario, I have no argument with that. All I'm sayin' is, if you don't wanna do it, don't take that job. And sorry, you might have to give up some other things you want, too, because maybe other nursing jobs don't pay as well.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

this to me is nothing but a job.

Sad...

[DoGoodThenGo]

Sigh.....yes. They can mandate you to stay for disaster coverage. Historically, nurses are the disaster relief workers. Even though the weather is reeking havoc. Someone still needs to care for the patients that are already in the hospital and the ones that may arrive and need out help....it is what we do.

I had gotten stuck a few times over the years. One was when I was a very new nurse and it was an ice storm. We were stuck for about 36 hours without relief. We cooked meals and took turns sleeping. The patients were the best behaved during those 36 hours. I've had a few double shifts here and there.

The last was a wicked snow storm. We called the day staff at home and asked them to come in early and spend the night for call pay. We had a giant sleep over. The hospital coughed up the cash for pizza. Most Everyone came in with a change or two of clothes. The night crew couldn't get home so we fed them and put them to bed in scrubs. Those that had pets/children/sitter issues we attempted to get home with the police/ambulance/fire/national guard. I went home after -18 hours of preparation when relieved by the other admin on call. It took me almost 6 hours to drive a normal 55 min drive in a 4 wheel vehicle with chains to get back to the hospital. I had to relieve my friend and co-worker from her 16 hour stint managing the 2 hospitals. I got home about a day and a half later. I had not one peep from the staff and this was a union shop that had a reputation at times to be very stubborn.

It is a part of being a nurse. Now I have never been in a "real hurricane" but I have been in a tornado.....although NOTHING like Joplin, what a shift that must have been.......my heart still feels for those people. But I am sure there is something in your employee handbook that you signed talks about disaster relief and mandatory call In's/disaster trees. Even in states that have NO mandatory OT ........the law makes the exception for disaster situations.

Can you be fired? Yes. Any refusal to follow policy of the facility will make you vulnerable to disciplinary action "up to and including termination". Now I too have heard about some of the horror stories post Katrina and other facilities with mandatory disaster relief with single Moms with no one for their children or those folks with animals that have no where to put them and no none to care for them. I have to tell you if I was in that position and I couldn't bring my kids and dog along for their safety and I had NO other alternative and they said no you can bring your kids but not the dog..........I have to tell you I would lose my job for I will not leave my dog. That would be my choice and I would have to suffer the consequences. You want need me? then the dog in a crate and the kids are a package.

Do I personally think badly of someone who has made a decision for themselves that this is NOT what they signed up for and don't come in or they evacuate with the other people? No. It is their personal choice. But they need to understand the consequences of their actions.

OP. I hope you aren't placed in that position but do some soul searching now. :hug: I wish you the best.

Key thing here is to consider one's situation at time of hire and update frequently as life's events unfold.

If you were single and didn't think much of any disaster provisions in the handbook or whatever during orientation, but now find your a parent or have others looking to you such as seniors, the time to speak to management is BEFORE a disaster arrives, not when one is approaching.

A large majority of nurses are women and also wives/mothers. While some may not agree with your positions on disaster duty, theyusually can see your point. OTHO you cannot have your cake and eat it as well. If management decides to cancel your days in advance of say a bad storm or some other event arriving in favour of bringing in someone that has no problems staying, don't cry about lost hours and such.