Forced to stay and work under mandatory evacuation?

Nurses Safety

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Piglet08

153 Posts

from redhead.nurse98: " i'd do the best i could to show up and make arrangements for mom, but if i can't then i can't"

that's right. you try, and if you can't, you can't. that's all. and you don't need to go on about how, say, your mother is your life, and means more to you than any job. goes without saying. and your duty to preserve the life of a loved one who can't do it independently is of course one you can't abandon. but you try to do both.

there's always a chance that plans can fall through, and whatever you set up as your backup plan can fail you. but i was getting the sense that some would not even try, and would not leave the kids. that's a valid choice, but it should be made before you take a job that asks you to leave the kids.

Specializes in Trauma.

The OP lives in a hurricane area. Many forget that hurricanes do not hit in a matter of a few hours or minutes. You are given days notice, sometimes 3+. If someone can foresee it being a problem and can't get their kids or wheelchair bound mom evacuated with 2-3 days notice they have no business taking a job where that can be a requirement.

I believe this is what most are saying.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN

2,066 Posts

Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

I worked in a hospital in suburban Oklahoma City when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed. I was four months out of nursing school. I heard the explosion while I was outside walking my dog (I wasn't due at the hospital for another six hours), and then the phone rang with the call that you hope you never get: My hospital activating the disaster plan and calling in all off-duty personnel. During the entire time we were caring for the wounded, nobody ever said "I have to leave to take care of my child/parent/pet/whatever." We were all there to do a job, and we were staying for however long it took. People showed up who didn't even work for us, just to see what they could do. An off-duty RN from Dallas who was traveling through town and heard the news on her car radio stopped to help. I heard no complaints, just a dedication to duty. When our CEO came through after several hours and said that we were standing down, there was a deflation in the room I cannot describe. That only meant one thing: There was no one left to save.

I grant you, we were not stranded for days like we might have been during a hurricane. However, we were in the heart of tornado alley, and that possibility was always there. About six months after I moved west, an F5 tornado struck the Oklahoma City area and did an untold amount of damage. It destroyed the last apartment complex I lived in, and it narrowly missed my former hospital. I heard the CEO on CNN talking about the kind of cases that were coming through ER.

Being a nurse isn't always convenient. Sometimes we have to work in conditions that most people had rather not bother with. I take pride in doing so, however. Our dedication to serving others is one thing that sets our profession apart.

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Well I mean, suff happens, let's say I don't have kids but I have a mother in a wheelchair at home; I'd do the best I could to show up and make arrangements for mom, but if I can't then I can't, and if I'm disciplined so be it. It would be rather annoying to hear someone wave their mommy flag constantly and straight up say "forget that noise, I won't be there regardless because I've got kids;" however I'm not sure that's the position of most people here. I'm sure they would try to do their job before using their kids as a shield from responsibility.

The problem with making a exception for those who have kids is that so many people have kids and making an exception for them implies that their lives/comfort is worth more than those who don't. It's indirect discrimination and that's wrong.

Bottom line the OP has been given notice of what is expected of her in advance so if she chooses to disagree with the terms of her employment she is free to seek employment elsewhere.

LaughingRN

231 Posts

Specializes in ER.

Before this thread gets used up, I want a last chance to defend my stance.

As a poster that states my child is more important than my job, I feel that the few people who have spoken up and agreed to this sentiment are also being taken out of context.

I invite people to read my original post on page 10.

I clearly said that I would pack my bags gladly in event of a catastrophic snowstorm and the same applies for tornadoes, ice-storms, staying over shift if my replacement doesn't come etc. (no hurricanes here)

My example was related to true "end of civilization" examples. I was trying to point out this topic wasn't a one size fits all.

I actually feel sorry that I brought it up. Discourse without veiled insults seems to becoming very rare around here.

I would no more fault anyone who left work mid shift because they discovered that their spouse got hit by a car and was airlifted to another hospital. Heck, I know that me and my co-workers would take their patients and ask for a 3 word report on absolute emergent info, the rest can be looked up.

I would also do the same for a million people in a million scenarios, and it has nothing to do with kids vs no kids. It has to do with human compassion.

I would never pull a "well you shouldn't have become a nurse if you couldn't anticipate being here no matter what attitude".

Nursing is not the military..that was a weak example at best, a complete apples and oranges example.

This thread is very reminiscent of those where people debate whether nursing is a calling or if it is respectable to take the job for money, security and improvment of living. (for what it's worth, I don't have any qualms about either group)

A more common scenario that I see of people not living up to their duties- are people calling off so they can go up north and camp with their friends, so they can go out to the casino, because they are hungover, because they have their neice's graduation party, because they have no childcare (despite the schedule being posted for 2 months). Leaving the rest of us 4 people short in the ER with census triple of what it normally is, and we each end up with 15 patients.

Can we address this problem? It affects patients more on a day to day basis than any "emergency disaster". People with and without kids call in equally.

With that said, we all live in glass houses........

The only person on this thread that states that they have no interest in fulling their duties they signed up for is the OP, and she doesn't have kids.

The rest has been purely hypothetical musings.

Ruby Vee, BSN

17 Articles; 14,030 Posts

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
the op lives in a hurricane area. many forget that hurricanes do not hit in a matter of a few hours or minutes. you are given days notice, sometimes 3+. if someone can foresee it being a problem and can't get their kids or wheelchair bound mom evacuated with 2-3 days notice they have no business taking a job where that can be a requirement.

i believe this is what most are saying.

i hope this is what most are saying.

i live further north than most hurricanes venture, but i was happy to see that almost none of our staff tried to back out of being at work if they were supposed to be there. i was in the midwest visiting my mother (and had just arrived) when dh called me to say that a hurricane was headed toward my home on the east coast. i turned around and flew back home the next day. every airport along the way was full to overflowing with folks headed away from the hurricane or back home to prepare their homes for the storm. flights were backed up for hours and everyone i encountered was quite cheerful about the mess. it seems that an impending natural disaster brings out the best in most of us.

there are some, though, who probably mean exactly what they're typing. i hope they choose not to take jobs where their presence during a disaster is expected.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN

1 Article; 20,908 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I worked in a hospital in suburban Oklahoma City when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed. I was four months out of nursing school. I heard the explosion while I was outside walking my dog (I wasn't due at the hospital for another six hours), and then the phone rang with the call that you hope you never get: My hospital activating the disaster plan and calling in all off-duty personnel. During the entire time we were caring for the wounded, nobody ever said "I have to leave to take care of my child/parent/pet/whatever." We were all there to do a job, and we were staying for however long it took.

People showed up who didn't even work for us, just to see what they could do. An off-duty RN from Dallas who was traveling through town and heard the news on her car radio stopped to help. I heard no complaints, just a dedication to duty. When our CEO came through after several hours and said that we were standing down, there was a deflation in the room I cannot describe. That only meant one thing: There was no one left to save.

I grant you, we were not stranded for days like we might have been during a hurricane. However, we were in the heart of tornado alley, and that possibility was always there. About six months after I moved west, an F5 tornado struck the Oklahoma City area and did an untold amount of damage. It destroyed the last apartment complex I lived in, and it narrowly missed my former hospital. I heard the CEO on CNN talking about the kind of cases that were coming through ER.

Being a nurse isn't always convenient. Sometimes we have to work in conditions that most people had rather not bother with. I take pride in doing so, however. Our dedication to serving others is one thing that sets our profession apart.

:hug: What a day for a new grad.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
The problem with making a exception for those who have kids is that so many people have kids and making an exception for them implies that their lives/comfort is worth more than those who don't. It's indirect discrimination and that's wrong.

Well as a person who has no kids by choice I agree, I don't like being treated like I should be at their beck and call to do anything because I don't "have anyone at home." Same thing with weekends and holidays. Fortunately I work somewhere that they don't do that.

Ruby Vee, BSN

17 Articles; 14,030 Posts

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
well as a person who has no kids by choice i agree, i don't like being treated like i should be at their beck and call to do anything because i don't "have anyone at home." same thing with weekends and holidays. fortunately i work somewhere that they don't do that.

it won't be too long now before people are working on their holiday schedules, and then we'll see the "kids card" played over having christmas off. very young children can't read the calendar and won't know that santa is "supposed" to come on december 25 instead of the 27th, and older kids are old enough to learn that "santa's coming on a special day because mommy and daddy have to take care of sick people on december 25." it's not about the kids. it's about the parents.

Piglet08

153 Posts

We now have a comprehensive holiday schedule on a three-year rotation. It includes Super Bowl Sunday, Halloween, thanksgiving eve, easter eve, etc. Any "holiday" that is hard to staff. We know three years running which shifts we're going to be on. We're free to trade if we can find someone to do so with.

Not too many holidays I care about. I do love fireworks, tho. ( I was ever so lucky that I was on call 4th of July and got to see them with fam, and then my phone buzzed that they needed me and I skittered on in. Perfect timing.) The feasting events can be rescheduled. And as you said, little kids don't know and bigger kids can learn there are ways the whole world isn't about them.

Specializes in Trauma.
And as you said, little kids don't know and bigger kids can learn there are ways the whole world isn't about them.

Yep, little kids don't know what the date is and older kids are only interested in the toys. They don't give a flip if mom or dad is there. When they get old enough to care if mom or dad is there they have already figured out the Santa thing anyway.

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Yep, little kids don't know what the date is and older kids are only interested in the toys. They don't give a flip if mom or dad is there. When they get old enough to care if mom or dad is there they have already figured out the Santa thing anyway.

Also I think most little kids would be receptive to Santa coming early JUST for them. When I was a kid for the some reason the tree would be put up on Dec 1st and presents would arrive in shifts because Santas sleigh was too small to bring them all at once. Also when we were good Santa would call and say we could pick out a present to open. It was my parents way of spreading out that magical perfect behavior card that Santa represented.

Having said that I don't celebrate any of the holidays and prefer to work on them because a)I like the OT and b) Nothing is open so I can't shop or eat out anyways.

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