I am a full time nurse 3p-11p. Our 11-7 nurse is out on DBL. The charge nurse told me she will file Abandonment charges against my license If I don't pick up some of those extra shifts.
Here is the thing...it isn't Abandonment because they knew of those absences in a reasonable time frame to find appropriate coverage. We even have contract nurses available.
What can I do about all of this?
And she didn't even ask me to pick up the shift. She threatened me with mandation, and when I informed her she could not legally mandate me she immediately told me she would file abandonment charges against my licence.
Ohio LPN, not being uncommon does not mean that it is legal or acceptable. We used to have slavery, segregation, and apartheid in this world and they were not uncommon either. So please don't bring up such arguments, "that it is not uncommon in LTC" which tantamount to agreement if not endorsement.
While this sucks big time, short staffing tends to pull the team together to close the gaps and get the job done. Perhaps the other two shifts could split the short shift, work 12s, and rotate which person draws the short straw for that. 12s are at least bearable, and it would be a more fair way to get it done.
It only pulls the team together for a short duration of time; some team members aren't on board and won't help, the others simply get burnt out. Mandation as a means to fill shifts is a recipe for disaster and losing more employees!
Make sure you familiarize yourself with your rights. Do you have a union? If so, What is their stance on mandated overtime? Document these interactions and the fact that you are being bullied by your supervisor.
You can not abandon patients that are not assigned to you for care. The one thing I would abandon is your job! Just read your own post- " she threatened me..."
Sounds like a work environment that is desperate and poor communication. Your feeling, by your own account threatened.
Specializes in SNF, Home Health & Hospice, L&D, Peds.
CosmoRN77 said:
legal consultations are usually free and your a nurse you should be able to Pay for a lawyer. And if u can't then maybe you SHOULD pick up that extra shift
That would be "you're a nurse" and that doesn't mean he/she can afford an attorney
In that instance or any instance when you are working short staffed and call for help and get no response, I encourage you to write a safety report. "Unsafe staffing ratios" this is only for your protection, they can not be thrown away or photo copied, but write in your own calendar with a star or something what days you filled out a report. It is prof that you were short staffed, you asked for more help and non way supplied. Subjective- who you spoke with. Times and make sure that you are clear that you do not feel safe practicing with this patient load. This will keep everyone honest about the facts.
I was in this very type of situation and I filled out a form everyday. I watched them throw the book at a nurse who worked under terrible conditions and an error was made on an order and a patient did not get their antibiotics due to the nurse not consigning and administering med. the patient became septic and died. They threw her under the bus, "they office was not aware of the staffing issues" it's sad.
Your charge nurse maybe getting the heat for staffing issues too- he/she may have also been told that if she/he can not fill the holes then it would be up to her/him to fill them? It usually rolls down hill. If there is not coverage and no one is willing to stay, then management is supposed to come in. This is when time and a half or bonus shifts come into play, if you have worked your allotted time, it is illegal to force you to stay. I agree with the rest of the nurses and know your state law, speak to a union rep (if you have one) keep an extra copy of your schedule too, I have seen NM change people day of work and say that you might have an old schedule.
know your rights
cover your self- kept notes and names and times
respectfully decline to work other then your hired required shifts.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Here.I.Stand said:
The thing is, this isn't her relief getting into an MVC on the way to work, creating a situation where she has no relief.
The noc nurse is on leave. Her absence was foreknown. This is a failure to plan on management's part -- not an emergency on the OP's part.
I agree with you, and I stated such in my first post. I said that it is a dick move on the part of management to require their existing staff to cover the absence, rather than get appropriate staffing.
I'm playing Devil's Advocate and responding to everyone who said "it's not patient abandonment if you haven't taken report on the patients" - in the described scenario, it could technically be patient abandonment (depending on the state's specific laws) because she HAD taken report on those patients. But that doesn't make what management is trying to do any less wrong.
I am not from NY but we have struggled with mandatory assignments and our union recommends if we don't feel safe we need to call our DON and state "I don't feel safe to accept this incoming assignment so I am asking for someone else to come in, I will stay in the building until my relief arrives but I do not feel safe to care for these patients".
That way it cant be considered abandonment but we are putting the burden of the shift on the management.
Vishwamitr
156 Posts
Ohio LPN, not being uncommon does not mean that it is legal or acceptable. We used to have slavery, segregation, and apartheid in this world and they were not uncommon either. So please don't bring up such arguments, "that it is not uncommon in LTC" which tantamount to agreement if not endorsement.