Published Feb 6, 2010
oramar
5,758 Posts
As in how are you getting to and from work? Are you just sleeping over? I am always interested in hearing how people manage.
Phase2Pro
41 Posts
Don't have much of a "story", but last we got our first real snow here since '89 or so. Everything closed down that could. It was amazing. Being from WV, I grew up with snow so I always find it laughable when people make runs on the stores for milk and bread when we almost never see flurries let alone accumulation. But we did get 10 inches last week and the city was pretty much shut down for four days or so.
Virginia Beach, VA
Crux1024
985 Posts
This is one of the few times im glad I live across the street from the hospital. So, thankfully, i have no stories.
I remember back in 2003 though, a lot of people were sleeping in PACU and just worked and worked and worked. One shift on and one shift off.
sharpeimom
2,452 Posts
we are supposed to get between 2"-3" of snow overnight, but it hasn't started yet. we're down in a valley between two mountains and frequently the areas all around us will get double and triple the snow.
my husband grew up in south carolina and his basic reaction to both cold weather and snow is aaruuuuuuuggghhh! whereas mine is, "oh look, it's snowing. isn't it pretty?"
when a bad storm is expected, i just make sure we have enough tp, dog and cat food, bread, grits and milk.
he shops for the occasion as though he were stocking a bomb shelter. i make sure we have foods we can cook over or in the fireplace, cat litter jugs of water to flush the johns with (if necessary), several flashlights with new batteries in them all around, disable the burglar alarm, heat detector, smoke detectors which are all part of the same system because the beeping telling us the electricity is off
is jarringly loud.
we make sure we know where the handheld nonelectric can opener is so we can eat spaghettios, canned fruit, etc. without heating. we also have a few cans of already made tuna salad and ham salad. (the chicken salad version is awful) they come with crackers and with cup-a-soup which is makable with hot tap water and fresh or canned fruit isn't a bad meal.
kathy
shar pei mom:paw::paw:
about 100 miles ne of pittsburgh
TheCommuter, BSN, RN
102 Articles; 27,612 Posts
Well, I'm not in any of the Mid-Atlantic states, but I'm attending school in Oklahoma at the present time. The state has been blasted with snow storms and blizzards multiple times during this bleak winter to the point that the governor has had to declare a state of emergency.
I was scheduled to work on Christmas, but couldn't get to my workplace because the roads were simply too treacherous to get anywhere safely.
jorjaRN
69 Posts
We are expected to get between two and three feet of snow tonight in northwest Virginia...employees are expected to report to work if scheduled by any means possible. Since a lot of the surrounding areas are pretty rural and is in the foothills of the appalachians, and can be really hard to get to, the hospital has volunteers driving heavy duty 4-wheel drive vehicles (farmers, tow truck drivers, etc) driving around picking up hospital employees that can't get out. Even then, there are people who live down dirt roads at the top of moutain roads that simply can't get out.
If you're someone who expects to have difficulty getting to work, the hospital is providing beds, first in the ambulatory care center and outpatient surgery center, and then the PACU, and finally empty rooms on the floors are being held if they can.
When I left at 7am this morning (i'm thankfully NOT working this weekend), the snow had just started, and people who were scheduled to work were arriving to sleep that day in the hospital so they would be there to work tonight/the weekend. People were also getting hotel rooms close to the hospital to make sure that they could make it in.
This is the first time I've worked in a setting where it was such an issue for people to get to work, and I was really impressed to see the lengths people were willing to go to make sure they could get there! I'm hoping things will be clearned out enough for me to get to work Monday night.
Good luck to everyone braving the weather to get to work...stay safe!!
pinkiepie_RN
998 Posts
Getting off of my shift on Friday morning, I helped my manager bring in clothes and stuff so she could spend the weekend at the hospital because she lives a good few hours away from work and wasn't sure she would make it in on Monday.
I'm glad I live less than 2 miles from work and am off until tonight!
Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN
514 Posts
I live in NY n we didn't get anything.
taz628, BSN, RN
90 Posts
Living in and working in a (large) hospital in rural NE Pennsylvania, I've heard that nurse managers will send hospital security in their 4x4 SUVs to pick people up. We were talking about it at work yesterday and some of my co-workers have stories from years past about local ambulances going around to pick up nurses to get them to work. We kinda got jipped in this storm... only 6 inches! I drive an AWD that's really decent in snow, *IF* I had to work this weekend (which I don't!!) I would have no problem getting through this bit of white fluff =P
EMSnut45, BSN, RN, EMT-P
178 Posts
28" here, and my car is burried somewhere in it. Snow drifts are up to my waist. I live on a snow emergency route, but haven't seen any traffic or plows all day. I called the unit, as I am scheduled to work tomorrow day-shift to find out about hospital provided four-wheel drive, but they don't come out this far. So... I was told to enjoy the day off!! I feel bad for all the staff stuck at the hospital, and honestly hope I will be able to relieve them. Hopefully my farmer-neighbor will be able to come help plow me out with his backhoe tonight.
It sure is beautiful, though!!
My little yorkie is pi**ed at the snow gods right now. I never knew a dog could have such an attitude!
angellee15437
6 Posts
I live in Pennsylvania on the border of Maryland and West Virginia. We always get lots of snow. Well I was to be at work this morning at 7am. Needless to say we have 30 inches of snow. My 4 wheel drive truck was buried and would not push the snow. Had to call off at the last minute. I had all the intentions of going to work. But when you live rural and work is 30 mile away it can't be helped. My husband is still trying to plow the driveway at 4pm. I work private duty peds. The mom was not happy that I wasnt coming as she needed to go to work. She to is a nurse. I felt guilty but their are nurses that live alot closer to her than me. It didnt help that she didnt have a night nurse last night, as she called off also. I'm scheduled to work in the morning. I have to make sure i get there. Thats the only thing I hate about nursing. If u work at walmart or the mall your not hurting anyone by calling off!
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,036 Posts
three feet of snow here -- and that was before it started drifting! dh spent four hours trying to shovel out the car . . . he'd get the front end shoveled out, and then there would be drifts over the back. so he shoveled the back out, and when he was finished, there was a six foot drift in front! now you can look out the front door and the cars in the lot are just indistinguishable lumps in the parking lot.
my hospital was sending 4wd vehicles out to pick up nurses, so i asked for a ride and then got my cross country skis out and skiied to the main road, a few miles away. but when i got there, my cell phone rang and it was the charge nurse, saying that poor visibility cancelled the 4wds. so i ended up skiing back home . . . . it's the first time i've ever failed to make it to work because of the weather.
there is snow up to my waist in the back yard, and it's so deep that when the dog (golden retriever) jumped off the deck into it, we couldn't find him. he was flailing around and crying so we eventually did find him and get him back on the deck -- but then he was afraid to leave the deck again. i'm guessing that when he finally can't hold it any longer, he'll go on the deck!