Well, I want to say first that I fully understand that hospitals expect you to be at work no matter what the weather.
I always go. I go for other people. That's why I have a four wheel drive. However, sometimes there is bad timing. Such as major snow that falls heavily and rapidly.
I got up, took a shower, got in the car to go to work. I swept it off the night before, got gas the night before, washed my uniform and had it pressed in case the power went out.
I warmed up the car, went off my driveway...moved about 15 feet and it slid into the yard.
The vehicle would not move.
So for the first time in years...I don't call in sick but maybe once a year. Never for weather.
I have PTO right? Lots of it because I never call in.
Get this...hospital is not allowing me to use my PTO for that day.
Freaking ridiculous. So if anyone else makes an attempt and wrecks. Call the news right after the tow truck. The general public should know that hospitals don't care about the safety of their employees. So this crappie about the fact they do? They can stick it as far as I'm concerned.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
I think the hospitals are in a bad place in this situation. If they make it that easy to call in when there is bad weather, you better believe it that there would be NUMEROUS people exploiting this understanding and caring attitude. And screwing the people waiting to go home in the process.
It's frustrating, I'm sure, but they really have no choice but to be heavy handed about it.
Now I will say that at my hospital, they would have paid to have someone pick you up. That's how badly they need staff to come relieve the personnel who have been up all night (or who have been working all day and would be hard pressed to keep going for another 12 hours).
I do not know if this is true today, at the hospital from which I retired. However, years ago, they had four wheel drive Jeeps, that would pick stranded nurses up at their homes and bring them to work. We were never expected to "book a hotel room," or stay at the hospital as many of the nurses, with whom I worked, had children and could not be away from them for several shifts nor could they afford the high price of the hotels in our area.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
We are expected to come in and stay the night if we think we won't be able to make it in for our shift. And if we miss a shift because of weather, we get written up. So I think not getting to use your PTO is fine. Like a PP said, it's not safe for the people who have already worked 12 hours to have to continue working. It isn't like the blizzard was a huge surprise.
Not all, but most hospitals have per diem staff who live close enough to the hospital to get to work in inclement weather, others have four wheel drive vehicles and bring stranded nurses into work. No one should be expected to stay over night, meaning if you have all ready done a double shift you are away from home for the equivalent of two days. Nurses have families, small children, and cannot be enslaved by hospitals that are located in areas with frequent bad weather and do not make arrangements for these circumstances.
It really depends on what hospital you work at and what the normal weather is. I worked at a hospital on the coast of NC that had a horrible winter storm. We had all signed up to be on the pre-storm, during storm, and post storm teams. I was on the during storm team and came to work the day it started snowing and was expected to stay the entire storm until released. This turned out to be 5 days and 4 nights. We were provided with food, sleeping arrangements, and were paid around the clock. I was also 32 weeks pregnant and loved the idea incase early labor occurred. I had amazing management and we had a great time during the storm. It really varies from place to place.
Oh, for heaven's sake, no one said anything about risking one's life! I'm the first one to advocate taking care of ourselves. What I had a problem with is the conflation of denying pto with a threat to employee safety.
Inpatient and emergency care facilities are going to have policies designed to minimize staffing shortfalls in an emergency. Some employees will be adversely affected by those policies. If you think your employer's policy is unfair, get it changed.
I understand we all choose this career, however, I for one will not risk my life if the storm is that bad and the roads are that treacherous. My family will now and always come first, not my job. I don't know where everyone else lives. But, in my state, it is illegal to work over 16 hours anyway. And, if a 16 hour shift is pulled, there needs to be 8 hours in between the 2 shifts anyway. Regardless of storm or not. It is very frustrating. Managers will claim the something everyone else has posted. "Pack a bag" "Plan to stay" Etc, etc, etc. However, I just recently had a manager call out before the storm hit! It didn't even start snowing until 7pm. I suppose she didn't want to have to stay at work either. Instead of helping her patients and staff, she made sure she'd be home for the weekend. So no, I will try my damnedest. But if I feel it is too hazardous, then no, I will be staying home.
I say, make whatever decision you feel is called for - just don't start whining about not getting paid pto when you are unable to show up in a declared emergency. If that's the facility policy, you should know that going in. If you don't, that's on you.
All I have to say to this is if anyone here is working at a hospital that would have its employees working more than 16 hours for any reason, find a new job. Some people here mentioned the nurse having to work 24 hours because someone didn't show. I am pretty sure that would not happen at any facility. I would hope it is illegal. As far as PTO, I'm on the fence truthfully. It is your time certainly, but I would imagine paying people to not come to work in bad weather would set a dangerous precedent, encouraging people to stay home in bad weather in a way.
Exactly right. Any employer of nurses need your warm licensed body more than you need them. I can drive just fine in the snow, but even supernurse can't leap over all the stuck, stalled, and spun out cars. If I can't get there, I can't get there.... but I'll try like hell! And, deny me my hard-earned PTO, and by God, I'll get my PTO by taking a vacation to find a new job!
Nurses, you get crapped on by employers because you allow it!
I agree somewhat with a proviso. What suggestions do you have to disallow the employers from crapping all over us. I can make one suggestion and that is that nurses support one another. Just reading some of the posts on this site indicates that this support is seriously lacking. Some of the posters make derogatory remarks to other nurses which are quite rude and disrespectful. Management knows all about this divide and conquer strategy. Other professions just sit back and laugh at the disarray of the nursing profession. As long as there are crusty old cats and bats ripping down other nurses we will keep getting crapped on.
I do not know if this is true today, at the hospital from which I retired. However, years ago, they had four wheel drive Jeeps, that would pick stranded nurses up at their homes and bring them to work. We were never expected to "book a hotel room," or stay at the hospital as many of the nurses, with whom I worked, had children and could not be away from them for several shifts nor could they afford the high price of the hotels in our area.
I think those days are gone. Managers don't care about their employees anymore. They don't care if you die trying to get to work. They will just look for a replacement. Sad but true.
CHESSIE
177 Posts
I do not know if this is true today, at the hospital from which I retired. However, years ago, they had four wheel drive Jeeps, that would pick stranded nurses up at their homes and bring them to work. We were never expected to "book a hotel room," or stay at the hospital as many of the nurses, with whom I worked, had children and could not be away from them for several shifts nor could they afford the high price of the hotels in our area.