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.
I don't care about not being able to use Pto. I M a single mom with animals to care for. To be stuck at work all weekend would cost me in the long run. I so won't risk my or my child's trying to get there. Yes it sucks for those who work long hours to cover my hours, but at least my coworkers are understanding about it all
I worked 40yrs at a general hospital. The same people called out every snow storm..it was predictable. In 40 years I called out 3 times because of weather issues. On the 3rd time I got berated by a supervisor..the snow was over my tires...so I asked if someone could come and get me..when she found out where I lived the answer was no. I stayed home. Now if you do not go in you will get a warning. Yes it is your job to be there and yes administration does not care about you.
Next time just tell them you are sick. You probably will actually be sick just thinking of having to put your life on the line to get to work in those conditions. I have been a supervisor who had to tell staff to try and get in and believe me I did not like it. I had nurses who had gone away and were out of town and the roads were closed and flights cancelled and they still did not get paid because they did not "try" to get to work. C'mon get real. That was when I worked in a hospital. I have worked several years in LTC and never been mandated to stay in a storm or called to come in. They are too cheap to pay the overtime so they work short staffed.
If you said you were sick they'd have paid you, so next time LIE! If you can't get there, you can't get there. In the recent snowstorm in the East, the guys with the Jeeps driving nurses to their jobs MADE THE NATIONAL NEWS, because it is a big deal. Those nurses wouldn't have been there otherwise. I am not a slave to my job, just because I am a nurse.
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.
And how do you suggest one gets it changed. I have never heard of staff nurses being in on policy decision making in 35 plus years of nursing. But then it may be a regional thing and I think you are very fortunate to work somewhere where staff nurses can actually influence such change. Very fortunate. Where do you live? THink I will move there.
Your hospital takes the risk of putting patients and staff in danger of contracting Type A Influenza, that is not a good example of what a "health care facility" should exemplify. What, exactly did they expect you to do, once you came to work? You could not physically care for patients, who would be vulnerable to your flu virus, plus, you had to try to stay away from your coworkers. So, unless you were in a room designed for a contagious patient, you still were a threat to all around you. The philosophy of "coming to work, no matter what the circumstances," is erroneous at best, but more likely very unsafe for all, including yourself, who should have been home in bed, resting and drinking fluids.
Totally agree with you. this sounds like a horrible place to work. I once worked for a nasty woman who was harrassing a nurse for sick time. Guess what. He sued her and the facility for harrassment and retired at age 39 on the proceeds from his lawsuit and the nasty manager was promptly walked to the door and told she was a liability to the facility. Where I work you only get straight time if you are sick on a holiday. I went to work very sick with Influenza A on Xmas because I knew they would never get anyone to work. I ended up needing 2 weeks rather than 2 days off and I wonder how many coworkers I infected.
Flashing your ID badge does not always give you a pass. We had a surprise blizzard on Cape--woke up to 3 feet of snow. Police were telling people to stay home. I lived 1.5 miles away. It was a Saturday and I was the assistant director. The facility called me and begged me to come in. They sent someone to get me. Meanwhile, the director who lived 12 miles away thought she should come in and be of help. She was pulled over by the police and stuck at the station for a day. They didn't care that she was a nurse. The worst part of first day was when the police called me and told me they were shutting down the road into the facility. We had 50mph wind gusts so a tree was blocking the road. I had at least 6 guys who had just been admitted the day before status post CABG...cops said "I hope you don't get too tired if you have to do CPR." I was there for 38 hours straight with very little sleep. We did fine. The DON was finally let out of the police station ---from that day forward her nickname was Jailbird Judie.
That is awesome that they would help you get to work but shame on the police.
Quote rncnyc: "I've been a nurse for probably longer than you've been alive, unless you were born before 1970."
...erm thats not what they said. They said that they have been a nurse since 1970.
Well I think it is time to hang up the stethoscope and kick off the nursing shoes. I sure hope I won't be working into my eighties as this person must be close to being an octagenarian. Good on him/her if he/she can work that long though. They did say something about being born before 1970 in their post, not having graduated from nursing school that year. He/she must have been born in the forties or thirties. Wow, they must have seen and experienced a lot in that time span.
For every job I have gotten, I had to sign an offer letter of acceptance, and go through orientation and sign off on the policy and procedure book, I not sure why everyone is so surprised,Some jobs require working any day or shifts, others job don't.
If you choose to work in a job that requires 24/7, then it is your choice, if you do not like that requirement then don't choose to work in that area of patient care.
That's the great thing about a nursing licence, it allows you to work in many different area's. It is your choice to make.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
For every job I have gotten, I had to sign an offer letter of acceptance, and go through orientation and sign off on the policy and procedure book, I not sure why everyone is so surprised,Some jobs require working any day or shifts, others job don't.
If you choose to work in a job that requires 24/7, then it is your choice, if you do not like that requirement then don't choose to work in that area of patient care.
That's the great thing about a nursing licence, it allows you to work in many different area's. It is your choice to make.
No position, in any company, and certainly not a position in a health care facility should want someone who has tested positive for a communicable illness to come to work. This would put vulnerable patients, as well as their coworkers at risk for contracting that illness.
WorseNurse
83 Posts
I hate it when my coworkers act like it is ridiculous that they be expected to come in during bad weather. People still need to be taken care of.
I do think it is shady to deny you PTO though.