Hello, I am a Nurse in the State of West Virginia.
We are currently in the wake of Winter Storm Jonas which has left our hospital in a bind with staffing. I am well aware of the mandation laws currently in action for the state of WV. I understand that a nurse can be mandated to work a 16 hour shift if staffing is needed for the safety of the patients, which I have no problem with and will gladly volunteer in this time of need. However, at our specific facility after a nurse has worked a 16 hour shift, management will not let us leave the building, even if we are not scheduled to work for several days, requiring us to sleep here.
They are at this point threatening us with discipline.
I have just worked a 12 hour shift and am not needed to work an additional 4 hours as my replacement has arrived, they have no use for me. They will not let me leave the hospital even though they have no need for me. They say, "they cannot guarantee that I will make it in for my shift tomorrow night and I am not allowed to leave due to this."
Although extreme, I feel that this is somewhat a hostage situation, lol. I live 5 minutes away from the hospital of which I work, I have even said that I can walk to work of for some reason my 4WD lifted truck cannot make the 2.2 mile trip.
This cannot be legal, refusing a nurse from going home if they are not mandated and are not needed. For instance, a nurse worked her scheduled shift this past Friday and was going to leave at 7pm. They told her she was not needed but she was not allowed to leave.
She isn't scheduled to work again until Monday morning and are forcing her to stay here throughout the weekend? I cannot see how this is legal in anyway, and then on top of forcing us to stay they are intimidating us by throwing termination in our face if we leave.
A snowstorm so bad that essential personnel are being asked to stay at work and work extra? Are you forgetting who you are and what you do? What if you went home and your relief refused to come in ? Or what if the hospital had no one to come in? Who would take of the patient. What if all essential personnel refused to work extra? Firemen, paramedics, doctors, police, electric utility men and snowplow drivers. A bad snowstorm could be considered an emergency. And this happens maybe once a year? There are labor laws about sleep but you need to get over it. Find another profession. If you worked at a retail store you could take several days off.
martyr mary i am not. and the OPs situation is not what you are describing.
Yeah it was especially since they tried really hard not to call us in. It was a projected flood situation. So we had to sit by the phone for twenty cents an hour. I quickly unvolunteered to be on call for that.
That Friday when the snow started there 3 nurses working in pacu. We take patients in rotation. I returned from transferring my last patient of the day to the charge throwing a temper tantrum in the unit. Saying you will have to stay with patient to the crna because "'I am not taking him, I'm leaving". It was 2pm, she was due to work until 7pm. The crna had pulled a chair up to the patients bedside and was monitoring him. The other nurse was at her computer she had already transferred her patient. Our charged nurse told the head nurse "'I'm leaving" and walked out. The head nurse arrived and asked where she was and we said she left. So, I got stuck with her patient and had to stay.We needed 2 nurses and then we could leave early since other surgeries were canceled. There has been no consequence to her action. I know if I had done this I would have been suspended or fired.
This nurse has a history of tantrums and hollering at supervisors with no consequence except maybe a "talking to" when written up by the supervisor.
She has the nerve to try and get friendly and act like nothing happened. I am due an apology and she needs a consequence.
The hospital can't force you to stay if you are not scheduled to work. And the fact that you assured them you would return should have been good enough.
Hello, I am a Nurse in the State of West Virginia.
We are currently in the wake of Winter Storm Jonas which has left our hospital in a bind with staffing. I am well aware of the mandation laws currently in action for the state of WV. I understand that a nurse can be mandated to work a 16 hour shift if staffing is needed for the safety of the patients, which I have no problem with and will gladly volunteer in this time of need. However, at our specific facility after a nurse has worked a 16 hour shift, management will not let us leave the building, even if we are not scheduled to work for several days, requiring us to sleep here.
They are at this point threatening us with discipline.
I have just worked a 12 hour shift and am not needed to work an additional 4 hours as my replacement has arrived, they have no use for me. They will not let me leave the hospital even though they have no need for me. They say, "they cannot gauruntee that I will make it in for my shift tomorrow night and I am not allowed to leave due to this."
Although extreme, I feel that this is somewhat a hostage situation, lol. I live 5 minutes away from the hospital of which I work, I have even said that I can walk to work of for some reason my 4WD lifted truck cannot make the 2.2 mile trip.
This cannot be legal, refusing a nurse from going home if they are not mandated and are not needed. For instance, a nurse worked her scheduled shift this past Friday and was going to leave at 7pm. They told her she was not needed but she was not allowed to leave.
She isn't scheduled to work again until Monday morning and are forcing her to stay here throughout the weekend? I cannot see how this is legal in anyway, and then on top of forcing us to stay they are intimidating us by throwing termination in our face if we leave.
This happens in some places unfortunately and it is not legal. Yale New Haven Hospital in CT did this as well during the big blow of 2013. They forced their nurses to stay in and sleep at the hospital even when they weren't scheduled to work, or they would be threatened with discipline. No one could leave the building. It resulted in a HUGE uproar.
This happens in some places unfortunately and it is not legal. Yale New Haven Hospital in CT did this as well during the big blow of 2013. They forced their nurses to stay in and sleep at the hospital even when they weren't scheduled to work, or they would be threatened with discipline. No one could leave the building. It resulted in a HUGE uproar.
Yes that happens where I live, in snowstorm country, but it is not used lightly. Staff are not told they have to stay x number of days regardless of whether replacements show up or the weather changes. It is a contingency plan and depends on conditions. If the storm blows over, staff are given the all clear to leave if not on duty. Unfortunately, some storms have lasted several days, usually including weekends. That seems to be when mother nature likes to blow a storm our way. Once I was told I was not needed and could leave and I wish I had been mandated to stay as the driving conditions were awful. Then I could not get back the next day. When I was in management I learned another management trick. Staff who call in and say they can't report to work due to weather conditions will not be paid. But if they call in because they are ill, they will be paid. So when I went back to being a staff nurse, I always called in sick in a storm if I was snowed in. Just another management trick to save money because they know they are paying big bucks in overtime. They will do anything to screw their employees.
I gladly would but it's not a hospital. I've been in LTC for 21 years now. It has been a decent place to work though. That 3 day storm I was stuck at work for most of the management team stayed too. The administrator was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for the whole facility when the cook couldn't make it in. It wasn't a gourmet meal by any means, but I was real impressed by him diving in and cooking for 90+ residents. He was even careful to make sure everybody got close to the right diet. I mean nobody was worrying about sodium or diabetic diet restrictions too much, but at least if the resident required puree food or thickened liquids, they got it.
That is an administrator! Too bad it's an LTC. In the military, we are starting to get those "managers" off their rear in order to prevent ulcers. I make my managers get in scrubs when it hits the fan. Some do not like it but I tell them they have no choice. I hate lazy people!
We've had several severe hurricanes i.e. Katrina, Gustav... And the hospital never required anyone to stay. They give you a strong warning that if you don't show up for your shift you WILL be fired, and the hospital provides places to sleep. If you think the storm will hinder you at all you are encouraged to stay.
If they are requiring you to stay, then they should be paying you overtime for it.
duhitsbrielle
30 Posts
Oh hell no lol I would literally laugh out loud if my hospital told me I wasn't allowed to leave hell nope!