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.
My boss will come get anyone who needs a ride during bad weather and last year we were talking while she was driving me into work. She said that during a state of emergency an employer can not discipline an employee for missing work. Idk if every state is the same and I know the situation here is different but, I'm sure what they're doing is illegal.
I would certainly call the board of nurses in your state. How do they expect you to take care of your own needs that are necessary to your own health? That is insane. I am so sorry that is happening to you. After I contacted your local board of nurses, I would also seek other employment. I admire your dedication to your patients. Sad when good nurses suffer abuse.
Also in New England, where patients show up for surgery in the middle of blizzards so we never close...
A few years ago I was on call after a shift when a blizzard was predicted. The hospital provided rooms/beds for us on request, but I don't remember it being mandated. I asked to stay because I live far away and didn't want to run into trouble on my way back. I was paid my normal call pay (not a lot) and would have been paid my time-and-a-half call time had we had a case overnight. They also provided a little toiletry kit and clean towels and sheets.
Happily, neither staff nor patients went hungry; one of the cafeteria ladies roomed with me! She had to be at work so early that she came the night before!
ummm... no! I'd leave as many others are recommending. Wow! It's hard enough to get through a long shift like that, then to be told you can't leave? I don't think so!!
I also work in New England and we have a mandate policy if a Code D is called (Disaster Drill). If a Code D is called then those already at work will be mandated to stay. The last big storm we had they did not end up calling a Code D although they probably should as we had 2 feet of snow and there was a state wide driving ban. It really wasn't safe to leave. I ended up staying anyway but the hospital ran out of food because none of the kitchen staff made it in to work. So both the nurses and the patients were hungry. It was bad.
What comes to mind is that most facilities need to have an emergency food supply regardless of whether the kitchen staff makes it to work or not. The nurses should either have a place to store emergency food or have the key to the kitchen since their responsibilities include feeding people. It's a matter of common sense to be prepared for disasters so people don't suffer quite as much.
This did happen once at a place I worked but everyone had to log their time and were paid accordingly...even while sleeping and just hanging out between shifts. I don't know the legality of it and in your case I'd be out the door.
That's crazy! I would leave and let them try to fire me when I show up for work on time for my next scheduled shift. If I'm not on the clock, it's none of their darn business where I am or where I sleep...what are the going to do? Have security do a sleeping bag check every hour? That's it! Nurse (fill in name) snuck out of her sack and went home! They are so fired for coming back to work 12 hours later as scheduled and their replacements were all accounted for when they clocked out...bad nurse! No job for you!
But seriously, I worked in a hospital when hurricanes came what seemed like every other weekend back in 2004/2005. Never once were we forced to sleep over when our replacements arrived. We were offered a place to crash but were not obligated. We were told that if we left we better find a way back in we were scheduled the next day, and we all did.
We have a "disaster" policy/code and it was called Friday at 3 pm. This meant that no one could leave and if you came in, you were staying. We were made aware of this possibility and knew the need to pack clothing, medications, etc.
We were provided places to sleep and free food. We were also getting paid 1.5x around the clock. My unit worked 16 hour shifts with 8 hour "breaks' since Friday. I was SO HAPPY to get home today!
I'm not one for making a scene over every little thing, but this is a hill worthy of dying on. It seems like the only way they could mandate this would be if there was some kind of declared state of emergency where the government got some kind of legal injunction keeping you from leaving.
I thought I'd heard everything.
Actually...... the law states that a nurse can not be mandated to stay for 16 hour shifts etc UNLESS they work for the state. I guess the state considers their RN's chopped liver?
Actually...... the law states that a nurse can not be mandated to stay for 16 hour shifts etc UNLESS they work for the state. I guess the state considers their RN's chopped liver?
Where I work they can make you work 20 hours with 4 hours to sleep. Luckily, we had enough staff and only worked 16's.
I work in MD in the DC burbs. We were not required to stay but strongly encouraged. The hospital provided a place to sleep but toiletries, clean scrubs, linens, and food were on us. The cafeteria stayed open later but we had to pay regular price for food. Thankfully I didnt get mandated. Our weekend crew all showed up before the storm hit and stayed. I live 45 mins away but elected to stay with my parents who live 3 miles away. Staffing didnt become a problem until today as a lot of neighborhood streets are still covered in 3 ft of snow. I volunteered to come in this AM if I was needed but I wasnt. Staff who were working beyond their regular scedule were offered time and a half but working your regular schedule or sleeping at the hospital got ypu nada. At least they let me leave though! I was so grateful to eat my moms home cooking at the end of the day.
lindseylpn
420 Posts
My boss will come get anyone who needs a ride during bad weather and last year we were talking while she was driving me into work. She said that during a state of emergency an employer can not discipline an employee for missing work. Idk if every state is the same and I know the situation here is different but, I'm sure what they're doing is illegal.