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.
Specializes in Med-Surg, OB, ICU, Public Health Nursing.
How does that work--do they pay you to be on call? I really wonder what the DOL would say about it, because it seems like if they call you with the expectation that you WILL come in, that is you being on call.
Union hospital has specific contract langugage. It spells out what call pay is. It is 1/2 your hourly rate and if called in you receive 1 1/2 time. Language varies on whether or not you get shift diff when on call.
ARTICLE 5F. NURSE OVERTIME AND PATIENT SAFETY ACT.§21-5F-1. Legislative findings and purpose.
The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) It is essential that qualified registered nurses and other licensed health care workers providing direct patient care be
available to meet the needs of patients;
(2) Quality patient care is jeopardized by nurses that work unnecessarily long hours in hospitals;
(3) Health care workers, especially nurses, are leaving their profession because of workplace stresses, long work hours and depreciation of their essential role in the delivery of quality, direct patient care;
4) "Taking action against" means discharging; disciplining; threatening; reporting to the board of nursing; discriminating against; or penalizing regarding compensation, terms, conditions, location or privileges of employment.
(5) "Unforeseen emergent situation" means an unusual, unpredictable or unforeseen circumstance such as, but not limited to, an act of terrorism, a disease outbreak, adverse weather conditions or natural disasters. An unforeseen emergent situation does not include situations in which the hospital has reasonable knowledge of increased patient volume or decreased staffing, including, but not limited to, scheduled vacations and scheduled health care worker medical leave.
§21-5F-3. Hospital nursing overtime limitations and requirements.
(b) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section, a nurse may be scheduled for duty or mandated to continue on duty in overtime status in an unforeseen emergent situation that jeopardizes patient safety.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section, a nurse may be required to work overtime to complete a single patient care procedure already in progress, but nothing in this article shall be construed to permit an employer to use a staffing pattern as a means to require a nurse to complete a procedure as a substitute for mandatory overtime.
(e) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply when a collective bargaining agreement is in place between nurses and the hospital which is intended to substitute for the provisions of this article by incorporating a procedure for the hospital to require overtime.
(f) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to voluntary overtime.
(g) In the interest of patient safety, any nurse who works twelve or more consecutive hours, as permitted by this section, shall be allowed at least eight consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the completion of the shift.
Each hospital shall designate an anonymous process for patients and nurses to make staffing complaints related to patient safety.
(h) Each hospital shall post, in one or more conspicuous place or places where notices to employee nurses are customarily posted, a notice in a form approved by the commissioner setting forth a nurse's rights under this article. "
The article goes on to state the hospital could be fined.
The practice of requiring a nurse to stay at place of employment without paying Over Time is against the law. Any hours an employer requires you to be at your employment, they have to pay you for those hours.
The practice of requiring a nurse to work more than 16 hrs in a 24hr period is also against W.Virginia labor law because it puts the patient's care at risk.
Faced a similar situation here in NY last year during a supposed "monster" snowstorm. Huge storm predicted for Saturday/Sunday and I was working on Friday. At 10am, the hospital initiates a Code Disaster and mandates everyone to stay. Not one snowflake had fallen at the time the Disaster was called! Many of us were able to call family and have clothes, meds, etc brought to us, but some were not so lucky. Saturday day shift staff were called and told if they came in and slept over, food and sleeping arrangements would be made for them. By 5 pm, 3/4 of our Saturday day staff had arrived and we were still mandated! All of night staff made it in to work although it had started snowing pretty good by then. We were paid for the time we slept.....on the floor in the cafeteria on blow up mattresses, on stretchers in hallways, on couches in waiting rooms and lounges! No one from administration really made any type of arrangements except for the blow up mattresses, so it was every woman for herself. Food was minimal and awful. Not everyone got a bed or a place to sleep causing hard feelings all around. Saturday day staff who came in and slept over WERE NOT PAID. Entire day shift made it in to work on Saturday and yet we were made to stay till 830 am so the powers that be could figure it all out! I live 1.5 miles from the hospital and they wouldn't let me leave even though I promised to return the next day.... my day off, if they needed me. It was total overkill on the part of administration and cost them TONS of money! I guess someone realized the error of their ways because we got 26" of snow last week and when it started snowing they made an announcement stating no one would be mandated to stay! Money talks, I guess!
Specializes in ER, PACU, Pain Management, OR, Endovascu.
My 2 cents. Do they have security at the exits prohibiting you from leaving? That is illegal. Otherwise the threat of termination? I call the state labor board. Then I leave and come as necessary. If they terminate you my next call would be an attorney. None if it is legal.
What the young lady had described is a far cry from the norm-the facility does have to accomodate her needs; however, I can see what happens if not enough staff to maintain quality of care of its patients-dependent consumers care would be jeopardized; when not enough staff to cover the patient within the facility could rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars verses a staff salary.
Yes there are concerns regarding staff who need their meds. I would be very uncomfortable being forced to stay without my meds and if I had a stroke because I did not get my hypertension meds I would be suing BIG TIME. I don't think they can imperil your health or who know, maybe they can and they just don't care. As one of my now retired friends once said management doesn't care about their staff. They don't even know your name, and if you dropped dead on the job, their response would be "Number One is dead. Get Number Two." The bottom line is all they care about.
A nurse coworker was forced to stay over, he told boss he didn't have his meds with him, boss wouldn't even give him an hour or so to go get his meds and come back. He had a heart attack halfway through the shift.
This is typical behavior to paramedics!! Sounds like the idiocy is throughout the healthcare field with petty people and their petty power!!
Adequate staffing isn't really a petty issue. I'm not saying the OP's employer is right. If they want to keep warm bodies in the hospital, they need to, at the least, provide hygiene items, beds, linens, free food, and the like. They need to pay them at least their base pay, too. But I do understand management's predicament. Adequate staffing is essential.
When you really think about it, what are they supposed to do? They can't pull nurses out of thin air.
For all who said you'd leave anyway and/or resign, you are braver than I am. I would have to stay, but after it was over, I'd be about trying to make sure it didn't happen again - union talks, talks with legislators, or ???
I don't know if this helps, but I'm reading this that you should not be working beyond the 16 hrs and should not be coerced to stay in the hospital afterward. I think the coercion is the operative word here.
Eschell2971, BSN
1 Article; 68 Posts
This sounds weird. I would get informed by calling your WV Board of Nursing and some other sources. Keep us posted.