Can I Refuse to Work If My Facility Does Not Have Proper Personal Protective Equipment?

Nurses COVID

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Can I Refuse to Work If My Facility Does Not Have Proper Personal Protective Equipment?

The number 1 question that I have been asked during this time of COVID-19 is, “Do I have to work if my facility does not have personal protective equipment?”

Unfortunately, my response is not going to be popular. The truth is that the Oregon State Board of Nursing issued a position statement declaring that, “The Board has determined that nurses cannot refuse a patient care assignment because the organization is following Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division recommendations regarding PPE and other infection control practices rather guidelines of the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." This statement has been updated by the Board to read

"Nurses cannot refuse an assignment solely because the employer is utilizing OHA guidelines rather than WHO or CDC guidelines."

After conversations with other nurse attorneys, I believe that other states feel the same way as does Oregon. They consider a refusal to work to be patient abandonment or job abandonment.

At this difficult time, nurses are the epicenter of this pandemic crisis. You do have a choice. If you believe the facility does not have proper equipment, you can give proper notice and resign. However, if you leave and abandon your job without notice, you can face disciplinary action with the Board.

It is unfortunate that our country was not prepared and placed nurses in these vulnerable positions, but you can decide for yourself what is best for you in protecting yourself and your family as well as your license.

5 minutes ago, Jeffrey James Keely said:

what you all are not considering is the fact that you took an oath to be a Nurse and to assist the physician and patients. By Not going to work you are abandoning your job, your profession, and your Colleagues. What if you became ill and there were no nurses willing to care for you? or your family? The Nurses these days (Millennial's) don't seem to have the same Work or professional ethic that we older Nurses have (Babyboomers) Its too bad! What happened to you all. You all think you are so Entitled and don't really seem to care about your fellow neighbors, or colleagues. If you don't go in, I hope your BRN revokes your license because you don't deserve it.

Nope, didn’t take an “oath”, so try again. Soldiers & cops might take oaths, but along with that oath often come benefits- like 20 year retirement with a defined benefit pension & free lifetime healthcare.

lots of fifty-something cops and soldiers are retired. How many fifty-something nurses are retired?

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I think that the OP statement is wrong. I even found a statement on the Texas board of nursing that quitting a job is not considered patient abandonment. If you are truly concerned about this give a two week notice then call in sick for those two weeks. (But I am also not a legal expert) No way they can prove you aren’t sick. I get that this is hard for some people to hear. I hate the idea of patients going without care also. It is even more scary to think it could happen to me or a family member. However, I also understand the nurse side of this. I don’t want to die, get my family sick, or other patients sick because there was a failure of all levels of government and healthcare systems to protect us properly. So don’t feel bad about choosing your health and life. By choosing to not work without the proper PPE you are also choosing to not spread this disease.

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
On 4/1/2020 at 2:43 PM, DannyBoy8 said:

Another concerning section of the law is as follows;

Other Prohibited Conduct. A nurse licensed by the Board shall not engage in any other conduct that fails to conform to accepted standards of nursing practice or in any behavior that is likely to have an adverse effect upon the health, safety, or welfare of the public.

Does resignation without proper notice constitute conduct that fails to conform to accepted standards or behavior that has adverse effect upon public health?

One could also argue this point the other way. If you work without proper PPE you could then spread the virus around the other pts, staff, the general public etc. (even if just at the grocery etc). This would be "failing to conform to accepted standards of nursing practice...that is likely to have an adverse effect...on the public".

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
4 hours ago, Keely PHN said:

what you all are not considering is the fact that you took an oath to be a Nurse and to assist the physician and patients. By Not going to work you are abandoning your job, your profession, and your Colleagues. What if you became ill and there were no nurses willing to care for you? or your family? The Nurses these days (Millennial's) don't seem to have the same Work or professional ethic that we older Nurses have (Babyboomers) Its too bad! What happened to you all. You all think you are so Entitled and don't really seem to care about your fellow neighbors, or colleagues. If you don't go in, I hope your BRN revokes your license because you don't deserve it.

I am disappointed and sad that you are so judgemental toward your fellow nurses who are put in such bad situations that these decisions must be made. Every individual needs to, and has a right to, do what is best for their own personal situation, and that includes nurses of all ages including millennials (of many I know with excellent work ethics).

Maybe nurses like you (if you are not a beside nurse), and nurse administrators should step up and work the beside since you see no problem there thus freeing up those who do not feel comfortable there.

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6 hours ago, Keely PHN said:

what you all are not considering is the fact that you took an oath to be a Nurse and to assist the physician and patients. By Not going to work you are abandoning your job, your profession, and your Colleagues. What if you became ill and there were no nurses willing to care for you? or your family? The Nurses these days (Millennial's) don't seem to have the same Work or professional ethic that we older Nurses have (Babyboomers) Its too bad! What happened to you all. You all think you are so Entitled and don't really seem to care about your fellow neighbors, or colleagues. If you don't go in, I hope your BRN revokes your license because you don't deserve it.

I took no oath whatsoever to anything or anyone. My first obligation is to myself. You will never pin me on any fictional obligation to martyrdom. If you're so desperate to make a martyr of yourself go into COVID rooms without any PPE. But leave me, my job and my life out of your unrepresentative, unsubstantiated garbage.

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OK boomer. From a (barely) boomer. Get off the generational high horse, it's divisive and unhelpful, and frankly disgraceful.

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Specializes in SCRN.
15 hours ago, Keely PHN said:

what you all are not considering is the fact that you took an oath to be a Nurse and to assist the physician and patients.

What oath?

I even skipped the pinning ceremony, took a test, and they gave me my licence. No oath there.

I am not a millennial or a baby boomer, so there, quit generalizing and go take care some COVID patients. I did yesterday, your turn.

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I am not even working on the front lines. My doctor is ridiculous. I currently have been asked to use a type of what looks like dishwashing gloves to apply bandages, then "disinfect" them with alcohol between pts. We are still doing botox and fillers. When all these supplies could be used on the front lines. He just this week started having staff and pt use masks. Non urgent surgeries still being performed. When we as nurses are angered, it is not over minor issues. And I am so disappointed,that the bad guys win. Money talks, it it has no conscious.

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On 4/7/2020 at 3:09 PM, anonymous-phn-RN said:

what you all are not considering is the fact that you took an oath to be a Nurse and to assist the physician and patients. By Not going to work you are abandoning your job, your profession, and your Colleagues. What if you became ill and there were no nurses willing to care for you? or your family? The Nurses these days (Millennial's) don't seem to have the same Work or professional ethic that we older Nurses have (Babyboomers) Its too bad! What happened to you all. You all think you are so Entitled and don't really seem to care about your fellow neighbors, or colleagues. If you don't go in, I hope your BRN revokes your license because you don't deserve it.

Sounds like you are mixing up being a nurse with serving in a military organization. I am a nurse, not an officer.

The government organization wherein I practice direct patient care nursing is a lockdown and dangerous setting. My organization has no reciprocally permanent agreement with me, as it does with its officers.

What "oath" did you take? Did you get "sworn in" to protect and serve your hospital? I paid for school, got a degree, took a test and have a job. If I dont go to work, I dont have a job. I'm not in the military: I can be fired, laid off, downsized, hours cut...you name it. No "oath" included.

I have non-nursing "co-workers" that took oaths and are sworn to serve local government. They carry tasers and handcuffs, they have employment-issued firearms, they wear bulletproof armor.

It is an entirely different world. They are expected to be prepared for injury or death in the line of duty. From my perspective as a civilian worker within such an organization, it is disrespectful to confuse the responsibility of a nurse to their patients with the sworn duty (oath) of any level of law enforcement! If something goes down, law enforcement are legally bound to endanger themselves to protect the nurse. I've seen it in action.

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On 4/7/2020 at 10:18 PM, Daisy4RN said:

"Maybe nurses like you (if you are not a beside nurse), and nurse administrators should step up and work the beside since you see no problem there thus freeing up those who do not feel comfortable there."

If hospital administrators are demanding that health care professionals work without adequate PPE, then perhaps they should set an example by accompanying doctors and nurses, while wearing whatever PPE is available to the doctors and nurses, while visiting patients who have coronavirus. If they believe the PPE is adequate then they should not have a problem with this.

This is NOT something I would advocate from a strict safety perspective because exposing unnecessary people to the risk is counterproductive but, on the other hand, there is the military adage that a leader does not tell a follower to take a risk the leader will not take himself/herself.

(Does not constitute engineering or OH&S advice.)

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@anonymous-phn-RN The lack of empathy you display really saddens and shocks me. In a time when our nurses are getting sick from lack of PPE and are having to come in contact with their high risk family members, you chose to try to divide people instead of trying to understand the tough circumstances these brave nurses are dealing with. Right now is not the time to put blame on these heroes, but to listen and try to speak up for them. Our voices will be heard. Stay united, not divided.

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Thank you so much to you health care workers for all your efforts...

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