Clock out by 8am or get reprimanded!!!

Nurses Activism

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To all,

does anyone else get this at their job? I mean, for the most part depending on how your night/day went you would clock out right about on time or a little/waaay past it if you had a grueling shift. BUT!! what if now you receive a memo about all nurses, not just you must clock ou tor are ENCOURAGED to clock out at eight am/pm because accruable OT is too expensive and being busy that shift is not an excuse. TOP that with being told that having not complied with this matter you will get reprimanded. Hell, some nurses I have wokred with started clocking out at 8AM and going back to finish off charting and even report at times just so they wont get written up. Mind you we do have small forms that we can present to state why we are late clocking out etc which in turn has to be approved by the manager and supervisor, but with the staffing issues at our hospital of 3:1 AVERAGE IN ICU and even worse on the floors (we're not union) that has been recently brought forth our clock out times on average has been 30 minutes -1 hour from the set standard. Anyways, just wanted to pose that in the event the hospital fires or forces nurses to clock out on time secondary to an ultimatum is that illegal? this is for the state of NJ.

thanks all:bluecry1:

Specializes in Trauma ICU, Surgical ICU, Medical ICU.

Even on my busiest of days I am always able to clock out before 0800, even when I have 3 pt assignments in the ICU, and I've had some bad ones before! I always keep up with my charting and I delegate or decide what can wait for the next shift. If you are consistently clocking out late then there is a problem. However 90% of our nursing staff is on 12s, and getting OT for staying late doesn't happen. The last hospital I worked at only hired for 12 hour shifts for floors and ICU. I don't see why they don't just do that if its a problem paying all the extra OT.

Specializes in Staff nurse.

I work 8 hour shifts and most of my co-workers work 12s. Sometimes I go over, and I rarely get a lunch; Maybe that is why hospitals went to 12 hour shifts? Coz I have to cram all my work in 8 hours whereas the 12 hour shifts have "more time"...they also have an extra med pass; more treatments; as well as admits.

Some of us just can't handle 12 hour shifts; if we go to that exclusively, I will have to find another position.

Specializes in Addictions, Acute Psychiatry.

idiots need to stop using clocks like factory workers. seems like the crappiest hospitals punch in and out anymore. You need to guage it with your salary. If it's hourly then clock out when you're done and definitely TEAM TOGETHER and form a mini union so to speak. Start talking to others and get phone numbers should people get fired and everyone needs to do the same thing (refuse, comply, etc). If they get stonewalled, they'll go back to the drawing board or have to find all new staff. You MUST be united.

Specializes in Addictions, Acute Psychiatry.
Does your employer know about your diability? There has to be reasonable accomodations for employees who have diabilities that may affect performance.

I've got an undisclosed disability, too. It's all doable if you organize using your own forms to jot notes on before hand. Having said that, a percentage of staff there will also have the same disability so don't sweat it...try to think it through before you're in the thick of it, organize before hand. I used to use a PDA to help me and that went well. Some write meds in theirs.

Still, use OT and if your disability isn't diagnosed then it doesn't exist and it can be 'discovered' later....just punch out when you're done. Period. Every place will have stragglers, investigate and address it. never work for free...those bastards! (and I've been on the other side of it, too)! It's a budget battle and nursing battle...team together formally or informally ans win it!

Specializes in ER, NICU.

A professional nurse does not get intimidated by management making threats.

A professional nurse does not work without pay.

A professional nurse does what she needs to do ON THE CLOCK.

Nursing personnel who cower and bend to intimidation ALLOW management to suck the blood out of nurses.

YOU have a license you must keep, use it. Report illegal labor practices and intimidation.

Specializes in Psych , Peds ,Nicu.
a professional nurse does not get intimidated by management making threats.fine in theory , but in the real world nurses are intimidated .

a professional nurse does not work without pay. many do , doesn't even hold true in other professions , when they have to eat their fees, eg . insurance refuses to reimburse them .

a professional nurse does what she needs to do on the clock.then when the patient load is so great , what are they supposed to do , walk off when their shift ?!

nursing personnel who cower and bend to intimidation allow management to suck the blood out of nurses.nursing personnel who have raised objections all too often are told if you don't like it leave , those who watch others protest individually see those nurse become marked for retribution .

you have a license you must keep, use it. report illegal labor practices and intimidation.

i agree with you that illegal labor practices and intimidation should be reported , however my experience is that individual nurses , are not willing to do so , because of fear of intimidation and fear of how the report may effect their employer ( the employer usually argues , they can't follow law as too expensive , so if they did , they couldn't afford to operate ). even in a unionized enviroment some nurses will moan and moan about a labor practice , but when told that in order to resolve problem a grievance will have to be filled , they balk at completing the process .

I knew a nurse who would clock out and then go back and finish her work....I told her I would NEVER do that - and she shouldn't either. It seemed illegal to me to have someone so intimidated that they would work for "free" - if there is too much work then the mgt needs to look at staffing. Unfortunately mgt is never looking out for the nurses' best interest.

:twocents:

I've been on my first job 3 months, and so far management has been such an ass to me, that I consider myself lucky to "get away with" clocking out and then finishing work if I'm not done by 7am. Maybe later on, when I'm more confident in my work and less scared of management, I'll be more indignant. But on Sunday, one of my pts kept desatting, so I didn't get charting done, and stayed 2 hours to finish up after clocking out. When I saw the nurse manager on the floor while I was doing my illegal charting, I ducked into the supply room to make sure she didn't see me working late, and then either get on to me about being an inefficient employee, or for charting off the clock.

On the bright side, my pt was still alive at the end of shift.

Seriously, though, I'm glad right now just to have a job.

A bit harsh, Jericho. What world are you living in? In a perfect world, yes. But then, in a perfect world, there would be no sick people to begin with, therefore no hospitals, therefore no nurses, professional or otherwise.

Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.
A professional nurse does not get intimidated by management making threats.

A professional nurse does not work without pay.

A professional nurse does what she needs to do ON THE CLOCK.

Nursing personnel who cower and bend to intimidation ALLOW management to suck the blood out of nurses.

YOU have a license you must keep, use it. Report illegal labor practices and intimidation.

Professional nurses who create waves in today's nursing market get fired. Period. If the professional nurse is working for a bad employer and decides to take a stand, she should be prepared to lose her job.

Professional nurses who are working for bad employers should first secure other employment and second worry about any reporting, IMHO.

Specializes in Staff nurse.

Can you imagine the outrage if OR nurses walked out on a surgery that was going "beyond their shift"? Or is there something in their contract that they can stay until their role in the surgery suite is completed? Why do floor nurses have so many restrictions on them concerning overtime when sometimes there just isn't any choice?

I know this thread isn't about nurses or aides who milk the system for all they can...

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
Can you imagine the outrage if OR nurses walked out on a surgery that was going "beyond their shift"? Or is there something in their contract that they can stay until their role in the surgery suite is completed? Why do floor nurses have so many restrictions on them concerning overtime when sometimes there just isn't any choice?

I know this thread isn't about nurses or aides who milk the system for all they can...

Circulating and scrub nurses who work overtime in the OR need to be paid.

That MAY encourage management to schedule realistic numbers of staff.

Especially if it is lucrative elective procedures.

This should NOT be happening every day.

Specializes in Staff nurse.

Exactly, but we are ALL nurses and if our duties for patient care put our charting on the back burner and we need to stay late to chart, we should not feel guilty...and we should get paid. It's part of patient care, after all.

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