Critical care staffing and mandatory overtime

[mcmars]

I understand that critical care has special staffing circumstances due to the acuity and nurse to patient ratio...but are we the only unit that has this problem???

I love my job and really don't want to work anywhere else...but I love my family more. When I come in and see overtime on the schedule it makes me so angry...and makes me feel so helpless. I have to work...and want to work at a job I love. But my family is number one and I want to spend as little time away from them as possible.

So venting aside...is overtime a problem in the unit that you work in?

[joeyzstj, LPN]

If we had mandatory overtime, everyone would quit. The fact is that the hospital CAN afford to pay you some incentive to work extra. My hospital does doubletime for extra shifts worked. The hospital across the street does a $100 (taxed) cash at the first of the shift and time and a half for the entire shift. Our argument with doubletime is that essentially, to get someone to work in CVICU they have to go through a lengthy training process. In order to get staff quickly, they have to either hire agency staff that have worked in CVICUs, and even in those cases, new employees and agency staff cant take new hearts and the big surgeries, balloon pumps, vads, ect. So, in theory, its easier (and cheaper) for them to pay us doubletime then to pay an agency much more then what it would cost to pay us. The hospital has a new CEO comming in and has said they are stopping doubletime. We have 3 ICU's and all of the employees have gotten together and made a pack to refuse to work extra shifts until they bring back doubletime or some comparable form of compensation. As I said before, I would find another job if I were required to work mandatory overtime. Most of us couldnt do it anyways do to school, other jobs or positions within the hospital or many other reasons, and they know that.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

I agree with Joey. On-call is something that could be used as well.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Do you have a union? I can not be forced to do overtime unless it is a natural disaster. They have to ask if we want to do it and its about time!!!!