The hurricane is slated to arive 2-6 pm on Sunday. THe DON threatened the entire Nursing staff today saying that anyone who does not adhere to the new schedule (coming out tomorrow) will be fired!
Let me tell you what this new schedule entails - ALL nursing staff will come in on Sunday. Those that are scheduled to work Sunday will work. Everyone else will RELAX until their shift comes due (in my case more than 24 hours later).
This LTC locked us in the facility for 48+ hours during and after Hurricane Ivan 10 months ago!
I have 32 years experience as an LPN and I understand what quality of care means to my patients. But I do not like being threatened with my license and I do not like being incarcerated!
More importantly, I do not like the idea that this LTC facility is staying regardless of Dennis being a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. We are less than 1 mile from the Pensacola Bay.
The management and the DON and ADON are threatening the staff. They are putting their patients at RISK.
Then they wonder why people are quitting.
I need that great American dream - health insurance - so I can't quit.
Perhaps you could suggest a "hurricane schedule". Having been in line for over a half dozen hurricanes myself, I can tell you that it makes for much happier employees and staff.
Regardless of the outcome, you have to have people in house during the storm, and people who are able to get in to relieve the staff when the all clear is called. Each year prior to hurricane season our staff signs up for "in house" or "post call" and our schedules will be rearranged accordingly. FIMA money pays for our time in. As a mom with grown kids I prefer to work during the storms and that way I can clean up afterward. Others with small kids and childcare problems prefer to work after, when the allclear has been called and there is some childcare available.
Your DON should contact some of the hospitals on the coast to see how hurricane preparations are made. We take it VERY seriously. Our facility has 4 wheel drive vehicles to get staff in and out as the case may be, so if your car has been hit by a tree or whatever we still can get to and from work.
This is what I thought our facility would be doing last year. I think it's a great plan.
I know working as a nurse, the patient comes first on the job but working in LTC they need to have a good evacuation plan on hand. I enjoy the patients I work with but I am not risking my own life for just a job! Who else agrees? My health and family are the most important things in my life. Jobs can be replaced, not missing body parts or family members!
ok, so if no one stays to work, who cares for the residents who live there? Or helps to evacuate them...
You know, thank God, the nurses who work at our facility have always, for the most part, been there for our patients in times of crisis. Those that don't, no longer work there.
And, we should all keep in mind that we are professionals and the way we handle ourselves in a time of crisis speaks a great deal to our character and directly reflects on our profession.
I became a nurse because in my soul I wanted to help people. I am an ICU nurse and am always the first to offer to work for storms. Partly because I would only pace the floors at home,and partly because I feel safe at the hospital. I consider it an honor and a priviledge to serve mankind and if I die in that effort I have instructed my husband to tell my children that I believed so much in my calling as a nurse that I was willing to give my life to the service of others.
I often believe that we as nurses are our own worst enemies. If you walk into a situation demanding and screaming it will only end in an unresolved conflict. If you speak to others, including managers, as civilized professionals working toward a solution that is best for all of those involved things usually work out.
Bottom line on evacuations is: THERE, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IS NO PLACE TO EVACUATE.
Here in Ohio this past winter we had an ice storm that lasted for 4 days . Some were without electric even longer than that . Our DON , ADON and Administrator came in to work and asked several of us if we would stay . As long as we were working we were paid. Everyone that was there worked together as a TEAM !! Anything that needed to be done was done by who ever saw that it was needed . No one said " That's not MY job ."
I work with some nurses who call off if its raining outside, because they don't like driving in the rain...so I can understand why some managers might be tempted to get a bit heavy handed. But in my experience it backfires on them...their good people go elsewhere and they're stuck with the err...lower quality nurses who can't get another job for various reasons. Some people only respond to subtle threats, unfortunately...and those few give us all a bad name.
I always appreciate my good managers who treat me like the professional I am. I too have always volunteered to come in for disasters (I've shown up for plane crashes etc) and try to make myself available in bad weather if I can...and my managers have greatly appreciated that flexibility. We can catch more flies with honey...
I've also worked in ICU with the tornado sirens drowned out by the tornado swirling around the hospital....with all our ICU patients rolled out of their rooms in a small hallway, manually bagging vents to free up emergency outlets for IV drips, etc. It was a horrible night and I never got any recognition for what we went through, which is kinda sad. Just a 'well done' from the boss would have meant a lot. We had to do all this AND contend with panicstricken family members hovering about.
Another facility I worked agency and a tornado ripped a hole in the building and flooded a ward...we had to scramble and move people to other rooms and double up, etc. That facility sent me a personal thank you...a nice gesture. :)
I used to work in a LTC facility and with a hurricane coming...duh....don't you evacute???
I live in the midwest... so,,,,,
Then, an anonymous call to the ombudsman may be a good idea???
also, the Board of Nursing may be interested in this type of thing...working overtime?? Is this something the state will allow...????
Lots of ifs here???
and to be locked in....???
wow...
good luck...hope all has worked out..
QUOTE=pensacola_LPN]:angryfire
The hurricane is slated to arive 2-6 pm on Sunday. THe DON threatened the entire Nursing staff today saying that anyone who does not adhere to the new schedule (coming out tomorrow) will be fired!
Let me tell you what this new schedule entails - ALL nursing staff will come in on Sunday. Those that are scheduled to work Sunday will work. Everyone else will RELAX until their shift comes due (in my case more than 24 hours later).
This LTC locked us in the facility for 48+ hours during and after Hurricane Ivan 10 months ago!
I have 32 years experience as an LPN and I understand what quality of care means to my patients. But I do not like being threatened with my license and I do not like being incarcerated!
More importantly, I do not like the idea that this LTC facility is staying regardless of Dennis being a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. We are less than 1 mile from the Pensacola Bay.
The management and the DON and ADON are threatening the staff. They are putting their patients at RISK.
Then they wonder why people are quitting.
I need that great American dream - health insurance - so I can't quit.
I agree we are professionals and we know we may be facing crises when we chose this field. That is why it is imperative that management have in place good plans for such events. I agree with the poster that said most of us are happy to help out when we are approached in a respectful manner and treated with respect. I have worked in 3LTC facilities and only one of them had a good plan for crises. At the beginning of tornado season volunteers were inlisted to come in and stay when necessary same for snow storm season. There was always enough volunteers as they knew they would be fed well, have a place to sleep and be paid full wages while there. It was NEVER a problem. I went in more than once because I lived the closest also took call more than once. A thank you and being treated well goes along way.
The hurricane is slated to arive 2-6 pm on Sunday. THe DON threatened the entire Nursing staff today saying that anyone who does not adhere to the new schedule (coming out tomorrow) will be fired!
Let me tell you what this new schedule entails - ALL nursing staff will come in on Sunday. Those that are scheduled to work Sunday will work. Everyone else will RELAX until their shift comes due (in my case more than 24 hours later).
This LTC locked us in the facility for 48+ hours during and after Hurricane Ivan 10 months ago!
I have 32 years experience as an LPN and I understand what quality of care means to my patients. But I do not like being threatened with my license and I do not like being incarcerated!
More importantly, I do not like the idea that this LTC facility is staying regardless of Dennis being a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. We are less than 1 mile from the Pensacola Bay.
The management and the DON and ADON are threatening the staff. They are putting their patients at RISK.
Then they wonder why people are quitting.
I need that great American dream - health insurance - so I can't quit.
Managed LTCs throughout the state of Florida for 25 years. So many hurricanes, so little time. I have NEVER heard of mandatory incarceration, as you so aptly put it. LTC facilities are required to develop, post, distribute and make available to state inspectors their disaster plan manuals. The intent was probably good, but the management there REALLY needs some management training. Emergency staffing, who, what, why, when,where should have been arranged for and communicated long before the threat of a storm.
You know, thank God, the nurses who work at our facility have always, for the most part, been there for our patients in times of crisis. Those that don't, no longer work there.
And, we should all keep in mind that we are professionals and the way we handle ourselves in a time of crisis speaks a great deal to our character and directly reflects on our profession.
I became a nurse because in my soul I wanted to help people. I am an ICU nurse and am always the first to offer to work for storms. Partly because I would only pace the floors at home,and partly because I feel safe at the hospital. I consider it an honor and a priviledge to serve mankind and if I die in that effort I have instructed my husband to tell my children that I believed so much in my calling as a nurse that I was willing to give my life to the service of others.
I often believe that we as nurses are our own worst enemies. If you walk into a situation demanding and screaming it will only end in an unresolved conflict. If you speak to others, including managers, as civilized professionals working toward a solution that is best for all of those involved things usually work out.
Bottom line on evacuations is: THERE, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IS NO PLACE TO EVACUATE.
So, what does that say for our profession?
With all due respect, if your job means that much more to you than your husband or children, well.....
You're not someone's slave. You're a licensed professional! I would report them to the board of nursing, the state, and find out which workers laws they are voilating -- for this doesn't sound legal at all!
Also, if they fire you, you're entitled to unemployment pay until you find another job. I would either let them fire me or quit -- but I would not remain in a relationship with employers like that.
.thumb.jpg.6eeb2c01c27cfd151d706238b7f6d6b7.jpg){kind=small}
UM Review RN, ASN, RN
1 Article; 5,163 Posts
This is what I thought our facility would be doing last year. I think it's a great plan.