Driver in fatal crash has had her license suspended

londonflo · Aug 31, 2022

On 8/26/2022 at 7:09 PM, JBMmom said:

However, if I refuse overtime and it's my turn to be mandated, even the union says that I will lose my job. So, I work the shift and hope for the best. I hope that 99 times out of a hundred, I will make it home safely and no one else will ever be impacted by my exhaustion.

I don't mean to sound pompous here. I just can't imagine how I would feel if my state of exhaustion led to something happening that would haunt me the rest of my life. Someone previously mentioned nurses learning negotiation skills. That resonates with me. I suggested this to our college after I heard a nurse 'negotiate' an unexpected (aren't they all) patient placement. She was so good at deflecting the admission while exploring an adequate solution. And both parties were satisfied with the solution! I suggested we seriously look at adding a course on negotiation to our nursing curriculum. Frankly, everyone needs to learn to excel at negotiation in our current world. We negotiate something every day..car loans, mortgage, school, family matters, etc. May be someone starting a DNP program would look at how to create content activities to help the nurse negotiate everything that impacts their daily care?

subee, MSN, CRNA · Aug 31, 2022

4 hours ago, londonflo said:

I don't mean to sound pompous here. I just can't imagine how I would feel if my state of exhaustion led to something happening that would haunt me the rest of my life. Someone previously mentioned nurses learning negotiation skills. That resonates with me. I suggested this to our college after I heard a nurse 'negotiate' an unexpected (aren't they all) patient placement. She was so good at deflecting the admission while exploring an adequate solution. And both parties were satisfied with the solution! I suggested we seriously look at adding a course on negotiation to our nursing curriculum. Frankly, everyone needs to learn to excel at negotiation in our current world. We negotiate something every day..car loans, mortgage, school, family matters, etc. May be someone starting a DNP program would look at how to create content activities to help the nurse negotiate everything that impacts their daily care?

This women's psych history indicates that she shouldn't have even had a Texas license which wouldn't have placed her in California. I don't understand why Texas allowed this nurse to work. Failures in several systems here.

londonflo · Sep 2, 2022

Here is a Youtube video that explains a lot more of what happened in the case.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Sep 2, 2022

So many chances to stop this woman: If she were sick enough to be institutionalized against her will, why would any BON allow this woman to become a traveler or work in any situation where she wasn't monitored? When I was facilitating a support group for nurse addicts, so many travelers didn't get caught until they were stealing drugs directly under peoples' noses. This was after employers had let them go without reporting them to the BON. Even in my own job, I once had to threaten the supervisor with "If you don't report this person to the board, I will, and it won't look very good for you that someone caught on camera diverting from the pyxis was allowed to work elsewhere." 13 accidents and still allowed to drive? The admitting psychiatric hospital, the family and the state of Texas all contributed to the death of these 5 people at that intersection.

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Sep 2, 2022

On 8/31/2022 at 11:36 AM, londonflo said:

I don't mean to sound pompous here. I just can't imagine how I would feel if my state of exhaustion led to something happening that would haunt me the rest of my life. Someone previously mentioned nurses learning negotiation skills.

And I don't mean to sound as though I'm willing to accept that I could ever injure someone else and just take it in stride. It would be absolutely devastating if such a thing ever were to happen. My point was that in my place of employment, not staying for mandated overtime means you lose your job. No negotiating, no questions asked, it's written right in our contracts as negotiated and accepted by our union. And lately, it's how our hospital runs staffing. I can't think of a recent shift where of the 30 or so inpatient nurses on any given shift there haven't been at least 1 or 2 nurses on mandated overtime. It's a fact of our work environment due to current staffing. We all hope that someday it will be better, but not sure when that's going to happen.

londonflo · Sep 2, 2022

2 hours ago, JBMmom said:

I can't think of a recent shift where of the 30 or so inpatient nurses on any given shift there haven't been at least 1 or 2 nurses on mandated overtime.

Are you mandated to stay on after a 12 hour shift? For how long?

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Sep 3, 2022

Yes, we are mandated after 8 or 12 hour shifts for up to 16 consecutive hours.

At the hospital where I am not a staff nurse, they can be mandated for any four hour part of the next 12 hour shift. So if you work 7a-7p, you can be mandated for 7-11p, 11p-3a or 3a-7a. Even if you have to work 7a-7p the next day. That's even worse in my opinion, especially if you get the middle four hours of the next shift- not enough time to get any good sleep. And again, refusing can get them fired.

allnurses Guide · Sep 3, 2022

12 hours ago, JBMmom said:

Yes, we are mandated after 8 or 12 hour shifts for up to 16 consecutive hours.

At the hospital where I am not a staff nurse, they can be mandated for any four hour part of the next 12 hour shift. So if you work 7a-7p, you can be mandated for 7-11p, 11p-3a or 3a-7a. Even if you have to work 7a-7p the next day. That's even worse in my opinion, especially if you get the middle four hours of the next shift- not enough time to get any good sleep. And again, refusing can get them fired.

Sounds like the nurses where you work should go to their union and ask for change when the current contract comes up for renewal.

Hppy

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Sep 3, 2022

15 hours ago, JBMmom said:

Yes, we are mandated after 8 or 12 hour shifts for up to 16 consecutive hours.

At the hospital where I am not a staff nurse, they can be mandated for any four hour part of the next 12 hour shift. So if you work 7a-7p, you can be mandated for 7-11p, 11p-3a or 3a-7a. Even if you have to work 7a-7p the next day. That's even worse in my opinion, especially if you get the middle four hours of the next shift- not enough time to get any good sleep. And again, refusing can get them fired.

Say what? That's so not OK. If I worked someplace that thought mandating a split shift was an acceptable option for covering staffing shortages I'd be creating an even bigger staffing shortage myself by quitting.

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2022

On 9/3/2022 at 12:09 PM, JBMmom said:

Yes, we are mandated after 8 or 12 hour shifts for up to 16 consecutive hours.

At the hospital where I am not a staff nurse, they can be mandated for any four hour part of the next 12 hour shift. So if you work 7a-7p, you can be mandated for 7-11p, 11p-3a or 3a-7a. Even if you have to work 7a-7p the next day. That's even worse in my opinion, especially if you get the middle four hours of the next shift- not enough time to get any good sleep. And again, refusing can get them fired.

America needs better employment laws. ?America needs laws that stop protecting the rights of the upper class while walking all over the rights of the litttle person?

I'm contracted to work 0.94fte, works out til about 37 hours a week.

I am asked to pick up shifts, I have absolutely no obligation to agree. If I can help out I will, or if I want to do some overtime to earn money for something.

None of this 'getting fired because I won't put my health and wellbeing at risk by exhausting myself'