Driving time

[Em1995]

I put in about 3 hours driving time today and saw 6 patients. There was no time to stop for coffee and forget even 10 minutes for lunch. Had I stopped I would never have been done on time.However,when I mention that I put 100 miles a day on my car, my manager tells me I'm complaining. We are paid 44 cents a mile.I am salaried at 32 hours and have a caseload of 10, but have also done admissions this week.Some of my patients are one hour away and others are at the opposite end, so there is LOTS of driving. I am tired, but am told I am the only one who is complaining. Plus, I am on-call tonight, all night until 8:30 am. We are not paid for this and told we get it in comp time.I also have to work tomorrow. Your thoughts?

[mc3, ASN, RN]

Um, it does sound kind of typical, at least where I am. However, your boss being unsympathetic isn't very helpful. Did this explain this all to you when you interviewed?? Our hospice does pay the government reimbursement rate, though.

mc3

[Ginapixi, BSN, RN]

sounds like you work for a "for profit" company - been there - done that! no thanks!! I work for a not for profit hospice now and we get the gov rate for miles as well as hourly pay; YES :they complain about overtime, however, do they want the patients well taken care of or the night nurse to have to go out? I work evenings, I overlap with the day shift as well as the "on call" night nurse and we have a HUGE territory; some days there is a lot to do and i put 200 miles on, some nights I am afraid the phone is not working. any way all employers want to make money, but health care and for profit just is business not care! my opinion;

[NurseAlwaysNForever]

I only get 38 cents a mile. We are salaried 40 hr's per week. My team has 21 patients right now, which is low for us. We get reimbursed 100 dollars a night for call. I over all am happy, and I think all nurses complain to some extent, it is natural. I wouldn't switch jobs for anything, but I get frustrated and do my moaning and groaning. My boss tells me to suck it up, however generally it is in a joking manner.

[finn11707]

eek! sounds like burnout around the corner em1995...how can you continue to love the work? Check out other employers. This work is too important to do the way you describe it. We are also 32 hour case managers with 10 on our caseload--have fought hard to manage our caseload how we feel best--not by numbers of visits per day. We notify managers at the beginning of the day when we feel the day will incur overtime--they have a right to move a patient and say "no overtime". Usually we are asked to try to put a patient off instead. Yes, it is a game. Fewer, lengthier visits are definitely the way to go when a patient is far away. Tell your employer what you are doing to manage your time with these patients. Explore with other staff if "loose territory" assignments would manage time better for everyone. Seek input from other nurses. I bet everyone is giving their overtime time away. It happens a lot. For some reason, we sense that this is deeply meaningful work and we want to put all our energy there-- not fighting with management...everyone must give input to management when receiving another assignment beyond what you can manage or it just won't be meaningful for either you or your patients.

[rnboysmom]

BEWARE, Beware, beware!!! Some states DO NOT RECOGNIZE COMP TIME (check with your state department of labor)(Indiana does not)!!! This means, for example, that if you do 22 hours of on call this week and, say next week, you give notice that you found another job, the department of labor in the state you are living in would not recognize the fact that your employer "owes you" 22 hours of pay. I am betting that I know which company you work for as I also worked for a "for profit" company that made these promises (not that for-profit equals bad company--not implying this at all--every company is different). Another caution, the company itself did not honor the "comp time" it was just that the administrator of the office was very compassionate and had done case management and knew what a sacrifice it was to staff to do on-call, so they did it in the office "under the table". BELIEVE ME-- YOU NEVER, EVER GET YOUR TIME BACK. Maybe a little of it, but never all of it. If the company is offering "comp time" for on-call, is it in writing??!! This is, at last a way to show the labor board if the company does not honor their policies. If it is not in writing, you absolutely have to be okay with being okay if you DO NOT get your time back, because it can start eating at you when your company owes you hundred of hours that you never get back. Sometime, well,sometimes it can just put you in a plain ole' bad mood! .

I agree with Finn above, these types of situations set you up for burnout, and what we do is far too important to be arguing with management every day to be able to do it right. If you do not agree with your company philosophy (literally, the one company that I worked for that I mentioned above, the owner actually stated that hospice nurses have big hearts and should be expected to work on-call for free!) find a company that you are comfortable with. Hospice nurses, especially good ones, are in high demand everywhere!!! Hospice nursing is too strenuous to be unhappy with the company choose to give your talent to!!!!!