I live near the gulf where evacuating for hurricanes is a possibility around this time. The hospital where I work places nurses on teams. One team is forced to say, the other forced to come back 24 hrs after the hurricane is gone, and the other can come back when regular citizens come back.
My question can they legally do this? I was placed on the team that's forced to stay in the hospital with pts. They'll keep ICU, ER and MY floor open only.
There will be no extra pay, no bonus, just regular pay and time and 1/2 when you're in over time. Expected to sleep in the hospital, in semi-pvt room WITH ANOTHER CO-WORKER!
If the evacuation is mandatory how can they legally tell me to stay and WORK? Can I be fired for leaving?
That situation in Katrina was horrible, but I wouldn't, from my comfy home miles away, judge those poor people dealing with it. I don't know what I'd do if the water was rising and I had bedridden, helpless patients and no way to save them. What a ghastly scene. I am not going to be completely confident I would stay. I hope I would. I don't know. As I've said in other posts, life can be unforgiving. I'm fortunately not on the Board of Nursing and don't have to judge them for it, so I'm not going to.
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
op, you're just plain wrong. if you needed medical care, you'd be very upset if the hospital closed its doors. a hospital is not like a restaurant. it can't just "close its doors". in a disaster there will be a lot of people in great need, and if the facility is there to take their money when times are good, the flip side is, they gotta be there when all hell breaks loose, too.
i also have to wonder about the op's motivation. in her original post her biggest stated concerns were that she was "only" going to get time-and-a-half and not be paid some kind of bonus, and that (god forbid) she would have to share a room with coworkers. she seemed far more concerned about the conditions for herself than about the situation for others. the implication was that if the hospital gave her double or triple pay and gave her her own room, she would be fine with it. it was only later that there were afterthought throw-ins about family, pets, etc. unfortunately, natural disasters don't afford us those kinds of luxuries. you play the hand you're dealt.
i worked with a physician who was on the hurricane katrina response team. they flew into new orleans two days before the storm hit, then stayed for about two weeks afterward. they were basically living at the airport in the baggage claim area. to this day he doesn't talk much about the things he saw and had to deal with. however, he went in voluntarily to help people he didn't know. i hope that i will have that same kind of compassion if i am put in that spot.
I live near the gulf where evacuating for hurricanes is a possibility around this time. The hospital where I work places nurses on teams. One team is forced to say, the other forced to come back 24 hrs after the hurricane is gone, and the other can come back when regular citizens come back.
My question can they legally do this? I was placed on the team that's forced to stay in the hospital with pts. They'll keep ICU, ER and MY floor open only.
There will be no extra pay, no bonus, just regular pay and time and 1/2 when you're in over time. Expected to sleep in the hospital, in semi-pvt room WITH ANOTHER CO-WORKER!
If the evacuation is mandatory how can they legally tell me to stay and WORK? Can I be fired for leaving?
It's taken me a couple of days and many trips back to AN to read through this entire saga, but it's been a fascinating trip.
The one thing that struck me about the OP is that this was not a case of concern for her homebound children or family members or pets. There was no concern that death would be imminent if she stayed during the evacuation. The REAL problem, according to the OP, was that she wanted extra pay and a bonus instead of just the time-and-a-half that would be her due. Along with that, the next chief complaint was that she'd be expected to share a room with a co-worker.
All of the OP's complaints revolve around her 1) inconvenience and 2) inability to get rich off the next natural disaster. I fail to see how she could expect to receive sympathy when these are her issues.
The OP wonders if it's legal to make her stay, when she knew upon hiring that this was the expectation of her continued employment. So no, they can't force her to stay, but they can also fire her immediately upon her failure to comply.
The decision to stay away or go to work in a disaster situation is a wrenching one, not a simple one for the vast majority of us. I don't believe ANY of us has the right to spell out whether someone is 'worthy' of being a nurse if they don't wish to work during the evacuation....nor do I think that the decision to stay automatically makes someone a better nurse or better person--just someone who has needed to make a different choice. I think those who DO trudge on through such a horrific situation are amazing, heroic individuals, no doubt....and I hope to all that's Holy if I ever had to make such a choice, I could live with whatever that choice turned out to be.
One thing I do know is that the LAST thing I'd be concerned about would be whether I'd have to share a room with a co-worker or whether I'd get a bonus after all the dead bodies had been removed.
I also have to wonder about the OP's motivation. In her original post her biggest stated concerns were that she was "only" going to get time-and-a-half and not be paid some kind of bonus, and that (God forbid) she would have to share a room with coworkers. She seemed far more concerned about the conditions for herself than about the situation for others. The implication was that if the hospital gave her double or triple pay and gave her her own room, she would be fine with it. It was only later that there were afterthought throw-ins about family, pets, etc. Unfortunately, natural disasters don't afford us those kinds of luxuries. You play the hand you're dealt.
You must have been posting this as I was writing (and re-writing when I accidentally deleted the danged thing!); we're thinking along the very same lines, I see.
Yes, I also imagine if there was a bonus pay situation and a private room for this hypothetical disaster then the 'mandatory' part would be no problem!
Interesting thread. I am glad I am not in hurricaine country. The worst I have is snow and tornadoes but snow is the most likely culprit. If I get stuck, I get stuck. If I can't get in safely, well that's that.
Interesting thread. I am glad I am not in hurricaine country. The worst I have is snow and tornadoes but snow is the most likely culprit. If I get stuck, I get stuck. If I can't get in safely, well that's that.
I'm in snow country myself (or at least it USED to snow a ton here, lol, but climate seems to be changing....). Iced up roads that are unsafe to drive, and snow that blocks people in their homes and makes it impossible to travel...not the same, of course, as a hurricane that ruins in the extreme.
People do get wind damage, ice damage, snow damage (heavy stuff does make roofs cave in!). But I've never called out because of snow or ice---one time I knew it was going to be a Big 'Un the next day and I'd probably not get home or get home and back for the next shift, so I packed a bag and stayed overnight at the hospital. And I've gotten caught by surprise and had to stay over a day also because of weather....clearly not the same category as a destructive hurricane, but the idea of PLANNING is definitely the same. A plan for if I can't get home for xx period of time. And yes, I have a spouse, and kids, etc.
Thing that ALWAYS irked my buns was when I drove an hour to get to work (on what was normally a 20 minute drive) only to find that a co-worker "couldn't make it out of her driveway/up the hill/down the hill/to the highway" and invariably they lived a helluva lot closer than me! Leaving me, of course, stuck with too many patients while she/he stayed snuggly at home....argh!
Nurses should have a back-up plan, but not every plan works all the time.
Not every plan works all the time, but it does get tiring to hear people using their kids as an excuse to be less of an employee day in, day out. Just today one of our techs didn't get her way this morning and lo and behold, two hours later she had a "child emergency" and had to leave work for the day, leaving one tech for over 30 patients.
No attacks on character here, but I will say that some, including the OP, have apparently not taken sufficient note of the role that hospitals play in the public safety system - even private hospitals. Thus, they are shocked when they find that they may be asked to play a role in public safety.
I suppose in every industry in America (or Canada or anywhere else in the free world) instead of insist on proper treatment of ALL workers, everyone should just decide to accept the status quo or leave. I'm not disputing that her option may very well be "like it or leave it" as things currently stand, but that entire attitude is one that gets little accomplished, as I pointed out. The prevailing attitude of those who were using it was the "toughen up," "grow up," "get over it and deal with it" type, and THAT is what I'm referring to in terms of intellectual laziness.
As I already alluded to in my previous posts, there are industries that expect and require much of the same from their employees (I used my father as an example) but with ample reimbursement for their time, commitment and risks. Time and a half pay along with the other aforementioned conditions is atrocious and only tolerated because the employees have no power to represent themselves here. I find it disgusting that institutions use "abandonment of patients" as a shield for inexplicable treatment of nurses.
I apologize that my character count is too high for you, but issues such as this are not discussed effectively in twitter-speak or bumper sticker messages.
This is all great, Rosie the Riveter. I'll be sitting over here employed. And when I get tired of what I signed up for, I'll be employed somewhere else.
don't want kids. perfectly happy, loving life. too bad you're not happy with that answer! you are no better than me because you have kids, nor vice versa.
I don't fault the OP on her opinion. It is part of the job to have to stay if it's in your contract, but nursing is job. I'm not altruistic and I don't work for free or for slave wages. If staying for a disaster is a part of the job, then I should be payed for my sacrifice, risk and dedication to get there. If I'm at work, I should be payed for every second I'm working or if I have to stay, sleeping. If I'm not getting paid, then that means I'm off the clock and should be free to go home. For those who say they hate those who go into nursing for the money, I say volunteer or donate all your wages to your employer to validate your statement. As much as it costs in time, money, and effort to become a nurse, you know you wouldn't work for free! I believe if a nurse is good at what she does and is competent, her motivation is irrelevant. It's more important for her to be skilled, with a professional demeanor. The only reason you shouldn't be a nurse if it shows you don't like it or if you're harming/killing your patients with incompetence. People need to stay in their lane when it comes to the personal motivations of others.
I could not have said it better. I am so tired of the notion that nurses are selfless heroes, etc. It is a job, and while I am happy to help people, I want to have a life outside the hospital as well. I would not mind staying in the event of a disaster, but I better be paid for every hour I am not free to leave - period. Even if that puts me into crazy overtime and the hospital doesn't want to pay it, they need to.
Piglet08
153 Posts
That situation in Katrina was horrible, but I wouldn't, from my comfy home miles away, judge those poor people dealing with it. I don't know what I'd do if the water was rising and I had bedridden, helpless patients and no way to save them. What a ghastly scene. I am not going to be completely confident I would stay. I hope I would. I don't know. As I've said in other posts, life can be unforgiving. I'm fortunately not on the Board of Nursing and don't have to judge them for it, so I'm not going to.