Internal Disaster to cover staffing shortage

Nurses General Nursing

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  • by malinne
    Specializes in OR, Med/Surg, Renal, Oncology.

Last night our Administrator almost declared an internal disaster to get additional staff inhouse to care for patients. I think that's going a bit too far to provide staffing when they could just be saying "No" to elective admissions to lighten the load. I know they don't want to lose the revenue, but nurses are getting tired of all the overtime--this would be the final straw!

We never have enough staff to cover critical care, cardiac areas or to provide one-on-one sitters for confused or detained patients. I don't want declaring an internal disaster to become their 'quick fix' for every staffing issue.

Has anyone else had this happen?

UM Review RN, ASN, RN

1 Article; 5,163 Posts

Specializes in Utilization Management.

Nope. We just take it on the chin and deal with an extra patient load.

Now if your hospital saw fit to declare enough of an emergency to actually pay the nurses and treat them well, it'd probably be overwhelmed with nurse applications.

pattycakeRN

94 Posts

Specializes in Cardiac x3 years, PACU x1 year.

What happens when they declare an "Internal disaster"? Mandating staff to stay, or what? During the recent "blizzard" in OH, they would call a code gray and that meant the off coming shift was forced to stay until all patient care areas were staffed. Annoying, especially because a week later they said we would not be paid overtime for this (we were, I'm not sure who they were kidding with that crap).

I'm sorry this is happening at your hospital!

oramar

5,758 Posts

Last night our Administrator almost declared an internal disaster to get additional staff inhouse to care for patients. I think that's going a bit too far to provide staffing when they could just be saying "No" to elective admissions to lighten the load. I know they don't want to lose the revenue, but nurses are getting tired of all the overtime--this would be the final straw!

We never have enough staff to cover critical care, cardiac areas or to provide one-on-one sitters for confused or detained patients. I don't want declaring an internal disaster to become their 'quick fix' for every staffing issue.

Has anyone else had this happen?

Do you work in a state that has banned

mandatory overtime? Is this something they are doing to get around mandatory overtime laws?

If they are doing it to circumvent overtime regulations they could still be fined even though they are defining it as a "internal disaster". Those rules put there to make it possible for a hospital to manuver during disaster sound as if they are being abused here.

canoehead, BSN, RN

6,890 Posts

Specializes in ER.

If there is a disaster of any kind it should be all hands on deck, including the managers and admin staff. No reason for us rank and file folks to stay unless we see our manager on the unit putting out fires with us. Next time they try that ask them where the administration team is- that should weed out the real disasters from the others.

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