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Nurses General Nursing

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Hello All, I am hoping that this does not border on legal advice.... I am currently working in a nursing home in Wisconsin. Currently on day shift right this minute. I was told at one point that our facility is not a mandated stay facility. We currently have a call in for PM shift tonight. Me and the two other nurses can't stay. I have called all of our nurses and med techs and am getting either a "no" or a voicemail. We are being told by management that one of us has to stay if no one can come in. Tonight is one med tech and a nurse. Management will not come in to cover. Do we have any recourse with this issue?

Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

So sorry this happened to you. I would be wanting an explanation as to why supervisors could not come in especially since you have finished your shift. I would also want to know what the policy is if this happens again. If 6they could not bring you one or let you know this is it then you have 2 options 1 stay and more than likely live through that again or move to another facility.

Now a shout out to your supervisors...your management skills need improvement. You are suppose to take care of the troops so to speak, if you do this they will take care of you. This is why management gets paid the big bucks. I hope you did not have to come back the next day after working 16 hours at the least.

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.

I'm not sure if this old information (I am old) a state by state thing, or not ... this happened to me about 20 years ago when I the unlucky recipient of being the charge nurse who also had 2 ICU patients (that was the way our unit did it). We had a night call in and the unit manager marched up to me at 1500 to inform me I was doing a double shift (24 hrs total - We had been going through a unit manager about every 3 months at that point). I sat in stunned silence seething.

I thought about it for about 15 minutes, then walked over to her and the house supervisor who were sitting together by the unit clerk desk deep in hushed discussion, and said this: "You can only retain me for 1 hour after my shift ends and no more. Make other arrangements".

Was this true? At the time (1999) I believed it to be true - and so did they. An hour later I was informed that an agency nurse was coming in to work - she happily told me during report she was making triple time that night (I would have gladly paid triple time to just be allowed to leave when my 12.5 hrs ended).

Perhaps consulting your SBON would be a very much worth the time invested.

That is lame my friend.

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I'm not sure if this old information (I am old) a state by state thing, or not ... this happened to me about 20 years ago when I the unlucky recipient of being the charge nurse who also had 2 ICU patients (that was the way our unit did it). We had a night call in and the unit manager marched up to me at 1500 to inform me I was doing a double shift (24 hrs total - We had been going through a unit manager about every 3 months at that point). I sat in stunned silence seething.

I thought about it for about 15 minutes, then walked over to her and the house supervisor who were sitting together by the unit clerk desk deep in hushed discussion, and said this: "You can only retain me for 1 hour after my shift ends and no more. Make other arrangements".

Was this true? At the time (1999) I believed it to be true - and so did they. An hour later I was informed that an agency nurse was coming in to work - she happily told me during report she was making triple time that night (I would have gladly paid triple time to just be allowed to leave when my 12.5 hrs ended).

Perhaps consulting your SBON would be a very much worth the time invested.

That is lame my friend.

The fact that they would dare ask you to do such a dangerous thing (working 24 hours straight?!?!) is almost beyond belief. Just disgusting.

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So sorry this happened to you. I would be wanting an explanation as to why supervisors could not come in especially since you have finished your shift. I would also want to know what the policy is if this happens again. If 6they could not bring you one or let you know this is it then you have 2 options 1 stay and more than likely live through that again or move to another facility.

Now a shout out to your supervisors...your management skills need improvement. You are suppose to take care of the troops so to speak, if you do this they will take care of you. This is why management gets paid the big bucks. I hope you did not have to come back the next day after working 16 hours at the least.

I ended up not having to work the whole double. One of the NOC nurses came in early, so I was able to leave around 7:45 that night..... but yes, I did have to come in the next morning...

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I agree about being "stuck". When a hurricane hit our area, staff from the next shift could not arrive due to post-hurricane road conditions. So all staff in the hospital had to remain until staff could reach us from the next shift.

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I agree about being "stuck". When a hurricane hit our area, staff from the next shift could not arrive due to post-hurricane road conditions. So all staff in the hospital had to remain until staff could reach us from the next shift.

And I understand in a weather emergency or some other disaster, that could happen. What I don't understand is why management couldn't help out on just a typical day. I realize in a disaster situation, I may/probably will have to stay past shifts and I'm ok with that

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This is part of the reasons why I can not work in an ltc or assisted living . In the ones that I was exposed , this seem to be the norm , sometimes you may have to wait hours for relief to come through.

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