Has this ever happened to you??

Juli4310 · Jul 29, 2013

I think you work in healthcare and this is going to happen from time to time. We've all had to work a double because of a no show or because someone called in sick, even when I was in school.

babynurse73 · Jul 29, 2013

Feeling grateful that I work for a union and they cannot mandate overtime for the nurses in my hospital!

Quit Floating Me, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

We've all had to work a double

I worked in the hospital on Med-Surg most of my 3 years of experience. I've never seen a nurse (or aid) do a double there. No one can work 24 hours... that is laughable. :roflmao: I've been at this place for four months and it is common to see the mental health techs do doubles (16 hours) but not the nurses.

elkpark · Jul 30, 2013

Talk to your BON if it's an ongoing problem. I worked in a facility years ago (non-union, in the South) where people (RNs) would occasionally just not show up for work and the RN on duty would get told we had to stay the entire (additional) shift, with the ol' veiled threat about being charged with abandonment. We got tired of this and contacted the BON, and they were happy to explain that, in that particular state, their position was that, if an RN failed to show up for work and you were the only RN on the unit, you were obligated to stay for "a reasonable amount of time" (which they had decided was 2 hours) in order to give administration time to find someone else to replace you, but you could leave after the two hours (after reporting off to the house supervisor) without being at risk of the BON finding you guilty of abandonment. Now, of course, you could pretty much expect to get fired by that employer, but your license wouldn't be at risk.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

I agree with Elkpark: find out your BON's position on forced overtime. In the last state I worked in, the BON's position was that it was not patient abandonment if after my shift, I refused to work a second shift just as long as I appropriately notified the supervisor and gave report to another provider. Whenever a supervisor tried forcing a double on me by using the "Abandonment" card, I would show them the regulation (I usually kept a copy in my bag), reminded them that it wasn't abandonment, and told them that if they didn't find a replacement that THEY would be getting report since they were a RN and capable of providing patient care.

This rarely failed to get a replacement in. I may have left a little later than usual though.

However, like elkpark says, this only protects your license; your job isn't protected by this regulation. BONs choose to stay out of employment issues. So you do flirt with being fired by taking this course of action. I'm surprised I never was.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2013

I was stuck on several occasions. I worked swings on an adult/CD unit and there were at least two occasions when the night RN was a no call/no show, some when there were call-offs with no available replacement, and one occasion when the night nurse was arrested on the way to work (another story for another time). It's unfortunate, but it happens.

I see no point in going to your state nursing board about this. As long as the hospital is not forcing you to exceed the maximum allowable number of work hours in a day - and from the sound of it, they aren't - the BON will see this as an internal hospital issue. This should be addressed with your nurse manager if it is a frequent occurrence.

elkpark · Jul 31, 2013

I see no point in going to your state nursing board about this. As long as the hospital is not forcing you to exceed the maximum allowable number of work hours in a day - and from the sound of it, they aren't - the BON will see this as an internal hospital issue. This should be addressed with your nurse manager if it is a frequent occurrence.

Just to clarify -- I wasn't talking about contacting the BON in terms of reporting the hospital for something, just for informational purposes of identifying how the BON defines "abandonment" in the state (knowledge is power! :))

ToothFairy(5) · Jul 31, 2013

Glad my employer does have the house supervisor replace us or offer to buy us dinner ( on them ) if we do get stuck working a double. We also get extra 3.00 an hour in that situation. But it still stinks if you have to go to class or my next job.

Quit Floating Me, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2013

I was stuck on several occasions. I worked swings on an adult/CD unit and there were at least two occasions when the night RN was a no call/no show, some when there were call-offs with no available replacement, and one occasion when the night nurse was arrested on the way to work (another story for another time). It's unfortunate, but it happens.
I see no point in going to your state nursing board about this. As long as the hospital is not forcing you to exceed the maximum allowable number of work hours in a day - and from the sound of it, they aren't - the BON will see this as an internal hospital issue. This should be addressed with your nurse manager if it is a frequent occurrence.

I do not work at a hospital and there is no nurse manager or director of nursing at this present moment.

southcakalakee · Aug 1, 2013

It's legal to make you do that at my hospital, and they have a policy that no one can work more than 2 double shifts in a row. It stinks.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Aug 1, 2013

I do not work at a hospital and there is no nurse manager or director of nursing at this present moment.

There has to be someone who you report to.

I looked at my state's Nurse Practice Act, which says the following about patient abandonment:

6. An act of patient abandonment occurs if: (a) A licensee or holder of a certificate has been assigned and accepted a duty of care to a patient;

(b) The licensee or holder of a certificate departed from the site of the assignment without ensuring that the patient was adequately cared for; and

I did not find anything that specifically addresses maximum work hours in a 24-hour period or mandatory overtime. Your Nurse Practice Act is probably similar.