I'm just curious. Currently in my area we just had a huge snow/ice storm. Its unsafe to drive in this weather. Since I work for the school system so for the last two days I've been off from work, due to inclement weather. However, what is the policy for nurses at the hospitals or other facilities ?
My mom is a nurse, and today she was scheduled 7a-3p. I was worried for her. She told me that she ended up being 2 hours late due to the weather. Of course there was nothing her boss could say, because saftey is first.
So what is your hospitals policy for inclement weather ?
Where I work we are allowed to call in if we feel the weather is bad, no pressure.The only time I have is once last year when my road was impassible but other tham that I just start early and take my time. You can get through pretty much anyhting if you go slow. I have worked shifts with only half staff due to weather but our manager understands some aren't comfortable with bad weather.
I work day/night and always plan accordingly. My drive is about 15 minutes and in the winter, I get up well over an hour before I'd have to leave in GOOD weather. This way I can be prepared and adjust my departure accordingly. I usually take the bus, except for when the temperature is hovering around 0, but even then I take an earlier bus that gets me to the hospital by 6:20am rather than the next one that would get me there at 6:47.
What I don't get is how many of our evening nurses arrive late when it snows. Did you only wake up at 2? You've had ALL DAY to notice the weather.
I live in IL and our rural area has no budget for sand, cinders, salt or anything else on the roads. However, that said, nowadays with the weather forecasters being much more accurate I've been fortunate to know ahead of time what the weather is expected to be.
I have to be at work and on time too. We won't even discuss driving 100 miles one way to school in an interior Alaskan winter 20 years ago when there were no cell phones!
Specializes in Psychiatric, Detox/Rehab, Geriatrics.
I work day/night and always plan accordingly. My drive is about 15 minutes and in the winter, I get up well over an hour before I'd have to leave in GOOD weather. This way I can be prepared and adjust my departure accordingly. I usually take the bus, except for when the temperature is hovering around 0, but even then I take an earlier bus that gets me to the hospital by 6:20am rather than the next one that would get me there at 6:47.
What I don't get is how many of our evening nurses arrive late when it snows. Did you only wake up at 2? You've had ALL DAY to notice the weather.
I work four ten hour shifts a week, 3pm-1:30am, and live a half hour from work, so i usually get home around 2, and then im the type of person who cant go right to bed and usually cant fall asleep till around 3 or 4, so i usually dont get up till around 1pm, so i would not have all day to notice the weather, but I do always try to make it to work on time when it snows and usually i do get there on time. I would rather have someone arrive late than not at all and have to work a double shift.
It's been in my experience, in the workforce in general that 95% of people over-react to "inclement weather". I have heard the "I'm not risking my life" or "It's not worth it to me!".
Hospitals are very much like police officers and firefighters...how would you like it if they said, "Oh jeez, we are really sorry your house is burning down, but the roads are a little slippery and we just aren't taking a chance on it tonight" or a 911 dispatch told you all the police cruisers were grounded because there was 2" of snow on the ground.
Nurses have the same responsibility in the hospital...what if everyone did that every time it snowed?
I have taken a flimsy, 300 ZX out on 2 to 3 feet of snow and the roads are usually sufficiently cleared that if you don't hurry, allow for time, and go slow, there is no reason why anyone should have to miss work because of the weather. I have never been close to wrecking.
The only people I have ever seen ditched, is mostly people driving too fast or that think you can go 60 MPH in a 4-wheel drive.
I live in a place where it snows when it doesn't anywhere else in the world it seems.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Leave early
Put the car in first or second gear and drive S-L-O-W (10 or 15 mph if that is what it takes). Don't rush. Its better to be late and in one piece than in an accident.
Never let your gas tank get below a half tank in the winter. If you know a storm is coming, fill up.
Follow the same routes that the buses travel. They always get through unless your city has really gotten behind in clearing the roads. The hospital road is on the list to get priority clearance.
Take water, blankets, flashlight and food with you just in case.
Driving to work in snowstorms and ice storms goes along with being a nurse.
I agree with you on that. One of the girls that I work with will phone in at the slightest snowfall. Later she will say to me "Are you crazy? You came in in that weather! How in earth did you make it?" I have never ditched it or not made it to work except for once and the people in the ditch are usually just going to fast. Slow and steady does it every time. Hey it IS winter and I AM in Canada, I have been driving in this for years.
Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.
When I moved from Florida to the Northeast a few years ago, it was after a hurricane destroyed my home. I had worked all those hurricanes except for the last one that took everything, slept overnight, showered when I could, slept where I could. Working through storms is not a problem for me. We'd get out before the weather came in.
However, acquiring winter drivng skills is another matter. If you've got the skills and the confidence, a place to sleep if it's impossible to leave, fine, go. I don't go into burning buildings or carry a gun because I may have to defend myself or use it to defend someone else. I do think that if the hospital expects us to adhere to that standard, provisions should be made to help us safely get to work as I am sure police officers and firefighters have in place. Put us up at a local hotel or provide a bed and a shower in the facility so we can work around the storm. I work in a psych facility that is always full and there is no place to put up for the night (or day). Not everyone is comfortable driving a hurling piece of metal down a steep hill on a solid sheet of ice. It's downright suicidal. Nursing is full of inherent risks and we take our share, but I do think there is a line. It can't be all on the nurse. Cops and firefighters can get the city out to clear the roads in a hurry. They would come to each other's aid. I know some hospitals do make provisions. That's the best practice if they want to stay staffed.
Not all of us have lived in snow our whole lives. Winter driving is a skill. I'm getting better at it but I'll never be as good as someone who's been dealing with this their whole life.
When I was in Satellite Ops (24 hour operations and we had rotating shifts) the job was not critical to life as my job in nursing will be....but,
At the above job I lived in Colorado. The Base was 8 mi outside town on an open plain. (Means nothing to stop the wind, making blizzard conditions more dangerous.) Also on the way out of town there was a 6% grade hill to navigate.
One day I woke up to everything coated in INCHES of ICE! I did call in that day. Don't know what I would have done if my job was in a hospital. BUT one of the major reasons I made the choice I did was I had 4 very young children that would have to be driven to daycare (this was a private home so she didn't "close"). I would then have to drive UP that 6% grad hill (ditches on each side). It wasn't just MY life I would have taken in my hands that day, but the lives of all my children. (and whomever else was silly enough to be on the road!) I decided that NO job was worth my childrens lives!
I would honestly say....making it to work in inclement weather would be predicated on the severity of that situation and each would be different.
I live in Fl so I will not have to make a decision based on anything more serious than hurricane winds (and my part of FL doesn't get hit!)
Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.
KittyyKat, no one expects a southern gal to drive in a blizzard. Too many people could end up dead.
Hey, I'm getting better at it. It takes me the whole month of December to warm up. I say my prayers and a good act of contrition and by mid-January I'm ALMOST a true Northerner. Speaking of blizzard, there's a heck of a storm brewing for next week.
the joys of living in sunny southern california....no snow, no blizzards, no sybil weather (hot/cold/hot/cold). Move down here....the southwest is wonderful....so is Phoenix
loriangel14, RN
6,933 Posts
Where I work we are allowed to call in if we feel the weather is bad, no pressure.The only time I have is once last year when my road was impassible but other tham that I just start early and take my time. You can get through pretty much anyhting if you go slow. I have worked shifts with only half staff due to weather but our manager understands some aren't comfortable with bad weather.