Hurricanes . . . . .

[kkettle70]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if nurses in florida have to work during a hurricane or can they opt not to work? The hospitals I am most interested in are the Florida Hospital in Orlando and the Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Thank-you in advance for any help,

Krista

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Yes, we do. Some don't. Some won't.

We've had some pretty contentious threads on this topic, so it might be interesting for you to read through them.

Here's one that got locked:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f226/ritas-coming-my-hospital-wont-close-121645.html?highlight=work+hurricanes

These are about Hurricane Frances, which as you recall, happened prior to Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f195/nurses-fired-suspended-not-working-during-hurricane-frances-78432.html?highlight=hurricane

https://allnurses.com/forums/f141/25-nurses-fired-not-working-frances-78421.html?highlight=hurricane

[StokoRN]

Hositals in Fl all have Disaster plans in place that automatically initiate at the start of Hurricane Season. How they arrainge for coverage is different at different facilities.

A one hospital where I worked until recenetly the coverage plan was different for different floors. I worked in the ED and they had each emplyee choose to be "pre-storm", "during storm", or "post storm". The "during storm" employees had to arrive at the hosp at the activation of "hurricane warning". These employees brought bedding, food, clothing changes, etc and were confined to the building until local civil defense announced"all clear". My wife worked at the same hospital in SICU. Her manager's approach was that the staff unfortunate enough to be at work when the hospital was "locked down" was stuck thee until "all clear" was announced.

The facility where I currently work has staff divided into Team A, and Team B. Each team alternates storms. A comes to the hosp for one storm, B for the next, etc.