I don't know if I should call out or not r/t snow storm

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I live in New Jersey, and there is an anticipated snowstorm, the snow will be 8-12inch in the night. my shift is 3-11pm. There will be nothing at 3pm, but when I leave work at 11pm, I will be stuck in the snowstorm. I am live 40mins away from my work place. I personally feel bad to call out, but my family is worry about me driving home in the snowstorm, especially, I never drove in any heavy snow or snowstorm before. I need some suggestions.

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Just now, SoNan said:

I live in New Jersey, and there is an anticipated snowstorm, the snow will be 8-12inch in the night. my shift is 3-11pm. There will be nothing at 3pm, but when I leave work at 11pm, I will be stuck in the snowstorm. I am live 40mins away from my work place. I personally feel bad to call out, but my family is worry about me driving home in the snowstorm, especially, I never drove in any heavy snow or snowstorm before. I need some suggestions.

Go to work and stay there after your shift ends (if you have to). If you're not comfortable driving, pay someone to drive you. 

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

No, you should not call out for weather that you can anticipate or plan in advance for. 

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

No. You know about it now so you can prepare. I've slept at work places both before and after shifts because of road closures or anticipated difficult commutes. It's completely unfair to coworkers that will be working in the same conditions for you to call out. Be responsible and figure it out. 

I can understand your apprehension if you haven't commuted in snow before, but that's still not an excuse. Do you have a reasonably good car? The roads will not likely be busy, you can take your time and travel slowly. 

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Bring an overnight bag. 

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Specializes in school nurse.

You call out, day shift gets stuck, then as a bonus they can't go home and have to crash somewhere/somehow at the facility after a 16 hour shift. 

No bueno.

If you get mandated, at least it'll be for the overnight shift which should be a bit quieter.

Ditto on the overnight bag suggestion.

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Specializes in tele, ICU, CVICU.

Yes go to work, take an overnight bag & extra scrubs.  If you're already there, they will likely ask you to stay, as some others for nite shift will call out.   

My previous employer would allow employees to crash on an empty wing, and work day shift if there were call outs.  They also provided food if we were stuck there or worked more than our scheduled shift.   

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

If you can get to work, get there. As others said, bring an overnight bag in case you get stuck. It sucks, but since you know this storm is on the way, you can prepare for it, get to work safely, and stay until it's safe to go home.

I also work in an area getting hit by snow currently, and while I've never had to stay at work overnight before, there's a first time for everything. ? I am also packing a bag just in case, making sure my car is ready for harrowing drive first thing in the morning, and mentally preparing to stay at work if it's really bad. No one wants to be caught at work, but sometimes hospital admin makes that call, and we want to make sure we're safe too.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

In addition to the above, see if your facility offers other accommodations. My facility has an agreement with 2 hotels, 1 of which is within walking distance, that they are paying for hotel rooms tonight for day shift to stay in so that they have no issues getting to work in the morning.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
7 hours ago, SoNan said:

 I live 40mins away from my work place. 

For 33 of the 36 years I spent working as a nurse, I've owned 4WD vehicles and have never been stuck at work or home. I live in a rural area and have worked for facilities that were as much as 30 miles from my home.

The past few years, I would also take in/pick up my medical nurse wife Belinda with her job, which is 12 miles from our home. We bought her a new Jeep Gladiator last Summer, so she's all set.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Hospice,IV Therapy.

I drove 45 miles to work and 45 miles home for years. I would leave for work very early and took my time back and forth. Never once called off and people who lived closer did call off. It's a feather in your cap come time for your yearly evaluation when you are diligent about attendance during bad weather. Once you start driving in bad storms it won't seem quite so bad after that. Just take your time.

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Specializes in Psych.

I understand where you're coming from. I live in Pennsylvania, in an area where we're expected to have about 12-18 inches of snow. Based off of how much we have right now I imagine we might have more than that much.

One of the nurses I work with lives in a development that plans to start plowing the snow at 5 PM tomorrow. Her shift is at 7 AM that same day and will likely be unable to leave for work even if she wants to. I wouldn't blame you for calling off if you're in a situation like she is- where you actually cannot get to work even with best efforts. Our hospital enlisted the national guard to help transport hospital staff to / from work. Interesting times.

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