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

[SoNan]

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.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 12/16/2020 at 12:16 PM, Jedrnurse said:

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.

Night shift is not necessarily quieter.  This is a common and erroneous stereotypical ASSumption and it makes me angry.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

As a Supervisor, it was my job to make sure no one ever called off for weather.  I had to get very tough and make all kinds of write-up and firing threats if someone tried to call off.

One CNA took me seriously and came in.  When she left work that night she had an accident.  I felt rotten about it.  Not that it was my fault.  She ultimately had made the decision to work.  I felt badly about the bills she would be incurring after the accident, though, and all the other stuff that goes with an accident.

So now my thinking is more take care of yourself and the heck with your coworkers.  I guess that's horrible but that's my honest thinking.  Another thing that has influenced the development of my current view is as follows:

I worked for a place that had mandatory overtime.  They threatened write-ups, firing, extra weekend duty, poor performance reviews, and te very wrath of God if you refused OT. 

Yet, the consequences were unevenly applied.  If someone refused the mandatory OT because they had to let the babysitter go home, or they had to get the car to the spouse so the spouse could get to work, or they had to get their kids to school, or they had some other very real and pressing need to get home, they might or might not get disciplined.  It was up to individual Managers.  I once saw them let a worker go home, get the kids to school, and then return to the job.  I thought that was wise and humane. 

Once I saw a write-up done to a CNA who often worked a good deal of voluntary OT but  once refused to be mandated because he was ill (he had been vomiting on our shift and had a temp).  This was wrong IMHO. 

This is the mindless, vindictive, soul-destroying stuff of Nursing that has formed my view.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Kooky Korky said:

Night shift is not necessarily quieter.  This is a common and erroneous stereotypical ASSumption and it makes me angry.

I've worked all the shifts; I know that nights can be crazy, but on the whole, my experience is that there was less busyness due to fewer disciplines and admin crawling about. (Note the italics I used on "should".)

I get that this is a sore spot for you, but please don't throw the word "***" in a reply coming my way.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

The one time I stayed at the hospital after working 16 hours for a snowstorm I felt like a queen. They laundered my scrubs and gave me something to wear to bed. They gave me soap, shampoo, deodorant, a bunch of towels. I stayed in a comfy bed with extra blankets, woke up, worked another 12 hours and went home with incentive pay on top of overtime. It was not a bad night for me. 

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

2 minutes ago, FolksBtrippin said:

The one time I stayed at the hospital after working 16 hours for a snowstorm I felt like a queen. They laundered my scrubs and gave me something to wear to bed. They gave me soap, shampoo, deodorant, a bunch of towels. I stayed in a comfy bed with extra blankets, woke up, worked another 12 hours and went home with incentive pay on top of overtime. It was not a bad night for me. 

Sounds like my last experience during this year's hurricane season, sign me up again!

When I lived in the snow though I always drove home because we didn't' receive any type of incentive pay for staying at the hospital. Also my drive regularly was only about 10 minutes so even with a snow storm, it turned into "only" a 45 minute-1 hour drive which was worth the peace of sleeping in my own bed.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 12/19/2020 at 11:15 AM, Jedrnurse said:

I've worked all the shifts; I know that nights can be crazy, but on the whole, my experience is that there was less busyness due to fewer disciplines and admin crawling about. (Note the italics I used on "should".)

I get that this is a sore spot for you, but please don't throw the word "***" in a reply coming my way.

 

You should have said the first time exactly what you meant, not led with an incorrect stereotype.

 

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 12/19/2020 at 9:46 AM, Kooky Korky said:

As a Supervisor, it was my job to make sure no one ever called off for weather.  I had to get very tough and make all kinds of write-up and firing threats if someone tried to call off.

One CNA took me seriously and came in.  When she left work that night she had an accident.  I felt rotten about it.  Not that it was my fault.  She ultimately had made the decision to work.  I felt badly about the bills she would be incurring after the accident, though, and all the other stuff that goes with an accident.

So now my thinking is more take care of yourself and the heck with your coworkers.  I guess that's horrible but that's my honest thinking.  Another thing that has influenced the development of my current view is as follows:

I worked for a place that had mandatory overtime.  They threatened write-ups, firing, extra weekend duty, poor performance reviews, and te very wrath of God if you refused OT. 

Yet, the consequences were unevenly applied.  If someone refused the mandatory OT because they had to let the babysitter go home, or they had to get the car to the spouse so the spouse could get to work, or they had to get their kids to school, or they had some other very real and pressing need to get home, they might or might not get disciplined.  It was up to individual Managers.  I once saw them let a worker go home, get the kids to school, and then return to the job.  I thought that was wise and humane. 

Once I saw a write-up done to a CNA who often worked a good deal of voluntary OT but  once refused to be mandated because he was ill (he had been vomiting on our shift and had a temp).  This was wrong IMHO. 

This is the mindless, vindictive, soul-destroying stuff of Nursing that has formed my view.

It ranks right up there with giving the vaccine to Administrators, who sit in offices and conference rooms, before giving it to true frontline workers.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Kooky Korky said:

 

You should have said the first time exactly what you meant, not led with an incorrect stereotype.

 

I went back to see what my oh-so offensive statement was:

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

Yeah, I'm not going to take crap for that.

[Thought, BSN, RN]

Something I found very helpful when I first started driving in the snow was to slow down. Leave early and drive 10-15mph below the speed limit. Give extra wiggle room for the car in front of you and start slowing your vehicle early. Sudden stops, especially with AWD, would not bode well. Use your turn signals so others can slow down appropriately. It's pretty much the same "driving rule" as with rain.

[SmilingBluEyes]

You live in NJ. It snows there. Plan ahead and plan to be at work when snow is expected any time.  We have all had to deal with one weather issue or another and make it to work. If you want a job that does not require you to drive in inclement weather, find one where you work from home.  People depend on  you; you entered nursing knowing that.

[amoLucia]

^^^^^ THIS!

Unless OP was a new resident to NJ, I question where in this State could s/he have lived to NOT be exposed to SNOW-driving.

It's been 6 days since the snow. Wonder if OP ever made it in, or at least TRIED!

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 12/21/2020 at 7:55 PM, SmilingBluEyes said:

You live in NJ. It snows there. Plan ahead and plan to be at work when snow is expected any time.  We have all had to deal with one weather issue or another and make it to work. If you want a job that does not require you to drive in inclement weather, find one where you work from home.  People depend on  you; you entered nursing knowing that.

People often say here that we knew what we were getting into before we went into Nursing.  I can honestly say that I did not. 

And I think there are likely others who also didn't realize that they would have to work various hours around the clock, holidays, weekends, etc. 

Did not realize they'd be expected to risk life and limb and cars in severe weather, leave family at home while they weathered hurricanes, or deal with deadly viruses on the front lines while their managerial and admin staff got a potentially lifesaving vax while hunkered down bravely in their offices.