Inclement weather conditions...mandatory to work?

Nurses General Nursing

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How do you more seasoned nurses deal with this?

I'm in the path of hurricane Florence, scheduled to work this weekend and honestly don't know what to do.

I love my job and appreciate my patients, but my job sent out an email saying we have to be to work. I have a child to think of, so I'm clueless. I'm trying to wait until it happens to see if the conditions are actually drivable but at the same time plan ahead.

So what are your thoughts on Nurses having to chose between their jobs and safety of themselves and family??

I'm going to say something different here. Being a nurse does not come before being a mom to a 2 year old.

Protect yourself and your family at all costs.

During hurricance Sandy, a nurse in Staten Island set off in her SUV with her 2 small boys in the car to drop them off at daycare. En route, there was a storm surge, think ocean waves crashing in the street. Her car began to fill with water. She unstrapped her kids from their corificeats and put them on top of the car. Then suddenly, a wave came and swept her children away. They were both killed. She survived, swimming and walking the streets for hours looking for them.

Do not be her. If you can't go in, other people will have to stay which isn't the end of the world. If your employer fires you for it, at least you and your family are safe. You can always get a new job. My love and prayers to you.

EXACTLY!!!! You have a duty to you patients but not at the costs of safety to you and yours. Get another job if necessary but take care of you and yours. You have a higher duty to your family then your patients. Jobs are replaceable. Loved ones are not

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Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.
I see some of you have taken this the wrong way as if I was looking for a cop out or just now planning for myself. It was a friendly posts about tips and to share some of your experiences. At the end of the day my family comes first. Sorry I won't be super nurse. The site isn't for me as well. I've read slot of forums and a lot of rude and smart mouth comments. I won't be coming back on here or using it again. Yes everyone have opinions but just smart ass ones I can't deal with. I will not be using this site again.

K bye.

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Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

When I use to be responsible for the facility operations and bad weather/disasters I would always tell the staff to come in even with their children. We always made it work and staff was appreciated. Usually our Activity director and the admin/housekeeping staff (the ones who showed up) watched the children. A lot of them (children) would sit on the couch and cuddle up to a grandma/grandpa who was ready with reading books or stories.

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.
When I use to be responsible for the facility operations and bad weather/disasters I would always tell the staff to come in even with their children. We always made it work and staff was appreciated. Usually our Activity director and the admin/housekeeping staff (the ones who showed up) watched the children. A lot of them (children) would sit on the couch and cuddle up to a grandma/grandpa who was ready with reading books or stories.

That sound so awesome!

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Yeah, facilities should have a plan in place for their essential employees. If you have to find a way into work, take care childcare/elderlies, then the least they can do is plan a place for you to stay in advance.

But the cynical part in me says most employers do not care. It is awesome reading that some employers have accommodated children to stay. That would be the limiting factor for me.

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.
I see some of you have taken this the wrong way as if I was looking for a cop out or just now planning for myself. It was a friendly posts about tips and to share some of your experiences. At the end of the day my family comes first. Sorry I won't be super nurse. The site isn't for me as well. I've read slot of forums and a lot of rude and smart mouth comments. I won't be coming back on here or using it again. Yes everyone have opinions but just smart ass ones I can't deal with. I will not be using this site again.

Please do do not take other posters as negative....yes we are a nurse, but family concerns in my book come first...... please keep us posted, and best wishes, stay safe....

sally

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I'm going to say something different here. Being a nurse does not come before being a mom to a 2 year old.

Protect yourself and your family at all costs.

During hurricance Sandy, a nurse in Staten Island set off in her SUV with her 2 small boys in the car to drop them off at daycare. En route, there was a storm surge, think ocean waves crashing in the street. Her car began to fill with water. She unstrapped her kids from their corificeats and put them on top of the car. Then suddenly, a wave came and swept her children away. They were both killed. She survived, swimming and walking the streets for hours looking for them.

Do not be her.

Correct, no one should be driving to work during a hurricane, storm surge, or flood. But since these storms are known about well in advance, the nurse should either make arrangements to be at the hospital early and stay for the duration, or let her employer know in advance that she will not be there no matter what the policy is.

If you can't go in, other people will have to stay which isn't the end of the world.

Sorry, but that's just wrong. The person who has stayed up all night long should not have to pull that kind of shift because someone else doesn't show. It's not safe for anyone. At least give the facility proper notice so that relief can be scheduled and given time to get there safely.

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Spent most of my career in the Gulf Coast Region. If they are just now bringing it up your hospital has really failed you as an employee. We are required to sign up for either A team or B team prior to Hurricane Season. A is ride out, we are at the hospital during the storm, B is recovery, they come and relieve A team after the storm. You choose based on your personal situation and make arrangements with your family/community ahead of time on what you will do. People who genuinely can't do either can apply for waivers but they have to prove (and it's not easy) they have no support system to care for young children or elderly parents.

By the time a storm is in the gulf everyone already knows what they have to do. It doesn't matter what the schedule is.

You have a duty as a nurse to be their for your patients, I got left with neighbors a lot during storms as a kid because my mom was a nurse. I'm sure she would have rather been with me, but she knew I was safe and she had to go in.

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Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

I live about 172 miles from the Gulf coast. During Hurricane Opal I was scheduled to work. Opal was so large that we were going to get Cat 1 - 2 winds here. I was an ER RN and my husband was a cop. He drove me to work fighting with the van all the way there and went home to stay with the kids. I worked. If he had been called out he would have taken the kids to my parents. We had no pre plans for Opal, we did not get notice days before she hit that she would impact this far inland. We made our plans with about 8 hours notice. The hospital had no plan in place. We did not get hurricanes here. Everyone in the city was scrambling but I never even considered that I would not go in, that thought never crossed my mind. I have 4 kids. I took extra clothes because I did not know when I would get home. The kids understood that we were essential to help other people. That was in 1995. Then in 1998 damned if it did not happen again with Hurricane Ivan.

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Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.
I see some of you have taken this the wrong way as if I was looking for a cop out or just now planning for myself. It was a friendly posts about tips and to share some of your experiences. At the end of the day my family comes first. Sorry I won't be super nurse. The site isn't for me as well. I've read slot of forums and a lot of rude and smart mouth comments. I won't be coming back on here or using it again. Yes everyone have opinions but just smart ass ones I can't deal with. I will not be using this site again.

I just want to say I understand your feelings. I too struggled with whether to work today. I gathered as much information as I could about the weather conditions in my area, then made my decision. Life comes before anything else. I just want to offer some compassion.

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I see some of you have taken this the wrong way as if I was looking for a cop out or just now planning for myself. It was a friendly posts about tips and to share some of your experiences. At the end of the day my family comes first. Sorry I won't be super nurse. The site isn't for me as well. I've read slot of forums and a lot of rude and smart mouth comments. I won't be coming back on here or using it again. Yes everyone have opinions but just smart ass ones I can't deal with. I will not be using this site again.

Well then, I won't disappoint you regarding the smart- mouths.

BYE !

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As a former ER nurse and now a disaster management specialist, I would be surprised if your facility did not have or activate their hurricane response plan. That being said, I do know that communication is always a challenge in events such as these. Living where you do, I would say learn from this event, ask your employer how emergency notifications are sent and what their plan is, and make sure you have a family plan in place as well-how will your family notify you if situations change while you are at work, have an emergency kit for home and car, have evacuation locations pre-determined. This includes planning for your pets as well. Having all this in place and discussing ahead of time will make you feel more in control of your situation. There is a lot of useful information on ready.gov.

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