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Discussion

Is this not illegal??

A few weekends ago a day nurse was super upset when I got to work. There are 3 day nurses and 2 night nurses because we do 12 hr shifts. The 2 day nurses left early, one at 4 and one a 5pm. Nobody is supposed to leave til 7pm when we come in to relieve them. There has to be 2 nurses in the bldg. Soo, luckily they got the other night nurse to come in at 5p, which was fine..but what if she hadn't come in?

The DON had told the 3rd nurse she would "be fine for a few hours " by herself til we got there!!! We have 80 pts split up on 4 different units. She would NOT have been fine. What if someone was coding? And at the same time another one in the floor bleeding out from a cut or a broken hip?????

Its always been my understanding that its never allowed that 1 nurse be left alone in the bldg on duty so the others can go home early?

The DON should have MADE one of them stay til 7pm. End of story. Or...someone from mgmt shouldve came in til 7pm, which never happens.

I myself would have showed out like a cornered wild animal! I would not have taken anybody's keys or report! I would have been on the phone immediately with the corporate office and told them I was left alone on duty for the entire place with no relief due for several hours and noone to help me. I would also have been on top of having the nurses who left me reported for abandonment.

I would have also filled out major grievances and been on that phone with every member of upper management I could find and possibly lost my job, had it been me.

I know this isnt safe in any form, but I would think its illegal? Is this not neglectful? Abandonment?

If this is ever attempted with me and they actually do leave me alone, what steps should I take other than what I mentioned above? I have a night coming up that so far, Im the only one down to work because a new hire said shes going on "vacation".

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    • Featured Replies

    Yikes. That is down right scary! A situation like that really puts your license at risk. I'm sure State would have a field day with that. I can't believe that management didn't have a problem with that, because it seems that they would be some how liable as well. I think that they steps you mentioned above would be correct. Work your way up the food chain until there is action. In Texas we have something called "Safe Harbor" that a nurse can file if they feel they are given an unsafe assignment.

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    • Author

    Yea, here in nc, per the board a nurse doesnt have to accept an assignment that cant safely be done and mgmt is SUPPOSED to be the relief if no other is available.

    I think they know who they can and cant push into a corner in that situation. I for one would not have been pushed to do it. They either would have figured out which one was gonna stay or get it covered. I wouldnt have took keys or anything and proceeded to raise the roof a lil bit.

    I had a nurse bawl her eyes out on me one time because they were gonna leave me short and I refused to take her keys 3 x before going to the DONs office and telling her if they didnt come do it or make her stay Id fill out a box full of med errors on every single resident on her hall because Id not do 3 halls and 3 different carts....needless to say...she got over it and stayed once the administrator went down and told her she had to.

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    • Expert

    I worked at a facility with 52 beds where I was the only nurse on night shift. On PM shift there was a second nurse who only worked for four hours. That left the PM nurse alone for four hours. Each state's rules depend on a minimum nursing staff for number of patients. As long as the facility meets that minimum, they are being compliant.

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    sasha2lady,

    Just a warning, be careful...with what you say and who you say it to.

    Be careful of what you do, and don't do, while you are at work.

    Retaliation by staff or management is real, it can happen, and does happen.

    From experience, the facility/management holds more power than any individual working in it.

    I am all for being an advocate for yourself and for patients, but you need to be careful on how things are said, and how they may come across as threatening.

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    • Author

    If I had been the one to be left alone for 80 pts I wouldn't have cared if they fired me for speaking up and complaining about it. I need my job like everybody else but I need a license more. A few hours may not seem like a big deal to the big wigs but to the nurse who's alone it's unsafe for every person in the building. What if someone was coding while another one laid on the floor with a broke hip and busted head? Far fetched? Maybe..but still a possibility. I refused to take keys before from a nurse and went right to the uppers about it who made a nurse stay til someone else could get there. I knew and exercised my rights on that one. It basically boiled down to one thing... They all knew they could corner that specific nurse that day. I would bet my next 10 paychecks they wouldn't have attempted such a foolish thing with any of the other nurses

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