Is leaving before hurricane abandonment?

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

Hello all, so I am located at the very end of south Florida near the keys! My question is simply this, I'm supposed to work weekend during this hurricane which some are saying could be deadly. I have a small child and his safety is my priority. I want to evacuate but my job is saying that they could report me for abandonment. I really don't understand how because if I leave from my house, how have I abandoned their residents?? I am an LPN btw

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
JKL33 said:
I did have to chuckle at one thing. From the article:

"Yormak said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration's laws could be an employee's best source of protection. Most employees cannot be retaliated against for refusing to go into an unsafe workplace, he said, though some occupations, such as first responders, are inherently dangerous"

That is so vastly out of the realm of their (OSHA's) take on taking a drink of water in "patient care areas" I forgot they actually cared about real safety issues.

Anyway. Hospitals are some of the safer places to be in this situation so I'm not sure it would be particularly relevant for nurses who feel torn between obligations or concerned about safety.

Good observation, JKL33.

Based on your insight, I have decided that next time I go to work and see ANYBODY with a beverage outside of the break room, I am immediately telling the charge nurse that I am going home to protect my own safety.

OSHA, protect me!

1 Votes
Sour Lemon said:
Oh, yes! Divorce your husband ....put your child up for adoption. Do whatever it takes to make yourself available 24/7 for your per diem CNA job. And if you must be elsewhere at any given time when you've been asked to work, just cut yourself in half and leave your dying, bleeding stump to punch that time clock. It's of the utmost importance.

Why would she need to divorce??? She simply needs to find a job where she can fulfill the required obligations AND do what's best for her child. Everyone should have a plan that takes into consideration what they can realistically accomplish. If she can't be Team A or a Team B then you find a different job. We have another hurricane on the way. And then every year there after we have another hurricane season. In order to work in a hospital or any residential health care you need to be willing to care for the patients- even if there's a hurricane.

1 Votes
Specializes in Quality, Cardiac Stepdown, MICU.

I'm sorry, no one who hasn't worked in a hurricane prone area should be weighing in. These cries of "the hospital must evacuate!!" just don't make sense when there may be nowhere for the patients to go, if the whole state is under threat.

For those of you unaware of how it works down here:

If you work full or part time at a hospital in Florida, by June you are assigned to some sort of hurricane "team." Either pre storm (some hospitals don't do this one), during storm or post storm. If you are during you are expected to stay at the hospital from about 8 hours before landfall until the local government has sounded the "all clear." If you are post, you are expected to report to the hospital immediately after the "all clear," therefore if you are on post team you may NOT evacuate. If you do, or don't show up when you are assigned to, you will be immediately fired. I've seen half a dozen nurses at multiple hospitals fired for this.

HOWEVER, if, like the OP, both you and your spouse may be needed to work the storm, or if you are a single parent or the sole caregiver of an elderly parent, special needs family member, etc., you APPLY FOR AN EXEMPTION from your employer. Of course, this must be done in JUNE, not when the storm is bearing down. This is the crucial step the OP missed. Knowing her husband would have to work, she should have applied for an exemption for herself, or for her husband, so one of them could care for the child or evacuate.

If the OP is a new nurse or new to Florida, or started work there after June, ok, maybe that's why she didn't know. But those of us who live here are shaking our heads at the hysteria of 'omg I have to report to work when I said I would?!"

4 Votes
Specializes in ICU.
48 minutes ago, delphine22 said:

I'm sorry, no one who hasn't worked in a hurricane prone area should be weighing in. These cries of "the hospital must evacuate!!" just don't make sense when there may be nowhere for the patients to go, if the whole state is under threat.

For those of you unaware of how it works down here:

If you work full or part time at a hospital in Florida, by June you are assigned to some sort of hurricane "team." Either pre storm (some hospitals don't do this one), during storm or post storm. If you are during you are expected to stay at the hospital from about 8 hours before landfall until the local government has sounded the "all clear." If you are post, you are expected to report to the hospital immediately after the "all clear," therefore if you are on post team you may NOT evacuate. If you do, or don't show up when you are assigned to, you will be immediately fired. I've seen half a dozen nurses at multiple hospitals fired for this.

HOWEVER, if, like the OP, both you and your spouse may be needed to work the storm, or if you are a single parent or the sole caregiver of an elderly parent, special needs family member, etc., you APPLY FOR AN EXEMPTION from your employer. Of course, this must be done in JUNE, not when the storm is bearing down. This is the crucial step the OP missed. Knowing her husband would have to work, she should have applied for an exemption for herself, or for her husband, so one of them could care for the child or evacuate.

If the OP is a new nurse or new to Florida, or started work there after June, ok, maybe that's why she didn't know. But those of us who live here are shaking our heads at the hysteria of 'omg I have to report to work when I said I would?!"

So. Let me get this straight. You commented on a two year old thread to tell a LPN in a nursing home who wanted to evacuate the Florida Keys before Hurricane Irma, (which decimated large areas of the Keys), that she was wrong for being concerned for her child's safety? If the facility was threatening her with abandonment (which it wasn't) I have the feeling they didn't do a Team A/B or make appropriate accommodations for her.

1 Votes
Specializes in Quality, Cardiac Stepdown, MICU.
30 minutes ago, EllaBella1 said:

So. Let me get this straight. You commented on a two year old thread to tell a LPN in a nursing home who wanted to evacuate the Florida Keys before Hurricane Irma, (which decimated large areas of the Keys), that she was wrong for being concerned for her child's safety? If the facility was threatening her with abandonment (which it wasn't) I have the feeling they didn't do a Team A/B or make appropriate accommodations for her.

They had a plan. Believe me a healthcare facility in Florida has a hurricane plan. She just didn't sign up for the team that fit her family's needs and now has buyer's remorse now that she realized she never took her child's needs into account when promising to work through the storm.

This thread is popping up on my Facebook now, and it's quite timely thanks to Hurricane Dorian. I myself am working post storm, bc I am not in an evacuation zone but I have to care for someone who can't be alone during the storm. So even though I started my new job in July I made absolutely certain they did not put me on the "during storm" team.

1 Votes
On 9/6/2017 at 7:52 PM, Wuzzie said:

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!:roflmao:

wait...what?!!!!:down:

That was sarcasm

1 Votes
Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.

As a lifelong Florida resident, I agree that if you live here you know that you may be mandated to work. I didn't even get to pick my team - it was assigned to me my first week of work. I know this because I was given a piece of paper that said I was assigned to Team A and I had to sign it. Also, usually employers give employees giant manuals to go through that cover all their policies. It's up to the employee to read those policies to be aware of them. Usually orientation only highlights the most frequently used ones.

Furthermore, most facilities have a policy that you can bring one adult (usually a spouse or a parent) and your children with you. A lot of places have childcare available now, too, so workers can't use that as an excuse to get out of it.

Also, if you don't show, you may be fired. It's not guaranteed. Likely, but not guaranteed I know someone who refused to come in due to having several elderly parents and in-laws that needed care during the last storm. Her boss was sympathetic. She wasn't fired but was given a warning where if she was absent twice in the next year she would be terminated. She wasn't absent once during that year. It's anecdotal, but some places may make an exception for a quality employee with good work history.

ETA: Also, I'm PRN and I'm still mandated to work. I know several people who are PRN and are mandated to work at multiple facilities. I don't know how they figure that out. I'm in Central Florida on the west coast.

11 minutes ago, delphine22 said:

They had a plan. Believe me a healthcare facility in Florida has a hurricane plan. She just didn't sign up for the team that fit her family's needs and now has buyer's remorse now that she realized she never took her child's needs into account when promising to work through the storm.

This thread is popping up on my Facebook now, and it's quite timely thanks to Hurricane Dorian. I myself am working post storm, bc I am not in an evacuation zone but I have to care for someone who can't be alone during the storm. So even though I started my new job in July I made absolutely certain they did not put me on the "during storm" team.

This is two years old and really I shouldn’t be entertaining this but I have time today! First off I put myself on the list to work after the storm! But as most of us know these facilities rarely give a care about what your plans are. Second Who are you to tell me that I didn’t take my child’s needs into consideration? You’re a whole nobody who doesn’t know me at all. Your comment is laughable, you’re actually talking like we are good girlfriends and you know my life story. I really enjoy this forum and I’d like to continue to be apart of it which is the only reason why you didn’t cursed out and your feelings hurt!

1 Votes

And everyone who has something smart to say, I did not work, I stayed in a safe area with my child and reported I work once everything was done. If that makes me a terrible nurse then I guess I’ll be that!!!

On 9/18/2017 at 12:55 PM, Ashlita said:

See this is one of the problems with people today. If you live in a place that could be hit with a disaster your best bet is to work at mcdonalds instead of being in the medical field. So who is supposed to take care of the innocent patients who put their lives in our hands? If you are scheduled to work then you must work. Point blank period!!! If you cant handle that responsibility then please go flip burgers or bag groceries where people are not depending on you. Of course your family is important but so are the patients. I live in oklahoma and i can't just say hey.. There is tornado heading this way, i'm leaving... Or i'm not coming in today because the chance of severe weather is high. My family would be with me at work.. I know they are safe, i have access to medical supplies if needed and i can take care of my patients. The fact that this is even a question is ridiculous. You should really rethink your career

You can take care of them, I’ll be there afterwards!!!!

1 Votes
Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
Just now, CNAbutLPN2be2017 said:

And everyone who has something smart to say, I did not work, I stayed in a safe area with my child and reported I work once everything was done. If that makes me a terrible nurse then I guess I’ll be that!!!

I said nothing about you being a horrible nurse or a horrible mother, did I? Don't get emotional. I just gave my two cents about MY experience.

If your employer listed you in writing as a Team B (or whatever you consider it) and then is making you work as Team A, and you prepared for Team B in your emergency and didn't show up, I'm certain you could have some kind of legal recourse if they penalized you or fired you. However, in an at-will state such as Florida that can be hard to prove.

1 Votes
5 minutes ago, DowntheRiver said:

I said nothing about you being a horrible nurse or a horrible mother, did I? Don't get emotional. I just gave my two cents about MY experience.

If your employer listed you in writing as a Team B (or whatever you consider it) and then is making you work as Team A, and you prepared for Team B in your emergency and didn't show up, I'm certain you could have some kind of legal recourse if they penalized you or fired you. However, in an at-will state such as Florida that can be hard to prove.

No what you did was give a statement like you know all the facts and you don’t sweetie. My feelings are not hurt. I’m laughing as we speak because you’re and idiot!!!!

1 Votes
Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
On 8/31/2019 at 3:28 PM, CNAbutLPN2be2017 said:

No what you did was give a statement like you know all the facts and you don’t sweetie. My feelings are not hurt. I’m laughing as we speak because you’re and idiot!!

I literally said nothing specific to you, nor did I criticize you, in my first post. I spoke in general terms and my experience. Doesn't make it universal, but I am one of the few nurses who has had experience with this on this message board. The only time I addressed you was in my second post when I said you're getting emotional, and to me it appeared that way. AGAIN, I have not criticized you as a nurse or a mother. I don't know if you're confusing me with the other poster, but I have not "come at" you like you seem to think.

It's clear that this bothers you, because you told me "you're and idiot." For future reference, if you're going to criticize someone in that manner, at least do it correctly. Furthermore, if you don't want all opinions, it's probably not best to post on a message board.

If you're still in Florida, I hope you are prepared for this storm and wish you nothing but luck in riding out this hurricane.

3 Votes
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