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Discussion

Is this the norm?

I've been an OR nurse for 9 months now. I work for a small hospital and currently we have a limited staff. The RNs are taking 9-10 call days a month because we are short staffed. Management has been trying to hire more staff, but no luck. Often I can work 8-12 hours with no breaks or lunches (Mon-Fri). One call weekend I only had 4 hours of sleep between Sat and Sun, then back at work on Monday with no break or lunch. It's wearing me out. I'm curious, is this how most ORs operate?

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    I've only ever worked in my current OR. There are days where lunches in some specialties aren't given until nearly 2:00. Breaks in most specialties beyond the lunch break are unheard of. In my specialty, we take a lot of call- I can hit that 9-10 days in just a pay period if I'm covering a weekend.

    The question you should be asking is what is the facility really doing to alleviate the staffing issue? Are they looking at agency/travelers? Are they reaching out and posting job positions in the AORN Journal, on job search sites like indeed.com, etc? Are they doing things to entice experienced staff to the facility such as relocation assistance or sign on bonus? Is this going to become the new norm or is it truly just temporary?

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    Being from a small town what are they doing to entice RN's to move into the area? Is it like alot of small hospitals which has a lower pay scale and unable to bring in people? Also, what is the SOP on the number of rooms running after a certain hour and if so is it being stuck too. Is the whole hospital short statewide just the OR? I know the nursing homes in my home time are always short staffed and run hiring ads but never hire anyone. They do this to make the state and accreditation agencies happy by saying we are trying but not getting qualified applicants.

    If something happens and you have not spoken up in writing/email they hospital will use you as a scapegoat to cover themselves saying they did not know.

    When I call how many TSA vs emergent cases do you do a day?

    Lunches are mandated by Federal law and scheduled cases would not cover them for not giving you a lunch. Emergenet cases are different. Breaks are covered by state law. Maybe someone should let the state labor department, state legislators from the area or the media from the nearest large market know what is going on. If local media is informed I would bet they will only report what the administration tells them. These are routes to tale only if all other avenues have been used without success.

    It could be time for you to move on to another position or facility.

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