Jury duty and new grad program

Boomer MS, RN · Jan 25, 2017

They made me come in after the first deferral--I didn't get a second one.
Different cities/counties within the state probably have different procedures. That would explain why I only had one deferral and you get two.

I admit I was surprised at how solicitous everyone was last September, including the judge. I actually sat on a jury years ago, and it was not a pleasant experience. And as we were being questioned by the judge my first time, the woman sitting next to me said, "I don't believe in the jury system." She was excused. This last time one person said he did not trust police officers; he was excused. Both mine were criminal cases.

I'm wrong again assuming everyone anywhere in CA has two chances to defer! I'm hoping the OP can get a deferment for her training program at least. Maybe the judge will have an appreciation for nurses and give her a break.

djh123 · Jan 25, 2017

I would explain your situation, and you might be excused. If not, you tried. As someone I know says, "If you don't ask, the answer is always no."

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2017

I would request to defer; the worst they can say is "no."

We have two houses in two different counties; back in 2015 I received a summons mailed to house #1, while we were spending most of our time at house #2. I didn't even see it until a couple of days into the term. I called the courthouse and explained the situation, and they said they'd just defer my service. If I remember correctly, they even gave me the choice between 2 or 3 term periods.

I did get called during my term. It was for a 4th degree assault trial. The defense attorney actually asked us if any of us were nurses, and if so what kind of nurse, and had someone ever told us they had been assaulted. When it was my turn, I said I did adult surgical/trauma/neuro critical care at My Hospital. He then goes "Oh wow, so do your patients ever tell you they've been assaulted?" I said the bullet holes, stab wounds, and fractured skulls provided that information. :laugh: During the attorneys' back-and-forth with selections, I heard the defense atty whisper to the defendant "I want her" and nodding in my direction. Turned out the accuser was claiming she sustained head and neck trauma, and following the police testimony I decided I wasn't buying it...the police are trained first responders and they never even suggested she needed to go to the hospital. But in any case, between the prosecutor, accuser, and witness to the incident all told different versions of the story. We acquitted him in under 5 minutes.

Anyway, the point with that story was regarding the idea of a nurse automatically being excused due to the nature of our work. Sometimes we're desired as jurors. :yes:

If you ask for a deferment, you could always be available after your last classroom training ends. There's no reason you can't skip orientation shifts. Even when you're off orientation, your facility knows that jury duty is not optional, and it's their job to ensure that the floor is staffed. What I did both times I've received a summons was notify my manager and scheduler immediatly. That way they could plan ahead for my abcense -- which could happen on very short notice. Sometimes we called in in the a.m. and certain groups would be instructed to call again at 1300. Well if I work 3-11 that day, that means I have to give a

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2017

Moved to the First Year After Nursing Licensure forum.

caliotter3 · Jan 25, 2017

Just ask for a postponement.

Boomer MS, RN · Jan 25, 2017

I would request to defer; the worst they can say is "no."
We have two houses in two different counties; back in 2015 I received a summons mailed to house #1, while we were spending most of our time at house #2. I didn't even see it until a couple of days into the term. I called the courthouse and explained the situation, and they said they'd just defer my service. If I remember correctly, they even gave me the choice between 2 or 3 term periods.
I did get called during my term. It was for a 4th degree assault trial. The defense attorney actually asked us if any of us were nurses, and if so what kind of nurse, and had someone ever told us they had been assaulted. When it was my turn, I said I did adult surgical/trauma/neuro critical care at My Hospital. He then goes "Oh wow, so do your patients ever tell you they've been assaulted?" I said the bullet holes, stab wounds, and fractured skulls provided that information. During the attorneys' back-and-forth with selections, I heard the defense atty whisper to the defendant "I want her" and nodding in my direction. Turned out the accuser was claiming she sustained head and neck trauma, and following the police testimony I decided I wasn't buying it...the police are trained first responders and they never even suggested she needed to go to the hospital. But in any case, between the prosecutor, accuser, and witness to the incident all told different versions of the story. We acquitted him in under 5 minutes.
Anyway, the point with that story was regarding the idea of a nurse automatically being excused due to the nature of our work. Sometimes we're desired as jurors.
If you ask for a deferment, you could always be available after your last classroom training ends. There's no reason you can't skip orientation shifts. Even when you're off orientation, your facility knows that jury duty is not optional, and it's their job to ensure that the floor is staffed. What I did both times I've received a summons was notify my manager and scheduler immediatly. That way they could plan ahead for my abcense -- which could happen on very short notice. Sometimes we called in in the a.m. and certain groups would be instructed to call again at 1300. Well if I work 3-11 that day, that means I have to give a
Good points. Eighteen were called to the box for the routine questions such as: Your employment or former employment, your spouse's employment, your adult children's employment, have you ever served before, and if so, was a verdict reached? Is anyone on your family in law enforcement? On and on...Then the two attorneys asked questions, some weird in my opinion, and got to dismiss people. There were two nurses, two MDs and one dentist among that 18, and the dentist was dismissed by the DA. Why I was perplexed. Seemed to me he would have been wanted by the DA. This was a hit and run. The jury I sat on years ago was a drunk driving case. I was shocked I was not excused by the defense attorney, being an ED nurse. In my county, many employers have to pay full wages, so that's good for any prospective juror.
My first jury experience was not a good one, for reasons I won't go into, but overall I recommend doing it. I just hope that a new grad could get deferred during her orientation program, which often is done systematically by a hospital.

Sue Demonas, BSN, MSN, PhD, RN · Jan 25, 2017

When I was enrolled in graduate school, I was called to jury duty for a whole week. i wrote a letter to the judge immediately, and asked for my duty to be delayed about six months, for when I was on a break fro school. It was important to note that I did not ask to be excused, only to delay my service. They agreed to do that, and I served the duty as scheduled, and was only needed for two days.

Timing here is critical. The judge doesn't want to hear your excuse on the day that jury duty begins. You need to take care of that now without delay. Show that you plan to do your civic duty, but need a delay in the timing of the duty. They usually work with that. If you try to get out of it completely, now that's another story.

Remember a jury is composed of a group of your peers, who are similar in background and age and other demographics. If you are ever called to a trial, you would want ti be judged by a jury of your peers who took the job seriously, and not just a bunch of people who had nothing better to do that week.

All of that said, your employer works with you on jury duty and its not uncommon at all to have jury duty. Your new grad job will be there when you return. I'd just go on and serve the time on jury duty. Usually, there is a period of time that you won't be asked to serve again, so if you get it out of the way, you are not likely to be called again for awhile.

NurseLauraM · Jan 25, 2017

I was called for jury duty while I was in school and was able to postpone it very easily. Where I live you can postpone for a year. Thankfully by the end of that year I had moved to another county and was therefore disqualified. I say thankfully because I was in a very similar situation as you (I had just started a new job).

Lightning90 · Jan 25, 2017

Just dont go. Act like you never got the letter in the mail. They have no way of verifying if you actually received the letter. Plus i doubt anything with happen. Do you know how many people skip jury duty? TONS! The court does not have the resources or money to keep up with all of that.

Fiona59 · Jan 25, 2017

Here, we can just write or call. Work in an essential service? Married to a LEO or military member? Pretty much automatic, to get a "don't worry about it " response

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2017

Hi all! I'm looking for some suggestions as to what I can write to try to get excused from jury duty. Before anyone reminds me of my important civic duty, I want to explain that the reason I'm trying to avoid jury duty is because I just got accepted into a new grad program that requires 3 months of training and I was lucky to get in, being that there were only 5 of us hired. I understand my job can't penalize me for jury duty, this was really just terrible timing. I was thinking of explaining the new grad thing to them, but I'm also thinking I may just ask for a postponement. If I try to get excused and get denied, will I be able to postpone? Again, I'm not trying to flake out on my civic duty, this just isn't a good time for me.

In my state, you can post-pone for up to a year from the date you are called and you can reschedule your date online. I know someone who is a self-proclaimed expert at getting out of jury duty and she says a good way to do this is to schedule on the Friday before a Monday holiday as there generally won't be any trials starting that day and then you either won't have to go or will get dismissed early in the day.

I have been called for jury duty 3 times in the last 7 years. First time, I went and sat in a room for 3 hours then the judge came in and said they settled all the cases for that day and we could all go home. The second time, I was called for a date that didn't work for me so I filled out the form to postpone it and picked a date that did. When I called the phone number the day before, I didn't have to go. The last time I got called, I accepted my original date then received a notice in the mail a month or so later that my summons had been canceled.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 26, 2017

Hi all! I'm looking for some suggestions as to what I can write to try to get excused from jury duty. Before anyone reminds me of my important civic duty, I want to explain that the reason I'm trying to avoid jury duty is because I just got accepted into a new grad program that requires 3 months of training and I was lucky to get in, being that there were only 5 of us hired. I understand my job can't penalize me for jury duty, this was really just terrible timing. I was thinking of explaining the new grad thing to them, but I'm also thinking I may just ask for a postponement. If I try to get excused and get denied, will I be able to postpone? Again, I'm not trying to flake out on my civic duty, this just isn't a good time for me.

I think it depends a lot upon where you live. When I got called for jury duty in Washington state, my manager just signed a form that said it was too much of a hardship to have me off the unit. I was excused. The second time, I was pretty crispy at work and I wanted to participate in jury duty. When I got the summons and took it to the manager, she asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to serve.