Just wondering....

[SBarn]

I have read and posted on the thread Snow Days and it got me thinking. Is it standard to expect nurses and other healthcare workers to pay for hotel rooms and spend possibly days away from their families in cases of inclement weather? Does your facility have an inclement weather team that reports to cover shifts in cases of unsafe travel for employees? I understand that hospitals are 24/7 facilities and patients need good care regardless of what the weather outside is. It just seems to me like there has to be a better way and, until tonight, was not something I considered as a student about my chosen career.

[Flo., BSN, RN]

The hospital has staff stay in pt's rooms that are not being used. If you can not get into work they send out an SUV or send the police/ fire dept to pick you up depending on how bad it is.

[tablefor9, RN]

Yes, nurses are expected to be at work. All the time. The post office (neither rain nor snow nor) has *nothing* on us.

People are sick during blizzards. Babies are birthed during hurricanes. Codes are still called during horrific weather. Someone has to take care of these people. And that would be us, because the calvary *isn't* coming.

Hurricane teams: where I work we have team A, team B. Team A comes in before it gets bad, stays until team B can get there. Families (even pets) can come and shelter in place if you wish, or you can Skype if they choose to evac.

Snow: where I've been, you get there ahead of the storm, or take your chances with it. It's not an excused absence when you have plenty of time to plan ahead.

I live 1 mile down a non-county maintained dirt trail. This is after you turn off a 3.5 mile dirt road, which the county does (a poor job) maintain. This is 35 miles from my hospital. Last spring, we had severe t'storms and flash floods. My 1 mile dirt trail was washed out so deeply that my 6' tall husband could stand in some of the ruts and leave only his head and shoulders visible. The 3 mile dirt road swallowed a Toyota (not kidding, here...the back bumper was all that was visible, girl went in front fender first). Long story shorter, I had to go to each neighbor and get permission to cut across each of their properties. It took time, and effort, and planning. And I got to work.

This isn't a job where you can put your own needs, or even those of your family, in some instances, ahead of patient care and the folks you work with.

[BOOYARN]

yup and forget about taken a vacation on the holidays ..... even if you have a month of vacation time it cannot be taken during the end of december..... something to think about i hated my managers telling me what weekends to work and when i can take vacations...... so i work agency .....plus i dont have the guilt tripping staffer calling begging me into work . so on so on

[kessadawn, BSN, RN]

I live about 60 miles from my hospital job. I also live on a poorly maintained county road. Most of the first half of my drive to work is up and down some steep hills and around some sharp bends. If I call off, it's unexcused. I have once or twice in 7 years, but generally I just leave a whole lot earlier and take my time getting there. And I get there, in NE Ohio January snow, and without 4 wheel drive. And I bring a backback of personal supplies if I am supposed to work the next night as well, in case I get stuck staying at work to sleep. That has happened more than once. And judging from the weather reoprts, I'll be doing it again tomorrow. Hospitals don't close, you need a job, but you should be smart about your travel in bad weather too. My trunk has a shovel, extra layers of clothing, water, just stuff that may come in handy if I get stuck. It's more common for those of us in the Northern US than the South, but you never know what's coming your way.

Don't let a fear of driving in bad weather steer you from a nursing career, you have so many options!

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

When I know bad weather is coming I go and stay at a hotel near the hospital that way I know I will be there on time. Just the price I pay for keeping a job I love.

[MJB2010]

My hospital allows us to come in the night before and sleep in empty hospital rooms, but from what I am told once you are there they will not let you leave. When the new shift is short or you dont get relieved they make you stay and continue to work without rest. So a lot of the older nurses refuse to spend the night because they have been trapped before and had to work 24 hours or something crazy. We had several staff members sleep over before this latest storm, I am sure they got no sleep we had 2 codes called on the floor.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Is it standard to expect nurses and other healthcare workers to pay for hotel rooms and spend possibly days away from their families in cases of inclement weather?

Yes, this is a standard expectation. Those of us with a nursing license might get reported to our local boards of nursing for patient abandonment if we leave the workplace without giving report to an oncoming nurse. The problem lies in the fact that an oncoming nurse might not even be there to relieve us if the weather is too nasty for safe travel to work. Several of my coworkers have been at work 24+ hours because no one could safely travel to the workplace to relieve them.

Healthcare workers are held to a higher standard than people in other occupations.

[Vtachy1]

That would be me. I have worked a 24 hour shift before, but that was before I had kids. I have been stuck there for 24 hours because no one could come in to relieve me in a stressful busy ICU.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I've actually asked two different nursing boards about the abandonment issue if you are not relieved. They both said that you need to give notice to your employer that you will not be able to stay beyond xxx time, and then it becomes the employer's problem. Two hours was quoted as being reasonable notice by one of the boards. They added that the employer might fire you, that is not under their control, and the employer might report you to the board, and they have to investigate, but they won't take action if you've given notice.. Ultimately you will not lose your license for being giving reasonable notice, and then leaving. Staffing is your employer's responsibility, not yours.

I am very big on getting to work when scheduled, and having the snow tires, and the skill to use them. I really take exception to being required to live at the hospital for days at a time though. It would be fine if they paid their employees, but just making a policy and expecting employees to find room and board, and be on call, it sounds unfair, maybe illegal. I've lived in snowstorm alley all my life and there has never been a hospital mandating that we stay in house, or even in town. The hospitals would allow us to use empty rooms if WE chose to stay, but that's it.

[CloudySky]

You are usually mandated to work if there is severe bad weather. Many times I've been mandated to report to work during a storm and told that we will bee on lock down. I work nights and usually they say report to work the day before the storm. So I get to work and am not paid until the night shift. Trying to sleep during the day in a hospital room during a storm is near impossible. I've had to stay in the hospital for as long as 3 days. Yet they only pay you for the time of your shift. Not for all the hours they are forcing you to say on lockdown.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

One of the many reasons I left the hospital. I would have no problem getting to the hospital ahead of the storm and staying in a pt. room, or staying in a hotel. BUT the problem is there is no way I'd do that without some compensation. I am not going to pack a bag and spend 24+ hours away from my home, for a job, without some kind of pay, be in on-call pay, OT, disaster pay or whatever. The facilities I've worked in have no arrangement for that, they just expect you to do what you have to do to be there for your shift and you just have to eat the time spent at work but not on the clock. That is BS to me.

One more reason I love school nursing...snow days!