Labor Laws

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Hello Im a male LPN i am 19 and have 7 months nursing experience and a few years as a cna. (cna at 16 lpn at 18)

I work at a smaller hospital. And recently a large number of people have quit. I work in the ED/ER and was sceduled to work from 3pm-11am. 16hrs. However on the med surg dept. their lpn quit the day prior (saturday morning) finished her shift. So they new that they would not have a lpn the next day on the floor. They only have 2 nurses and 1 tech on floor at a time) They couldnt get any of the staff nurses to come in, and agency wouldnt come. The facility has pissed off 1/2 the agencies in area and refuse to send nurses to us.

They told me that i was going to be pulled to the med/surg at 7a to work till 11a. I reluctantly agreed. Then come 11am i was ready to go home and they said i cant. It would be abandonment and i would loose my license and i had to stay till 7pm, i said i cant, i have to work ed from 7pm-7am. They told me it didnt matter. I had to stay and work a tripple then. I was infuriated.

For fear of my license, i had to stay. Luckily i made no med errors, etc. It took till 11pm (33hrs) to get a replacement to work ER.

As for the DON coming in, we no dont have one at the moment.

Now my question is i wana find out the nursing laws. What is the maximum number of hours they can force me to work. I work 2 16hrs and one 12hr a week. back to back to back. 16, 12, 16. Ive been doing it a while and have ocasionaly has to stay maybe and hour, hour and a half but that was it. Never more. Never complained about it.

BTW i work in florida. I checked the florida nursing site and couldnt find the labor laws.

This had me ticked because the other person in ED couldnt take over. On night shift we get a physician, a lpn or rn and a paramedic. That night we had a Nurse practitioner as the physician in building, and a lpn (me) and a paramedic, (who to be honest, knows more then me, then again he has far more experience).

Is there anything i could have done to save myself.

One last thing, i then had to come back and work the next day.

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Specializes in Onc/Hem, School/Community.

I don't know about the labor laws in Florida (or anywhere for that matter), but I am stunned. :eek: :eek: And they wonder why nurses are quitting? GEEZ!

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i want to know what is the nurse -patient ratio in southern texas the one nearer in matamoros because currently i get 15-18 pt with assorted level of acuity in the med surg floor my rates is $24.5 + 3 shift diff but i am not really interested in the pay but for the nurse -pt ratio because i feel so drained and rundown each duty hours. and also, if i can just leave the facility and find another hospital? anywhere but there. its just that i had signed a 3 year contact being a recruit from the philippines. can i just buy out my contact? my breach clause is for 12000 dollars and can they send me back home to the philippines if ever i initiate breach of contract. the reason i would like to do this is because i cannot take care of my patients well anymore and would like to know if someone out there can give me their experience or insight. i will greatly appreciate any replies...

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Specializes in ER, Rural Nursing, Public Health.

WOW YOU GUYS!!!!!

Maidy - I know where you are. I work in that area of Texas too. IT SUCKS doesn't it??? People, physicins and patients are god awful. I just wanted to lend you my empathy and support, as I understand how "stuck" you are! I work with many from the Phil who are so frustrated that they cannot leave for a while. Conditions are so bad, I know that. Hang in there.

As for OP - yikes! I am drooling all over myself by the time I finish my shift... I am amazed you can function at this level. Poor thing. Finding another job an option?

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Hello Im a male LPN i am 19 and have 7 months nursing experience and a few years as a cna. (cna at 16 lpn at 18)

I work at a smaller hospital. And recently a large number of people have quit. I work in the ED/ER and was sceduled to work from 3pm-11am. 16hrs. However on the med surg dept. their lpn quit the day prior (saturday morning) finished her shift. So they new that they would not have a lpn the next day on the floor. They only have 2 nurses and 1 tech on floor at a time) They couldnt get any of the staff nurses to come in, and agency wouldnt come. The facility has pissed off 1/2 the agencies in area and refuse to send nurses to us.

They told me that i was going to be pulled to the med/surg at 7a to work till 11a. I reluctantly agreed. Then come 11am i was ready to go home and they said i cant. It would be abandonment and i would loose my license and i had to stay till 7pm, i said i cant, i have to work ed from 7pm-7am. They told me it didnt matter. I had to stay and work a tripple then. I was infuriated.

For fear of my license, i had to stay. Luckily i made no med errors, etc. It took till 11pm (33hrs) to get a replacement to work ER.

As for the DON coming in, we no dont have one at the moment.

Now my question is i wana find out the nursing laws. What is the maximum number of hours they can force me to work. I work 2 16hrs and one 12hr a week. back to back to back. 16, 12, 16. Ive been doing it a while and have ocasionaly has to stay maybe and hour, hour and a half but that was it. Never more. Never complained about it.

BTW i work in florida. I checked the florida nursing site and couldnt find the labor laws.

This had me ticked because the other person in ED couldnt take over. On night shift we get a physician, a lpn or rn and a paramedic. That night we had a Nurse practitioner as the physician in building, and a lpn (me) and a paramedic, (who to be honest, knows more then me, then again he has far more experience).

Is there anything i could have done to save myself.

One last thing, i then had to come back and work the next day.

i can't even imagine this BUT if i were in your shoes i would have suddenly passed out.

now, I'M the pt!

or would have said, 'i HAVE to stay? let me call my uncle in tallahassee, he's a lawyer, and if he says i have to stay, i'll let you know!'

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Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.
Hello Im a male LPN i am 19 and have 7 months nursing experience and a few years as a cna. (cna at 16 lpn at 18)

I work at a smaller hospital. And recently a large number of people have quit. I work in the ED/ER and was sceduled to work from 3pm-11am. 16hrs. However on the med surg dept. their lpn quit the day prior (saturday morning) finished her shift. So they new that they would not have a lpn the next day on the floor. They only have 2 nurses and 1 tech on floor at a time) They couldnt get any of the staff nurses to come in, and agency wouldnt come. The facility has pissed off 1/2 the agencies in area and refuse to send nurses to us.

They told me that i was going to be pulled to the med/surg at 7a to work till 11a. I reluctantly agreed. Then come 11am i was ready to go home and they said i cant. It would be abandonment and i would loose my license and i had to stay till 7pm, i said i cant, i have to work ed from 7pm-7am. They told me it didnt matter. I had to stay and work a tripple then. I was infuriated.

For fear of my license, i had to stay. Luckily i made no med errors, etc. It took till 11pm (33hrs) to get a replacement to work ER.

As for the DON coming in, we no dont have one at the moment.

Now my question is i wana find out the nursing laws. What is the maximum number of hours they can force me to work. I work 2 16hrs and one 12hr a week. back to back to back. 16, 12, 16. Ive been doing it a while and have ocasionaly has to stay maybe and hour, hour and a half but that was it. Never more. Never complained about it.

BTW i work in florida. I checked the florida nursing site and couldnt find the labor laws.

This had me ticked because the other person in ED couldnt take over. On night shift we get a physician, a lpn or rn and a paramedic. That night we had a Nurse practitioner as the physician in building, and a lpn (me) and a paramedic, (who to be honest, knows more then me, then again he has far more experience).

Is there anything i could have done to save myself.

One last thing, i then had to come back and work the next day.

In Jersey the max is 16 hours. I was willing one time to stay an hour or 2 more until the cover came in, but a supervisor said no and took the group off me. The state would jump all over them if they had allowed it.

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I have 96 gone hours with only naps totaling about 5 hours worth of sleep...

and I only made 1600 a month before taxes...

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My best advice considering the Florida practice act would be to say, "I would if I could, but I can't because to stay would place my patients in danger. I am too fatigued to provide safe patient care."

If still forced to stay I would say, "This facility will be responsible for any error or oversight in patient care or documentation due to extreme fatigue."

If they still insist I would (and have) written the above twice. One goes to the person giving the order, I keep the other. I write the date, time, unit, and who was informed of the danger to patients due to forcing a fatigued nurse to stay wit direct quites of their response.

I have never been forced to stay.

ALLNURSES.COM thread - https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/fyi-abandonment-short-staffing-1857.html

Florida "Nurse Practice Act." - http://www.ncsbn.org/regulation/nursingpractice_npa_florida.asp

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/nursing/info_practiceAct.pdf

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Understand the Florida Board of Nursing stance on abandonment (section 64B9-8.005(1) © of the Florida Administrative code). Abandonment is considered unprofessional conduct, which constitutes grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action. Abandonment includes:

a. Leaving a nursing assignment before advising licensed nursing personnel.

b. Withdrawal of services/care without provision of qualified coverage.

c. Failure to provide competent intervention if patient’s condition changes.

d. When working for an agency under common law, the entity (agency) usually assumes the duty not to abandon the patient.

e. In Florida, once a nurse accepts responsibility for an assignment, she/he cannot leave or cease care until relief is available. Dire emergencies can be evaluated by the board on a case-by-case basis. If the board does not consider the emergency as a reason to abandon the patient, disciplinary action can be taken.

http://www.ceufast.com/courses/93/93.htm

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