Late arriving Nurses

Nurses Professionalism

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  1. late arriving nurses

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What are some the thought's on Nurse's who always tend to come Late 10 to 15 minutes.How do feel about when you had already worked 12 hour shift...now another 15 min? :banghead:

Specializes in geriatrics.

Interestingly, chronic latecomers always have an excuse, and they are frequently late, no matter what time the shift begins.

Example: Suzy is late arriving for her 0700 shift, but she's still late at 0800 or 1000.

Plan ahead and leave early. I have worked many times 1-2 hours away and I am on time, usually early. Many other people are the same, even those with children. Chronic lateness is unacceptable.

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Specializes in Med Surg.
Agreed. That's why I said something needs to change, either the person or discipline. If it is brining unit morale down & the person has been constantly disciplined then said offender should be fired. You are only as strong as your weakest link.

That's exactly my point. If chronic tardiness or absenteeism or other policy violations aren't addressed it can drag down the entire unit. Other people start pushing boundaries because if management can tolerate bad behavior from one employee, why can't they tolerate it from another? I've been in environments like this and it's awful. That's probably why I feel so strongly about the chronically tardy. I don't care if someone shows up exactly on time, but frequently showing up late, no way.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
That's exactly my point. If chronic tardiness or absenteeism or other policy violations aren't addressed it can drag down the entire unit. Other people start pushing boundaries because if management can tolerate bad behavior from one employee, why can't they tolerate it from another? I've been in environments like this and it's awful. That's probably why I feel so strongly about the chronically tardy. I don't care if someone shows up exactly on time, but frequently showing up late, no way.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I am a widow and almost 60. Not sure if that makes me a snot. I raised my kids without a husband, since he died when they were babies, since didn't have the luxury of a husband AND kids. Always got to work on time and still do.

Everyone's time is valuable, and speaking of church, the Bible instructs us to give special care to widows.

Excellent!

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
From the other point of view:

Although I personally would feel embarrassed to show up 20 minutes late to report at 0705 and would be apologizing profusely if I did, I consistently clock in to work a little on the late side- somewhere between 6:44 and 6:51. And I don't feel bad about this. Nor do I feel like the world revolves around me and that no one else's time matters, as was previously suggested. Per our unit policy, 6:51 is technically still "on time." As nurses, we have extremely tough and abnormal schedules and it's not easy on everyone. Waking up at 5 AM is pure hell on my body and I feel like grandma death until about 0800 each day. Night shift didn't work for me either- I had crazy bad insomnia and shift work sleep disorder which led to a major depression episode. 12-hour shifts are extremely taxing on the mind and body and some of us just have a very hard time dragging ourselves out of bed so early in the morning- or in night nurses' cases, after a day of poor-quality sleep that goes against their biological rhythms. Oh how I wish I could do normal/sane/healthy 9-5 hours and still be a bedside hospital nurse (in something less mundane than lactation)!

I hate, hate, HATE it when the night nurse is standing at the door and stalking me to the break room as I put my lunch in the fridge at 6:44 AM yelling, "I have room xx for you!" I also by habit round on all of my patients between 1800 and report time, and cannot stand it when the early birds of night shift come in at 1830 and take up all the computers when it's still technically my shift and I need to use said computers to chart whatever I just did for my patients during that time- which, by the way, your welcome because that patient will now NOT be calling you between 1845-2000 for that issue. Now can I please have somewhere to chart about it since it's still day shift? :)

I personally think I make up for my mild tardiness by working really hard once I'm there and helping others out- including the night nurses. I am the type that gets straight to business once I clock in and am quick/easy to give report to (I don't use my cell phone during report like so many do, I don't care to hear a long drawn out story about what breastfeeding education topics you've discussed- because that is an expectation and not a relevant update, I don't need you to tell me what times you gave Motrin or when my next bili draw is due because I can look that up myself- usually faster and with more accuracy, I don't grill you over irrelevant issues, etc.)

I don't ever mind staying 15 mins late after my shift to draw a stat lab on the patient I got to know all day, give norco to a patient who called for prn pain meds at 1900 after declining them when I rounded and offered them at 1830, call a doc about a new or unresolved issue, do a late discharge on a patient who got discharge orders at 1845, etc., rather than dumping those time-sucker events onto the oncoming nurse who needs to get their assessments done, so I would not appreciate coworkers being pushy about me being a few minutes late in the AM or expecting me to come in "10 minutes early" because it means they are not willing to ever go the extra mile to help me out if I needed it. A lot of the early bird nurses would tell you "too bad, it's 1845, it's your problem now" if any of those things popped up, because they are every bit as in a hurry to leave as they were to arrive.

Also, I work more overtime than anyone else on my unit of over 150 nurses. As in- I routinely work 5 12's per week. I'm giving up my entire dayS off that I could be sleeping in, shopping, at the gym, at the beach, etc. to help out the very busy unit which definitely needs the help, so if me running 5 minutes late in the morning upsets you because I have apparently wasted 5 incredibly important minutes of your life, sorry but I don't really feel any sympathy. Me helping out on so many extra shifts collectively saves a LOT of people a LOT of time and stress in the long run :) May I suggest you spend those 5 minutes you wait for me doing some relaxation breathing exercises to ease your anxiety/OCD/type A issues and call it a day.

In the adult working world, you don't get to pick and choose your coworkers and there will always be those types you don't like. If you hate it, there are always other jobs, which inevitably always have more of those people you don't like. But if one day all the nurses who have trouble with timeliness got kicked out of nursing for it, the nursing shortage would be muuuuch, much worse and you'd have a lot more work on your hands. Life really does go on- even when things happen 5-10 minutes after you planned for it to. You have to pick and chose your battles. I don't go to management and complain because your pushy, type-A personality stresses people out. Hopefully you can learn to appreciate something about the tardy nurses- maybe they don't mind staying late to help you when you need it just like me? :) - and realize you may have your own bad habit that is horribly annoying to others.

Just my two cents!

RTransitionAntepartum, Women's Surgery and Women's Oncology.

I'm not sure who you were responding to, but I was talking about people who would come lolligagging in at 0720, then would need to put their stuff away, get coffee, get situated, etc. By the time report started, it was long past 0730.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
In hindsight the comment was rude but this represents most of the nurses I currently work with. What I should have said is that I am too busy to come to work early. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but someone with few/no obligations outside of work tends to not get it. They just can't understand what the big deal is if you come in 20-30 minutes early. These are the same women who come early, and interrupt my morning wrap up routine talking about the most mundane things. They then proceed to drag out report an extra 15 minutes interjecting stories about past patients, providers who are long gone, dead hubbies, and who shot JR. Work is the center of their life. I go to work to afford my life. And I don't drink coffee or have a locker. I come in with a pen and notebook ready to roll. I have 12 hours to get a beverage. And yes I hope to be a 60 year old snotty COB one day.

Did you ever consider that they may think what you talk about is equally mundane? I wish I had all the time back that I spent looking at baby pictures I didn't care to see; listening to gripes about husbands/kids. I wish I had all the money back that I spent on Girl Scout cookies/Boy Scout popcorn...yada yada yada.

And the remark about "dead husbands"? That was cruel. "Bats" may be crusty, but they're not cruel.

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Specializes in Med Tele, Gen Surgical.

OK, I'm in the camp of "on time = ready to receive report" at the start of shift. END of story.

.......BUT then another book got written where I work! "Let's let the kids in the hall balance the calendar when we do self-scheduling." So guess who the ones are who are adjusting the calendar to balance it after everyone has placed their bid? Yup, the ones who are "on time" because they punched in at 0645 but then have to put away lunches, hang up jackets, whatevah!

.......AND it's a Pathway to Excellence nursing standard! Standard 9 - a balanced lifestyle is encouraged! We allow self-scheduling (which I agree with wholeheartedly), but management is trying to say staffing is handled by the staff to support this standard.

Slippery slope my friends, slippery slope!

(Gosh that felt good to sort of get out in a passive-agressive anonymous sort of kind of way ;))

And thank you, Commuter! Yes, I will always give a safe report, but you won't get any nice details from me if you haven't made the "time" for it

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I think Conqueror was saying these women have made it clear they don't have a life outside work. Their behaviour certainly suggests a constant blur between work and home life.

However, I do relate to single people being treated as though their time is less valuable. I once overheard a nurse say "Why can't these single nurses work all the weekends so we can spend time with our families?" Uh, maybe they weren't planning to stay single throughout their lives?

That's just her perception. For all we know, she may not have even made an effort to get to know those "60 year old snots." I say that a because it's unlikely that she would paint all of those women with such a wide brush if she'd actually gotten to know what's going on in their lives.

I agree with you about the comments regarding single nurses. I heard people say that I should work the holidays since I didn't have kids. Maybe I don't have kids, but I enjoyed a paid day offs much as the next person, and I enjoyed spending those days with friends and family.

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Did you ever consider that they may think what you talk about is equally mundane. I wish I had all the time back that I spent looking at baby pictures I didn't care to see; listening to gripes about husbands/kids. I wish I had all the money back that I spent on Girl Scout cookies/Boy Scout popcorn...yada yada yada.

And the remark about "dead husbands"? That was cruel. "Bats" may be crusty, but they're not cruel.

Only if they find report mundane because that is ALL I want to talk about. I do make it my business to compliment a new dye job/haircut/lipstick/scrub top because it seems to brighten their day but thats it. My friends are not a work so I don't try to sell them things or whip out my photos but to each his own.

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That's just her perception. For all we know, she may not have even made an effort to get to know those "60 year old snots." I say that a because it's unlikely that she would paint all of those women with such a wide brush if she'd actually gotten to know what's going on in their lives.

I agree with you about the comments regarding single nurses. I heard people say that I should work the holidays since I didn't have kids. Maybe I don't have kids, but I enjoyed a paid day offs much as the next person, and I enjoyed spending those days with friends and family.

I have worked with them for years. THAT is how I know them so well to begin with. I have spent countless hours in report listening to their stories. Kinda my point. I don't begrudge them living at work. Don't begrudge me just working at work.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Only if they find report mundane because that is ALL I want to talk about. I do make it my business to compliment a new dye job/haircut/lipstick/scrub top because it seems to brighten their day but thats it. My friends are not a work so I don't try to sell them things or whip out my photos but to each his own.

I'm sure they're eternally grateful.

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Specializes in Oncology, Rehab, Public Health, Med Surg.
I think Conqueror was saying these women have made it clear they don't have a life outside work. QUOTE]

Such arrogance to judge another person' choice and then presume to make a judgement that they don't "have a life" ouside of work . If you don't live their life, you don't know!!

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