Hello everyone,
First of all thanks in advance for any input anyone gives. I'm writing here to see if anyone else has experienced this, and if it's right or wrong or if anything can be done.
Our director for med/surg is refusing to give us comp time. He outright said "I'm not giving any of you comp time, I am not signing for it. You are not efficient with your work, that is why you are not finishing on time. I was told we are giving too much comp time." I heard the director came out of a budget meeting and I guess the hospital is having budget issues, and supposedly they are trying to cut back by not giving anyone comp time. However, I see this as unfair.
This is a tele unit, 28 bed, and we frequently have a patient load of 5-7 patients and they are high acuity (a lot of them require two people to clean them, a lot of them are very sick, need transfusions, oxygen, can't feed themselves, are on IV's, there are a lot on insulin, a lot of high fall risk patients) and we are frequently short on CNAs to help with the care (that or the cnas don't want to work together to change patients and ask for us to do time consuming 20 minutes long bed baths when we are already drowning in work and have a ton of meds and other things to do). Everyone is entitled an hour break, but usually we only eat for around 10 minutes and have to get back to work or else if we will have to stay after work for 2 hours finishing documentation. Not many people dare to claim comp time (time we can use that can add up to a paid day off) because we feel it will "look bad." Sometimes the manager has said "everyone should be getting their full hour lunch. There is no reason you shouldn't." Well the reality of the situation is if we take a full hour lunch, the other people covering for us will be drowned by taking care of not just their patients, but our patients as well (imagine being responsible for 12-14 needy patients including your own while covering another nurse on lunch), and we will end up having to stay late to finish up our paperwork.
On average, everyone stays after work an hour after their paid shift ends, finishing up paperwork. Nobody has been sitting around the nurses station talking or doing anything near wasting time. Everyone has pretty much been busy the entire shift. Being busy the entire shift, taking only a bit to swallow down our food and then get back to work, we still finish an hour late on average, sometimes it is longer, 2 hours. I have heard we used to have 5 nurses on this 28 bed tele unit, but there are only 4 nurses. In addition, nurses have to take turns being the charge nurse, which adds additional responsibilities on top of having a heavy patient load.
I feel that the director refusing to give us comp time is wrong. Is it illegal too? Should we go to the union (though I feel like the union representative will reveal who is the complainer because I have heard that she would tell the director who lodged the complaint and never keep it anonymous)? Or can this be reported to the labor board? The director also says we must email him to explain exactly WHY we are asking for comp time. It is not adequate enough to have simply the covering ADN sign for our comp time even if she sees us working late after our shift ends. I feel like this is bullying or a type of intimidation or a way to deter us from claiming comp time, as if we ask for it, he will make us explain the details, as if we are begging him for comp time. It's almost like humiliation and I feel that it is a way to question us and shame us and try to get us to believe "if only I worked faster or were superhuman then I could have done it all and been out by the end of my shift." What do you think?
Also, does anyone here work on a tele unit with high acuity patients (a lot of bedcare patients, who can't walk, and such)? What is your nurse:patient ratio?
I am feeling very frustrated and demeaned in this kind of hostile workplace environment. I feel not valued as an employee and if feels as if management sees us as work rats to use and abuse and that they just care about looking good as a director and keeping the budget good.
Thank you for your opinions!!