mandated overtime?

[sharkbacon]

I'm an LPN in LTC. Our facility DON was always against mandated overtime, thinking out would lead to people quitting (which it would, I assume) and always figured out ways to get shifts covered without mandating, often working shifts our half shifts herself to avoid it.

Well, she got fired for whatever reason, which means we're going to have a new DON, who may not be so cool about it.

I have a major problem with mandated overtime. I mean, I schedule my life on my off time, as do most responsible adults. And for a place to say "nope, you have to stay here because there's no one to replace you," just really rubs me the wrong way. Especially if people have kids they need to get home to.

Anyway, how do you feel about that? It's like, my worst fear.

[CalNevaMimi, LPN, LVN]

I quit my well-paying job at a California state prison recently because of mandated overtime. My shift was 2pm-10pm and I had a commute of over an hour. The supervising RN would call us at any time during the shift, usually right at the end, and tell us that we were mandated for the morning shift at 6am. That made for a 16-hour day with about 2-3 hours of sleep...and a long drive home in the dark. This was nutty. It was happening at least once a week. And then they started doing it for overnight shifts for suicide watch. That was the last straw for me, so I left. I'm happily working for an agency now with a fabulous schedule and NO MANDATES. I still don't know how I ever got through those 6 months at the prison. Never again.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

I know of a state supported living center near me & has mandated OT. I've talked to MANY people who worked there & they hate it. Between the morale, how they were treated & the OT no one ever stays long. Unless they got someone else to work in their place, they had to stay or they'd get in trouble/fired. I applied there once, thank goodness I didn't take the job.

[sharkbacon]

I quit my well-paying job at a California state prison recently because of mandated overtime. My shift was 2pm-10pm and I had a commute of over an hour. The supervising RN would call us at any time during the shift usually right at the end, and tell us that we were mandated for the morning shift at 6am. That made for a 16-hour day with about 2-3 hours of sleep...and a long drive home in the dark. This was nutty. It was happening at least once a week. And then they started doing it for overnight shifts for suicide watch. That was the last straw for me, so I left. I'm happily working for an agency now with a fabulous schedule and NO MANDATES. I still don't know how I ever got through those 6 months at the prison. Never again.[/quote']

See, maybe if I was getting paid a lot, would it be worth it. But it's not.

I'm hoping my facility doesn't start that, or I'm out.

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

I work in a facility that does implement mandated overtime, when necessary, to ensure we have adequate staffing to provide quality care of our residents. We have a calendar so everyone knows ahead of time what day they are the "mandate". The mandate is used if there is a call off and a replacement is not secured. Usually nurses and CNAs are on the mandate calendar 2-3 times a month. Since we know ahead of time what day we are mandated, people trade if that isn't going to be a good day for them.

The only time we had to deviate from this was during a blizzard (our entire third shift was initially mandated, but replaced as soon as other staff arrived).