Mandatory Hurricane Evacuation - Can I be Forced to Work?

[Lorie Brown RN, MN, JD]

Is it legal to make nursing staff stay at a hospital that was ordered by the Governor to evacuate for hurricane Florence . This hospital just was recently rated for only a category 2 hurricane and this hurricane is a Cat 4. This hospital is prone to flood, low lying area at the coast. They divided the nursing staff into 2 teams (A & B) and are requiring all of team A come in prior to hurricane and staying at this hospital even though the patients have been evacuated, they have a few patient that are supposedly not able to move. They have a sister hospital, also under mandatory evacuation , this hospital is rated up to a Cat 3 hurricane. They have transferred some of the patients from the hospital that is rated to withstand a Cat 2 to there sister hospital ( under mandatory evacuation )... waiver was denied to stay per Governor. I have no problem staying and working if I am provided a safe place

Great question. This is such a difficult situation. Fortunately hurricanes are predictable. Hospitals are open 24/7 making it difficult to deal with these situations. Hospitals are faced with the decision to take the extreme action of closing and transferring their patients which is costly and potentially risky to the patient or to stay open and "weather the storm". Each hospital should have a disaster preparedness plan usually approved by their accrediting body. It is recommended that there be an A team and a B team both of equal competence. Team A for during the storm and team B for the aftermath. Your hospital's policies and procedures and your employee handbook should provide you with what is expected and if you are required to stay. This will supercede any advisements to evacuate the area. I am glad you are willing to stay and help your patients. You can also look to the hospital's policies and procedures on how they will keep the staff safe too. Preparation in these emergencies is the key. Hopefully it won't be that bad.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

At-will employment. Your job can get rid of you because of your natural eye color if they want to, and that's 100% legal. That's why most health care facilities work very hard to resist their workers being able to unionize, to the point of threatening termination for any signs of joining a union.

I understand at-will employment.

I still don't understand how a policy manual can override a mandatory evac order from the Governor.

And how is it that some medical facilities are allowed to stay open during an MEO?

Lorie Attorney, can you weigh back in? Thanks.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Because the governor issued exceptions for medical facilities that needed to remain open. Which most people seem to be ignoring.

Why did they NEED to remain open?

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Uhm no. Despite what the OP stated, I actually read the governor's executive order outlining the evacuation order and all exceptions made there to.

The governor didn't specifically order any hospitals to close. He ordered evacuation of specific geogrpahic areas but allowed a broad exception to healthcare facilities that needed to remain open. The decision to remain open was left up to the facility's medical director.

I wonder if each medical director was on site or had he/she evacuated?

Can you post the MEO?

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

It's a catch 22. I live in FL which is hurricane central and during Irma (I still hadn't begun working at my hospital) my husband mentioned a coworker evacuated with his family and didn't show up (team A or "during"). He was fired. If we don't show up then who will? When hurricanes arrive the barometer pressure drops which ALSO means LABORING MOMS!! Yay!! (Sarcasm) so we have a huge influx of pregnant women AND their families on top of employees with THEIR families. If nurses/docs leave then what happens to the rest? In regards to the Governor I'm not entirely sure how your employer would still pay no regards to that warning.

How come those pregnant women didn't evacuate?

[ButterflyRN90, ASN, RN]

How come those pregnant women didn't evacuate?

Evacuate where?? We don't get orders to evacuate. The Keys did, but evacuation had risks. A lot of these women are HIGH RISK. Finding a high risk OB on short notice AND in an area you evacuated to is next to impossible. Our facility also withstood Andrew which was our biggest. I was 2 at the time and has withstood many more hurricanes. We're the safest building and if mom goes into labor what better place than at the hospital? Although last hurricane there were fights amongst men and women who thought the cafeteria crew had a DUTY to provide food for them which they don't. So sometimes it's a good AND bad thing to have an over abundance of people.