Our unit is getting ready to insitute a mandatory overtime policy. We are supposed to have meetings this week for our feedback.
In my situation, I work 3 - 12 hour nights and that's all I can work mentally, physically and logistically. Anything more will accelerate the rate at which I will experience burnout. I have a small child and plan on another very soon. Also, I think nights are different from days in that the recooperation time from day sleep to nighttime sleep takes longer. I am very distressed about this.
Does your unit have a similar policy? How have you coped?
I tell the supervisor, "I would if I could, but I can't because I am too fatigued to provide safe care."
Once she told me I had no choice. I wrote, "I told ***** that I am fatigued thererore any accident, error, or lack of complete charting is not my responsibility. I will do the best I can.
Please sign here so I will have this if called in to court or for discipline."
She told me to go home. I have been asked but never again have they tried to force me to work overtime.
Years ago I read in the paper that a nurse called Child Protective Services to report that her kids would be home alone because her employer wouldn't let her go home after her shift. CPS called the hospital and told them to let that mother go home.
My state recently instituted a law that RNs and CNAs cannot be forced to do mandatory overtime-it takes effect next month. No thanks to our governor who vetoed it:down:-the state legislature overrode the veto, YAY!!
Our nurses union was intrumental in seeing this law come to fruition..obviously in the case of a disaster or something, it wouldn't apply.
Maybe other states will grow a brain and do the same.
Our unit is getting ready to insitute a mandatory overtime policy. We are supposed to have meetings this week for our feedback.
In my situation, I work 3 - 12 hour nights and that's all I can work mentally, physically and logistically. Anything more will accelerate the rate at which I will experience burnout. I have a small child and plan on another very soon. Also, I think nights are different from days in that the recooperation time from day sleep to nighttime sleep takes longer. I am very distressed about this.
Does your unit have a similar policy? How have you coped?
I would speak to the other nurses and see if you can all band together. A group of strong voices could go a long way here.
Keep the focus on patient safety stating none of you feel you can provide good health care while tired and this puts the hospital at a liability.
Don't do it. Find another job. They can hire more nurses and choose not to do so. That's their problem not yours.
It's in our award that nurses may be required to work a 'reasonable amount' of overtime. Of course no one has really worked out how long or how much a reasonable amount of OT is, so managers often try and pull that one on us. However, it is also in our award that we may refuse to work overtime if we are fatigued etc as we may be compromising patient care.
My views on OT is that i'm happy to do it as long as i have some notice beforehand. At my HCF if an operation is going to run late you have to chase down the coordinator to remind them that you need to be relieved. Most of the time they never ask you if your happy to stay, which is so frustrating.
spacenurse i don't know if witchy is refering to rhode island .but ri just passed a ban in mandatory ot .it takes effect in march .it bans cna and nurses from being mandated beyond 12 hrs .so it will be interesting to see it in practice.since most nurses work 12 hrs at least in my dept the ed.of course it goes out the window in a declared emergency .so time will tell.
Our hospital has been pretty short staffed recently, so on nights they know they are going to be short (must be signed up prior to the pay period starting) they are offering a $250-$300 bonus for picking up the shift, in addition to our OT pay (time and a half). This starts next Sunday - I don't think we are going to be short for awhile after that - those shifts went like hot cakes.
Batman24
1,975 Posts
Good for you.
Calling CPS is brilliant.