how do you NOT get overtime and get done?

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Sep 26, 2007

suggestions would be helpful - except for the one that my administrator made, which was go back to nursing school and learn how to do our jobs :balloons:

Please tell me you're joking! Your administrator said this to you guys? :angryfire

njbikernurse · Sep 26, 2007

In my experience, it's impossible to do all the work you're supposed to do and still get out on time. Wherever I've worked, the nurses who got out on time were skipping tasks but signing that they did them. Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true. I only signed for things I actually did, and I never got out on time. If management complained, too bad. They knew the truth, and tended to not get on our backs too much about OT. Your administrator sounds like a real peach..............

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 26, 2007

Somehow now that I work 12 hour shifts instead of 8hours, I am more likely to get my tasks done. There is often a lull in the action around 3-6pm that lets me finish up or get caught up.

If there is a chronic problem where you work, I would suspect you are short-staffed.

NoviceToExpert · Sep 27, 2007

In my experience, it's impossible to do all the work you're supposed to do and still get out on time. Wherever I've worked, the nurses who got out on time were skipping tasks but signing that they did them. Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true. I only signed for things I actually did, and I never got out on time. If management complained, too bad. They knew the truth, and tended to not get on our backs too much about OT. Your administrator sounds like a real peach..............

This is exactly what I've seen... nurses are signing off on things they haven't done. I see it every single day. Unfortunately I'm still on orientation in an ICU. Get this...and I quote... "Orientees are not to get paid overtime no matter what... we are not going to encourage you to develop bad habits and not figure out how to get your tasks done within your shift timeframe... nor will you get approved for a no lunch taken slip if you don't have time for lunch..." My response was "So... then when I am experienced and expert I can take longer to do my tasks, but while I'm just learning I am expected to come in on time? That's genius!" ... then "How about I walk off the floor at 7:30... and also at my lunch break for 30 minutes, and at the time of my two other 15 minute breaks which I've never seen during my 12.5 hour shift?!" ... Yes, my senior management says exactly this... and has not approved overtime... I have been there sometimes 2.5 hours beyond shift on days we've had high census, low staffing and multiple codes. I've been on staff when all the nurses get their no lunch slips put in and mine is left out because I am an orientee. To further the problem... if my stuff isn't all signed off I am told I can't multi-task and my progress is disappointing... go figure... it's real tempting to just sign off on assessments and everything else, but I'll never do it...I see them do it all the time... ventilator bundle sheets, mouth care, etc... right in front of me nurses sign off on their restraint checklists q 2 hrs stating they have removed restraints, done range of motion, repositioned, etc... NOT! I am absolutely disgusted with the reality shock of what I've seen and how acceptable it seems to be. It sickens me. So... I eagerly await some real suggestions on how to save time while maintaining an acceptable standard of care... please bring the suggestions on...

RN1989 · Sep 27, 2007

I'm sure you know how to get all your work done without OT, you just haven't thought about it hard enough. Why else would most of the patients be unhappy? Because the nurses aren't doing anything but the paperwork. There is no more patient education - it might be charted but I can guarantee it wasn't done. They didn't get their pain meds - that's why they are calling you out of report before you even see the patient. They didn't get their central line dressing changed. They didn't get their IV tubing changed and it's been up for 6 days. The patient was NPO all day and still hasn't eaten because the nurse was doing the paperwork and couldn't fit in 50 calls to the kitchen to get a tray. So the nurses who are consistently getting things done? They aren't as organized as the boss thinks they are. They are just better at hiding their tracks. I will say that a 12 hour shift gives you a better chance of getting everything done but there's no guarantee. I would suggest that you start documenting things at work - short staffed, when you get out late and why, etc. Your post tells me that you are wide open for disciplinary action for poor time management. You need to CYA.

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2007

When I worked PCU/med tele in my first year out of school, I never left on time. Why? I tried to get everything done that I was supposed to, and most certainly never signed off anything that I didn't do. The work load was horrendous - 12 hours shifts, 8 beds for one nurse and aide, sometimes 4 discharges and 4 admits in the middle of the day, no IV team, dopamine and Cardizem drips to titrate, never mind the codes and other unexpected happenings - and I routinely worked 13, 14, 15 (rarely, 16 or 17 hours) with only a 30 min lunch break (which I always took, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did - 11 months). I did get OT, however, and it was never questioned by management (my manager, the best one I ever had, left soon after I did because she couldn't do anything about these conditions).

However, many other nurses did leave on time - some never left a minute late, even new grads! Why? No, they weren't geniuses, and no, they didn't know the secret to "time management". The left on time because they took short-cuts - much of what they charted never got done. One new grad never missed a breakfast break - in the middle of the morning med pass! Everyone knew he was a lousy nurse (still is to this day - he works in my current hospital now), but by golly, he always left on time.

So don't feel bad, the problem is theirs, not yours. I does sound that your manager is not understanding (or trying to force you to do something that is against your ethics - shortcuts, etc.), so you may have to do what I eventually did - run, don't walk out of there. I hope that this isn't the case, but if it is, it may be better to quit sooner rather than later (and don't worry about your resume, nobody would hold it against you). Perhaps you could also transfer to a slower-paced unit, such as outpatient surgery.

Best of luck to you!

DeLana

Christie RN2006 · Sep 27, 2007

Very very rarely do I actually clock out at the right time, most days I am excited if I clock out just 15 minutes late! If we have a nice slow night I will actually get out on time, but that only happens maybe once a month. Most mornings I have to stay over just to catch up on charting. By the time I have to give report, I am normally completely done with patient care (unless a patient takes a turn).

The only way management can guarantee that we would be out on time would be if #1 we had less paperwork

#2 better staffing

#3 better workloads

#4 more support from management

#5 make the doctors do everything they are supposed to do

All those extra papers we have to fill out may make management feel better, but it makes our lives miserable. For example, where I work we now have to fill out a DVT profile on all of our patients and figure out which risk level they are, the appropriate action based on the risk level and then put it in the chart so that the doctor can make a decision about what he/she wants to do. Basically we have more paperwork because a few doctors missed writing for DVT prophylaxis.