Nurses who always show up late to work

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Mar 20, 2013

People in my facility are written up for being late. They get one or two chances and then it's a write up AND lots of peer pressure to get to work on time.

auntiedebe · Mar 21, 2013

I ask them (via email) to please be on time twice, if they are not, they I tell them I am letting our supervisor know. If they are late, I kindly point out to my supervisor, that they are paying me overtime every week because a peer is late. After that I right them up, and I show my supervisor the emails I sent previously..

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2013

I dealt with the problem of chronically late nurses when I worked the midnight shift in LTC. The shifts around here in nursing homes are 6 to 2pm, 2 to 10pm and 10 to 6am.

The local daycare centers do not open until 6am, so the day shift nurses who have young children usually did not arrive at work until about 6:15 to 6:30 because they were dropping kids off. As the night shift nurse, I was the one who was kept waiting for them to show up.

In addition, it is unspoken but seemingly acceptable at many LTC facilities around here for day nurses with childcare issues to straggle in late.

elkpark · Mar 21, 2013

I used to work 2nd shift with a 3rd shift RN who was chronically late. What I started doing was giving report to the techs (this was an inpt. psych unit) at the "right" time. I would stay until the RN showed up (with my coat on, keys in hand, ready to walk out the door), of course, but when she asked me for report, I would say, "Report was at 10:45. You can ask the techs -- they were there." I never got in trouble for refusing to give her verbal report (I doubt she even complained about it, since, what could she say? Her complaint would have to start with "I come in late every night and elkpark won't stay late to accommodate me ..."), and she soon started showing up on time.

pfongk · May 18, 2013

I'm a CNA who regularly turns up 5 minutes late for my monday morning shift. Before I accepted the shift though I explained that there was no way I was going to get to work on time due to refusing to speed as daycare is 30 minutes away from work and opens 30 minutes before my shift starts. Basically I turn up 5 minutes late so I miss a chunk of handover, but they do handover for my wing when I'm there and I stay regularly at least 5 minutes later. My other shifts start 1/2 an hour later and I only do 2 mondays a month so work is ok with it.

BrandonLPN, LPN · May 18, 2013

On the other side of the coin, I'm one of those nurses who shows up right at shift change, with usually no more than a minute or two to spare. I'm never late, but I'm never more than a minute or so early. (I currently work 11-7). I live a couple blocks from my facility, so getting caught in traffic is never an issue.

There's a lot of peer pressure where I work to show up 15-20 minutes early on 3rd shift because "it's late and 2nd shift wants to get home." At first, I bowed to the pressure and would show up at 10:40 every night. Now, with some experience under my belt, I show up between 10:55 and 11:00. Showing up 20 minutes early every night is a fool's game. It's not like I get paid extra for it.

JBMmom, MSN, NP · May 20, 2013

We're scheduled overlapping, so I can punch in at 2:53 pm and the off-going nurse doesn't punch out until 3:30pm. I think this is perfect because she doesn't have to rush through report and narc count to get out at 3pm, and doesn't expect me to show up before 2:53pm (early punching isn't allowed) to get started. We're very lucky the system is set up that way.