Nurses that are late for report

Nurses General Nursing

Published

**vent thread**

Our hospital just put up a note that they would not be paying any overtime beyond 7:30 pm, and there are a few nurses on night shift that typically show up 10-15 minutes late for report. Last night, one of them even got snippy when I tried to hurry her along for report because she showed up 15 minutes late. (For clarity, I am not complaining about the person who is usually on time.)

You know, I always show up at at least 10 minutes early so I can print my labs, etc. before I take report, because I don't want anyone to have to stay late because I'm not ready, and I really don't understand why some people have no problem making ME stay late. It's so inconsiderate! Even if I were getting paid, I don't WANT to stay late. By the end of a shift, I am tired.

I hear so much complaining about the way doctors treat nurses, but honestly - I only interact with them for 5 minutes out of my day. It's the NURSES who tend to get under my skin! :angryfire

Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

I would consider bring this to your unit based council (or whatever your unit governance is called). It is not appropriate for people to be habitually late. As others have mentioned, they are trapping you between a rock and a hard place- pt abandonment vs. being unfairly and illegally denied pay if you must stay late to give report. In the interim, I agree completely with giving report to the manager. If this happens on a consistent basis, they will likely get tired of it and deal with the routinely late nurses.

Specializes in CCU/MICU.

Wow, how do they get away with being late every day from management?? 2 minutes late, maybe... but even then, people get irritated. We are expected to be ready to go AT 7pm. Be 15 minutes late without calling once or twice and you'd be having a sit down. Personally, I have kids to get to school in the morning. If I am getting out late because my patient crashed and burned all night, that is one thing. But if the oncoming nurse is like, 10 minutes late, you better believe I'll be writing report. It is not my responsibility to stay... otherwise, I'll be giving report to the charge, and they will be giving report to the nurse. And just a note... if they expect you to get out by 7, then they need to provide a way for you to do that. They can't just refuse to pay you overtime, that is against the law.

Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/Uro/Rehab CNA.

at the hospital i worked night shift at, when i first started you could clock in 7 min late (6:30pm-7am shift, so at 6:37 if you slid your badge you were late). people would show up at 6:36 consistantly, so they moved the time up to clocking in at exactly no later than 6:30 (6:31= late) and no more than 10m earlier(6:20= just as bad as being late). the rule was also 3 lates = counciling, 3 more lates= write up, possible pay dock, 3 more lates = getting canned. now thats some motivation!

although i do have to say that there are still nurses and cnas that would clock in and still dilly dally with putting their lunches away, chatting with the day shift whom they are not relieving, visiting the breakroom, picking their nose, going to the bathroom, and then dragging their feet down the hallway while reapplying lip gloss.

c'mon i want to go home kiss my son good morning and get some sleep!

I totally agree with you. If I have to get up early so I am on time, Darn it so should all the other nurses. These nurses who are ALWAYS late need to get written up and tossed out of there. There is no excuse for this. Heck, they should just leave labs, tests, vitals, any important info written out on a paper. Many times the report is given in Tagalog anyways. I kid you NOT...I walked into report and was appalled to hear it being given in Tagalog...I was the Supervisor and believe me that was the LAST time it was done on my watch. There were 2 nurses in report who spoke only English. The Fillipina nurses said they were giving each other report and that when it came to the two english speaking nurses they would speak english. This was horrible. I told them that ALL the nurses on the floor need to be aware of ALL the patients. And we wonder why the American nurses are leaving the hospitals in droves. Hospitals have to go to other countries to get help.

I totally agree with you. If I have to get up early so I am on time, Darn it so should all the other nurses. These nurses who are ALWAYS late need to get written up and tossed out of there. There is no excuse for this. Heck, they should just leave labs, tests, vitals, any important info written out on a paper. Many times the report is given in Tagalog anyways. I kid you NOT...I walked into report and was appalled to hear it being given in Tagalog...I was the Supervisor and believe me that was the LAST time it was done on my watch. There were 2 nurses in report who spoke only English. The Fillipina nurses said they were giving each other report and that when it came to the two english speaking nurses they would speak english. This was horrible. I told them that ALL the nurses on the floor need to be aware of ALL the patients. And we wonder why the American nurses are leaving the hospitals in droves. Hospitals have to go to other countries to get help.

I thought it was routine not to be able to understand report. The supervisors would do the same thing. Sure couldn't tell them you couldn't understand anything!

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
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I'm not sure you understood my post (if that's what you were referring to). The oncoming shift is due at 7pm, and day shift has until 730 to give report on all their patients. When a night nurse shows up at 715 (late), it causes the day nurses to get out late. No one is getting out of their shift early.

Also, I don't expect anyone else to get in early. I personally chhose to go in a few minutes early so that I am ready to receive report at 7am, just as I am hired to do. After all, I am being paid to work beginning at 7 - not to come strolling in later than that and take my time getting down to business..

No, no,, I was going off on a slight tangent with the rest of my post. I have people who think it is their right to leave early, and both manager and a few staff were wanting the charge nurse to come in early to make assignments so noone would have to wait the 5 minutes or so while assignments were made. I admire anyone who wants to come in early for their own sake. People here were getting mad that they couldn't leave early, especially if someone was late; and so going overboard about people coming early instead of "just" on time.

I agree with you! the 7:15ers, whether its AM or PM mess things up. I admitted to having been one of them, and cleaning up my act! Again, it is a matter of courtesy as well as good work ethics to be ready to go AT the beginning of the shift.

I worked with some night shifters who would literally make themselves scarce when it was time for report, often not even giving report until 7:45 or 8-ish, then hang around until 9 or 9:30 to chart. On a very routine basis, like every shift they worked. When the call bell rang for that room, I'd ask the secretary to call that nurse to respond to it, since I had not received report yet on that patient. It took management awhile to catch on to these antics, but they eventually did stop.

Specializes in ER; HBOT- lots others.

Now we dont get paid anytime earlier than 2 (did you get that??????? TWO!!!!) minutes prior to starting shift. but thats besides the point, i also get to work early to get my head in order, if i dont i dont feel right or comfortable or safe. but yeah, we get these rn's also that decide to show up 15min after the start of shift and i leave 15 min after that. i will NOT generally wait for those ppl. these are night shifters that consistenly do this, there are a couple i will wait for, but not usually, i will wait MAYBE 5 extra minutes, but i live 40 min from work, and i am ready to go! besides, i have a drive, i know my things are done. They have my cell number and can call me with any questions they may have. not a big deal.

i understand if things happen at the last minute, but not when its a consistent "lateness", which is ALWAYS with the ppl that come after me on my pm shift.

-H-RN

THanks for the thread, good vent! lol

In my short career, I have only been late twice. Even then they were for good reasons. If I am going to be late I always call ahead of time say 30 minutes before and I even ask for a handover on the phone so that when I do arrive the person who has been on shift before me doesnt have to handover too much because I have had the big handover already

First thing, where I work the off going charge makes assignments for on coming shift. They know the level of acuity of patients and it avoids the oncoming charge coming in early or report starting late.

We don't tolerate late where I work. Recent policy is that late is considered an absence and counts towards the number of alloted absences, 5-10 minutes is late. We also don't punch a time clock we write in our time. If a 10 minute late person writes 6:45a on her time card but she didn't arrive til 6:55 then she is falsifying her time card and grounds for dismissal. The same people are always late on my unit, often it is the person who lives the closest. This one nurse who is always late also tends to prolong any meals or rest breaks, she is also the one who texts at work or uses her cell for personal phone calls. Some people have no work ethic.

If you do stay past report time to give report you must be paid. Anyone who doesn't charge for this time is a door mat. It may be the only way management will put an end to chronic tardiness.

at the hospital i worked night shift at, when i first started you could clock in 7 min late (6:30pm-7am shift, so at 6:37 if you slid your badge you were late). people would show up at 6:36 consistantly, so they moved the time up to clocking in at exactly no later than 6:30 (6:31= late) and no more than 10m earlier(6:20= just as bad as being late). the rule was also 3 lates = counciling, 3 more lates= write up, possible pay dock, 3 more lates = getting canned. now thats some motivation!

although i do have to say that there are still nurses and cnas that would clock in and still dilly dally with putting their lunches away, chatting with the day shift whom they are not relieving, visiting the breakroom, picking their nose, going to the bathroom, and then dragging their feet down the hallway while reapplying lip gloss.

c'mon i want to go home kiss my son good morning and get some sleep!

i like the lipgloss thing, funny and so true.

i recently had two new hires that did this consistently (diff. shifts too). one defended herself by saying she stayed 7, 9 or whatever minutes over at the end of her shift. she did not get it. the other used the traffic defense (because no one else deals with traffic of course). if the people who did this realized the impact it had on how their colleagues related to them they might think twice. of course their colleagues never said anything to them but to me (that's ok it is part of my job).

being late, regularly puts one at odds with their colleagues even if it is 1 minute. when 6 or 7 nurses can manage their lives and get into work on time and 1 cannot it is disrespectful. it sets the late person apart and puts them at a disadvantage when relating to, and working with, their colleagues. separately, at best they won't advance in their career, at worst they will lose their job.

one of these new hires lost her job within a week of her last warning. a pity because it seemed to me she was excellent in all other areas except those impacted by being regularly late. there are no shortage of jobs in my area but there is healthy competition.

Specializes in OB.

For any coworker who is consistently late: If you need to stay later than the acceptable clock out time, write up a variance, or whatever they call it at your facility, stating "Clocked out X minutes late d/t Nurse Nancy arriving 15 minutes late for report". Do this every time. After this has been documented in writing enough times administration will have to address it.

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