Nurses that are obligated to work overtime.

[diazchris1124]

I just want some opinions on what happens when a nurse is obligated to work over 12 hours. Are they prone to make more mistakes then their counterparts that have a 9-5 job? What happens when they do make a mistake, are they fired? Do they have supervisors that reprimand them even if they were the person to make the RN stay late? When I say reprimand I mean report them to a board of Nursing.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Don't even compare nursing to physician hours. They get paid much, much more than we do and the expectation of hours when going into nursing vs medicine is also known and expected. You cannot compare the two and be taken seriously.

Yes they make more, but also went to school for half of a lifetime, take crazy call hours, etc. When I went to school I knew I would have the possibility of crazy O/T, call, etc. To avoid these unpleasant yet common "evils" I will suggest outpatient 9-5 settings.. However, I have worked in that setting and did stay late and came in on days off, so I guess there is no escaping this.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Yes they make more, but also went to school for half of a lifetime, take crazy call hours, etc. When I went to school I knew I would have the possibility of crazy O/T, call, etc. To avoid these unpleasant yet common "evils" I will suggest outpatient 9-5 settings.. However, I have worked in that setting and did stay late and came in on days off, so I guess there is no escaping this.

No thanks. The answer isn't always OP 9-5 to avoid scheduling issues. I work registry, so I work when I want to, don't work when I don't want to. There are very few staff nurses where I work that must work overtime, and call is only when you've been scheduled and they don't need you for x number of hours. I made it clear when interviewing for my second job that I was not looking for a set schedule. They're trying to get me to take a set schedule, but I simply say no. If they eventually want to let me go because of it, fine.

[bell1962]

Except in a school. The buses leave at the same time everyday and the kids are gone and you get to leave pretty much on time.. unless there is a rare emergency.

[bell1962]

Yes they make more, but also went to school for half of a lifetime, take crazy call hours, etc. When I went to school I knew I would have the possibility of crazy O/T, call, etc. To avoid these unpleasant yet common "evils" I will suggest outpatient 9-5 settings.. However, I have worked in that setting and did stay late and came in on days off, so I guess there is no escaping this.

Unless you work in a school. The buses come the same time everyday and the kids are gone. You can leave on time..unless there is a rare emergency...