Nurses: "Professionals" or "Martyrs?"

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Seeing the damage done to the hospitals in Florida when Charley passed through made me wonder:

Would you report for work if your life was threatened by a similar emergency or disaster such as a hurricane?

Do you believe that as a professional, you're duty-bound to your patients, even if it costs you your life, as it did the firemen who raced to the World Trade Center?

Or do you believe that martyrdom profits no one, and your family---or your life--comes first?

[leslie :-D]

interesting choice of words, professional vs. martyr.

i'll have to think about that one.

so if one goes to work because of a sense of duty, that would make them a martyr?

leslie

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

If they die while doing their duty, yes, I would think so.What I was getting to was: should your sense of professional duty extend to placing your life at risk in order to fulfill your duty to your patients?

[leslie :-D]

going to work with a known set of potentially fatal risks - no, i would not.

but if i saw a child in the middle of the road, about to get hit by a car....would i risk my life to push them out of the way? yes.

do i understand the difference? no.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

I probably would jump in front of a car too, Leslie.

But suppose your hospital was located in an evacuation zone during a hurricane, and you were scheduled to work. Would you go to work, possibly risking your life as well as your patients, or would you stay home?

Wouldn't you think they'd close the hospital? Yet from what I heard, some hospitals in evacuation zones did not close.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Nurses already put themselves in harm's way to care for their patients. They've assessed the risks to themselves and used their knowledge to minimize the risk, but still...they are in harm's way.

Inthe case of a natural disaster I would assume that the hospitals that stayed open knew ahead of time that they would have to be operational even during a storm and have all kinds of contingency plans, and extra structural support, resources for those that have to stay over. So the nurses, knowing all that is in place, go in to do their jobs. It's not even that different from a regular shift as far as risk goes, just new and different risks. Plus the inconvienence of being away from family. I'll bet they don't even get paid more.

[leslie :-D]

if i was already at work, i would stay.

but i would not attempt to go in during a hurricane, no.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I do both. The hospital I work for is an evacuation center for employees and families. I would report to work to honor my duties as a profressional nurse. Many nurses brought in their kids and families during the evacuation. For me, work is the safest place to be during a disaster such as this, as it was for the other nurses who were under mandatory evacuation.

But I would not sacrifice my family for work or the community. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice. :)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I've often wondered about that myself. Having worked in a tornado zone during a tornado, I guess I have been in danger to care for my patients. It's not as if you get a whole lot of warning for a tornado, though. I've also worked through earthquakes. There again, you're already at work, with no hint of what's about to come . . . . no choice to be made. Once it's over, you stay. If you're not at work, and your family is safe and you can get to work, you do so. Seems rather callous not to help out when you can.

I've worked through snowstorms when no one else could get to work (even the gal who lived two blocks from the hospital was "snowed in.") I've come in to work when the only way to do it was on cross country skis. (I got to go home after my double shift -- everyone else had to stay. Of course, I also got to ski back to work bright and early the next morning!)

This is my first season in a hurricane zone, and I'm wondering how it works. If you're scheduled to work and the hurricane is headed your way, do you go in early knowing you won't be able to travel when you normally would? Or stay home knowing that the folks already there won't be able to get home?

[Katnip, RN]

I just chatted with someone this morning. Her sister worked during the hurricane, and thankfully was uninjured. But the hospital is no longer functional, and she and her husband are both out of work, and from what the sister said, they don't know when their next paychecks will arrive because their place of employment is gone.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Those are all part of the issue, Ruby.

Furthermore, a lot of hospitals are themselves in evacuation zones. Suppose you're scheduled to work and you must work at a hospital that is under mandatory evacuation orders?

Do you all go to jail? (I've heard that failure to comply with a mandated evacuation order can be cause for your arrest.)

Or do you all go to work, regardless of the threat to your--and your patients'--safety?

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

This is my first season in a hurricane zone, and I'm wondering how it works. If you're scheduled to work and the hurricane is headed your way, do you go in early knowing you won't be able to travel when you normally would? Or stay home knowing that the folks already there won't be able to get home?

What happened here was they let the people go home and those of us coming in were expected to be the one's to stay. If the hurricane was schedule to hit prior to your shift, you were asked to come in early and perhaps hang out or sleep until your shift. I was called by my manager since I was schedule 12 hour shifts during that time, to bring a bag and prepare to sleep there and perhaps be there for 72 hours.

At the end of it all those who didn't work would be expected to come in and relieve those who have been there. So there's a team that works through the disaster and a team that relieves them.

I was proud that many nurses came in, even leaving their kids and husbands at home if they didn't live in an evacuation zone. Or if they did live in an evacuation zone, they evacuated their entire family to the hospital, settled them in and reported to their units to work. Only two people called in "sick" on my unit. But we would have had plenty of staff to care for the patients and then some. It was a major pain in the butt and we all lost a lot of sleep, both in preparing and worrying, but you do what you got to do to protect your family and care for the sick. I live near the water in an evacuation zone, so my plan is always to evacuate to the shelter at work, so I may as well work while I'm at it. :)