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?
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 to the hospital. Two people called in "sick". 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.
Slightly OT, but as long as you're contributing to this thread, Tweety, may I ask? Did you get extra pay for this duty? Or just OT? Free food?
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?
If the hospital is in an evacuation zone, then they must evacaute. If you're scheduled to work that day, then you would help evacating your patients. One hospital here had to do that, they are so close to the water and sea level they evacuated their patients to a few other hospitals in the area.
The hospitals in evacaution zones don't play around with mandatory evacuation orders.
For ordinary citazens they don't send you to jail for not evacating. They come through the neighborhoods with bullhorns ordering you out. But you can choose to stay if that's your choice, it's still a free country. If they see you in an evacuation zone and you don't leave they may ask you for a next of kins number if they check back afterwards and you aren't there, or your dead.
Slightly OT, but as long as you're contributing to this thread, Tweety, may I ask? Did you get extra pay for this duty? Or just OT? Free food?
Thanks for answering.
Actually, I choose to leave that morning to tend to my dogs because I wasn't able to find a sitter the day before. The weather stayed so nice I didn't go back to work until my shift was scheduled the next day. I'll have to find out how people got paid for showing up and hanging out before their shift, or just for their shifts. Meal tickets were provided for people who slept there or come in early as our cafeteria was fully functioning and cranking, plus they were cranking out sandwiches like mad.
So, I'll have to get back to you on that. No one seemed to know what they were doing about being paid. Many people who came in early just clocked in whether they were working or not.
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.
Oh dear, Cyberkat, that's just awful! I just wish that somehow nurses had some way to help and protect their own, especially in situations like this.
Won't they at least be eligible for unemployment? Or wouldn't disaster relief services help?
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.
That is awful. A friend of mine who was also at ground zero, lost her place of employment as well. But she says she's going to get paid while it's being repaired, but it wasn't completely destroyed and might not be down as long as the person you chatted with.
For one storm, which passed us by, the hospital staff (this is the big chain) was expected to come in and bring with them their own drinking water supply for a 48 hour period. I don't remember about the food, they were probably supposed to bring that too.
Now some may agree with that, but I sure don't. They would provide the patients with drinking water but not the staff, the staff would have to supply their own.
If they expect staff to come in and stay for 48 hours, leaving family and whatever else, I think they could at least supply the drinking water.
For one storm, which passed us by, the hospital staff (this is the big chain) was expected to come in and bring with them their own drinking water supply for a 48 hour period. I don't remember about the food, they were probably supposed to bring that too.
Now some may agree with that, but I sure don't. They would provide the patients with drinking water but not the staff, the staff would have to supply their own.
If they expect staff to come in and stay for 48 hours, leaving family and whatever else, I think they could at least supply the drinking water.
I think that is in case they run completely out or it's unsafe to drink. Best to be prepared and have the extra water that employees bring. Ask to the people in south Florida who survived Hurricane Andrew in 1992 how precious water is. Those that hadn't planned ahead were in trouble. I had a friend wait 14 hours for water when he ran out.
Now if there is a policy of "you bring your water, water is for patients only, die of thirst if you don't bring your own water" then that's wrong. I would rather think it's just to shore up supplies to the max. But I have rose-colored glasses on sometimes. :)
I think that is in case they run completely out or it's unsafe to drink. Best to be prepared and have the extra water that employees bring. Ask to the people in south Florida who survived Hurricane Andrew in 1992 how precious water is. Those that hadn't planned ahead were in trouble. I had a friend wait 14 hours for water when he ran out.
Now if there is a policy of "you bring your water, water is for patients only, die of thirst if you don't bring your own water" then that's wrong. I would rather think it's just to shore up supplies to the max. But I have rose-colored glasses on sometimes. :)
I've been through a category 5 hurricane and its aftermath, I know all about water.
I don't think that was the case in this instance, not at all!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
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. :)
Sorry to be so ignorant, but what about pets? Hubby and I both work for the same hospital, but I'd hate to go in to work for 72 hours and leave our dog at home alone!
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?
I would never be at work while a natural disaster was happening and risk being separated from my children. Ever. They'd have to fire me. Mmy children, their safety, and my family being together, is worth way more to me than any job.
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UM Review RN, ASN, RN
1 Article; 5,163 Posts
Slightly OT, but as long as you're contributing to this thread, Tweety, may I ask? Did you get extra pay for this duty? Or just OT? Free food?
Thanks for answering.