I work the day shift in a smallish community hospital (nonprofit). We are unionized. Our contract does have language that allows for days to rotate to nights in the event of a night shortage. I have worked here for 10 years and have never been in this situation and so have thought nothing of it. About 5 mos ago we lost our night nurse. We have had a traveler for part of that time and another one is coming in Jan. We have been filling in - each of us usually picks up 1-2 nights/wk to minimize the stress for one another. This is extremely hard on me and many of my co-workers. My body clock is such that I can only sleep between the hours of 8pm - 5 am. I am incredibly sleep deprived when I have to work nights (patient safety?) and the half hour commute home in the morning is downright scary for me. Here is my question - do we have a good chance of ending this practice if management is put on notice that we are doing this under diress and that, regardless of what the contract says, we cannot ensure safe patient care in our sleep deprived state and that, further, we are not safe to drive home. If everyone affected by this signed a statement to this effect would they not legally have to stop this practice if only to protect themselves? Any lawyers or nurses out there with any opinions or experience on this matters? Thanks!