Sandy Storm whom do I serve?

Nurses Safety

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Sandy storm is en-route I feel it's strength echo in the wind that cautions me vigilance. My husband ,who is a Srgt.in the NYPD , has already been called in and is expected to be on duty for a minimum 48 hrs. I am here with my children and received "that" call, the one where I am sitting here wrestling with whom do I serve?

My area of work is an off site facility but as we are on disaster status I am expected to show up .The the hospital requires me to be in at 7am prepared to stay there through Tuesday am. The hospital has no concern for my children or situation that would mean in my case they would be left here alone. I ask myself questions like "Is it abandonment to not show up? Could I be fired ? Where do I stand legally if I choose my children's safety over patient's? As I sit here contemplating I am also thinking I know I can't be the only nurse making this decision tonight.

I consider, Have I not shown up before for emergencies through my 20 years of service. I have walked through snow to my thighs to receive a 25 pt load because only myself and one other nurse felt it our duty to show up.I have arrived in a blackout, on my night off ,in 2 different colored flip flops because it was all I could find scrambling in the dark.There I was left manning the ED cardiac unit alone with 2 active chest painers and no doctor in sight. I stood in the ED on 9/11 waiting for patients while my own husband was down there and I didn't know if he was safe.

I am aware as I'm writing this I am relieving my own conscience that the truth is I have already decided that this time I am not going to show up.

For weeks after hurricane Katrina I thought of the nurse's those who both stayed and those that didn't and how they each felt as the water gradually rose up. I couldn't in my own heart arrive at a decision would I have stayed with vented patients or raced home to my family instead.

So I am inviting a discussion that when faced with an emergency is the call to serve greater or to serve family first? Personally, I am not leaving my children,my mind is made up but the consequences of the decision I am yet to find out

Specializes in cardiac CVRU/ICU/cardiac rehab/case management.

Thank you so much to all who have posted. I especially appreciate those who were thoughtful and didn't assume. Thanks too to those who stuck to the topic, -What would YOU do when faced with choosing between family or job

So time to fill in the gaps. I am an emigrant so I have no family in this country. My husband's parents are deceased. My children are school age so there is no babysitter.

I live less than 1 mile from the water and right now we are just outside of mandated evacuation. Depending on flooding we may also need to seek higher ground.The bridge will be closing,so no, I am not putting a body of water between me and my children regardless if those of you out there believe I belong to a generation that simply shrugs and does not care.

Regarding my position- As I mentioned earlier we are off site. If there are repercussions the ,secretary,bursar, dietitians PT,nurses, manager, doctor and director will all have to be fired along with me because zero staff showed up.

I have not worked in house in the hospital for several yrs. During that time Vents,monitors,IV pumps have all changed. I have no access to computer charting ,(nor how to use it ),I have no access to Picc medication system either or even CS ID code. Essentially the only help I could offer would be to do dressings and am/pm care. I have gone to several emergencies while I worked in critical care and there was reason to be there. Today however to leave my family with potential evacuation to do a.m. care is not enough reason to get there. Perhaps it will be a great opportunity for the management type previous posters described to empty a few bed pans and put the pizza away!

Specializes in OB.

One thing missing here is planning ahead. In this case people have known this storm was approaching for about a week. No matter where you live you know there are conditions of some sort which may necessitate you reporting to work in inclement conditions or staying at work when no one shows up to relieve you.

You should always have a plan in place for these occurances. Discuss this with your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers at a time when there is no crisis so that you don't have to scramble ahead of time.

I was a single parent who lived several thousand miles from family. A coworker in similar straits and I arranged ahead of time to watch each other's kids in case of emergency. The unit manager knew she could count on one of us being there for the duration.

In later years travel nursing with a pet I made sure that at every contract one of my first tasks was to locate a vet or boarding kennel and discuss with them that in emergency I needed to have a guaranteed spot to leave the dog.

This is simply being responsible.

Specializes in Psych.

I must, again, say that if your job is more important than your family, that it is your choice. Others may have different values. Why should any person be expected to abandon their own children in such a situation?

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

exactly-and it's stunning the number of phone calls we get into the nursing home during an emergency.Maybe two family members out of 250 will call to ask if everything is ok,is there anything there loved ones need,is there anything they can do? or give a "Thanks for all you do" It's as if we care about their loved ones more then they do.....O,right-in many cases that's true....

Specializes in Oncology.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If it comes down to me or patients or my family members or patients, sorry but I'm going to take care of my own and myself every time. I've worked 20 hour shifts. Doubles. Through tornadoes and storms, blizzards and everything. i will go in if it's safe. But I will not abandon my family to be worked to death or maybe harmed. The patients are not my number one priority over myself and my family. My job comes number 2 in my life after myself and my family. I am dedicated to my job, work countless hours of unpaid overtime and work harder than anyone should ever have to. It's not a matter of prep or planning, it's a matter of where do I need to be in an emergency? And if the emergency could result in harm to my family or myself... sorry. I'm not shirking responsibility either and anyone who thinks so can get over it. Would your patients risk life and limb or their families for YOU? You bet your behind they would not.

I'm not gonna get hurt trying to get to work or abandon my family to get to the patients.

In a disaster situation, there should be policies in place.

Policies.. or not ... I and my family must come first. It is called survival.

In a disaster , the facility should have a plan , if it does not include my personal safety... all bets are off.

Stay safe, my prayers to all involved.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
I am the DON of my facility. I live on the coast of Massachusetts. I made it into work. Several of the younger nurses were surprised to see me (I've only been there a few months and they don't know me well) and asked if I was considered an 'essential' worker. Heck yes I'm essential!

All the managers were there and we all stayed until the next shift arrived. The MDS nurses pitched a fit when the administrator said non essential people could go home. I said anyone with a license was expected to stay until we knew there was enough staff to cover the shift.

And for those of you who speak about their bosses having pizza parties?? Yikes. My managers and I make sure the staff nurses take a break and a lunch/dinner every day. Please don't lump us all in the same (sinking) boat.

The last big weather incident we had? Our manager not only didn't show up, but she never called to check on the unit.

For over 100 years, nurses have made storm preparation arrangements with their families so they could perform their essential function and be at work during blizzard/hurricane/tornados/coal strike/ floods. Why is today's generation shirking this aspect of our job?

NRSKarenRN you are a dear woman and I am devoted to you, but do not feel that is entirely fair.

For much of the past 100 years nurses were mainly if not exclusively single women without children. Married women were either not hired or got shot of when they became in a family way, and an unmarried woman with children was beyond the pale. Therefore the only "family" one presumes such nurses had to worry about would be parents and or perhaps younger siblings if orphaned.

The cult of self sacrificing angels of mercy really only began to attach itself to nurses starting with WWI and WWII, along with major outbreaks of disease such as the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Even then we were still mainly talking about young unmarried women.

It is worth remembering that despite this advertising/media blitz the United States military was very short of nurses during WWII as many simply weren't interested in signing up to be sent wherever and under god only knows what conditions. Things were so bad there was going to be a draft of nurses, however the surrender of Germany lessened staffing requirements so it never happened.

Facilities and quite honestly some in the profession cannot have it both ways. They've gotten rid of whites caps and the whole "romantic" ideals of nursing replaced by quite frankly that a professional nurse is an employee to be managed and lead as such deemed fit by the facility. When you go down that road it isn't surprising that women with children and or families think twice and or act to preserve their own interests first.

As one poster put it in an other thread; a hospital can always hire another nurse, one's children however cannot replace their mother or father.

Then there is the sad lessons learned from hurricane Katrina which is still shaking down through healthcare and disaster response professionals today. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1

Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

I don't see much in the way of natural disasters where I live. There are snow/ice storms once in a while. Nobody here knows how to drive in the rain, let alone in snow. My previous employer had two years between snowstorms. One was 2009 and I was stuck there for 3 days. There was a bed provided, we raided the pantry a wee bit, and the dude with the truck who brought a bunch of our relief to work stopped by mcdonalds and got a huge bag of sausage biscuits for us the first morning.

Then the paycheck came, and we were paid double-time during the storm. Ok. Very nice. I had packed a bag and with the aid of benadryl and hard work, slept very well and finally went home when the ice was a little bit melted.

Two years later and I had a week off, quite by accident, when a nice snow/ice storm hit. No I did not go in. The rooms were full, they made no accommodation for the nurses other than maybe they could sleep in the chapel. Well sleep didn't happen very well in the daytime, the secretary wouldn't stay off the overhead pager. There was no raiding the food. There were no biscuits, no overtime or double-time or incentive. There were people who stayed at a hotel nearby, and the company didn't pay for it. I don't remember if there was anyone to pick people up and help them get to work. Such a difference in two years! No I don't work there anymore.

sometimes, especially in these ities were this never happens the orders to evacuate come quickly . ugh i dont have children so i understood my life and saftey is worth less to many, @@ but i still value it above anything else. nyu hospital's generator failed!! 10-12 feet of water in elevater shafts and some areas. i can only imagine the chaos on moving patients down 9 flights in the dark, with flashlights only,, while bagging them, critical drips, equipment/beds weighing 100s pounds. i anticipate reading accounta of employees there that night.

Specializes in Med Surg.

Facilities and quite honestly some in the profession cannot have it both ways. They've gotten rid of whites caps and the whole "romantic" ideals of nursing replaced by quite frankly that a professional nurse is an employee to be managed and lead as such deemed fit by the facility. When you go down that road it isn't surprising that women with children and or families think twice and or act to preserve their own interests first.

As one poster put it in an other thread; a hospital can always hire another nurse, one's children however cannot replace their mother or father.]

Exactly. If healthcare is a business, then all professions associated with it are just jobs. Considering the way many posters report being treated by their employers, is it any wonder employees aren't willing to go above and beyond? My belief is that family comes first, always. Not to say I wouldn't try to make it in during a disaster (which around here is tornadoes and ice storms), but I won't sacrifice my life or my family's safety to do so. If that makes me a bad nurse, so be it.

sometimes, especially in these ities were this never happens the orders to evacuate come quickly . ugh i dont have children so i understood my life and saftey is worth less to many, @@ but i still value it above anything else. nyu hospital's generator failed!! 10-12 feet of water in elevater shafts and some areas. i can only imagine the chaos on moving patients down 9 flights in the dark, with flashlights only,, while bagging them, critical drips, equipment/beds weighing 100s pounds. i anticipate reading accounta of employees there that night.

According to local NYC news reports they used sleds to bring patients down the stairs, beds would not have fit the doorways/stairs and would have been nearly impossible to carry down several flights of stairs.

Once on the ground floor patients were loaded onto stretchers from waiting ambulances.

We should learn more about NYU later on, lord knows every local news station has had an reporter on sight harassing (ok, interviewing/reporting) whatever staff they could grab. Dr. John Lapok (sp?) was on last time one looked (cannot remember why he was down there, IIRC he said he was up at NYP and came down to "help"), but he praised the "doctors, interns, residents... everyone rolled up their sleeves to help". Have yet to hear one news report nor the doctor mention nursing staff.

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