Where I work, the 4 nurses each take a week and take the beeper and are on call. The call is for questions,(med issues) advice, if its really bad, we come in... etc.. (residential facility for kids w/ behavior/psych issues.... NON PROFIT agency) ...But, it is completely uncompensated, we get not a dime for being on call... There is no contract, nothing, "just how they do it". Is this right? I mean, isnt this "nursing for free"... we are deffinitely off the clock, so, is this even legal, or does it even sound kosher to you BON -wise? this is a whole new world to me, and I cant find anything specific on my statesbon web site... so does anyone have any thoughts on this???? Thanks!!!
If I worked the floor et was not in upper management, I would be telling them to get someone else on call. They should be asking the doctor questions for what to do in situations such as you described, not a nurse. At my facility, we have standing orders for what actions to take in certain situations. I would say that you would be covered since you are on call but how could you even make an acurate educated guess like that without actually being there et assessing the patient yourself? Plus, you are not responsible for making those kind of calls, that should be the PCP they are calling for things of that nature. I thought you were talking like who they call to notify for falls, resident-to-resident conflicts, family situations that might come up in the off hours, et things of that nature. If someone called et asked me something like that I would tell them to assess the patient et call the doctor about what to do. We can't make judgements like that, especially when we are not there.
Right, but it is a residential facility for kids with psychiatric and behavior problems... the therapists handle situations of that nature, but the "nsg department" handles all the medical, and medication stuff.So, instead of calling their primary doc, the unit staff calls us, the nurse on call, for stuff like that. These are basically lay people, no medical training whatsoever, so I cant ask them to assess anything.... thats what they want me to do....
I don't work for free. Asking me to carry a pager with no form of compensation is tantamount to asking me to work for free. With the pager (on call) there are certain restrictions that would apply to you -you have to be REACHABLE. You cannot be IMPAIRED IN ANY WAY while you are 'reachable' (care to have a beer with your friends, or after dinner? No can do, my friend! ) and anyone foolish enough to wake me when I go to sleep is well, foolish.
Would I do the 'on call pager' thing without some form of compensation (comp-time, or pay) ? TAKE A GUESS!
Since you have been doing it, I'd STILL let them know that I would no longer BE doing it. If they have a problem with that (threaten you) then a call to the wage/labor board would straighten that problem out. and please PLEASE document everything!
IF this sort of thing went too far, and blew up, and went to court, you would actually be due compensation (if wage and labor were apprised of this situation, you WOULD be due compensation for past events -so long as you can document it). Think I'm kidding? Trust me when I tell you that your employer does NOT want to tangle with THEM. If you're paid hourly, you're due compensation for any and all work performed (on call is on the job).
Right, but it is a residential facility for kids with psychiatric and behavior problems... the therapists handle situations of that nature, but the "nsg department" handles all the medical, and medication stuff.So, instead of calling their primary doc, the unit staff calls us, the nurse on call, for stuff like that. These are basically lay people, no medical training whatsoever, so I cant ask them to assess anything.... thats what they want me to do....
So if they want you to assess then do you actually have to get out of bed et go in there or are they wanting you to just give info based on what they are telling you over the phone? I do not think I would be comfortable doing that. In a situation like you suggested, you are right. It might just be a cough/cold but it could also be the beginning of PNE. I don't blame you for being leary about being on call in this situation. Not sure what I would do but I sure would be having a talk with someone about how safe et effective it actually is. Good luck!
Actually you need to look to the state department of labor, or federal wage and hour to get a determination of what they are doing is legal. Even if it is legal it is not ethical. They are using your professional services (in this case your judgement and advice) without compensation. If I was being paid hourly, I wouldn't carry a beeper without compensation. I too also work for a non profit organization.
Specializes in Dialysis, Home Care, Med-Surg in 4/07.
I've had several positions where call was required but I was always compensated. One was a salaried position and one was hourly. Personally I would not work where my time was not paid for not to mention the legalities as stated in other posts. It is your "off" time and even if you don't get called you have to be available. You aren't really "off" when you are on call.
I work in ICU. Management can "mandatory" nurses off for low census. They only do this in 4 hour increments and can call you in at anytime. In other words, you really cannot do anything but hang on to your cell phone or sit at home waiting to see if they call you in. Even better the time that you are mandetory off is taken out of your PTO time......so not only am I a prisoner of the hospital during the time I was scheduled to work but I also have to use my PTO time to do it.
I checked with the Wage & Hour law and the hospital can legally require this of a nurse. Anyone have suggestions on how to stop this practice?
I work in ICU. Management can "mandatory" nurses off for low census. They only do this in 4 hour increments and can call you in at anytime. In other words, you really cannot do anything but hang on to your cell phone or sit at home waiting to see if they call you in. Even better the time that you are mandetory off is taken out of your PTO time......so not only am I a prisoner of the hospital during the time I was scheduled to work but I also have to use my PTO time to do it.
I checked with the Wage & Hour law and the hospital can legally require this of a nurse. Anyone have suggestions on how to stop this practice?
Call a CNA or SEIU organizer. Time to UNIONIZE! Taking PTO for mandatory time off is in effect taking your property. PTO is yours NOT the facility!
I work in ICU. Management can "mandatory" nurses off for low census. They only do this in 4 hour increments and can call you in at anytime. In other words, you really cannot do anything but hang on to your cell phone or sit at home waiting to see if they call you in. Even better the time that you are mandetory off is taken out of your PTO time......so not only am I a prisoner of the hospital during the time I was scheduled to work but I also have to use my PTO time to do it.
I checked with the Wage & Hour law and the hospital can legally require this of a nurse. Anyone have suggestions on how to stop this practice?
I used to work for a private ambulance outfit that did something like this. Another of their tricks would be to wait until you got home, then call you (they phoned within an hour of your departure) and it was policy that if they managed to reach you, you could be called in (you couldn't refuse, or you could lose your job). I started telling them (you always knew when you were going to be called back in -they would actually make sure they knew when you left -and you knew that it was going to be short-handed that day) I'd had a beer already -you can't work for 8 hrs after having a drink. I cultivated the image that I had a beer as soon as my shift was over to "unwind". :)
Of course, that was years ago, and I wouldn't want such an image as an RN...
Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.
I work in a similar facility ; I am the Nurse Manager . I am on call all of the time unless I am away; then they will call the Medical Director or one of the APRNs. I do have staff nurses from 7am-10pm; they call me much more than the supervisors (Staff have to go thru sup ; cant call me direct). The sups at the facility are used to making non lifethreatening decisions and pretty much follow standing orders until one of the nurses are in.
So if they want you to assess then do you actually have to get out of bed et go in there or are they wanting you to just give info based on what they are telling you over the phone? I do not think I would be comfortable doing that. In a situation like you suggested, you are right. It might just be a cough/cold but it could also be the beginning of PNE. I don't blame you for being leary about being on call in this situation. Not sure what I would do but I sure would be having a talk with someone about how safe et effective it actually is. Good luck
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RNOTODAY, BSN, RN
1,116 Posts
Right, but it is a residential facility for kids with psychiatric and behavior problems... the therapists handle situations of that nature, but the "nsg department" handles all the medical, and medication stuff.So, instead of calling their primary doc, the unit staff calls us, the nurse on call, for stuff like that. These are basically lay people, no medical training whatsoever, so I cant ask them to assess anything.... thats what they want me to do....