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Our new PCD, who is only temporary, seems to have taken to writing up half the staff for clocking in like 1-2 minutes past 7 a.m. She's following and tracking those who do it and writing them up for it. I mean -- if you are chronically late, like 15 minutes or so -- whatever. But clocking in one minute past??? Who cares!!
What is up with this? We are chronically short staffed - these are experienced long time nurses -- all very good. There is a hiring freeze -- I mean -- what the HELL are these manager types thinking when they do this stuff? Do they want to run off ALL the nurses? What will they do then when there is no one to take care of patients anymore???
It's as if the world of nursing has just turned upside down lately.
Are you kidding me? you are a well paid professional and are responsible for people's lives. A million new grads would kill for your job.Get. There. On. Time.
If this is too much to ask work at the DQ--which of course will fire you for being late--but at least you will not be bringing down your unit. Kudos to your PCD.
I have to disagree! That is called micro-management and should not be allowed as it stresses out the employees for no good reason. If an employee is chronically late every shift by more than 5-10 minutes then yes they should be counciled. 1 or 2 minutes late, big deal. How many times do we stay over late? We had a micro-manager such as the one the OP describes. She was reported to corporate and promptly asked to leave. We do not have a absentism problem or a tardy problem and this person was only stressing out the employees and making them afraid for their jobs by being a minute or two late.
I have to agree with the OP. I arrive ON TIME, at times 3 minutes before and 1-2 after from time to time. There's NO reason (other than being ridiculous) to arrive 30 minutes early. If you're not on the clock and being paid for your time, you shouldn't be there for multiple reasons, one including that since you're not on the clock you're not TECHNICALLY able to collect disability from the place you work as easily as if you were on the clock. I never clock in early (we don't have "clock in" or "clock out" we "sign in/out" as appropriate if you're early / late.
This is the type of micromanagement that we've been exposed to recently on our floor, and it's not as bad that it's happening, but that it's happening sporadically ... sometimes people are getting 'written notices', some just verbal warning after verbal warning, etc. If it's happening across the board, then you've got it better than I have.
Other examples of micromanagement: Every unit allowing food to be consumed in the station in instances of being short staffed, breaks running late r/t pt acuity, etc. ... except for our floor... Even if it's a bag of chips that you had to eat b/c the cafe is open a whole 2.5 hours at night ......... and your patient decides to crump till it's closed.
Or that you can't take VACATION time off on your weekend (every third), even IF you have sufficient staff AND you're in trouble of LOSING your vacation time b/c you have too much, have been denied on SEVERAL occasions b/c "others have asked for vacation before you", or "we don't have enough staff to staff the unit right now b/c people are leaving" type issues.
Or shifting responsibilities so that night shift has to do tasks like AM accuchecks prior to shift change, even though it's a documented and verifiable problem that breakfast doesn't arrive until 8:30am or later ... somehow checking a blood sugar 2.5+hrs early seems ridiculous and anti-good patient care/anti-good glycemic control. (Ps- We're the only floor IN THE HOSPITAL THAT DOES THAT)
Or ... or ... or ... or ....
I could go on, but I'll make it shorter and say micromanagement sucks, I agree with your assessment that this is ridiculous, and feel your pain FULLY. Feel lucky it's a temp thing - It's not w/ me.
Finally, sometimes talking to him and telling him that morale is already low, and possibly backing off would be a good thing for helping this? And / or bringing a few ideas on your own that would improve morale for your cohorts in the same conversation? Bring it up as, "I think we have a morale problem, and from what the others have been talking about the thing w/ timeliness isn't going over the best at this time ... maybe we should work on the morale a bit and THEN institute this later?"
I watched an episode of Oprah (I believe it was last season) and they had a mother on that was chronically late. She had a daughter that had a standing weekly appointment with a (physical?) therapist. The mother was regularly so late that often times the girl would only get to spend 2-15 mins with her therapist.
There was a specialist on the show (I don't know if it was a psychologist or a life coach kind of person) and she said something that made me think: If you are routinely late by the same amount of time, there is a psychological reason that you are avoiding being on time. If you are routinely late by a different amount of time, then you have poor time management skills.
This was something incredibly powerful to learn. I realized that it is absolutely true and now I make it a habit to always be early. If someone is routinely late, either they need to learn to stay on track, or they need to think about what is going on in their life that they are trying to literally avoid going to work. Maybe there is something they could do if they don't like their department or they don't like their coworkers, etc.
Although, personally, I've read a lot of the comments and I understand that it is annoying to have someone come in late all the time, but I would think people should have a five minute grace period. Although, if you're striving to be on time, you would rarely need it, right?
Sorry, I have no compassion for people who are late. It is unprofessional, rebellious, and should not be tolerated. I have been an RN for 19 years. How many times have I been late? NEVER! I make sure I give myself plenty of time to get to work at least 15 minutes early. If you can't be on time there is obviously something wrong somewhere and maybe you should step back, get a deep breath and look into yourself. Don't blame bosses for doing their job. It's THEIR JOB!
I agree with the post above mine. I've worked bedside for 14 years and have never been late, not once. I've driven through blizzards, ice storms and 1 time a flood and still made it on time. I strive to be on time to relieve the night shift, I like the same consideration. I understand if it only happens occasionally, but some people just cannot make it on time. These are the people that need to be written up. Most places have a leaway built into their policy. Ours is 0645 is when we are suppose to be there and we are late after 0700, I think that is a pretty good grace period but still you have people wandering in at 0710. Micromanagement or just now getting a manager?
to me & my coworkers that is late, our facility states that shift is from 7-7 however we should be here and ready to take report by 645 with the expectation report (med/surg & ICU usually) can last up to 30 mins, so if you clock in at 645 and out around 715 then you also recoup the 30 mins they automatically deduct for lunch out of every 12hr shift. So the fact that they encourage us to get the most out of our 12hrs, helps encourage employees to be on time.
Punctuality/tardiness is a personality trait that is ingrained on us early in life. Yes, it's possible to change these behavior patterns, but it takes a LOT of work. It's almost as difficult (I'm just theorizing here) as changing your sexual orientation.
There are people who are compulsively punctual- with an emphasis on the compulsive part. These are the people who routinely show up early for their shift, even if they can't clock in or begin working yet. I am one of these people; I have a 10 minute lee-way to clock in from 1850 to 1900 and I arrive around 1840. I don't start working at that time. I scope out the situation and take a few minutes to relax, make coffee, chat a little, and gather my thoughts. To me, this is essential to my emotional well-being. I seek out the nurse I will be replacing and am ready to get report at 1850.
Then there are the people who always arrive on time, but NOT before the leeway period starts. These people always walk in the door at a couple minutes before the cutoff time, and they are ready to get report at 1900 or 0700 sharp. Great!
Finally, there are the tardy people. Tardy people can be divided into two categories, I think:
1. People who honestly intend to be on time, but make an error in judgement. (My SO is in this category, which causes no end of emotional turmoil for me because I take puncuality seriously.) "It's a 17 minute drive, so I should leave my house 17 minutes before the absolute latest time I have to be there." But then it turns out the car needs gas, or there is excessive traffic, or... a thousand other things. Strangely, these people are ALWAYS just a couple of minutes late. You can set your watch by their tardiness. Hmmm.....
2. People who are control freaks of the very worst sort. (My ex-mother-in-law, who was an hour late to my wedding, even though the ceremony could not start without her, comes to mind here.) These are the people who ALWAYS show up late or (even worse, in my mind) show up JUST in time to clock in on time, but then they lounge around eating and talking and screwing around while MY tired butt is way past ready to go out the door. These people know that there is a nurse sitting there, exhausted, waiting for them to come out of the breakroom and sit down to get report. And they don't care, not one bit. It's like they think it's fun, all this power they hold. They hold a LOT of power, and they are laughing and grinning about it. This, frankly, makes me quite angry.
All that being said, I admit I've been late to work exactly twice. Once, I had a flat tire. Fortunately, because I'm a punctual person, I was much LESS late than I would have been if I was the sort of person to get there at the very last moment. On the other occasion, I actually plain did not know (through my own fault) that I was supposed to work that night. I was so horrified! But I was there just as fast as was humanly possible, which was very late.
In neither case, not even the one where I blatantly didn't know I was supposed to show up, was I written up. And this is on a unit where every "clocking error" (being late or early or forgetting your badge) is an "automatic" write-up. If I was a tardy sort of person, I would have been severely disciplined, but in my case my co-workers know that I am dedicated to being there on time. They covered my butt for me even though I deserved to be punished. That's the benefit of being on time and actually pausing for one minute to consider the effect your behavior has on your co-workers.
If you can't regularly show up on time, you are rude and possibly insensitive to the point of not deserving your job. Either work hard to change your behavior patterns or get a job that is more suited to you, a job that is NOT run by a clock. (Hint: hospitals are very clock-oriented, so if you cannot operate one, you should not work in a hospital.) There are plenty of other people who would be happy to have your job.
Being consistently late to work is a very passive-aggressive behavior. What you are saying to your coworkers is "My life and time is more important than yours".
I no longer accept this behavior. If I have a coworker who is consistently late I first address it directly with them, then EVERY time I have to clock out late because of them I send a memo or make a notation on time adjustment sheet "Clocked out late because Jane Doe RN arrived late". Believe me, it only takes a few of these memos before the issue is addressed.
Being consistently late to work is a very passive-aggressive behavior. What you are saying to your coworkers is "My life and time is more important than yours".I no longer accept this behavior. If I have a coworker who is consistently late I first address it directly with them, then EVERY time I have to clock out late because of them I send a memo or make a notation on time adjustment sheet "Clocked out late because Jane Doe RN arrived late". Believe me, it only takes a few of these memos before the issue is addressed.
Excellent way to deal with the problem.
"If you ain't early... you're late."
When has being late ever been acceptable?
The only time anyone should be late is at their funeral.
Seriously. Your co-workers are tired. They have lives. Your patients need a new, energized nurse that has gotten report and knows what's up. Everyone relies on you for team work. If someone hasn't told you off for being late yet, they should.
We learn how to be on time since our first poo-poo job at Mc Donald's... yes... it is a requirement anywhere!!
Sheesh!
morte, LPN, LVN
7,015 Posts
I dont have a problem with that at all, that is why i mentioned having the time clock ON the unit.