I had a situation arise at work where I had been on call Sunday and worked 11 hours. This is a day of call I signed up extra for, as we have lots of holes in our call schedule. I was already scheduled to be on call on Monday to which I worked from 0630 until nearly 0100 the next day. In my facility, they allow us to have the post call day off, unless we are needed to work. Usually we are told the day before if we are needed the next day or not.
I was not told that I was needed the next day (Tuesday), however my name was placed on the board. Being that I worked nearly 30 hours in two days, and was to get only 4 hours max of sleep before having to be back at work, I left a note saying that I needed the day off, especially since I was not told I was needed the next day. The biggest concern for her was that another nurse in a manager type position had to be pulled to do a case, and that a 0730 start was delayed somewhat.
I then woke up today with a phone call from an unhappy supervisor asking why I did not come into work. She did get the note, but did not seem to care that I would be coming to work with little to no sleep.
I do not see how I can be forced to put my license on the line or compromise patient safety, or how my management could condone that.
And frankly, I'm not sure I want to work for an institution that would want their nurses working in that condition.
I'm curious as to what other OR nurses on here feel about this situation.
