ChknWing

wow. no wonder nursing is in such a staffing crisis.

have you found that employers are agreeable to it? like if you make it clear in the interview, it has not kept you from getting job offers? your comment gives me hope. I have a similar attitude toward it

which state are you in? that is horrible working conditions

oh yeah absolutely, I will be asking specific questions, I meant that hopefully they are honest in disclosing it when asked.

thanks for this! glad to hear it's something that is hospital specific, and hopefully they disclose their process at the interview.

there are only 3 in the country. it is a much needed service. I would absolutely love it there..... for 36 hours a week we don't have to move. but getting out of our home state is always something we have talked about doing.

I'm neither and I've got no problem working full time. My issue would be working extra hours on top of that. that sounds like my worst nightmare

thank you!

thats your only option in ocean county as far as I know. you can also try brookdale or rutgers.

thank you for the insight!!

I will certainly do that once we have decided where we are relocating to. thank you!

yeah in job descriptions it basically says they can do whatever they want with you. but I've never before had to consent to something like that before I could even apply for a job. also mandatory overtime is unheard of where I am, so I am trying to get a feel for just how common is actually is in practice. I understand our employment contract and even our union contract leaves the employer open to do just about anything they want. but I am asking to see how often other employers actually take advantage of that. like, is mandatory overtime some abstract situation I need to worry about only in times of extreme crisis or will it be the norm at some facilities to require extra shifts. so far the responses are a little bit of everything

thanks for this reply, it's more of what I was looking for. yeah that disclaimer really threw me! I was only looking at that place because they have a perinatal psych unit and that is my niche. whew it's rough out there.

yes I definitely feel like the legality of what exactly is considered "patient abandonment" is not understood. and I've read people say that employers will use that as a threat when you decline overtime etc when that is not correct or accurate (nevermind also being inappropriate).

That is reassuring to hear, and is the type of thing I was looking for in posting here. I was casually searching jobs at UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina, and before you could even submit an application you had to agree to an employer statement which basically said that you understand your employer can change your hours, shift, and mandate you at will. And that freaked me out!

yes. and the situation you are describing makes sense because you can't just walk out if there's nobody else coming in. I had a different idea on my head, where mgmt would sign you up for extra shifts each week and you couldn't say no. so I'm wondering if I'm overthinking this mandatory overtime thing, and if it's just something I will have to include in my questions for potential employers. I would hate to uproot my family and then be miserable at work and regret everything. but I'm also an anxious over thinker. so I'm trying to get a feel if this is a legitimate thing I need to worry about.

that sounds more reasonable than being told to sign up for a 4th shift each week. still not ideal but I would rather be mandated if I am already there. was this something you were aware may happen when you got the job? meaning, are places generally transparent about whether or not they mandate and how often it happens?

thanks for answering that question for me. if it's inevitable I would be less unhappy about staying if I'm already there vs being told to work a 4th shift in a week.

Having the option to say no is what I would be looking for. I was trying to get a feel about how common this mandatory overtime thing is in other states. I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of forced extra hours. My experience is in Psych Crisis and we do 12s. That's just insane to me. I'm so much more than a nurse/worker.

okay so then maybe it's the fact that I'm in a state where it is not legal to mandate. how often were you mandated? and did you have advanced notice? for example were you told to sign up for a 4th shift vs stay past your 12hrs? how is this a practical situation for people with children and other responsibilities?

I'm in a unionized hospital in a state where mandatory overtime is illegal. If we are short staffed, they offer incentives to come in, but it is never required. Until I started looking at job opportunities in other states, I was not even aware that mandatory overtime was a thing that happened, and frankly it sounds awful.

A part time with benefits position with the understanding that it's actually going to be full time hours. Yeah, maybe. I can't believe that this is the systems solution to the nursing shortage. No wonder everyone is burnt out. Are you saying that only some hospitals participate in this? And if so, are they transparent about it when hiring? I am coming from a completely different environment and this is all over my head.

This question is for US nurses. I am a nurse in a unionized hospital within a state that has made mandatory overtime for nurses illegal. We are considering an out-of-state move, and I only recently learned that there are many other states that require their nurses to work more than the 36/40 hours per week which they are hired to work, with your job being at risk if you refuse to do so. I have searched the boards for additional information and I still have so many questions about this. Is it a standard practice statewide? Is it hospital specific? Is this disclosed during the interview process? Is there any way to opt out? Are "mandatory overtime" facilities generally not great places to work, meaning would this be a red flag if it came up in a job search? We would be moving for a better quality of life for our young family, but being mandated to work extra hours will impact our quality of life in a negative way. If anything, I am hoping to work less hours when we move vs more. Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer.