"Are you related to an employee at this facility?"

[RNDreamer]

I am filling out applications and some of them ask this question, as well as the name of the employee. Does anyone know if there is a particular reason why this is asked? Can it help or hurt the applicant? Thanks in advance!

[lkwashington]

I knew a mother and doctor worked at the facility I work. I think because they want work in the same department it may a conflict of interest of some kind. I am sure there are others. I work at a community hospital.

[pers]

Immediate family members can't work on the same unit in my facility. Cousins are ok but siblings, spouses, parents (or grandparents) and children (or grandchildren) are not.

It only hurts an applicant to have a relative there if they are applying to work the same unit. The same department is ok, but they can't work the same unit. So both can be secretaries but they can't both be secretaries on the same unit. Even if one is a secretary and one is a nurse they can't work on the same unit. There are some semi-exceptions to house management where they can't work the same shift (since a house supervisor is technically working the entire hospital).

[caliotter3]

I wanted to work in the same department as my daughter and she said that I couldn't because of this rule. Now she has moved up to management so there is even a wider area where I can't work.

[loriangel14, RN]

My facility has a policy banning close relatives working on the same unit. My sister worked on the unit where I applied.They initially said no because of the rule and then out of the blue a few days later the manager asked me to come in for an interview.She never explained why she changed her mind and I didn't ask(I love working with my sister!)

[Zookeeper3]

nepotism.

[jlcole45]

It depends ... sometimes there's referral bonuses. Actually my husband and I have worked together and it was allowed as long as one of us wasn't the supervisor of the other.

[caliotter3]

I worked on a temporary project with my husband one time. He ran off to another assignment. It was probably a good thing because we weren't getting along at home and I'll bet it would have not been good to have lasted any longer than it did.

[RubyRN,CHPN]

I worked at a HH agency once where a immediate family member of one of the RN Case Managers was employed as a HHA. What I remember she wasn't a good one. She was constantly getting injured on the job, difficult to supervise in all aspects including orienting to POC to providing feedback from pt's. (which is manditory requirement for home health), and constantly ran to her mother for protection and complain when she had difficulties with other nurses. Management made no attempt to place her in an area where she would have no direct supervision under her mother. IMO, I felt this was a potential liability for the agency I worked at should there been a direct patient care issue and mother was the enabler. BTW, there were lots of complaints from pt's.

[flashpoint]

You can run into issues during vacations, holidays, etc. I work with a mom, two sisters, and a cousin and they all want the same holidays off. They also all want off for a family reunion and it makes staffing really hard. When an uncle died, all four needed off for the funeral and since they were all scheduled on that day...what a mess!

The sisters argue all the time and they have a hard time leaving it at the door...they forget that when they are at work, they are coworkers, not sisters. They've both said and done a lot of things to each other that they should have been terminated for...if they had said them to another employee, they probably would have been terminated. Also, one of the sisters seems to get her feelings hurt a lot and mommy often steps in to protect her...and runs to management. The four of them also seem to get pretty bent out of shape of one of them is disciplined or even is merely corrected or asked to do something.

I'm glad I only work there part time now!

[oramar]

There are places that have no such rule.

[caliotter3]

I worked at a HH agency once where a immediate family member of one of the RN Case Managers was employed as a HHA. What I remember she wasn't a good one. She was constantly getting injured on the job, difficult to supervise in all aspects including orienting to POC to providing feedback from pt's. (which is manditory requirement for home health), and constantly ran to her mother for protection and complain when she had difficulties with other nurses. Management made no attempt to place her in an area where she would have no direct supervision under her mother. IMO, I felt this was a potential liability for the agency I worked at should there been a direct patient care issue and mother was the enabler. BTW, there were lots of complaints from pt's.

The complaints from clients should have been a clue to the Director of Clinical Services.