OK - Here's a question I've been wondering about for a while, but don't want to ask for obvious reasons.
OK - I'm sure that all hospitals have this process - if there is an external disastor, our hospital has a process where all staff is called in - it has a code name, that I am reluctant to use it - lets just call it "fan out and go". Basically, its a process where all staff is called and expected to come in and help out because of some external disastor. Fine and dandy - I can come in if needed. But... (here's my question) what should one do if they have been drinking? Now, I would NEVER drink before going on duty, but we are talking about something happening on my day off.
do you
a) Say sorry I'm tanked, I can't come in = thereby giving you the reputation as the boozer nurse and basically destroying any chance of promotion.
b) Go in, but say "I've been drinking, I can't safely give meds, start IVs, etc, :saint:but can probably do basic nsg care, freeing up someone else to do what I am too tanked to do.
c) Go in, drink lots of caffeine and water in route, hoping that that plus the adrenaline rush of a true emerency will sober you up
or d) Just say, I've been drinking, I can 't come in, thereby basically destroying your chances for promotion as in # 1.
Don't say just don't answer your phone, lets assume your have answered and are now in this predicament.
Not that its ever happened to me! I'm just curious -(as I pour myself another rum and coke....)
I think people are talking from 2 different levels here...
Yes.
I think most of us would feel obliged to work (in some capacity - not necessarily at our place of employment) in the event of a humanitarian emergency. I think most of us agree that coming into work when we are less-than-sober would be wrong.
I don't think it's necessary to tell your employer you can't come in because you've been drinking if you feel that it might cast you in a bad light or have negative consequences.
I also think there are many other very valid reasons a nurse might have to decline coming in to work in an emergency - not having enough sleep, making sure your family is safe, or even boarding up your windows before a storm makes landfall are good reasons not to come in to work.
What you tell your employer is your business. I just don't feel I should have to justify myself by giving a reason.
It's not up to the person on the other end of the line to determine if I have a good enough reason not to come in.
As long as you are over 21 (which I assume you are with 20 years experience!) your job cannot punish you for things you do on your days off... Also, if you are worried about being denied promotion, I would be willing to bet if you came in hammered your chances of promotion would be out the door! Possibly along with your employment. Disaster or not, if you are an unsafe practitioner, you are of value to NO ONE... But I think you may have already known this...
Sometimes my hubby gets called to work for an emergency. If I know he has had a few and has gone to bed I do not answer the phone. Then when he gets asked about it later on he can say that he did not see the message till next day. Which is the truth. If he gets killed in a motor accident while on the way to work not only would I be a widow but I would be left dealing with all the law suits. I would be a widow without a roof over my head.
I also think there are many other very valid reasons a nurse might have to decline coming in to work in an emergency - not having enough sleep, making sure your family is safe, or even boarding up your windows before a storm makes landfall are good reasons not to come in to work.
I'm really not picking on you, but again, we know a hurricane is coming days ahead of time, so the priorties should include going to work - after boarding up your windows, getting your family out of harm's way........if you work in a place that will be open during a strike and if that place plans on you being there.
If I were a DON, I would think those excuses you offer lame because it shows poor planning on your part, although there might not be much I could do about it, because as you said, it's your right not to come in and not offer a reason. It's a free country and we're not a military state.
As long as you are over 21 (which I assume you are with 20 years experience!) your job cannot punish you for things you do on your days off... Also, if you are worried about being denied promotion, I would be willing to bet if you came in hammered your chances of promotion would be out the door! Possibly along with your employment. Disaster or not, if you are an unsafe practitioner, you are of value to NO ONE... But I think you may have already known this...
Actually, I probably did. Sometimes my brain goes into overdrive on me and I get myself worked up about nothing. Sometimes I just need to hear that I am making the right choices. Thanks everyone.
Yeah, if you know about a storm days ahead of time you should be prepared to go into work if needed when it hits. Meaning, not getting hammered. I, however, live in earthquake country and we do not have the benefit of knowing when one will hit... I guess, I would base my decision to go in on the criteria previously mentioned, but if I'm off and have been drinking, NO WAY am I going in.
Specializes in Adult & Peds psych, PICU, nsg mgmt.
Unless you are on call, you not legally obligated to your employer on your days off.
It is illegal for a nurse to practice while drunk, even if you're on bedpan cleanup duty. The license you will lose will cost you a lot more than the respect of a judgmental manager when you say "sorry, I'm intoxificated." (An excuse my roommate college roommate gave to a professor for skipping class.)
You are under no legal obligation to tell your employer why you can't come in. However, it is the courteous thing to do, because just saying "I can't" can sound a lot like "screw you."
Say I go snowboarding in Vail on my day off (not on call- OFF). A plane crashes at the Denver airport at 8AM. The hospital I work at in Denver calls me but I don't have a cell phone signal at the top of the mountain so I don't get the message until 5PM. Did I do something wrong?
Your decisions, as well as personal and professional priorities, are yours. It is inappropriate for anyone to judge you for getting hammered on your day off or for not boarding up your windows soon enough in the case of an approaching hurricane.
If I were a DON, I would think those excuses you offer lame...
Which is precisely why I wouldn't offer an 'excuse' in the first place.
Regardless of the reason, it's my decision whether or not I can come in to work, and I expect my employer to respect my automony in making that decision.
Trust me, I know you're not picking on me. I've read enough of your posts to appreciate your point of view and know that you and I share some common values and experiences.
Back to caller ID....honestly, if you are in no shape to drive, you are in no shape to work. I just don't think it is anyone's business what you do with your time.
I'm not sure I'd want to hear the excuse anyway. "Can you come in?" Yes or no. "Thanks, try to come in when you can." Next call.
I look at it this way; I'm walking down the street. I have someplace I need to be. A guy stops me to ask for a buck. Maybe I'll give him a buck, maybe not. The guy tells me he needs something to eat. Maybe I believe him, or maybe I don't. It probably won't affect my decision whether or not to give him a buck. The guy tells me he needs a buck to buy a bottle of booze - he's probably not going to get a buck out of me. The guy starts to tell me a long story about how he lost his job, ran out of gas, needs to get back to Houston to he can pick up his tools, but he has to stop in Lake Charles on the way because....
I have someplace I need to be. The story isn't going to improve his chances of getting a buck out of me.
"Can you come in to work?" If I ask "Why not?" I'm going to get a story that isn't going to change whether or not that person is coming in to work - it just takes up my time, and I have a list of people I need to call.
Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.
I think people are talking from 2 different levels here - a disaster is not "3 people called off for ER on a Saturday night" - a situation where I can see saying no - I'm off duty tonight. A disaster is a plane crashed into the river and they are fishing out survivors or the fog rolled in and there is a 40 car pileup on the interstate near our small hospital (both real examples). In those kind of cases I think that only the immediate protection of your own family should be a reason for not coming in if you are physically fit to do so. For anticipateable disasters such as hurricaines you should already have made plans for your family's safety. For the last one I was in - Wilma - we knew it was coming a week ahead of time!
To answer the OP's question - if I had been drinking, or had taken a med which made me unsafe to work, I would tell the caller so and offer that in "X" number of hours (8, 12 or whatever) I would be glad to come in to relieve those who had worked through the crisis and needed to go home to sleep. Then I'd set my alarm and go sleep it off.
These are my feelings exactly--if I hadn't bothered to check the caller ID and actually answered when my work called. I'm known for helping out in a pinch, and if my family was safe and cared for and I could safely and legally help out, I'd be there.
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Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN
11,305 Posts
We practice this once a year as a State.
I'd go in as soon as my family was safe. If I had not been drinking.
As soon as the alcohol left my system, I'd head in to work.
We have had fire disasters here - actually many of them.
steph