"If you sit down and chart for more than 15 minutes, that's considered a break"

Nurses General Nursing

Published

We just had another wonderful meeting with management that usually points out our flaws, our low scores, introduces another document to sign during our shifts, and generally are a drag. ESPECIALLY our most recent one! Management has informed us that if we sit down and chart for more than 15 minutes, THAT'S considered one of our breaks because we've been sitting for a "prolonged period of time." Not only that, but management also said that if we take bathroom break that's "too long" (they didn't specify a time), that that too is considered one of our breaks. I laughed internally and thanked God I'm a night shifter that doesn't have to deal with management enforcing such crap. Do these people really except us to stand and walk around (apparently this is how we're supposed to chart?) for 11 hours of our shift? NO ONE DOES THAT - IN ANY JOB.

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Yeah, right.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

These so called managers need to walk a mile in our shoes,

or at least 1/2 the shift. OOH....burns me up that they make

these rules but get to sit on their *** butts all day.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

what drugs are they on? that is the stupidest things i have ever heard ... they have no right to enforce those stupid rules.... they must be crazy ... i would of laughed .. i would call the employment board , or whatever it's called and turned them in....

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Specializes in LTC.

*snort* Seriously.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Seriously...contact the labor department. Or at least threaten to contact them.

Unbelievable.

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i think that is illegal. and those kind of rules usually change when they find out if one person calls them on it they will have to pay EVERYONE they enforced that on for the length of time it was enforced.................

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

Did anyone in that meeting ask "So we are now expected to chart standing up?" Yeah, contact the Labor Board. Your managers are lunatics.

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I don't think the union would agree with this, and nor do I.

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I'm going to write the CEO and whomever else related to this and point out that it's illegal to have someone work but yet consider it one of their breaks. I'll say something like I'm going to have a labor law attorney look into it, yada yada yada. I'll see if there are any obvious changes and let you guys know. We're told we're "professionals", but yet we're treated like 6th graders. Boooooo.....

P.S. We had a night supervisor for a very short period of time. I was taking one of my breaks, sitting in a chair in the charting room (it's huge) and just sitting there and staring out of one of the windows. The supervisor walks in and said something like "uhhh... what are you doing?" I said I was on a break. She said that I had to leave and go into the "break room" for that. First off, this "break room" used to be a tiny janitorial storage room. They cleared it out, threw a table in there, a few of those cheap plastic blue chairs, a microwave and a fridge that takes up a good amount of the space. It can hold about 4 people comfortably, but we have a staff of about 15 at night. Does anyone know if I'm technically supposed to leave the charting room (which has plush, comfy chairs) if I'm on a break? God.... business must be so slow if these people have time to think up such crap!

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Even sixth graders can be subjected to common sense.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

well if you dont have a union to complain to...where do you turn? that is horrible that you would have to chart standing up!

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