R U Serious.Signing Out for lunch...

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 12, 2009

The person being relieved doesn't have to check in with the charge nurse, but the person doing the relieving does to get their assignment, and once the first relief is done, go back to get the second, so they can keep an eye on how long people are taking. All places are going to have chronic offenders, but depending on how long it's been happening, it may be impossible to change it. Certainly seems that way where I work.

TopazChick81 · Apr 12, 2009

Yeah, I see what you are saying. We do the same here where at i work..I mean that is just ridiculous, I am a grown-a** woman, and have to sign my name in like some child... and if they have to and must go that route, just make those people who do that sign the sheet... not EVERYBODY.

FlyOR · Apr 12, 2009

I have only been in the OR for a short time, but I am perplexed by something Nursing-wide anyway.

What's up with the time clock?

I have three degrees now, and I have never had to punch a time clock before. Sign in, yes, but time clock, no.

Isn't nursing a profession? Aren't we now considered educated professionals? As nursing gets more and more specialized, specific skill sets are required. I hope that nursing pushes back on this. If there are offenders regarding falsification of time and breaks, creating higher stakes is easy enough.

Is it me or does Nursing in general prefer to punish all rather than confront the few?

mama_d, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2009

Is it me or does Nursing in general prefer to punish all rather than confront the few?

It's not you.

ShariDCST · Apr 12, 2009

i have only been in the or for a short time, but i am perplexed by something nursing-wide anyway.
what's up with the time clock?
i have three degrees now, and i have never had to punch a time clock before. sign in, yes, but time clock, no.
isn't nursing a profession? aren't we now considered educated professionals? as nursing gets more and more specialized, specific skill sets are required. i hope that nursing pushes back on this. if there are offenders regarding falsification of time and breaks, creating higher stakes is easy enough.
is it me or does nursing in general prefer to punish all rather than confront the few?

as long as you are being paid an hourly wage - no matter what kind of professional you are - then you punch a time clock of some kind to account for your time at work. this is how they calculate your pay and overtime benefits. time clocks are mandated in many areas by wage and hour laws as the legal means of keeping track of your regular pay, your overtime pay, weekend and callback pay, your accumulation of pto or whatever system they use to calculate and apply your time off benefits, and to verify your presence at work at a certain time if you come up with a work-related injury, so that workman's comp benefits will apply. also to meet wage and hour law requirements involving situations of claimed "working off the clock" which is illegal.

sign in sheets are on the way out - they are too easy to falsify and are not as reliable as time clocks, especially the kind that you have to use a code or a computer sign in to use, instead of paper time cards. and the staff time needed to figure time sheets frequently isn't there - it's much more time efficient to have the system calculate it automatically, and then have it verified against the schedule. many payroll systems are set up this way and it's all computerized for more efficient processing of hundreds or even thousands of paychecks every two weeks, depending on the size of the facility you work for. the last corporation i worked for owned 3 non-profit and 2 for-profit metropolitan hospitals, numerous clinics and other facilities, and they have over 15,000 employees. time sheets would be a nightmare.

don't look at it as an insult to your intelligence - look at it as a means to legally justify your claim to your pay and benefits. hourly staff have to do it this way - salaried do not most of the time.

shodobe · Apr 12, 2009

When I first started,so many years ago, we clocked in and out for everything. A number of years later we went to the "honor" system, didn't work! No matter where you work you will have the cheaters who falsify their time working. I see no problem with an employer requiring you to justify all of your time. I work PT at another facility just giving breaks and lunches in the OR. Of course you arre allowed 30 minutes but I generally give them 45 because they have to go down stairs to the cafeteria and then come up to eat, 30 minutes just isn't enough time IMHO. You can have 98% of your staff as honest as can be, but its those 2% that ruin it for all. Now with our union contract the RNs don't have to clock in and out for lunch or dinner, they just deduct 30 minutes from your time. The time clocked in is actually 8.5 hours with .5 for eating, so you do work 8 hours. If you don't get to eat, which happens alot in the OR, you fill out an adjustment form and get paid for missed meal.

TopazChick81 · Apr 12, 2009

I get what you saying about the time clock..at my job lunch is automatically taken out as well..We have to sign a sheet at the front desk for all lunch breaks during the course of the day. which is punishing thoses who follow the rules too... It the whole idea of doing this gets on my nerves!!!

ShariDCST · Apr 12, 2009

i get what you saying about the time clock..at my job lunch is automatically taken out as well..we have to sign a sheet at the front desk for all lunch breaks during the course of the day. which is punishing thoses who follow the rules too... it the whole idea of doing this gets on my nerves!!!

honey - i've been in the work force a long long time - and i can tell you this about it - i thought of this years ago - "i have worked in many, many places - the only thing that changes are the names and the faces."

what i mean by that is this - you will find people who abuse privileges in every walk of life everywhere you go. might as well get used to it and go with the flow. just do your best to make yourself the "good guy" with everything you do - and don't let the scammers get to you. their time is coming - karma always takes them to task at some point in their lives. i could list numerous examples of that very thing - i've seen it happen myself - but i won't because of space concerns here! lol you can't change them. and there will always be scammers. we all get "punished" in one way or another because of those few who take advantage. it's just the way of the world. "fair" and "life" are generally mutually exclusive terms.

KayceeCA · Apr 12, 2009

A facility I am familiar with recently went through a lengthy legal battle and had to settle a class action lawsuit because someone said they were not being given the breaks they were legally entitled to, and the facility had no records to back themselves up because they had been operating on the honor system. Now, you had better believe that all of the hourly employees are expected to clock in and out, both at the beginning and end of shift and for lunch breaks. If an employee at this facility misses their lunch break, they can fill out a form and be paid for that time.

ShariDCST did an excellent job of explaining the legalities involved in hourly employment. Thanks!

linda2097 · Apr 13, 2009

We are required to sign out for lunch, but what most people do is sign out, sign back in a half hour later, and then keep taking a break for another 15 minutes. So, signing out for lunch is a joke.

$fracturenurse$ · Apr 15, 2009

We use a sign out sheet for lunch and I like it. It makes sure everyone gets a lunch and a break. We use it more or less so we know when someone is coming back from lunch, so their relief can do something else. I don't look at it as checking up on me, I look at it as making sure everyone eats. I've worked in an OR before where we hardly got a break, not to mention a lunch, so I guess I'm grateful for the sign out sheet. But that's just my 2 cents!