Rules for refusing assignment

[Cry_0527]

I have been employed as a pca for 2 years while in nursing school. Recently I was pulled to another floor as a sitter. After 1.5 hours, they wanted to pull me to another location. I refused the second pull and was told that since I didn't accept the assignment I couldn't refuse it and was considered refusing to work. I was then put on administrative leave for "refusing to work". I knew not to accept the assignment because it would be considered abandonment of patients if I accept and then refuse. I understand that I am considered insubordinate for refusing the second pull. This was not a one time occurrence and I feel like there was a better solution than moving me again after establishing rapport with the client. I Lao do not feel that treating employees fairly to just pull an employee all over for their convenience. Obviously I wasn't the only employee that could do the job because someone had to do the job when they told me to leave. I will probably be fired for this but my question is, how much will this affect me as a nurse and the ability to get hired elsewhere?

[Hygiene Queen]

Second, the hospital policy says I have the right to refuse a second pull... I Just wanted an answer to if I can refuse a second pull.

If your hospital has a policy that one can refuse a second pull, then there's your answer. Take the issue up with your manager.

Every hospital has their own policies. There is no way for us to tell what your policy actually is. We don't know if you misunderstood what the policy actually is, what the stipulations are for refusal, if they were blatantly ignoring their own policy or what the deal even is.

If, indeed, that is your hospital's policy, that is very unusual. Everyone I know has resisted a pull for one reason or another, but the bottom line is that if they are insistent that you WILL float, then you either sucked it up or dealt with the consequences.

[caliotter3]

Offhand, can't think of a critical situation that would require a sitter to refuse an assignment. Maybe if they were asking you to sit with someone that you have a restraining order against, but that likelihood is highly extreme. As Stephanie pointed out, it looks like you went out of your way to cut your nose off to spite your face with a potential future nursing employer.

[Hygiene Queen]

Offhand, can't think of a critical situation that would require a sitter to refuse an assignment. Maybe if they were asking you to sit with someone that you have a restraining order against, but that likelihood is highly extreme. As Stephanie pointed out, it looks like you went out of your way to cut your nose off to spite your face with a potential future nursing employer.

OP states they are not worried about future employment:

II am not there under the school as a student but an employee, so there is no need to "keep my mouth shut". That has no bearing on my future as a nurse. Which I just finished school. Also, I understand that the nurse world may be small for some areas but we have 4 major hospitals within a 30 minute radius of me. If I have ruined a future at this particular hospital it will not be a huge blow. In addition, I will only be a pca at this hospital for 3 more weeks if I am not fired, and am not seeking a nursing position to follow at the hospital. I Just wanted an answer to if I can refuse a second pull.

If OP gets fired, they may not be worried about their current employer because they have no intention of working there, but I wonder if OP has thought about what they would tell potential employers as far as why their previous job ended.

What if the job interviews go nowhere? That happens a lot. OP may have burned a bridge with the employer most likely to hire them after graduation-- the employer they are already "in" with.

Sure, it could all work out fine. Many nurses get fired for a myriad of reasons and get jobs elsewhere. Hopefully, for OP's sake it works out, but if they are going to fight getting pulled everywhere they work, they are going to have a rough time.