So, last night at work, we were extremely short on staff, even more than usual. Since there was only one nurse scheduled to work overnight, the supervisor was going to have to stay as well. Well, 11 pm came around, and the nurse that was supposed to relieve me did not show up. We did attempt to contact her, but she did not respond.
I was working with another nurse, who volunteered to stay over night. Unfortunately, they weren't able to take him up on his request, since he had not worked at our facility long enough. This meant that I was the obvious choice to stay overnight. However, I work a second job during the day, so working extra hours really doesn't work for me, which all of the staff there know.
So, at about 11:30, when the other nurse still had not shown up, the supervisor came to tell me that she had tried contacting other nurses, but no one had responded. She also let me know that the nurse manager was coming into relieve me and the other nurse, but that I was under "hot waters" for not being the one to stay overnight (although she said that those were someone else's words, not hers, and that it was unfair to penalize me because this was my secondary job).
I'm just wondering if I should have volunteered to stay overnight, even though working any extra hours is a major inconvenience for me.
Facilities have more control over staffing issues than you think and they just choose not to do anything about it. They can call in someone who is prn, a float or someone else other than you. If you worked your whole shift than as far as I am concerned you did your part. It is a risk for you to try to do a double. Make a mistake and see that they have your paper work in the HR office ready to be picked up the next day. Do you think they will care that you were trying to help them out by staying, smh.
No, you were in the right! Hospitals try to skim by the bare margin of staffing adequately. Had you made any error or mistake from sheer exhaustion, they would have thrown you under the bus. A rule in nursing I learned in nursing: never volunteer... For anything. "No good deed goes unpunished."
No, you were in the right! Hospitals try to skim by the bare margin of staffing adequately. Had you made any error or mistake from sheer exhaustion, they would have thrown you under the bus. A rule in nursing I learned in nursing: never volunteer... For anything. "No good deed goes unpunished."
I like that..this needs to go on a coffee mug. True though, anything above and beyond we do isn't appreciated. I do what is required and that's it, especially when it comes to overtime and non patient care things.
No, I would say it is not your obligation to stay. I had to learn to say the word no, took me a long time. If you had just finished a shift, how is it safe for you to stay overnight? And then get very little or no sleep for another job?? That is not safe either. Maybe they need an on call person for each night shift like the unit I worked on has done for years and years. Only that became one of the many reasons I ended up leaving. Our whole hosp changed things around and we ended up being on call for the whole hosp, including the units who refused to start taking call. Sometimes it's a no win situation...
If they don't adequately staff their unit, it's not your problem. Those in power in facilities like this never seem to understand that this kind of crap is exactly why no one wants to work for them, and I doubt think they ever will. But just because they refuse to admit it doesn't mean they get to slough their responsibility off to staff. The manager is the person who should be covering. Pheh.
True though, anything above and beyond we do isn't appreciated. I do what is required and that's it, especially when it comes to overtime and non patient care things.
Workitinurfava, BSN, RN
1,160 Posts
Facilities have more control over staffing issues than you think and they just choose not to do anything about it. They can call in someone who is prn, a float or someone else other than you. If you worked your whole shift than as far as I am concerned you did your part. It is a risk for you to try to do a double. Make a mistake and see that they have your paper work in the HR office ready to be picked up the next day. Do you think they will care that you were trying to help them out by staying, smh.