So I've been a nurse for 4 years now. I live in the south where snow is not common. As of today every school system in the area is closed due to the snow. I have no kids, but this tells you how bad it is in the area. I live in the country and it's a 35 minute interstate drive to the hospital where I work. I am not sure if I should attempt to get to work or simply call out. I feel like I should at least try, but I've never had this problem before because I haven't been scheduled to work during a snow event before. I have very little experience driving in snow and the roads aren't plowed out here in the country.
So what would you do in this situation? Or what have you done in the past?
I am posting this because I really want opinions of nurses, not just my family/friends who advise me to stay home.
My agency has more PDN cases for elderly than for kids, and many of them are labeled "Must staff" cases. Most of the time, if you are there and a storm occurs that prevents relief from getting there, well, "Tag--you're IT!" Especially if they live alone. We all have been "stuck" at one point or another, it goes with the territory.
Here is my gripe with PDN......many of the parents will not try to accomodate you if you have to stay over.
Many will not offer you food.
Yesterday i stayed and even though i did work 20 hours you think anyone offered to let me sleep somewhere,even on the couch? NOPE
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
My agency does not do priority levels.
All of my pts are gt or NGT/trach/and vent.
2 have central lines.
Most parents are trained.
Many PDN nurses just call out.
Lastly,i thought kids are not allowed to go home in the first place UNLESS parents are trained?
If there is only one parent then what? These are priority 1/2 cases. The cases with no primary caregiver are emergent medical foster homes and cases with 24hr PDN. The details of specific cases would violate HIPAA
If your agencies are not prioritizing patients then they must not be accredited as prioritization is mandatory. You previously posted that you live in NJ and prioritization is required by the DoH that licensed PDN and Skilled Home Health agencies.
While I've only been offered a place to nap once in PDN, I always pack sufficient personal supplies & food so I don't need to ask families for food, though nearly all offer. I keep non perishables & bottled water in my trunk. Has come in handy more than once.
In the hospital food was offered if staff paid for it, so don't assume all facilities offer sleeping arrangements or food. You're told to pack for a 2-3 day stay including food & clothing. Once there were no beds or even empty stretchers as the hospital was filled to capacity and had patients on portable monitors in hallways and conference rooms. You were lucky to find an empty chair to take a nap in. Some used booths in the cafeteria. Drifts were so high transportation was stalled for over 36hrs so the facility had to ensure patients were fed and therefore coffee shop offered a discount to employees that didn't bring food. Staff had free coffee as usual & water coolers. Those that stayed were offered a bonus PTO day and a meal voucher for their next shift worked.
I work in Chicago where hotels near my hospital easily cost $300 + per night and I live an hour out. My hospital would not reimburse that expense. No way in h@ll am I going to eat that
If my hospital puts nurses up in the hospital before and after a storm and I'm already scheduled, I will leave several hours before impending storm to get there.
But I will never risk my life for a job. I'm sure the hospital wouldn't pay my medical bills, pay for my funeral or support my family afterward.
In our last blizzard, thankfully I wasn't scheduled to work, but they sure tried to call me in during the brunt of the storm. (Went to voicemail and didn't pick up) Nurses who were scheduled who live a block away from the hospital suddenly became "sick". Don't think I'm going to come risk my life when I'm an hour away in good weather. They even shut down the interstate that I would have had to take.
Nice for all you nurse martyrs out there to sacrifice your life to the cause, but count me out. As long as for the rest of the year I rarely call out and cover some shifts for others, I don't feel one bit guilty for being "sick" on a snow day
Just thought I'd throw this out there, since someone said, "Maybe I should go to Canada...." well many parts of the US have worse weather than Canada.
However, I live in Alberta where it's minus 20 during winter months that last an average of 7 months. Nobody would be at work ever if we used weather as an excuse here. You never know from one hour to the next sometimes.
If you're essential personnel, plan to go.
The point was to go to Canada to learn how to appropriately navigate that type of weather. Not to call out of work.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I said that just to ruffle feathers as some folks have gotten too worked up over this. I do actually know enough people to get another job and not worry about it. It's called networking and in the real world connections make a difference. Whether it's right or not it is another story.
If you were looking to ruffle my feathers, sorry, didn't work.
No one person is that important, agreed. But more than one person is advocating not even trying to get to work. If more than one person on a shift doesn't even try, that leaves the shift short. Or someone has to stay.
Fair enough. Thanks for the reply.
I do NOT advocate NOT trying to go in to work. I said I don't drive on ice, though, which is true, but my husband will.
Where there is a will, there is a way. I DO advocate, however, if you are not safe to drive on ice or in snow, find somebody else who is and get them to take you, for your safety and the safety of everybody else on the road.
OP, please come back and tell us if you made it! In my dark little heart, I am harboring a fear that you died on the way to work!
" Everyone who is already AT work should just STAY until the weather is better? And if you're the one who is AT work, are you planning to stay until the weather is better?"
Yes...if I am already at work and made it ahead of the storm, and my hospital keeps me up, yes, I would stay until storm over. But never would I risk my life in dangerous weather to come to work. I'd rather be on unemployment.
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
So many of you have written instructions and suggestions for driving in the snow (my favorite was to stay between the ditches), but again, I will submit that 'knowing it' and experiencing it are two separate things entirely. So many people when finding themselves in a good slide with lack of traction are going to....even though they may 'know better'....STILL automatically go into panic mode and slam on those brakes!
I had a very scary experience driving in whiteout conditions and vowed to never do it again. Work or not.
Imagine being on an expressway where most people travel 70 + mph and at the time you can only go 5 or 10 mph in rt lane because the winds are so high you can only see white. Imagine praying the whole time (2 hours) that everyone sees your hazards and dont slam into you as some over confident 4x4s or semis travel faster than they should , which they often do.
Nope not for me. Fire me if you want but I value my sanity and life more than that .
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I had a very scary experience driving in whiteout conditions and vowed to never do it again. Work or not.
Imagine being on an expressway where most people travel 70 + mph and at the time you can only go 5 or 10 mph in rt lane because the winds are so high you can only see white. Imagine praying the whole time (2 hours) that everyone sees your hazards and dont slam into you as some over confident 4x4s or semis travel faster than they should , which they often do.
Nope not for me. Fire me if you want but I value my sanity and life more than that .
Those of us who are responsible and go to work have had the same frightening driving experiences as you and others have described. And we're scared, too! Ice scares me, semis in the Interstate terrify me and sometimes I have to guess where the pavement begins and ends. When my 30 minute drive takes three hours, I promise you I'm sweating and quaking in fear the entire trip. But if everyone decides they're too special to bother trying to come to work, what happens to the patient's? Or don't they matter to you?
smartnurse1982
1,775 Posts
Here is my gripe with PDN......many of the parents will not try to accomodate you if you have to stay over.
Many will not offer you food.
Yesterday i stayed and even though i did work 20 hours you think anyone offered to let me sleep somewhere,even on the couch? NOPE
Hospitals do provide you with food and sleeping.
That is the big difference.