Snow & calling out of work

[CrazyGoonRN]

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.

Thanks!!

[Kaybee0525]

I live in Massachusetts, and we have had a lot of snow this year. Even though I am in a "severe weather state", you should consider the big picture, even in an isolated situation. If there was an earthquake in my state, or a tornado, or flooding, like there are in other states instead of snow, I still have to go to work. Keep patient safety in mind first because someone has to take care of them. If the previous shift you are relieving is forced to stay, the percentage of them making medical errors is very high. After being awake for 24 hours, a nurse's impairment mirrors that of someone who has had 2-3 alcoholic drinks and whose blood alcohol is 0.1%, a level that is considered legally drunk in the United States. This is most night shift nurses who get up in the morning, have day time responsibilities like family, school, ect, then go to work from 7pm-7am. Now imagine telling those nurses that because of inclement weather, they have to stay awake longer and keep taking care of patients. Would you want your nurse giving you medication after being awake for 24+ hours? I work in a PICU, so nursing leadership and hospital administration mandate that we make accommodations to arrive the day before our shift due to weather, or guarantee we get there. In extreme blizzard conditions the national guard came and picked us up. The bottom line is you can choose to stay home, but it will be at the expense of patient care. Hospital administrators need to have action plans ready incase circumstances make it difficulty for essential employees to get to work. Where I work, if you call out due to weather, you get put on a performance improvement plan, which means one time is a verbal warning, 2nd time you get written up, etc.....until finally you would get fired (after 4th occurrence).

[MidLifeRN2012]

I think Ruby Vee should be a little more irritated by nurses calling in sick on a bright sunny warm day, weekend and/or holiday that they are scheduled to work and making a coworker work on her or his day off because they didn't, feel like working.

I would never go in on my day off unless I really wanted the OT. They can't call me because the work number is blocked until the day I'm due to work again.

[MidLifeRN2012]

If the hospital provides me a place to sleep and shower on site, then I will arrive the day before my shift and stay the duration of storm and major highway snow removal.

But I will never drive in snowstorms over 6 in in any situation. Work or play. My life is just as valuable as any patient.