Snow..... bad weather

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Today it snowed all day.... towards supper time, it had stopped snowing, and the roads seemed to be getting better (hubby is a volunteer firefighter, thus we have a scanner which I had been monitoring all day)

Around 6:30pm, hubby took our youngest to a friend's and when he returned (within a half hour) our road had become slick (it was now raining and turning to ice when it hit the road)

I am an agency LPN, and had put a call out to the agency this am, that this is what they were predicting, and I knew I had a shift scheduled tonight at 11pm.... almost an hours drive for me. (My thought was, that this way they had almost 12 hours to work on filling the shift)

They called the facility, and the DON told them "If an agency person calls out today, they will be banned"........

I was informed of this when I called them at 6:30 to tell them that the roads had indeed become icy, and I did not know if they would improve until now....

at 9pm, I went out to check, and our driveway is a skating rink (and youngest daughter had salted after she shoveled) and the road is even worse.... so I called the agency and cancelled for 11pm.

I did offer to do whatever I could tomorrow if the needed (I have worked agency for almost 20 yrs, and appreciate the fact that I am a last resort, but putting on ice skates and skating almost 30 miles is just not an option LOL.....)

Thanks for listening.......

Faye

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Peds, Ortho, LTC and MORE.

I can fully relate to this situation, as I also work agency and live in a rural setting. Some places I drive to are over a 90 minute commute. I too, have to be wary of icy/snowy roads with this long drive. I choose to be an employee of the agency...IF a facillity has the attitude to "bann" someone who makes a "life and death" decision, based on road conditions for their own personal safety, then I do NOT need to work at that facillity. I am lucky, I've worked for my agency for over 19 years and the staffing coordinator KNOWS If I call and say roads are bad...then the roads are not going to have my car on them. My neighbor is the country sherriff... and I can /will and have asked are the roads bad or closed at this time? So if the facillity wishes to not have someone who puts personal safety on the top of the list, their loss I would say.

Please stay safe to be able to work another day!

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Today it snowed all day.... towards supper time, it had stopped snowing, and the roads seemed to be getting better (hubby is a volunteer firefighter, thus we have a scanner which I had been monitoring all day)

Around 6:30pm, hubby took our youngest to a friend's and when he returned (within a half hour) our road had become slick (it was now raining and turning to ice when it hit the road)

I am an agency LPN, and had put a call out to the agency this am, that this is what they were predicting, and I knew I had a shift scheduled tonight at 11pm.... almost an hours drive for me. (My thought was, that this way they had almost 12 hours to work on filling the shift)

They called the facility, and the DON told them "If an agency person calls out today, they will be banned"........

I was informed of this when I called them at 6:30 to tell them that the roads had indeed become icy, and I did not know if they would improve until now....

at 9pm, I went out to check, and our driveway is a skating rink (and youngest daughter had salted after she shoveled) and the road is even worse.... so I called the agency and cancelled for 11pm.

I did offer to do whatever I could tomorrow if the needed (I have worked agency for almost 20 yrs, and appreciate the fact that I am a last resort, but putting on ice skates and skating almost 30 miles is just not an option LOL.....)

Thanks for listening.......

Faye

no matter where i have worked i have rarely missed work however - after driving in a whiteout a few weeks ago( 30 min drive took over 2 hours ) and 3 other blizzards sice then ( not as bad as the whiteout but bad enough ) i had gotten up early to go to work about a week ago- and i ended up sliding along the road - coyuldnt get there, shook me up even though i dont shake easily - just to many storms in a row i guess lkol..... thankfully they knew i was not goofing aorund as i always got there before but if they hadnt believed me - and said what you had been told, i sure wouldnt want to go back there anyways. i to work agency - but just cause we are agency doesnt make us infalliable to weather illness , etc. as long as you called in a timely manner which it sure osunds like you did :) there shouldnt have been an issue - last week i called 5 min past the deadline - the office was worried theyd be charged but the place did not charge even though they could have. i did ask my agency if i would be penilized if they charged and they said no it wasnt my fault ( which was good or id have quit them lol)

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Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.

I've lived in the boonies for a long time and have never missed work because of icy conditions. But, I have driven past wrecks before where the drivers have died. I have driven off the road and witness the cars in front of me slide into each other on the black ice. It is just not worth it to risk your life to get to work. You may be driving at a safe speed but that does not mean everyone else on the road is. Where I live we complain about drivers from California who are not used to icy conditions. They often drive really, really fast in the snow and then slam on the brakes to slow down...not a good idea.

Please, stay safe and stay home!

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We Northern Californians who live our lives in the mountains complain about the "flatlander" Californians who cannot drive in the snow . . .so I know what you mean. :D

As to driving in snow or ice . . .I feel better in snow. Ice is just wicked. My 18 year old totaled her car in December on black ice.

You have to do what you think is the right thing to do and I agree with Reigen . . .I don't need to work for anyone who has to ban me because of making a decision based on safety.

steph

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In March 0f 1993, I was working as a staff nurse in Birmingham, AL, and there was a huge blizzard headed our way. Everyone knew about it on Friday morning. I was scheduled to work the weekend. I had been visiting my parents in Huntsville, AL, about 1.5 hours north. They told me about the predicated weather, so I drove back that AM. I got a call around 4pm on Friday afternoon from the hospital telling me to pack my bags and come on in. They were reserving rooms at local downtown motels for all of us. So, that's what I did. As everyone knows, that blizzard brought about 12 inches of snow overnight to Birmingham and paralyzed the southeast.The police were out until the wee hours of the night bringing in nurses who thought they could make it in "later".

When I hear about snow and ice coming, I'd just go in to work a little earlier. Clock in at your scheduled time. No one can fault you for going in early and waiting. :twocents:

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When I hear about snow and ice coming, I'd just go in to work a little earlier. Clock in at your scheduled time. No one can fault you for going in early and waiting. :twocents:

I can!! If you go in early CLOCK IN!! If they want you there that badly, they won't mind paying you. If having the assurance of staff coverage isn't important enough to them for them to pay you for being there, then they can live without you once the weather gets too bad for travel, IMO.

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That is pretty much my feelings.... the facility had hinted at me coming early "we'll have a place for her to hang out, she can sleep if she wants....." but no mention of compensation so......

I did feel bad when I found out that the 3-11 gal had been there since 10am, but they did have all day to come up with a backup plan.....

Faye

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

Ugh... Thursday night coming home was just awful.. and I'm terrified to drive in snow/ice. Thought for sure I was going to get broadsided again... some idiot driving in the passing lane way too fast (I was going 25 mph) hit some slush and started fishtailing his SUV... So he pulled into the closed 3rd lane to avoid hitting someone or something, and the guy behind him hit his brakes and blew the horn! :icon_roll 30 miles on snow covered roads with no salt truck in sight, I was never so glad to see my home...

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Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

On Christmas Day, 1970 (ya I know it was a long, long time ago) I got a call from the hospital I worked at, asking me if I could come in. They knew that they had given me the day off but they were in a bind, please, please. I asked my parents if they minded watching my daughter and told them I would be gone for a few days. I had to drive thirty miles, 15 on the NYS Thurway. I saw a state trooper running his lights behind me but there was no place for me to pull off. One lane was barely passable. When I got to the toll booth, I told the guy to tell the trooper I would pull over after clearing him. He laughted and told me, I was the last car off the NYS Thurway from Erie to Harriman Plaza. The trooper was there to make sure I made it off. I didn't get back home until the early morning hours of January 7, 1971. We worked short staffed all the time, ran out of places to store the dead patient's, and had patients trucked in by snow mobiles. Those that couldn't make it into work were not fired. And those of us that worked, made a fortune in overtime.

Having driven from Harrisburg to the NYS line, in an ice storm, I know what it is like to drive in those conditions. Unless the roads were shut down, I would have left a few hours earlier, to get to my job. And rarely are roads shut down completely, in the Northeast, except during a really bad, bad snowstorm.

Woody

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