Tardiness

Nature_walker, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2016

Even a minute late at my school can get you written up. First time it is a verbal warning. After that a write up and after that, good bye from the program. We had a girl come one day late this term. She called the floor saying she had been in a car accident. She came aways and did get warning for being late. She was ok, a little shaken, but unharmed. However, since this was unusual circumstances the professor talked to her about it as per school rules and she has not been late since.

djh123 · Apr 12, 2016

Our ICU clinical instructor threatened us big-time re: being late, and no one ever was. As far as my job goes, nurses don't often seem to be late, but a few (some who are no longer there, some who are still there) call in too often, or even do a no-call, no-show! And the CNA situation is even worse. People don't get fired often enough for doing this stuff when we're too short.

NurseKatie08, MSN · Apr 12, 2016

As a clinical instructor myself, I have struggled with students who are chronically late. Points are taken off their final evaluation at my discretion.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2016

My school did not tolerate tardiness at all.

My job really doesn't either - half an occurrence for every tardy, and five occurrences starts the disciplinary action process, with a "coaching and counseling" at four occurrences just to let you know before you get written up officially. These are in a rolling year.

I got my coaching and counseling for tardies a couple weeks back and then I was late again... I am expecting a documented oral warning sometime in the near future, which means I will not be eligible for a raise this year and if there is a system wide bonus again, I will not be eligible for that either. I have been more than one minute late once, and the rest of the time I was one minute late.

It sucks, but Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I get less than four hours of sleep before I have to wake up to go to work, so getting adequate rest has been an incredible struggle. Sometimes I have a lot of trouble making it out the door due to fatigue, which makes me a lot slower than normal. It is what it is.

OyWithThePoodles, RN · Apr 12, 2016

I don't recall anyone being late for clinicals. There was a day when we all car-pooled to our clinical site. The driver of our car called the instructor and said "Sully is throwing up in the parking lot, she doesn't want to miss, but she ain't getting in my car!" The instructor allowed me to miss that day, (stomach bug) and I made it up with a research paper.

As far as work, people are late at the hospital all the time. We are supposed to be clocked in and ready for report by 0645, rarely does this happen. If it's someone who is quick in report, doesn't sit down to look over their chart prior to report, I let it slide. But if you come in at 0655, and take your sweet time preparing for report, we wont be friends.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Apr 12, 2016

I guess it's my military brat upbringing and then my own military time, but if I am not 15 minutes early, I am late. Lol.

Vtachy1 · Apr 12, 2016

Same here! I was always at the very minimum 15 minutes early! All of us when I worked at the hospital were early, we never even had one person that was late.

canigraduate · Apr 12, 2016

It depends on the culture of where you live, I've found. On the East Coast in an urban setting, nearly every one is there 15-20 minutes early. In the Midwest small town I lived in, most showed up a couple of minutes before the earliest you could clock in. Where I live now in the West, most people clock in at the last minute at the clock nearest the entrance. They make it to the unit when they get there.

There are outliers like the chronically early and the chronically tardy, but for the most part, it really varies by region.

A lot of it may depend on the unit culture, too. The corporation I work for now doesn't like people clocking in more than two minutes before shift starts, and the managers are so desperate to keep staff they rarely punish for tardies. The Midwest company I worked for was highly punitive, so everyone made sure to be there on time.

On the East Coast, well, the rat race culture is rampant where I lived. If you aren't twenty minutes early, you're a slacker and lazy and don't deserve to have a job. And, by golly, you better skip lunch and stay late to make sure all of your patients are cared for (*cough* pampered) and your charting is immaculate. If you don't, you aren't a team player. It's a badge of honor to go through a shift without peeing and taking a break.

In the nursing school I attended, a tardy equaled an absence, because the doors were shut and you weren't allowed in to class. If you weren't at the clinical site on time, to the minute, you were dismissed for the day. You could only miss clinical twice before being dismissed from the program.

At the nursing school I taught clinical for, you were allowed to stay, but you were counted tardy if you were late. Two tardies equaled an absence. You could only have two absences before being dismissed from the program.

Extra Pickles · Apr 12, 2016

I don't remember anyone being late for clinicals because if you were late you might as well not show up at all! And for those that didn't show they were doomed anyway lol.

Where I work lateness is not tolerated Except when it IS. I mean that those who tread a thin line most of the time will find those late minutes get turned into warnings that turn into documentation for getting fired. People who do it rarely won't hear anything because they do it rarely! But make it a habit and you're going to hear about it you can bet. since I'm usually the one waiting for the late nurse lol I sure don't mind when the write-ups happen!

NotYourMamasRN · Apr 12, 2016

In all the hospitals I have worked in, they handled tardiness swiftly and sternly. In all the SNF I have worked in, everyone is always late. I served in the military, so 15 minutes early is what I personally strive for with every shift. Even if I can't clock in early, I like to be ready to go.

NurseCocoBSN, BSN · Apr 12, 2016

I was late to 2 clinicals in my entire BSN program.

1 was the morning after my cousin died. My professor made me write a 3 page paper on professionalism. I hated her and wanted her to disappear. We're now actually good friends and talk all the time.

1 was after my apartment burned down. I called and lied and said my car broke down on the commute because I was too worried about dealing with a harsh punishment, and it was a really bad year. (MIL died, cousin died, my house burned down, and our dog died).

I've been late to work once in 2 years, by 30 minutes. I cried my whole way in, because I was so upset that I screwed over a night nurse. They were cool, but I felt horrific.

mercurysmom · Apr 12, 2016

My LPN program was a hospital program that had included dorms up until about 5 years prior, so a student who was even less than 5 minutes early to clinical was met with gasps and horrified expressions.

My RN (ADN) program had its share of late arrivals, which really blew my mind. Unfortunately, since there are so many nursing schools in my area, there's a major fight for clinical sites, and my school apparently drew the short straw one year when it came to psych rotation. The site was in a hospital a good 70 miles from the school. The school was also famous at that time for being the only college to keep campuses open, even when the local universities with on-campus housing closed. So, one morning I woke up to a good foot of snow with a couple inches of ice on top of that, and left home at 4am to get to my 7am (6:45) clinical. Wouldn't you know it, the school canceled classes...but everyone showed up for clinicals, on time! We worked through the day and had an informal "study day" at the end of the semester. [emoji4]