Texas Hospital making nurses resign or take care of COVID patients

[Rex Sanchez]

Hi, the hospital I work for in Texas has instituted a new policy of forcing all non-clinical nurses to go back to bedside nursing and take care of COVID patients. Nurses are told that they don't have a choice but resignation.

I haven't done bedside nursing in over 7 years (been doing quality and informatics) and feel that I don't have it in me (skillwise and desire) to go back to bedside nursing. What should I do?

- Can hospitals really force people to resign or is this just a tactic so that they don't have to pay unemployment?

- Do nurses qualify for unemployment?

- Can safe harbor be invoked here?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

2 hours ago, Kooky Korky said:

That sentiment has to be tempered with a nurse's actual abilities, both skill/knowledge/experience in Nursing and her/his personal health and other, unavoidable obligations.

I wonder if Managers are also working mandatory OT at the bedside. They need to feel the pain and exhaustion, too. And work without PPE, just as they force their staff to do. They want to help others, too, right?

Right now in the current COVID environment, our managers are working 3 12 hour shifts a week, mostly on night shift, with a patient assignment at the bedside AND are required to work one 8-10 hour shift in their office. Ain't nobody having fun right now, so to speak.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

43 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

Right now in the current COVID environment, our managers are working 3 12 hour shifts a week, mostly on night shift, with a patient assignment at the bedside AND are required to work one 8-10 hour shift in their office. Ain't nobody having fun right now, so to speak.

Delighted to hear that they also are feeling the pain for a change.

[londonflo]

Has HR called previous employees to see if they will come back? I would think some employees who have recent experience with the facility would reconsider coming back in a crisis such as this, as long as they'd had good experiences with the administration, HR and unit manager. Today I learned that our hospital system let 10% of employees go. Of course, the ones I learned about have worked there from 17 to 43 years. Age discrimination at its finest.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

2 hours ago, Kooky Korky said:

Delighted to hear that they also are feeling the pain for a change.

There is no choice. Nurses are being called to be patient care nurses in Texas right now. The shortage is acute.