The every year Snow thread

Published

I know every year someone posts a thread about the trials and tribulations of going to work in a snow storm. After 10 years in nursing I still dread the snow. Usually my hubby takes me to work and picks me up in snow storms. Now that we have a little one who is 1 year old those days are long gone. So now I have to decide on what I'm going to do this weekend when we are expected to get 8 to 10 inches Friday into Saturday. Do I book a hotel now close to work? Do I make arrangements the night before the storm to spend the night at work for my day shift the next day? Or do I just try my luck in the AM getting to work in one piece? Gah. My dream is to eventually convince hubby to move to an location where snow is rare or minimum. A girl can dream .

I am a northern girl and as much as we love to complain about the cold and the snow I really couldn't imagine living in a place without a winter. The whole "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" thing...I somehow just can't imagine Christmas lights on a palm tree and no snow in sight.

That is true. I've never experience a "white Christmas" and would love to be able to. I'm hoping to move to Boston soon for school and it would be a wonderful experience to be able to really see all four seasons.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in stroke unit, trauma, ENT, MS, ED.

I spent 4 hours getting home the night CT got a blizzard the week of halloween in 2011 and knocked out power to half the state for 10 days. My car got stuck 4 times, and I had to reroute numerous times due to downed power lines, downed trees and abandoned tractor trailers. My normal commute was 30 minutes. I left work at 730p and didn't get home until close to midnight.

No one in the hospital made rounds that night asking or encouraging us to spend the night. No one offered clean scrubs, toiletries, or a quiet, private place to sleep. No one offered us free dinner if we stayed. So thinking my option was a row of chairs lined up and some linen from the linen cart...I said to heck with it. I'm from new england, I can drive in the snow tonight, and I'll drive in the snow to get back here tomorrow.....

But after my 4 hour commute home I was literally shaken. What if I was going a little faster and that 100 year old tree I watched crash down on the road had landed on my car? What if I stepped on a live wire covered with snow one of the 4 times I climbed out of my car to assess how stuck I was? I looked out my window that next day at 4am and saw that the roads still weren't plowed.

I called the local police and state police. I asked if they could send someone to drive me to work. The answer..."sorry kid, we're trying like hell to get our own people here, we can't worry about you". My boyfriend worked a night shift at a closer hospital, got there the night before, before the conditions got so terrible. He wasn't available to help me get in either.

So I called in. I apologized, but the chances of me making it back to my hospital that day were little to none. I wasn't risking getting abandoned in my car in 5 feet of snow someplace where civil services weren't functioning. Did I feel guilty? Oh god yes. I do NOT call in. I don't do that to my coworkers. But I really stuck it to them that day. Some of those poor souls worked 20 hour shifts because no one could get back to work the next day.

And so...I got written up. And ya know what...I didn't give a crap. If getting your staff to show up during storms is so important, then maybe the hospitals need to start investing in some heavy duty snow transportation vehicles for shuttle service. I don't fancy becoming a patient trying to show up to take care of one!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

This W/E forecast? SIXTY degrees and SUNNY!

:woot:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am one of the lucky ones who lives 5 min from the hosp. My husband takes me and picks me up in the mornings. I always ask my co-workers if they would like to come to my house instead of sleeping at the hosp. A lot of them do stay with us and it is always fun. Its like having a sleep over. :) I do feel for those who sleep at the hosp, you can never get a good sleep with all the noise.

I do love the snow tho. :uhoh3: Did I say that? lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion