unsafe staffing

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Specializes in Psych.

It seems like we're having a lot of mandations lately, and.its not due to things coming up. It's due to lack of staff. Our scheduler will put the schedule out with holes in it, never bother to try to cover the shift and then its just dealt with by mandation. If you end up getting mandated, that's a 16 hour shift which in AMD.of itself can't be safe. Also if you are mandated from evening to night and are scheduled the next evening, you are expected to come in at 3 for your evening shift. So essentially you leave at 0730, get home at 0800 or 0830,try to sleep which is very hard to do when you're keyed up, get maybe 2-3 hrs of sleep I'd you're lucky and drive in again to work another 8 hour shift. I don't know how this is safe. In fact, I think its downright negligent. This happened to me a few weeks ago and on my evening shift I was on another planet with.deleriousness. I consumed so much caffeine and hence became so dehydrated that the next day, my urine was iced tea colored. My the end of the shift I almost felt drunk and was singing show tunes in the nurses station. I had to turn up the AC full blast and point it in my face to avoid falling asleep at the wheel driving.home.

Is there anything.that we nurses can do about this? In the end of you make a mistake when you are dead to the world because of a mandation, of course the hospital isn't going.to have your back.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

Yikes! that definitely does not sound safe. I would start looking for employment elsewhere, if I was you

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The first place I worked was the same way, the schedule was always filled by mandation! I stayed 6 months and found a new job, I haven't been mandated once at my new job (staff tend to volunteer to fill shifts because they know they won't be mandated). The last place I worked you didn't dare volunteer for a shift because you were mandated 2-3 shifts a week anyway... All I can say is as time went on I realized staffing was not the only thing they were willing to bend the rules on and my license meant too much to me. I got out but I wish I had gotten out a lot sooner!!! Apply everywhere and save your license, you're the only one who is going to protect it.

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Specializes in ccu.

haha, do you work in my hospital?!?! This has been going on in my unit for more then a year. And no one can figure out why the hospital can't keep staff....

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

Texas has laws against mandatory OT (except in emergencies). Failure to publish a completed schedule is not an emergency. Also we have a law regarding safe staffing. Does not keep people from being overworked to some degree, because, as you know, even 2 hours with some patients is too much.

I would talk to the CNO about any suggestions you might have. They are not generally interested in complaints. You might consider joining your nurse's association to lobby for rules that protect the patient from nurses suffering from work fatique.

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Specializes in retired from healthcare.

This happened to me once during a snow storm where I worked a double shift and then was still required to work the next morning at 7 a.m.

I refused to drive home because of the roads being unsafe and because the distance was too far.

The nurse manager of the building refused to let me use the spare bed they had even though no one was being admitted.

I felt quite fortunate to be able to survive on almost no sleep.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
This happened to me once during a snow storm where I worked a double shift and then was still required to work the next morning at 7 a.m.

I refused to drive home because of the roads being unsafe and because the distance was too far.

The nurse manager of the building refused to let me use the spare bed they had even though no one was being admitted.

I felt quite fortunate to be able to survive on almost no sleep.

I have read so many of your posts......you need to find another facility for you work under extremely poor conditions......there are better places out there really. However.....even states with mandatory OT restrictions there are exceptions for disaster/weather/worst case scenario situations.

OP......many states have passed legislation limiting mandatory OT. This ANA statement is about a year old and more states have passed legislation including my state of MA.

To help nurses make the case against working when fatigued, the ANA has added this issue to its’ Nationwide State Legislative Agenda the support of state laws and regulations prohibiting the use of mandatory overtime as well as pursued federal legislation

Mandatory Overtime

Map: Prohibition of Mandatory Overtime [ppt] this is 2012 and most current

States with Restrictions (2010)

  • Sixteen states have restrictions on the use of mandatory overtime for nurses
  • Fourteen identified restrictions in law: AK, CT, IL, MD, MN, NJ, NH, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, WA, and WV.
  • Two states have provisions in regulations: CA and MO.

Mandatory Overtime: Summary of State Approaches

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Your staff scheduler can not pull nurses out of thin air. I also have worked in places where there were open spots on the schedule, many staff signed up for some of these shifts. It makes it easier if you sign up for them when it is more convenient for you than to have to be mandated. However, if nobody picks up the shift someone has to cover it. In a perfect world we could say hire agency, registry, more full time nurses or prn nurses, etc. Unfortunately, this is the real world and most places don't have nurses standing in a line out front waiting to be hired. I have worked places that have aggressively recruited with minimal luck, there just weren't enough people in those communities to fill all of the openings at every hospital, hospice, LTC facility, physician's office, and the list goes on. I am sure that if you have suggestions on getting more staff that your facility would be open to hearing those suggestions.

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Find another job and while some may not agree with this..call out sick if you feel you've worked too much to be safe - your live and the the lives of others on the road and in the facility depend on it.

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I am just finishing up nursing school, but I was wondering, if a nurse accepts the load she is considered liable. If she does not accept it she is considered not a team player. Is this true? Also, if an error occurs, if no complaint is made concerning the load, the nurse is responsible. Is that true?

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.
I am just finishing up nursing school but I was wondering, if a nurse accepts the load she is considered liable. If she does not accept it she is considered not a team player. Is this true? Also, if an error occurs, if no complaint is made concerning the load, the nurse is responsible. Is that true?[/quote']

Welcome to nursing, you are catching on. also if you don't accept the assignment they can fire you. Better that then lose your license. As mentioned before - the smartest thing to do is find a new job if you feel your facility isn't staffing appropriately or giving you proper support.

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Welcome to nursing, you are catching on. also if you don't accept the assignment they can fire you. Better that then lose your license. As mentioned before - the smartest thing to do is find a new job if you feel your facility isn't staffing appropriately or giving you proper support.

How can I tell before I agree to work for a place that it executes safe nursing care? Ratings, complaints anywhere, etc?

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