Urgent Mandate Question

[Joeyy]

Good morning fellow nurses! I have an inquiry that I'd like advice on as soon as possible. I am a nurse for a home health agency in NYS -- I have been employed here over a year full time on one case. It is a 24 hour case, quadriplegic, in need of straight cathing every 4-5 hours and PRN.

Mandates occur very often, but last night, was very out of the ordinary. My shift began at 10:45am, and was due to end at 11:00pm. At 9:30pm, I received a text from the Admin stating the night nurse called off at 8pm and he was trying to get coverage for me. This was unsuccessful, and I was forced to work until 7am, bringing my shift total to 20.25 hours. Aside from feeling very unsafe and physically exhausted, I want to know what the ramifications are here for the employer. They are refusing to pay me Emergency / Crisis pay, even though the only legal way they could have mandated me that long in NYS is for a PATIENT EMERGENCY (ie. no possible solution for the patient other than me staying). The Admin. tried until 12 midnight to find coverage, to no avail.

I am demanding my overtime rate for the entire shift, and/OR a Crisis Pay incentive, so far both of which are being declined. What are my rights here as a licensed nurse? What steps can I take to get the compensation I deserve? I have already emailed the head of HR in the agency, and CC'ed the Admin. on a formal complaint. Any feedback from someone experienced here would be greatly appreciated! I am told this is a legal issue in nursing at this point, and must be addressed. This mandate significantly affected my quality of life (along with the other 2 last weekend), and left me feeling very uneasy providing patient care.

Thank you in advance!

-- Joey