We all hate overtime!!!!

Blackcat99 · Aug 19, 2007

The day shift nurse is now quitting. Now they will have to call in the agency nurses until they can get a new replacement. Now of course, they are asking us to work these shifts.:trout: I will not be working any extra shifts because I have already been criticized for working overtime in the past. Perhaps, if I would have gotten a pat on the back in the past for staying over instead of condemnation I may have agreed to help them out with these extra shifts.

Weeping Willow · Dec 9, 2007

I work for an agency, so I see this sort of craziness often. At least 3 of the facilities I go to have nurses who will give report, grab their paperwork, go to the break room, CLOCK OUT, then complete their paperwork on their own time in the breakroom. I'm sure this is highly illegal, but these nurses have decided that this is the only solution to keep management from yelling at them constantly about overtime.
Perhaps your facility has heard of such practices and is hoping you will all be so generous? One of the nurses even told me, " it's no different than a teacher taking tsets home to grade." Well, of course it is! Teachers are on salary!

These are the nurses who make it bad for those of us who figure we've donated enough charity to our employers, in the form of our breaks, meal times, and after-hours free work off the clock, and believe we should :idea: gasp be paid for our work.

EmmaG, RN · Dec 9, 2007

I work for an agency, so I see this sort of craziness often. At least 3 of the facilities I go to have nurses who will give report, grab their paperwork, go to the break room, CLOCK OUT, then complete their paperwork on their own time in the breakroom. I'm sure this is highly illegal, but these nurses have decided that this is the only solution to keep management from yelling at them constantly about overtime.

It's only illegal if reported.

If I'm working, I'm on the clock. I'm an employee not a volunteer.

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2007

Recently our hospital departmental manager told us that we have to clock out at 0730. Now, if I have had a rough night I'll be found at the computer beyond 0730. I imagine possibilities: when in the future I am in court and the Judge states, "All you did for this patient is assess?" I'll be caught with my pants down so to speak. I'll be doing my own post mortem care. So I found that I had no time at all possible to chart during my shift, too many IV piggybacks, it felt like ICU on a telemetry floor! I must compute sometimes lately it's too acute, and that's not pretty! ;-)

caliotter3 · Dec 10, 2007

I always clocked out and charted or finished other things on my own time mostly because management told us that we had to do this. I wanted my jobs so I did as I was told. Now that I am in home health, I still have time constraints, but do a lot of charting and research on my own time, but not anything to get frustrated over. One of the benefits of home health. One of my peeves though is not being relieved on time when I am ready to go and being expected not to call the agency or to complain about it. I have another life too and some people are consistently inconsiderate. But that's a whole other thread.

RNgonewild · Dec 10, 2007

Screw them, I'm taking the double time after my 12 is done. If they don't like it, let them get more nurses! lol PS: I made a ton of OT this year, too much in fact! :lol2:

bagladyrn, RN · Dec 10, 2007

I always clocked out and charted or finished other things on my own time mostly because management told us that we had to do this. I wanted my jobs so I did as I was told. Now that I am in home health, I still have time constraints, but do a lot of charting and research on my own time, but not anything to get frustrated over. One of the benefits of home health. One of my peeves though is not being relieved on time when I am ready to go and being expected not to call the agency or to complain about it. I have another life too and some people are consistently inconsiderate. But that's a whole other thread.

You do realize that it is illegal for them to demand that you work without pay don't you? I know that you said this is in the past, but many others are still doing this. Keep in mind also that if any incident occurs in which you are involved (patient or staff incident) you will have no defense and likely will not be covered by the hospital - malpractice or workman's comp - because you were NOT on the clock - therefore not on duty.

LydiaNN · Dec 10, 2007

I am exempt from overtime rules, so my boss makes sure I work loads of it. She'll say things like "why are you doing that instead of ______?" Um, maybe because __________ is non-exempt and we have hard and fast rules about anyone recording any overtime at all, ever. Not. Allowed. And if I did have someone work overtime, the same person who is always riding me about delegating work would instead be riding me about signing off on inpermissible OT.

Indeed, you just can't win.

caliotter3 · Dec 10, 2007

I currently work for an employer that breaks the laws concerning the payment of overtime. They do not pay time and a half and double time for anything over 8 hours in a day as the law states. They will tell you up front that they don't pay overtime. So far, nobody has turned them in to the authorities. I guess there are a lot of us that are just happy to be employed so we let the employer get over on us. One of these days though.

caliotter3 · Dec 10, 2007

You do realize that it is illegal for them to demand that you work without pay don't you? I know that you said this is in the past, but many others are still doing this. Keep in mind also that if any incident occurs in which you are involved (patient or staff incident) you will have no defense and likely will not be covered by the hospital - malpractice or workman's comp - because you were NOT on the clock - therefore not on duty.

Two dollars or 8 quarters. It makes no difference. When you need a job, you put up with a lot of ****. The alternative, not being employed, is worse. At least to me. The last time I checked my bank account it didn't indicate that I fell into the independently wealthy category. It takes a lot to get me to leave an employer, no matter how unethical and downright evil they are.

Scrubby · Dec 10, 2007

Overtime is constantly a problem where i work. When surgery goes later than anticipated sometimes theres just no one to relieve you when your scouting, or your stuck scrubbed at the table. I'm happy to do the OT when i'm asked to by the team leader, but i dig my heels in when i'm just left in the dark. If we know that a case is going to go over, we won't accept the last patient on the list until the theatre, anaesthetic team have been told we are to be relieved.

May i suggest that if your forced to work the OT because of paperwork notes etc and your being told off by management write up incident reports then. It may seem silly but management get stuck with all the paperwork and i'm sure that something will be done about it.

Blackcat99 · Dec 11, 2007

We are clocking out on time most of the time these days. They got us a "unit secretary" to help us with all of the new orders. I'm really glad because now I won't have to look for a new job.