Weather Policy

OCNRN63, RN · Feb 14, 2014

Which is why you get a credit card to use for emergencies only.

Why should i go above and beyond for an employer who isn't willing to do the same for me? If i am at work i expect to be paid, no exceptions. go in hours-sometimes over half a day- early in anticipation of an ice storm?i'm willing to do that IF they're willing to compensate me for that time. Too many people confuse work ethic with letting your employer take advantage of you. There is nothing noble about jumping through hoops for an employer for free. Going the extra mile is a two way street, and selfish employers create selfish workers.

Actually, I've done it, not for my employer, per se, but because I knew if I were sick and hospitalized, I would want someone there to take care of me, and I wouldn't want my co-workers stretched beyond the brink.

It's not always about me.

SionainnRN · Feb 14, 2014

Except it isn't because the snow/inclement weather caused the power to go out, and the roads to be unsafe. I'll say it before and I'll say it again--not every single county plows accordingly. Not everyone's route to work is direct or safe. I understand getting there, driving slow, taking your time, snow tires, safe car .. blah, blah, blah. But, again, if there is that one individual who DOES live that far from the hospital and the commute is going to be far too treacherous, then there shouldn't be the browbeating and the guilting/consequences that come along with a nurse throwing up her hands and saying, "You know what? I'm sorry. I'm going to have to take a personal day/come in late/find coverage because this is going to be too dangerous a trip given the snow circumstance." I'm not sure when it became customary to question everyone's intentions, but it's almost as if NM's don't trust the nurses to know their commute enough to know when it's going to be impassable. And that's really sad.[/quote']
Living far away isn't an excuse. You KNEW you lived that far away when you took the job. You KNEW you lived in an area with winter weather. This does NOT excuse you from your job. Like others have said if you live that far away, pack a bag and stay in a nearby hotel for a few day. And there is no way a night at motel 6 costs more than you would make.
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SionainnRN · Feb 14, 2014

Well I'm sad for your lack of empathy and compassion for a nurse that has that situation happen. My entire house burned down last week and I had to use three of my personal days, which I'm sure turned my floor on its side for a minute. How did they respond? Phone calls and outpouring of love. No one demanded I "buck up, buttercup."[/quote']
Oh man, really? You've got the martyr nurse down pat. No one would ever say that calling out for weather and calling out because your entire house burned to the ground were even close to the same thing! Now you're just reaching.
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ceccia · Feb 14, 2014

Actually, I've done it, not for my employer, per se, but because I knew if I were sick and hospitalized, I would want someone there to take care of me, and I wouldn't want my co-workers stretched beyond the brink.

It's not always about me.

I can understand that, and your mindset of being concerned about your patients is commendable.

I do think employers exploit that angle a LOT though, using "but what about your patients?!" as a guilt trip to try to take advantage of us. And where does it stop? If no one objects to spending their own money and/or risking their property and health to get to work in an ice storm, what's next? Will anyone take a stand against being forced to work through breaks unpaid, slashed wages, playing tricks with hours and scheduling to avoid paying benefits, etc? Their only concern is profit, and the people at the top are always looking for new ways to push the envelope as far as how much they can get out of workers without compensation.

This is just my opinion but I believe that facilities should be required by law to have an emergency plan for whatever extreme weather conditions are a possibility in that area, and it should include reasonable accommodations for workers on the facility's dime. It's not only our responsibility to take care of patients - if a facility opens its doors and advertises safe and effective patient care, they have equal responsibility to do what they can to make sure that happens in extreme weather.

SionainnRN · Feb 14, 2014

Actually I've done it, not for my employer, per se, but because I knew if I were sick and hospitalized, I would want someone there to take care of me, and I wouldn't want my co-workers stretched beyond the brink. It's not always about me. [/quote']
Exactly!! It's not about the hospital but about the pts and your coworkers!! And again it's our job to show up!
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Aurora77 · Feb 14, 2014

If a nurse can't afford a hotel room, how can he or she afford to miss work?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 14, 2014

Also, if you live somewhere where it snows, the community is prepared for snow. When I lived in Colorado I drove in the snow in my tiny hatchback all the time because they plowed the roads. Ever notice how planes that take off in Denver are grounded in DC? Same with nursing, some places ppl get in with two feet of snow, others are in chaos with three inches (ahem Atlanta...)

I don't think it's fair to cast stones at Atlanta. They don't normally get ANY snow, so how would anyone know how to drive in it? No snow removal equipment, no snow tires . . . what I want to know is why the District (where they DO get snow every winter) doesn't have the equipment to clean the runways and the streets.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 14, 2014

What do you people do with your kids and pets?
I LITERALLY do not have a single friend or family member within 1,000 miles of where I live right now.

The kid is grown now, but the dog comes to work with us in the minivan. He has a fur coat, so he stays plenty warm out in the car, and DH has the type of job where he has chunks of down time to go out and warm up the car, walk the dog, etc. During one hurricane, we parked the minivan in the old ambulance bay, and DH went out every so often to check on him. During one of those excursions, his whole team went along and decided that Sam was so cute he should spend the night in the conference room instead of the car. That was a one-off, though.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 14, 2014

No, I don't expect it. At all. Hence my statement.
But, if I examine this from a "what would I do?" perspective, I disagree. If I were the nurse residing 20-30 minutes away, working a 0700-1930 shift with the brunt of the snowstorm hitting during the PM commute, and I anticipated call-outs, I would really take the nurses' individual situation into consideration. I believe things operate on a case-by-case basis. We had a nurse call out last night because, in her area, the storm had rendered her sans power and the roads unplowed. Her commute was over an hour away, just like mine. I felt for her. And so did some of the other nurses and so because of that plus their short commute time, they offered to stay on call until we could reassess the float pool/staffing needs. *That* is the sense of empathy and compassion I'm looking for. Nurses can have empathy and compassion for their patients ALL they want, but they also need to have empathy and compassion for their fellow nurses.

I hear what you're saying, but after 35 years, I've seen that empathy and compassion for fellow nurses get exploited. For the couple who live 3 miles down a dirt road and whose car was crushed by a falling tree before the storm even started, I understand why they can't come to work. But they took their snowmobile to the main road where a friend picked them up and they got to work on time. On the other hand, the gal who lives in an apartment a mile down the road from the hospital often cannot get to work when it snows because "they haven't plowed my parking lot" or, the ever popular "my Miata isn't good in the snow." She could have walked to work, but never tries. When you've seen that sort of thing over and over and over again, it's a whole lot easier to wonder whether your co-worker even got out of bed that morning!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 14, 2014

I live 20 minutes from work so I never get the option of calling out due to weather but I live in Canada and life doesn't stop for snow so I've driven in plenty of snowstorms. What I wonder is if it wasn't work, if it was something personal something fun would you make more of and effort?
What if you had tickets to a concert in another city would and a big storm was predicted would you go the night before to avoid the storm. would you still complain about paying extra money for a hotel room?
What if it was Christmas and you whole family was getting together grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, brother, sister, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins and the driving was bad. Would you drive slowly and carefully and try to make it or would you call and say maybe next year the weather's too bad.
What if your dad had a heart attack and wasn't doing well would you drive to the hospital then? And when you did would you be glad that the nurses in the unit made the effort to get in to work and the unit wasn't dangerously short staffed?
I've driven in all these situations and my thinking is if the weather isn't bad enough to make you miss something that is important to you personally, something you want to do, then it's not bad enough to let you out of your responsibility to make it in for your shift.

This! This!

I've been sitting around trying to write this in my head, and you already did it for me. Thank you!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 14, 2014

1. If I had tickets to a concert *and* it was a snow storm that I thought I couldn't feasibly drive safety to see said concert, then I'd elect not to go and take the consequences of not having my money refunded and/or missing a concert I wanted to see. I would not pay extra money for a hotel room if I didn't have it. However, this example doesn't make much sense, and I'll tell you why. Asking an employee to pay out of their pocket for a hotel room simply so they can work their shift is ridiculous. First of all, the hotel room that I'd pay for far exceeds what I'd make in that shift. Let me repeat it: FAR EXCEEDS. I don't have a job because I can afford to have a job. I have a job because I cannot afford to not have a job. If I choose to go to a concert, I obviously could afford the ticket. This means I likely could afford a hotel room too if I decided to brave the drive. Your example isn't lateral at all.
2. I'd likely say, "let's make plans to meet on a different day. The holiday will be the holiday, but this year, we can make a new tradition. No one's safety is worth traveling in the snow simply for this day!" Again, your example is invalid.
3. Now *this* is an example that has some validity, and so I'll address it as such. If my father had a heart attack and wasn't expected to live, this is an extenuating circumstance. Yes, of course I'd travel, but likely not alone. I'd ask someone to either a) transport me or b) travel with me. Would I be glad the nurses made an effort to get in? Sure, except ... let's consider that. If 1-2 nurses living over an hour away call out, am I to understand that you think those positions wouldn't be filled and the NM would allow the floor to go dangerously understaffed? That doesn't happen. There's a float pool, per diem, and call system in place for a reason. No NM in her right mind is going to allow a patient ratio of 1:8. No house supervisor would allow it. The hospital would NOT STOP just because a nurse, living > 90 minutes away, called out because of weather. There are precautions in place (in most acute care hospitals) for a reason.

Come and talk to us again when you've had a few experiences working during a winter storm, hurricane or volcano eruption. Sometimes you DO run short. Sometimes you can discharge patients in anticipation of a storm or volcano eruption.

So many of these folks saying they can't afford a hotel room to come to work indeed DO afford hotel rooms for the Big Concert or Christmas dinner at Grandma's. Not saying that YOU would, but people DO.

ktwlpn, LPN · Feb 14, 2014

Well, I'm sad for your lack of empathy and compassion for a nurse that has that situation happen. My entire house burned down last week and I had to use three of my personal days, which I'm sure turned my floor on its side for a minute. How did they respond? Phone calls and outpouring of love. No one demanded I "buck up, buttercup."

That CANNOT BE COMPARED to the people who habitually call out due to the weather (be it one flake of snow or a foot and a half) Why would your use of your personal days in that situation cause your co-worker's consternation? Something like loosing your home or a close family member to death is way DIFFERENT then what this thread is about. .I am starting to suspect the purpose of this thread is pot stirring...