Weather Policy

Published

Does your hospital have a weather policy? If so, is it lenient? Do you ever feel like you have really sacrificed your safety to make it into work out of guilt?

I am in the NE and I have the luxury at this time of being a school nurse. When the weather is bad, and school is closed, I stay home.

However, it is not my call. If school is open, I go in. I hop in my car and I drive very slowly and that is that.

In the past, I have worked in a group home (not as a nurse) where I have stayed over, came in early, stayed late, many times due to the weather.

You do what is expected of you, that is all. : )

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I live in Southern California.

I do not know of this... inclement... weather you speak of.

Is that when water comes down from the sky and makes things wet?

;)

This is so cute. Reminds me of my cousin who grew up in the Midwest with me and then moved to CA. She used to call me in the winter and ask how much snow we got just so she could say that it was 70 there. We got a big laugh out of that.. ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

What if your dad had a heart attack and wasn't doing well would you drive to the hospital then?

THIS is the measurement we should use.

I've been reading the entire thread, and both sides have points, but really, what it comes down to is how badly you need to get there. I've lived in the northeast all my life, got a little Corolla with wicked snow tires, and that does the trick for me. But I see why someone in Atlanta would stay home for weather that would be called "partly cloudy" here.

I do think that we need to keep in mind that we don't get snow days. So when you are buying your house or car you can't live in the boonies without a big truck that will get you out. If you live on a main road you could invest in winter tires and a snow shovel, and call it good.

I've had to call a tow truck to get out of my own driveway, and I've stayed in a hotel or a vacant room during a storm. It can get expensive, but I think it's an easy way to get a reputation for being dependable. Be the person that shows up during a storm and you get a years worth of good karma in one shift.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.
I have bigger issues if I don't have the money up front for a hotel room? Man, ... I don't even know where to begin with that. Cash on hand or extra funds isn't always a luxury people have, even with the best planning. Financial emergencies arise. We're not all equipped for them. Especially when they happen one right on top of the other. Come on, now.

I don't understand your reply...seriously, no snark intended.

If your car suddenly needs repairs, if someone becomes ill, if the house is damaged in a storm, those are all emergencies we need to be prepared for. In my family we're expected to be ready. So I might need help with expenses later, but I've got a credit card to fix the immediate problem. Then I can arrange extra work, or spread the payments over a few months, or go to the bank for a loan...

I had a credit card from the time I got my first job at $10 000 a year.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Personal days, dear.

Umm, excuse me? If you have that great...no job for which I have ever worked, and I have lived/worked in fairly heavy snow areas (>100 inches/year) most of my life, has had a "personal day." Much less one for inclement weather.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am not a nurse. But I did have the pleasure of having a job at one time, that happened to be in a 7 by 24 shop. I was working for AT&T network support. We were considered essential because we had to keep the land lines working during inclement weather. I am in the midwest, so we have WINTERS.

I can remember going to work, I worked 4 to 12 am, and it was snowing so hard I could barely see the headlights ahead of me. I kept hearing the radio announcer saying "just a few flurries" and I remember thinking "where is he at, surely not here".

To make a long story short, I made it in. But my relief had to come in at midnight. This was 8 hours of consistent snowfall so dense you could not see the car lights ahead of you. They made it in, and I was SOOOO Happy, I could have kissed all of them. So I understand whole heartedly how it feels to be at work and wonder if your relief will show.

I applaud you all for taking the time to whether the storm and still get to the job so that we/our loved ones will be cared for. There is no feeling like wondering if your relief will make it in and you all seem to take it in stride. We are blessed to have you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Aged care, disability, community.

I've made it to work in inclement weather, but I have called out once due to refusing to drive in the middle of a category 5 cyclone, I then volunteered to stay at the evacuation center afterwards while they were cleaning up the nursing home I work at but was told I was exempt due to having a breastfed baby. I will drive to working during a deluge and a category one cyclone as they're only gale force winds but not anything higher. I can also get to work with minimal issues as I don't have to travel through many storm surge areas and if the schools are closed, my friend will look after said now pre-schooler. I would panic if I had to drive through snow up here though as I don't think it has EVER snowed this far north.

I've also worked during a bushfire when roads were closed and only got through by flashing my agency ID so they knew I was essential personnel.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MDS/ UR.

I am blessed not to be in a position where patients are immediately dependent on what I do.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.
Umm, excuse me? If you have that great...no job for which I have ever worked, and I have lived/worked in fairly heavy snow areas (>100 inches/year) most of my life, has had a "personal day." Much less one for inclement weather.

A car ran into my house once...I took a personal day. I don't know and I don't care how they coded it. I had trouble using a phone book after that happened. Alphabetical order was too much for my pea brain.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
A car ran into my house once...I took a personal day. I don't know and I don't care how they coded it. I had trouble using a phone book after that happened. Alphabetical order was too much for my pea brain.

And that is totally legit. It was just the flippant attitude about it that kinda bothered me. Bad weather? Ah, oh well, I'll just use a personal day.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.
And that is totally legit. It was just the flippant attitude about it that kinda bothered me. Bad weather? Ah oh well, I'll just use a personal day.[/quote']

Yes! Because I am COMPLETELY indifferent to making that choice. I just use my personal days at a whim with NO precipitating reason. None at all!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology.

First of all, let's compare apples to apples. A Colorado, Minnesota, Upstate NY, etc nurse cannot say to a Georgia nurse 'well I make it to work in the snow.' I drive in the snow here (Mid-Atlantic), but it scares my husband to see me go. When I remind him I've lived in Colorado, he reminds me, they have more plows, salt, ppl know how to drive in the snow, etc. He's right, I've seen more spin outs here than I even did in Colorado. There was a hundred car pile up last night in PA.

The fairest thing to do is give some sort of weather/hazard differential (defined by each state and hospital's unique situation). If a nurse who wasn't schedule comes in s/he gets overtime and a differential. Those who are forced to stay and sleep at work get on-call while sleeping, and differential pay while working. Those who can't come in have to take PTO. What they shouldn't get it 'punished', dinged on their evals and such. The exception being if they take too many. Too many sick calls is brought up at evals, so inclement weather should be the same. Money is the great equalizer, and people should get credit and compensation for going above and beyond.

Of course this isn't going to happen, because we won't ask for it. The culture of nursing has always been, 'lives are at stake, be compassionate, and do what has to be done.' It’s always been this way so it can never change. Instead of criticizing the hospitals (and other care centers) for not taking care of their staff we criticize each other for not being good enough. Seriously, does anyone know what firefighters, police ect do for inclement weather? Do they have the same ‘show up, end of story’ policy? Someone’s got to have a cop in their family.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion