Weather Policy

Nurses General Nursing

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?

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I will plan ahead to a certain extent, but I also have a family, so it isn't just me that I have to consider.

And no one else does?

And I will reasonably plan ahead. I will not pay an extraordinary amount of money for a hotel room just to make it into work the next day. No. Not happening.

And there are no Groupon or no Expedia rate you haven't checked into-or decided NOT to do???

You don't have to answer that.

My point remains, plan ahead, you choose not to, and that's your choice; however, stop trying to justify not planning ahead.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Not near my hospital. Not even close. About the same driving distance as my house. What's your next suggestion?

This is probably going to sound harsh, but I'm going to say it anyway. Be prepared for the consequences, up to and including termination of employment. Not show up to work because of snow too many times on top of any other absences, and you will run afoul of the attendance policy. That won't be without consequences.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.
This is probably going to sound harsh but I'm going to say it anyway. Be prepared for the consequences, up to and including termination of employment. Not show up to work because of snow too many times on top of any other absences, and you will run afoul of the attendance policy. That won't be without consequences.[/quote']

And I certainly would be. Thanks for your concern.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
And I certainly would be. Thanks for your concern.

And that makes no sense. You can't afford a hotel, but you can afford unemployment? :sarcastic:

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Precisely! I wasn't considering the commute I didn't count on Mother Nature beating down feet upon feet of snow. By some of the poster's comments, you would think I should have simply stayed unemployed because I couldn't work 15 minutes from work to avoid the possibility that I may have to call out for a snow emergency.

No one suggests that you should have stayed unemployed. What we're suggesting is that once you accepted the job, you should have made a plan for getting to work in a snow emergency.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.
And that makes no sense. You can't afford a hotel but you can afford unemployment? :sarcastic:[/quote']

Why do you think I'm anywhere close to being fired? You don't even know me. Nor do you know anything about if I have or have not called out for a weather emergency.

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I like the "code white" policy one of the PPs mentioned. Everybody in the hospital is mandated to stay until it's over, and then the people who weren't involved in the code white come in and work the shifts for the people who were stuck in the hospital. There are policies similar to this in areas where there are lots of hurricanes, and I think it works well because 1. These people are compensated well for working during a natural disaster and 2. They take volunteers first to work during that time. Less people with familial obligations are stuck in a hospital for three days.

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Specializes in MDS/ UR.
I do. And I do.

I'll repeat it for the eightieth time: I started this thread to assess where other hospitals were at policy wise, not to defend my position. I could care less what anyone thinks I need to do.

You can start a topic but once is it posted, it takes on its own life.

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You can start a topic but once is it posted it takes on its own life.[/quote']

Hey I tried to get back on track!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Hey I tried to get back on track!

We appreciate it...we do. :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.
Hey I tried to get back on track!

Yes, thank you! I know it's typically customary on this site for people to find the one person they don't like and lash out at them, but sheesh ... this post had an actual purpose, lol.

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Management lies and says it's all about patients. They prey on the nursing instinct to care, guilting them into risking their lives. The reality is it has nothing to do with patients and everything to do with money. They're not going to let a patient die because the nurse didn't show up...they just would have to call in another nurse who lives close by and has a truck with snow tires....which means possibly overtime pay.

I'm sick of the dollar dictating all decisions. I'm a human being and my life matters, and I will never risk it to save the hospitals some cash.

Everyone's life matters, and we are all created equal. Do you really think that your life is more important then those of your coworkers who DID show up for work?

I live in the upper northeast, where bad winter snowstorms are the norm. If I never drove in "inclement" weather, then I would never go anywhere in the winter. Obviously I have bills to pay, and life doesn't stop for a snowstorm, so I always make it to work. I didn't even know that it was an option in some places, to call out for bad weather conditions. Which makes sense. Why should someone be excused from work, due to bad driving conditions, when the rest of the employees are able to make it in. That wouldn't be fair to those that made the effort to show up.

I like to think of it this way. In the 30 years I have been working, I have ALWAYS made it home from work, no matter what the driving conditions were like, or how poor the visibility was. Staying overnight has never been a option at any of the places that I have ever worked in. Which doesn't bother me, because even if it was an option, it wouldn't be something that I would want to do. I only say this because; if I can ALWAYS make it home in bad weather, then the reverse should be true. That I can ALWAYS make it to work in bad weather, and not use a snowstorm as an excuse to stay home.

To the folks that don't want to "risk their life" by driving to work in a snowstorm: I hate to tell you this, but every time a person gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, there is a certain amount of risk involved. Car accidents happen year round, and not just in the winter months. A person could just as easily get in a wreck on a warm summer day. So what are you going to do? Just not drive at all?

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