What comes first? Religious beliefs or Osha Safety Guidelines?

[nnurse32]

I work in home health care. My agency has been sending nurses to a home for private duty of a pediatric patient who is trashed, non responsive, spastic, and suffers seizures. The patient must be carried everywhere and weighs between 55 and 60 lbs. For religious reasons the family is adamant about no shoes in the house. The floors are tile, the bathroom is tile with no anti slip surfaces and the floors are very slippery. The company, along with OSHA, has very precise guidelines about proper footwear. My stance to the company was I would be happy to go to the client's home and take care of the child if I can wear my nursing shoes. Carrying the child without proper supportive and anti slip footwear is not only painful but a great risk to the patient and myself. I quoted the employee handbook and OSHA. They insisted that no shoes is fine and that religion overrides OSHA Safety Guidelines. However, if I slip and fall while carrying the child or injury myself, I will be personally responsible for not wearing proper footwear. The company will just quote their regulations about proper footwear and deny responsibility, workman's comp would deny responsibility, and lawyers would have a field day. The company is very good about quoting employee handbook regulations in memos followed by "failure to comply will result in the necessary disciplinary action up to and including termination".

My stance has put me in a negative light with my supervisors. I insist patient/nurse safety and OSHA Safety Guidelines come first and foremost.

Any input?

[MissBrahmsRN]

what if you dropped a needle onto your foot? non-skid socks wouldnt protect you then. if i took the case i would purchase a pair of shoes specifically for their home and make it clear that i was going to wear them to do my job.

[Hoozdo, ADN]

You mean OSHA actually has a rule for nurses to wear shoes? I looked around

OSHA rules for nurses a couple of years ago regarding weight lifting limits.

I found no rule for lifting patients. We are certainly expected to lift more than

the 50 lbs they require during the job physical!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Thank you. That has been my experience. No breaks, can't get PTO that's on the books, drunks in the house, parents not coming home for hours after the shift ends, and now the no shoes.....

I have had plantar fasciitis before in both feet, not wearing good support while carrying a 55 lb child puts me at risk too.

Too bad their religious beliefs don't cover alcohol abuse and conscientious parenting.

[merlee]

I once had a client that had very pale carpeting and wanted us to take our shoes off in the entryway. Some did, then our agency told the family found out and told the family that we were required to wear shoes. The family called around to other agencies, but to no avail - shoes were required.

This is nonsense - if something were to happen to you if you were shoeless, you'd be hung to dry.

[lrobinson5]

Maybe there is some sort of sock that has a very functional grip at the bottom? I wouldn't want to take a risk with no shoes either...

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

There would be no way i would work without my shoes on. It's too dangerous, would make me uncomfortable and just isn't smart. The best I would do for this family is get a box of OR shoe covers and covem the soles of my shoes up.

I wonder if they would expect the same if they needed to have a contractor come in to fix their house.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I wonder if the family is claiming religion knowing how much we respect religious beliefs when in fact their preference is cultural.

[skimpstah]

What comes first? Religious beliefs or Osha Safety Guidelines?

Any input?

Neither. My safety, especially the safety of my back comes first.

[nnurse32]

Thank you all for your insightful input. I appreciate all of you. I felt strong about my stance and wanted to make sure I wasn't out of line. It wouldn't be my case, just to cover for their regular nurse when she wanted time off. She has no problem with the no shoes policy in the house, that's her decision.:yelclap: