Working off the clock??

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

The hospital that I work at recently started a website just for employees, so we are able to sign in from home and check our email, etc. They just sent out a memo saying that now the mandatory education requirements we have to do yearly are going to be on the same portal, available for us to do at home. In the past, we have always done these requirements at work while being paid. I feel this is something we should be paid for while we are completing them, (they are quite long--some take over an hour to do, and there are probably 10-15 of them required per year) and I don't think we should be able to do them from home. It is difficult to complete them at work (in the past I have always come in early or stayed late to complete them, since we don't have a lot of downtime on our med/surg floor) and so we are being encouraged to complete these at home 'at our leisure.' I feel like this is basically encouraging/asking us to work at home for free! I don't appreciate it one bit, and if my co-workers are willing to do them from home on their own time, that's fine for them but I will continue to do them at work, on the clock, since I consider it work!! I don't like my hospital putting it's employees in this position. Has anyone else had the same experience? What do you think?

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all our staff meeting and continuing ed are on the clock...i cannot believe that this is legal..

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Maybe you should run it by the labor board, it doesn't sound legal, and maybe it would stop in a hurry.

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Maybe it's just because I'm a new nurse, but I don't think it's a big deal to do continuing education hours at home. Nurses are lucky that they only get paid for the hours they work. Many people I know in different kinds of professions that are salaried have to work overtime for NO extra pay. They sometimes have to work extra hours or finish the work at home without compensation. My husband is a journalist and he often has to work extra time to get a story done.

It's nice that your job gives you the option to do it at home. It may be more convenient for some people. I think I would rather do some of the continuing education credits in the comfort of my own home. If your job is still allowing you to do it at work, why complain? It's always better to have options that are more convenient for everyone.

Also, continuing education is not just for the job. It is also for your own learning so that your skills are current. It may make you more marketable for your next job.

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Specializes in Me Surge.

sounds like their acting like they are doing you a favor. but in reality they are expecting you to work for free. If its mandatory they need to pay you for your time. At one employer we did yearly competencies, and we a full paid day to show up and just do the training classes; at anotherr we were supposed to do online stuff during our "free time" at work. Ha ha.

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Specializes in Me Surge.
Maybe it's just because I'm a new nurse, but I don't think it's a big deal to do continuing education hours at home. Nurses are lucky that they only get paid for the hours they work. Many people I know in different kinds of professions that are salaried have to work overtime for NO extra pay. They sometimes have to work extra hours or finish the work at home without compensation. My husband is a journalist and he often has to work extra time to get a story done.

It's nice that your job gives you the option to do it at home. It may be more convenient for some people. I think I would rather do some of the continuing education credits in the comfort of my own home. If your job is still allowing you to do it at work, why complain? It's always better to have options that are more convenient for everyone.

Also, continuing education is not just for the job. It is also for your own learning so that your skills are current. It may make you more marketable for your next job.

supergirl. it nice that you are so optomistic. come back and talk in a few years. By the way, I do tons of outside continuing ed, but the classes taught by and required by the employer are considered time worked and therefore time paid for.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Maybe it's just because I'm a new nurse, but I don't think it's a big deal to do continuing education hours at home. Nurses are lucky that they only get paid for the hours they work. Many people I know in different kinds of professions that are salaried have to work overtime for NO extra pay. They sometimes have to work extra hours or finish the work at home without compensation. My husband is a journalist and he often has to work extra time to get a story done.

It's nice that your job gives you the option to do it at home. It may be more convenient for some people. I think I would rather do some of the continuing education credits in the comfort of my own home. If your job is still allowing you to do it at work, why complain? It's always better to have options that are more convenient for everyone.

Also, continuing education is not just for the job. It is also for your own learning so that your skills are current. It may make you more marketable for your next job.

If mandated by my job, yes it is a HUGE deal. My time is very valuable and I am not giving it away to the hospital for free. If they want me to take classes they mandate, they better have a plan to compensate me for my time. Now CE's I do to maintain my own Certs (RN, C), no problem. Having certs earns a person more money per hour, so in a way, it is compensated too.

But if they have hospital-mandated course work, I will go in, clock in, and access them there. It's MY time, not theirs, unless they pay me.

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.

If this is mandated by your hospital I'm pretty sure they have to pay you for it. We have yearly competencies that are required by every person employed by the hospital. It includes fire and electrical safety, proper back care (lifting, etc.), biohazard stuff, needlestick procedures, personal protective gear (gloves, gowns, etc)....you get the idea. I'm pretty sure these are required by OSHA.

We also have job specific competencies. For nurses, that includes use of restraints, pain control, blah, blah blah.

If we can't complete these computerized competencies at work. We can access the site at home and we are paid for it. We are permitted to take up to 4 hours at home.

Again, if it's mandated by your hospital....they pay. Period. This is completely different than ceu's.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I think here the definition is "mandatory". Our institution pays for anything they require us to do that is mandatory. Staff meetings are not considered mandatory, so if we come in our on our days off we don't get paid. (No one does this.) We can read the minutes of the staff meeting later if interested.

Anything manadatory like the annual education requirements are paid for. (The hopital ones like fire saftety, etc. not the state license ones like Domestic Violence, those we pay for ourselves.)

You should ask you manager and human resources manager if you get paid for it. I agree that you definately should.

We're lucky we have a "workshop" budget our manager taps into and pays us for continuing education like ACLS, CPR, trauma workshops, preceptor workshops,committee meetings, etc. if it's helping us better ourselves and is relavent to work.

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
Staff meetings are not considered mandatory, so if we come in our on our days off we don't get paid. (No one does this.)

ONCE AGAIN I count myself lucky. We are paid for these meetings and if they take place directly following the RN's regular work shift, the RN is paid double time for the duration of the meeting (Everyone does this :chuckle ).

We're lucky we have a "workshop" budget our manager taps into and pays us for continuing education like ACLS...

ACLS is madated for us by our unit. They pay for the class and the time and I get the ceu's!!

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

I'm with you, I wouldn't do it at home if they aren't compensating you for your time. Are you in a union? It sounds like probably not.

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Not in a union. I get paid for competency hours and inservices - these are mandated and you have to be paid.

steph

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