Would you be willing to do this?

That's ridiculous!

I take the "24-hour accountability" thing a little differently - meaning that you might get called at any time of the day or night to deal with unit problems. But to me, this refers to management issues only. Yes, if the unit is short you might be expected to do staff nursing duties. But it does NOT mean that you HAVE to step in and do this 24/7 if you've already worked that day! The unit has to have some kind of back-up plan in place for when there are call-ins, a plan that does NOT include calling someone in who just got home from work! Float pool, agency, anything!

My dad works in medical administration. There have been times he's seemed to LIVE at the hospital, but because he does not have patient contact, he's okay with being there for hours on end, not sleeping, etc. He does NOT, however, let his employees work crazy hours like that if they work directly with patients. It's completely unethical for them to expect you to work those kind of hours, with the most exhausting part of your workday being spent directly responsible for the care of patients.

I am a unit manager. Got up at 5am today, worked 10 and 1/2 hours. Got home at 6 pm and 1/2 hour later got a call from the hospital- the VP said that since a night nurse called off, I should come back at 11pm and work as staff. So I would probably get about 2 hours sleep, then go back and take care of patients after being up for 15 hours. Now, I know she would never ask a staff nurse to do this, do you think it's fair to ask a manager? Would you do it? This has happened about 3 times in the past week or so.....I told her no because I don't feel it would be safe for the patients, but I'm sure I'm going to hear about it tomorrow.

Good for you!! I was in mgmt for years (not nursing) I worked many, many 80hr wks. I for some unknown reason thought it was my responsibility to see things ran smoothly regardless of the risks to myself. I lost time with my family that can never be replaced & missed out on alot of holidays. I will never do it again!! Sometimes you are so caught up in seeing things are done/shifts covered that you don't realize what you are doing. As far as I'm concerned all manager means is load the wagon & a cheaper means of staffing for companies.