10.24.13
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Mandatory Overtime Overview

In July 2009, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry was scheduled to begin enforcing Act 102 for all health care facilities. Recently, PSNA has received questions and concerns from nurses related to lack of enforcement and continued mandated overtime.

 

What is Act 102? Act 102 prohibits a health care facility from “requiring employees to work more than agreed to, predetermined and regularly scheduled work shifts.” Employees covered under Act 102 are individuals involved in direct patient care or clinical care services who receive an hourly wage or who are classified as non-supervisory employees for collective bargaining purposes.

 

To date there has been no regulation promulgated by the Department of Labor & Industry. However, it is a violation of the law should individuals in direct patient care be mandated to work beyond their regularly-scheduled shift. PSNA recommends you obtain a formal declaration, in writing, that the institution is mandating your overtime.

 

Click here to learn more about mandatory overtime. To read Act 102, click here.

 

If you feel that your institution is violating this law, click here to access an online complaint form through the Department of Labor & Industry or call your regional office:

Altoona Regional Office:
1130 Twelfth Avenue, Suite 200
Altoona, PA 16601-3486
Telephone: 1-877-792-3486 or 814-940-6224

 

Harrisburg Regional Office:
1301 L&I Building
651 Boas Street
Harrisburg, PA 17121
Telephone: 717-787-4671 or 1-800-932-0665

 

Philadelphia Regional Office:
110 North 8th Street, Suite 203
Philadelphia, PA 19130-4064
Telephone: 215-560-1858

 

Pittsburgh Regional Office:
301 5th Avenue
Room 3300
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Telephone: 1-877-504-8354 or 412-565-5300

 

Scranton Regional Office:
201-B State Office Building
100 Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503-1923
Telephone: 570-963-4577 or 1-877-214-3962

10.24.13
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Distractions and Patient Safety

High levels of distraction in health care settings pose a constant threat to patient safety. PSNA, co-provided with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, have posted a new continuing education course titled “Distractions and Their Impact on Patient Safety.” This educational offering is free to PSNA members and $10 to non-members. Click here to visit our Continuing Education Center.

10.24.13
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What to Do When all the Traveling Catches Up to You

The Following is a Guest Post by: Tara Heath Are you feeling the burn of your “gypsy” lifestyle? Has all of that traveling finally taken its toll on you? If so, take a deep breath and get ready to relax your stresses and tensions away. Here are some tips and tricks for soothing your weary bones when the Traveling catches up to you. The life of a traveling nurse is certainly rewarding. Helping others in need around the globe, traveling to new and exotic destinations, and seeing the amazing sights and attractions is very fulfilling; however, all of that traveling is bound to catch up with you sooner or later. When you’re tired and run down, you aren’t much good to yourself – or anyone else. In order to be the best nurse and caretaker that you can possibly be, you need to be well-rested. Take some time off. One of the best ways that you can get the much-needed rest and relaxation you need is to take some time off. Yes, there are so many people to help and yes, you want to be able to do all that you can for them, but if you don’t take a few days off for yourself, you aren’t going to be able to effectively help anyone. So, take a look at your schedule and arrange for a few days off. During your time of rest, kick back and relax. Spend some time at home and get reacquainted with yourself, your family, and […]

The post What to Do When all the Traveling Catches Up to You appeared first on The Gypsy Nurse.

10.23.13
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Information for Nursing Students and Aspiring Travel Nurses

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The road through nursing school is not for the faint of heart. To succeed at nursing school takes stamina, adaptability, skill, and smarts. After that, if you’re thinking about becoming a travel nurse, you’ll want to get a year or two of hospital experience before you hit the road.

I wanted to share a couple of resources that provide information for nursing students and aspiring travel nurses.

First, The Nerdy Nurse recently published an article called “15 Things Every Nursing Student Needs to Know.” The list includes a lot of great tips, from #4, “Study groups will help you keep your sanity,” to #7, “Your definition of busy will change,” to #10, “Your sense of humor will expand,” to #13, “Being a team player is critical.”

Second, if you’re thinking about travel nursing, follow this link to the “Student Guide to Travel Nursing,” a super informative infographic from pet-friendly travel nurse staffing company, Medical Solutions.

Third, ask and you shall receive … awesome advice from Travel Nursing Blogs Ask a Travel Nurse Expert, David Morrison, RN. David’s been traveling for more than 16 years and is the author of the “Travel Nurse’s Bible: A Guide to Everything on Travel Nursing.” Submit your own unique question to David here, or read through some of his past replies here — a lot of times you’ll find that other travel nurses (aspiring or active) and students have had the same questions as you!

If you are interested in this career path I would recommend getting lots of information for nursing students and aspiring travel nurses. There’s a lot of great info out there and it can help you get started, from nursing school, to gaining hospital experience, to beginning traveling, to maintaining a happy and successful career as a travel nurse.

Do you have any good resources to share with others when it comes to information for nursing students and aspiring travel nurses? If so, please share with us in the comments!

10.23.13
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Travel Nurses are Leaving the Spouse at Home

A lot of travel agencies allow nurses to travel across the country on assignment while bringing their spouses, however some travel nurses are leaving the spouse at home and to travel alone. The Gypsy Nurse conducted a survey in July with nurses who travel without their spouses. Several of the nurses who took part in the survey have been married for more than 15 years to their current spouse before taking on a travel nurse assignment.  For a couple nurses, they were on their first or second assignment away from their spouse while others have traveled on and off from 2 to 8 years. “We have skype dates where we watch tv together, dinner together and even shop together,” said Lorri R. There are many different reasons nurses decide to travel. Some of the various answers received in the survey include my spouse runs a german shepard kennel and builds classic cars, financial reasons, job layoffs, children in college, wanting more experience, “itchy feet,” and the money was too good to give up. A family decision was why Sandi M. started traveling to New Mexico where she had family members that she did not know; including her sister that she had not seen in 9 years and a niece. “I am going to have a hard time leaving the family I have gotten to know here.” she said. What are a spouse’s thoughts to travel nursing? The Gypsy Nurse asked! Several stated their spouses are good and comfortable with it. […]

The post Travel Nurses are Leaving the Spouse at Home appeared first on The Gypsy Nurse.

10.23.13
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Concerns and Opposition Grow in Anticipation of Upcoming MTV Nurse Series Scrubbing In

Cable channel, MTV, is set to launch the so-called “reality-tv” show Scrubbing In this Thursday Oct. 24 on MTV. The show focuses on ten travel nurses who are on temporary assignment in Orange County, California. 

The trailer alone has sparked rising opposition to the 10-part-series most notably in the form of a petition on change.org, and raises serious concerns among the leadership of CNA/NNU with the portrayal of the nursing profession.

The petition, addressed to MTV executives, calls for cancellation of the premiere stating, “We feel that this obvious dramatization is a gross misrepresentation of the nursing profession. Not only are we tired of the negative stigma that surrounds our profession but also of the senseless sexual objectification that we as nurses, both male and female, continue to endure.”

The series was filmed in Santa Ana at Coastal Communities Hospital (a California Nurses Association/National Nurses United represented facility) and Western Medical Center (a nonunion facility).  

Prior to production, CNA/NNU RNs  at Coastal  refused to sign waivers to be filmed because they were worried the show would trivialize and distort the realities of hospital nursing. According to a labor representative at the hospital, MTV producers told the RNs that the cable channel was changing its brand image. This program, they claimed, would kick off the transition to a kinder, gentler, less exploitative MTV.

From the looks of the series trailer and MTV’s Facebook page, that is not true. 

We have no doubt, considering typical MTV shows, that the series will be problematic on a number of counts.  Earlier this month, we spoke to Sandy Summers, co-founder of Truth About Nursing, an organization that strives to expand public understanding of the nursing profession by working with the media to improve portrayals of nursing.

Summers stressed the importance of seeing an entire episode before organizing a response. Both CNA/NNU and Summers contacted MTV, as well as the production company responsible for the series, to request a preview copy.

We’re not surprised they refused our request. Sensationalism is MTV’s bread and butter – in fact the network has only canceled one series in the past decade. So this Thursday, we will watch the first episode and pay close attention to the advertisers supporting the show.

Stay tuned for our response in the coming days. 

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RELATED NEWS:

Since this post, we learned that TV critic Rob Owen has a community blog post on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website reviewing the first episode of MTV’s Scrubbing In, which we were denied access to.