What are OSHA's restrictions on shift length for Nurses?

What are OSHA's restrictions on length of shift for a RN?

Also, does OSHA restrictions get waived during special circumstances? i.e. Blizzard?

Basically is a RN allowed to work for 24+ hours straight with no relief?

I feel this is a risk not just to the RN, but to the patients as well, considering fatigue could lead to medical mistakes.

Also, in your opinion, in an understaffed environment (night staff of 3 RNs seeing as the storm hit late at night) is it the responsibility of the RNs on-site to find their replacements, which would take their attention away from the patients, or would that be the responsibility of the administration?
I'm not sure but can't you only work 16 hrs with a minimum 8 hrs between shifts? This will be an interesting thread.

I seem to think that the max shift length is 18 hours but I dont' have anything to back that up. Of course, it is not safe to work that long without breaks. I can't imagine OSHA basically negating safe practices for an emergency. As for finding replacements- not your job. Admin has the job of staffing the facility. It sounds like you worked 24 and were on the phone getting replacements, but I hope that's not the case. If that is the case, that is a catastrophic failure of management. Do you take turns going to the store to get supplies and food? Perhaps there's a treadmill for you to run on when the power gets low. Do you have to shovel the walks as well?

The OSHA website could probably answer your questions about their view on straight hours worked without relief. It seems that 16 hours is considered maximum, with 18 as a possibility, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, once a nurse has worked past 18, she/he & the patients are at risk, imo. I agree with the other posters that admin. should find someone, not the floor nurse. I had a nurse manager tell me once that she was not going to find my replacement (I gave her over a week's notice that I was not going to be able to work a particular shift--I was PRN). My response was to do so, although I did wonder what her job was in that scenario.

osha doesn't cover such, it could contradict other laws such as the flsa and there are jobs that let you sleep/rest while "working" prolonged hours.of course, if you do a crazy shift, 24 hrs or so and something bad happens, the lawyers will come a running and the courts will set a punishment ($) for the questionable scheduling.the legal dept of any health care organization would probably cut the head off of any supervisor allowing this to happen, clear liability issue.

I'm not an RN, my wife is. She wasn't on the phone calling for replacements, she was tending to the patients, not hitting the phone tree for her relief. It wasn't until it got close to her next "pre-scheduled" shift and when she brought it up on the phone to her boss, that it was thrown on her shoulders.I was just curious as to if you could legally work even if you wanted to, after such a long shift. The 3 nurses did relieve each other to give each other breaks throughout that time however. It allowed for quick power naps, even so once the daytime came they really didn't have the ability to keep rotating as the patients woke up too.

itsthedude:I agree, when things go wrong, people are quick to throw you under the bus. A RN has to not only protect the patients, but also themselves too. It is my opinion, that a RN saying I'm too fatigued to work another shift is in fact a protection to both patients and themselves. Making sure that the patients get adequate care.

Quote from ItsTheDudeof course, if you do a crazy shift, 24 hrs or so and something bad happens, the lawyers will come a running and the courts will set a punishment ($) for the questionable scheduling.

I am curious why OSHA isnt called more often or something? It seems just in the short time I have been a nurse, there are too many situations where we can't get breaks, work without enough CNAS too many patients, hazzardous weather just to name a few. Another thing is this not for profit business, is all the so called profits just the administrations outrageous salary?

OSHA is pretty much a paper tiger. It takes a whole lot to get them up and moving and their fine structure is a joke. Most states have laws regarding how many hours nurses can work at a time, patient ratios, mandatory OT and such. It's also somesthing CMS or the joint commission might be interested in. Who knows? They might actually be good for something after all.

Quote from icb1977I'm not an RN, my wife is. She wasn't on the phone calling for replacements, she was tending to the patients, not hitting the phone tree for her relief. It wasn't until it got close to her next "pre-scheduled" shift and when she brought it up on the phone to her boss, that it was thrown on her shoulders.I was just curious as to if you could legally work even if you wanted to, after such a long shift. The 3 nurses did relieve each other to give each other breaks throughout that time however. It allowed for quick power naps, even so once the daytime came they really didn't have the ability to keep rotating as the patients woke up too.

OSHA is not responsible for things like policing if people do not get their breaks. OSHA is responsible for the PHYSICAL safety of people at work and that there are no hazards present that moght injure a worker.

How or why did this happen? I once worked in a ER in which we were under a state of emergency and even our generator lost power a few times and still no one worked over 16-18 hrs! You did 16 then went and took a nap for a few hrs then came back. So, what were the circumstances that lead to this? It just seems so, unforgivable for any management to have let this happen. I don't know the exact agency that needs to be notified. But they need to know, yesterday.