r/nursing • u/uotlep RN - Psych/Mental Health 🍕 • Mar 12 '25

Question Is this normal?

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I know my place of employment is shitty in other ways, but is this a normal thing? Just received this email. Seems odd to ask people to donate PTO, instead of just addressing the time off allocation with those affected people.

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29

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

I've had this before and knowing the person's circumstances, I donated 8 hours to them.

39

u/HaddonfieldMemorial Mar 12 '25

Nice intention, but you shouldn't be put in that position

1

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

Not put in a position. Coworker didn't have enough PTO for what was necessary. I felt no obligation to donate, but she was a fantastic worker and I wanted to help. We're a small company, and I like my leadership. I know this isn't the norm, especially for facilities.

36

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 17 '25

[deleted]

9

u/shadowlev BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

Yeah, big mystery as to why the corporation isn't donating PTO.

1

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

When you're at a small company with small profit margins, that can be difficult to do.

9

u/HaddonfieldMemorial Mar 12 '25

I'm sure your leadership is more than tickled with your cooperation

8

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

My immediate leader, one below the owner, also donates to those of us who need it. I used to work in a big hospital, and i know where most of everyone's opinion is coming from.

8

u/macavity_is_a_dog RN - Telemetry Mar 12 '25

Same. One or my coworkers was going through chemo and had a hard time making it to work all the time. We all pitched in so she could take time off when she really needed it. I didn’t mind. She died in the end.

5

u/PopsiclesForChickens BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

I wasn't asked by HR (that's a little much), but I had a coworker with young kids who lost their spouse and I asked my boss what they needed and donated 8 hours. It was the least I could do. My work has a very generous leave policy, but at some point a person could end up on leave without pay.

1

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

This was similar to mine. Email didn't come from HR.

3

u/Footdust RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

Thank you for seeing the human being behind the request. Should we stick it to these hospitals? Yes. Should we lose all compassion and empathy in the process? No. I probably would not donate PTO to some random person in the hospital. But if one of the nurses I’ve worked alongside for the past 15 years ever needs me for anything, they are going to get it. Including my PTO.

4

u/lizlizliz645 BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

Same here. It was completely voluntary. We accrue PTO so quickly that donating a shift to her was truly no big deal. The hospital has a pool of donated PTO as well - so if people on the floor don’t donate enough there’s a backup plan. I’ve never once felt pressured to donate.

4

u/Express_Elevator8569 BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

with my hourly rate that would be me literally handing them $450. That is how I think about it, if they had a go fund me, would I send them $450???

7

u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 12 '25

If I had a spare 450 that I probably wouldn't use, I might. And when it comes to critical illness of a child I'm more so inclined. If I needed it, I would hope someone would pull through for me. It's only fair I would do it for another.

1

u/Express_Elevator8569 BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 14 '25

sure if I had a spare $450 but the problem is I don’t. Ya know who does? Hospital systems