If you have ever spent time in a hospital you know that nurses are the ones that really run the show. I had children delivered at two separate Chicago area hospitals and the nurses were amazing. When my Grandma was in the hospital it was the nurses that were in her room most of the time, doing the dirty work and really making her feel taken care of.
Being a nurse is a demanding job. The tasks are unique too. If you work as an accountant you can easily stop working for thirty minutes and have a lunch break. If your patient is crashing or otherwise needs you, getting a sandwich isn’t a possibility.
The problem is that (allegedly) some Chicago area hospitals are not properly paying nurses for the time that they are working. It’s somewhat industry practice to have a nurse work either an 8.5 or 12.5 hour shift and then deduct 30 minutes for a meal break. Unless the meal break is uninterrupted, it must be paid. Most nurses do not take uninterrupted meal breaks because (1) they eat at the nurse’s station and must deal with pages, doctors, family members, etc, (2) eat in a break room on the floor and are similarly interrupted, (3) or just don’t get a break because of workload, staffing issues, or as one nurse explained to me, because “I don’t want my patients to die.”
Three lawsuits have been filed already. Hopefully other hospitals voluntarily do the right thing and pay these hard working nurses. If you know a nurse that is being taken advantage of, have them call us at (312) 346-5320.
Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois. All inquiries are free and confidential.
Tags: lunch breaks, nurses, wages
It’s not just nurses that are getting screwed, but respiratory therapists and staff. I imagine it’s happening in other areas of work too.