Unavoidable Conflicts and Unforeseen Emergencies. If a Nurse has a specific unavoidable commitment or an emergency that affects the Nurse’s ability to stay beyond the end of his or her shift beyond the time required to complete charting and report, or to finish his/her own assigned duties, the Nurse will inform the Patient Care Manager, Assistant Patient Care Manager, or in their absence the Resource Nurse, of the unavoidable conflict or emergency as far in advance as is possible. Should the need for overtime thereafter arise on the date and shift involved, the Employer will make all reasonable efforts to secure the needed coverage by other Nurses who are present and working, or by floating in order to accommodate the conflict or emergency if possible. The Nurse so accommodated will be expected to be reasonably available to assist in providing coverage should another Nurse have an unavoidable conflict or emergency on a subsequent occasion. If a Nurse has volunteered for or been assigned to an on call shift and is unable to perform it because of an unavoidable conflict or emergency, the Nurse will inform the Patient Care Manager, the Assistant Patient Care Manager, or in their absence the Resource Nurse, as far in advance as is possible, and if the conflict is known in advance will make all reasonable efforts to obtain a trade of on call shifts with another Nurse. If the Nurse cannot obtain a trade of on call shifts with another Nurse and no other Nurse volunteers to take the on call shift with the result that the Employer is required to provide the necessary coverage by involuntary assignment to another Nurse or Nurses, the Nurse who was unable to work the shift as scheduled will be expected to be reasonably available to assist in providing coverage by a trade of on call shifts, or by volunteering to take an additional on call shift, should another Nurse subsequently have an unavoidable conflict or emergency requiring similar efforts to accommodate his/her need. The Employer will generally make efforts to obtain voluntary coverage for overtime and on call shifts, and it is understood that the provisions described above are intended to address the occasional unavoidable conflict and emergency situations only. The provisions of this Section do not constitute a guarantee that the Employer will be able to accommodate the occasional unavoidable conflict or unforeseen emergency in every instance.
