Alright, long emotional story (it's a good thing you can't all see me typing 
) coming right up:
I've been pumping since returning to work about 4 1/2 months ago. I work in a nursing home attached to a hospital. Same company, different budgets and ultimately separate.
I was using the nurse manager's office because at the time we didn't have one. On the weekends (when it was locked and calling a supervisor to unlock it when I had free time was not going to work out) I was using a back room with a med holder in it (aka our "floor pharmacy"). There was no lock and I would just set a chair against the door so nobody would walk in (as if they couldn't notice the sign on the door). I didn't mind. I was cooperative.
Well now we have a new manager. I explained to her what I've been doing and asked if it was okay to continue. She said she didn't mind. Then came the day she was using the office when I had time to pump. She said she had a lot of work to catch up on (no manager for over a year) and we walked around looking for a place to pump. We ended up using the "floor pharmacy" room. So I've been using this room for the past few weeks. I let everyone know what's going on and to grab anything if it's going to be needed in the next 5-10 minutes, then I pump. Then came the pharmacist.
She knocked, the assistant nurse manager informed her that we had somebody using the room and it would be no more than 5 -10 minutes. She rolled her eyes, motioned towards the bathroom (as if that's where I should be) and stormed back to the pharmacy in the dungeon. We could've worked this out. I could've rearranged my break to pump when she wouldn't be expected. But no, she had to go through the chain of command and get me kicked out.
So then comes yesterday. I'm told right before lunch (pumping time) that I can't use it because the meds need to be able to be accessed at any given point. So I'm a little upset, a little angry, but determined to find a decent solution. I'm told I can go to the hospital's pumping room on the maternity floor (an extra 10-15 minutes walk) or use the associate's lounge (with staff's belongings and some equipment in it) with no lock. "They" are going to allow me extra time if I choose to use the pumping room. But as anybody who has worked in health care knows, that won't be taken so well by fellow co-workers. Not only will I be 15 minutes behind in the mornings (with a 1/2 hour pumping break), but I will also have a 45minute lunch, instead of the regular 30minutes. Yeah right. I can hear the grumbling now. Sure, everybody says it will be okay, but I know how it is when everybody is working short and someone is behind on their work because they had to go have a baby and breastfeed it too!!!:shock Don't get me wrong, I'm a big girl and I can take it, but I shouldn't have to.
I was beginning to get more and more upset as the thought sunk in and I began to take it more personal, and then not so personal. I'm stubborn, I'll find a way to pump if it means whipping the girls out at the nurse's station.
But what about somebody else that is already struggling? I worry about others giving up pumping & fully breastfeeding because it's too difficult to deal with here. They most likely are already taking the extra time to walk over to the hospital. If they're not getting extra time, they're skipping eating to pump. I'm assuming there has to be more than one lactating mama working in the nursing home. So now I don't just want a lock on the associate's lounge, I want a pumping room for the nursing home half.
Is this possible? Would the fact that there is already a designated milking zone in the hospital squish my efforts, or does the fact that these are more or less considered two different working zones help me out here? I need to get this into a more organized thought. Help me out.
I need NYS laws. Ideas. Support. Anything.
Thank You!
ETA: I've been walked in on (while pumping in the floor pharmacy room) by a man that works there.
I've gone the old acting manager (with little luck) and the new manager (seems like she's going to work on this for me). Following the chain of command like I'm always told to.
) coming right up:I've been pumping since returning to work about 4 1/2 months ago. I work in a nursing home attached to a hospital. Same company, different budgets and ultimately separate.
I was using the nurse manager's office because at the time we didn't have one. On the weekends (when it was locked and calling a supervisor to unlock it when I had free time was not going to work out) I was using a back room with a med holder in it (aka our "floor pharmacy"). There was no lock and I would just set a chair against the door so nobody would walk in (as if they couldn't notice the sign on the door). I didn't mind. I was cooperative.
Well now we have a new manager. I explained to her what I've been doing and asked if it was okay to continue. She said she didn't mind. Then came the day she was using the office when I had time to pump. She said she had a lot of work to catch up on (no manager for over a year) and we walked around looking for a place to pump. We ended up using the "floor pharmacy" room. So I've been using this room for the past few weeks. I let everyone know what's going on and to grab anything if it's going to be needed in the next 5-10 minutes, then I pump. Then came the pharmacist.
She knocked, the assistant nurse manager informed her that we had somebody using the room and it would be no more than 5 -10 minutes. She rolled her eyes, motioned towards the bathroom (as if that's where I should be) and stormed back to the pharmacy in the dungeon. We could've worked this out. I could've rearranged my break to pump when she wouldn't be expected. But no, she had to go through the chain of command and get me kicked out.
So then comes yesterday. I'm told right before lunch (pumping time) that I can't use it because the meds need to be able to be accessed at any given point. So I'm a little upset, a little angry, but determined to find a decent solution. I'm told I can go to the hospital's pumping room on the maternity floor (an extra 10-15 minutes walk) or use the associate's lounge (with staff's belongings and some equipment in it) with no lock. "They" are going to allow me extra time if I choose to use the pumping room. But as anybody who has worked in health care knows, that won't be taken so well by fellow co-workers. Not only will I be 15 minutes behind in the mornings (with a 1/2 hour pumping break), but I will also have a 45minute lunch, instead of the regular 30minutes. Yeah right. I can hear the grumbling now. Sure, everybody says it will be okay, but I know how it is when everybody is working short and someone is behind on their work because they had to go have a baby and breastfeed it too!!!:shock Don't get me wrong, I'm a big girl and I can take it, but I shouldn't have to.
I was beginning to get more and more upset as the thought sunk in and I began to take it more personal, and then not so personal. I'm stubborn, I'll find a way to pump if it means whipping the girls out at the nurse's station.
But what about somebody else that is already struggling? I worry about others giving up pumping & fully breastfeeding because it's too difficult to deal with here. They most likely are already taking the extra time to walk over to the hospital. If they're not getting extra time, they're skipping eating to pump. I'm assuming there has to be more than one lactating mama working in the nursing home. So now I don't just want a lock on the associate's lounge, I want a pumping room for the nursing home half.Is this possible? Would the fact that there is already a designated milking zone in the hospital squish my efforts, or does the fact that these are more or less considered two different working zones help me out here? I need to get this into a more organized thought. Help me out.
I need NYS laws. Ideas. Support. Anything.
Thank You!
ETA: I've been walked in on (while pumping in the floor pharmacy room) by a man that works there.
I've gone the old acting manager (with little luck) and the new manager (seems like she's going to work on this for me). Following the chain of command like I'm always told to.
