The long term care facility I work at is generally terribly understaffed and I've been made to wait 30 minutes for a replacement to arrive but generally there's been someone on the unit to count the narcotics with me so I can leave sorta on time. It's not like I'm staying late because I haven't finished my work, my work is done almost always by the start of shift report. Today I'm especially pissed off for having been made to wait 45 minutes for a replacement to arrive. The supervisor kept telling me that "they're on their way" implying they were running late, but in reality they weren't scheduled to arrive until 4. The supervisor then told me that I wasn't allowed to leave because I'd be abandoning patients and that it's only company policy that I leave at 3:15 so they don't have to pay overtime and that I'm there until there's a replacement available. My coworker let me go first and was still stuck when I was walking off the unit. The only reason I haven't called off tomorrow yet is because I"m not sure that I won't just start screaming over the phone.
Is there literally anything I can do about this? I already have an exit strategy of cutting my hours and finishing my BSN, but they've also been dragging their feet for the past few months making the process take extra long but the end is mostly in sight so outright quitting isn't on the table yet.
I don't doubt they'll pay me for the time, but am I really allowed to just be told I"m not allowed to leave with my license on the line because they can't staff the place appropriately. What would stop them from just telling me I'm working until 7 and doing a full 12 hour shift or more?
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Most likely yes depending on the state you live in. Laws vary state by state so it is very hard to give an exact answer on this stuff without knowing the laws deeply.
And they say that public healthcare will enslave healthcare workers, capitalism already has them beaten.
Yeah at-will employment is awful and lets them get away with so much crap.
If you can't risk your job at all then you're probably boned.
If you don't mind risking a little bit you can push them and try to get them to concede to letting you leave on time. I'd text them in advance saying something like "My aunt had to return to work and I have to leave on time on X days otherwise there will be nobody to watch her child" and see how they respond. They'll either say ok or they'll say if you walk out you're fired.
Even if they say "if you walk out you're fired" there's a decent chance you won't actually be fired for leaving at the correct time if they are understaffed. Hiring new people is a lot of work and if you are otherwise a good employee they would be stupid to fire you for this.
Depends on how comfortable you are playing chicken with your job.
I'm already about to give an ultimatum of "change my schedule so I can go back to school or I quit" so I think I'm already at my limit.
Yes, they can tell you that, no, there is nothing stopping them from doing that. Your recourse is to quit and find a new job, unfortunately.