I work very few hours for an agency and I have made it known repeatedly what hours I need as a PRN nurse each month. I agreed to xx number of hours on xx number of days, and the agency more and more plays fast and lose with my requests. This month I didn't even get an advance request for what days I'm available - just my schedule, and it was a few hours over what I routinely request. The thing is, I have kidney failure [stg III] and need to frequently hydrate and pee. Often I have kidney pain and I do not want my care to be compromised because of these things. Should I just tell the agency about my illness, or keep correcting them each month?

Telling or not telling is going to depend upon the sort of relationship you have with your manager. When I got breast cancer, I needed specific days off to attend doctor's appointments pre-operatively, then I needed time off post-op to recover. My manager was absolutely wonderful -- she shifted the schedule to allow me the days off I needed, took me off the schedule when I needed it and offered to let me return on "light duty" (in a different job description) ahead of when I would be able to return with no lifting restrictions. But not all managers are like that.

You are the one who is going to know best about your relationship with your manager, and I'd urge you to consider that when you make your decision about telling or not telling. Perhaps the best approach would be to tell her that "I have some medical issues which make it necessary for my schedule to be thus." Being vague means nothing in particular to hold against you.

I'm not sure how helpful I've been, but I tried!

My registry does that too. I just tell them the days I can't go. Like they said Sunday night I have to do Monday AM and I said no. They said sorry we need you and I just said sorry I can't. This is a registry for a reason I was told when I signed up I could do as many or AS LITTLE days as I want.