A day off

lita1857 · May 27, 2000

I know people are not going to agree with me but here goes...I think administration alot of times counts on the fact some nurses will come in on their days off because they need the money/feel guilty leaving coworkers stranded etc. in one NICU we always covered our own staffing problems like a sick call,high census etc. Guess what? it soon became the norm that we HAD to do that or work short. After that we as a group had to decide what became essential that day and what could we actually do without(legally&safely)we employed lots of tactics ..the head nurse/nurse manager in some states is legally responsible(aka may have to ACTUALLY come in and work)I really had a boss that did put on scrubs everytime we needed her.AAWWHH the good old days....we agreed among ourselves that our day off was ours to do as we chose...one nurse needed the money came in-no guilt...one didn't answer the call or return messages, that was ok too-no guilt.Bottom line...we have to take care of ourselves FIRST then you can be the patient advocate to the MAX....

justanurse · May 28, 2000

Oh, yes!!!!!

And, I've even got one that woke me up at 0130 out of a sound sleep and tried to mandate me to come in to work. I refused because I didn't have a sitter to watch my kids in the middle of the night (hubby has to work swing shifts). I don't feel guilty about it in the day time, just let the answering machine get it (as we have mandatory overtime and I sign up for my share). At night, I don't think it's fair to try mandating anyone at that time (barring a civil or natural disaster), as not too many people wouldn't answer their phone thinking it's a family emergency that's caused the call. Just go into work the next day and work the best I can.

Nancy1 · May 28, 2000

Beano,

I have to tell you what you are talking about was me when I was a CNA back in 1986. I finally realized that I needed to do something when the supervisor called and asked me to cover a night shift (this was at 1600), I told her no because my husband and I were going out to dinner and I knew I would have a drink or two. She responded: "Well, Nancy, I was counting on you to cover this shift." My response was, "You can count on me for my scheduled hours, the rest is up to me." She did not call me in the future, but she had others who did. The WAKE UP call came, when the phone rang on my Saturday off and my 8 year old said "What time will you get home from work?" I had said no that day because I had plans to shop with this child, it was scary as a mom to think that she would expect me to choose work over her. That was all in the days before mandatory overtime. I am fortunate that at this point in time my facility has not had to go to it, but as a manager, I do help with a med pass, or with charting prn.

A word to the wise: If you love what you do and you love your family it is a hard decision, this MO has everyone nervous. Do you leave your patient or your children? Leave your patient and they could take away your license, leave your children they caould take them away. I guess I am real glad that my children are grown up that I am not in your position.

I think the one thing we can do is find out from the licensing board what constitutes job abandonment. I am involved in the local nursing association and I have contacted the licensing board to see if they are willing to talk to the nurses about what rights we do have. I will keep you informed if I get any great insight from them. NA

NurseRachet · May 29, 2000

I am a dedicated nurse - worked many OT hours in my day. When I have a day off, the answering machine goes on. At our hospital, we do not contact people on their day off to come to work. Just courteous. We have asked those that are scheduled to either work over 4 hours, or come in early 4 hours. We don't brow beat anyone to come in. Just a nice - "OK, perhaps next time". It seems to work for us.

cfnp2b · May 30, 2000

I agree with the others - My day off is mine to do what I want - and the answering machine takes the calls. If my manager, or other administrator, does not like that, then she can fire me! My motto: I was looking for a job when I found this one! Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love nursing but my family is most important! Good luck

leia · May 30, 2000

I too agree with the others-my day off is my day off,and I truely believe if you want to be an afffective nurse and take care of patients you need to take care of yourself and have to have your Off-days.I work in Germany and have to say we are too called in sometimes,but even when you say no you can not get fired easily(not for saying no) and we have good worklaws anyway.On my job we believe if we cover too much for sick call ect. our boss would think we don't need as many nurses as we have and we would be working overtime all the time,so we rather ask for extra nurses to cover and we are able to take our off day.We still work overtime and cover sometimes,but not all the time.

Originally posted by cfnp2b:
I agree with the others - My day off is mine to do what I want - and the answering machine takes the calls. If my manager, or other administrator, does not like that, then she can fire me! My motto: I was looking for a job when I found this one! Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love nursing but my family is most important! Good luck

LaurieCRNP2002, MSN, RN, APRN · May 31, 2000

NO WAY should any nurse be mandated to give up his/her day off because the unit is short. The first people that should be asked are those already scheduled, to see if they would stay late or come in early. Also, I feel that managers/supervisors who expect staff members to give up their day off should be willing to do the same--give up time away from THEIR families! If they're going to "talk the talk" then they should also "walk the walk".

Just my $.02!

Laurie

NurseMom · May 31, 2000

Day off....hmmmmmmm! I have 5 kids, so my days off are consumed with getting the house to look like I want it to, not how everyone else thinks is presentable. Not to mention all the other stuff that goes along with being a working Mom, like dentist and doc appts.

We have a caller ID box, and I would never pick up the phone when my job called. I feel that I've done my share of doubles or coming in on a day off. They got slick though....changed it so they show up as name and number unknown on the box now.

------------------

Laurie :)

so many patients...

so little time.....

justanurse · May 31, 2000

Nursemom,

I used to have caller id, too. My hospital came up with a "blocked" number on mine. Although, they swore up and down they didn't have any of those on any of their lines. (Yeah, sure, I believe whatever you say. ) I started blocking those numbers so they wouldn't even ring to my home. That was in the days when we had better staffing and you occasionally got RA'd (extra day off, and usually you were on call, but rarely got called in, ahhhhh, those were the days). I didn't get the call that was gonna RA me, so I found out I could go back home after I'd slid into the parking lot on the inch thick ice they couldn't clean off the lot. Needless to say, I didn't go home, I worked psych and spent the day in radiology sitting with a patient. I don't have caller id anymore after that, just let the machine get it.

EDchrisRN · May 31, 2000

Thank God for answering machines and/or the ringing phone that goes unanswered!!! My time off is mine! Family first all the way!!.....they will always be with me, the job will not! After I put in my mandatory OT and my on-call time, I just don't want to give any more. Balance.....take care on one's own mental health. We talk so much about the importance of taking care of ourselves but so few of us really do it. This is one way we can do it..just say NO!

JillR · Jun 1, 2000

In the hospital I work at if you are contacted by phone and the answering machine picks up it is considered a contact. For example they can call you to work a PM shift instead of NOCs. If the answering machine picks up and they leave a message, the message is considered delivered, and If you don't show then you are considered a no call, no show. My answer to this problem, I have no answering machine, no answering service, ect. End of problem. Also I have a no guilt rule, If I dont want to work, I refuse to feel quilty for it. No one can MAKE me feel anything.

I don't come in often on my days off, however I do stay for an extra 4 hours almost every time they ask, this way they can not claim that I don't do my fair share of pitching in.