Being Cancelled

[rn undisclosed name]

I am normally scheduled 72 hours per pay period and don't usually pick up extra shifts. I also work 12 hour shifts. I was scheduled to work this past Saturday for a 12 hour shift and this was my normal day to work and was not extra. I haven't worked extra in several months.

I received a phone call Saturday am that they were cancelling me for the first 4 hours of my shift. I'm not happy about it because if I want to get paid for that time I have to use my vacation time otherwise my check will be short. Is this standard practice to do. I was always under the impression that if this is an "extra" shift for you and if you are a registry person you would be canceled before a regular staff nurse. When I got to work there was a nurse from the float pool they had working. This just doesn't seem right. Opinions please. How do they handle this where you work.

Also they had a meeting and are only cancelling us in 4 hour increments so basically it seems to me that I am keeping my schedule available for them and not being paid an on-call rate.

Kelly

[OC_An Khe]

My union contract forbids the involuntary cancelling of shifts or involuntarily being placed on call. Your weekly salary is guaranteed. If there is a low census the hospital will ask for volunteers and you can use benefit time if you want to.

Quite frankly I wouldn't work for an instution that involiuntarily cancels my shift. It shows very little regard for the welfare of the employees and treats a professional as a day laborer (PRN positions being the exception).

[GrnHonu99, RN]

If the float nurse was a registry nurse . . .our contract with the registry says the registry can't be canceled without paying what you would pay if she did work, so it is cheaper to cancel the staff nurse.

Money talks.

steph

yep. if one of our travelers gets cancelled they are still paid whether they work or not...however...my facility will send home the registries (diff from travelers)...or float the travelers to accom. our staff. If that doesn't work then we get rid of on call RNs that are staff...then they take volunteers...then im not sure...we can choose to be paid from our PTO or not to be paid at all. We never cancel before shift starts, we always send pple home if census isn't high enough.

[island40]

Being called off is okay so long as it is only once in a while. This is the career field that I chose so I try to keep my budget in line with a veriable income. It usually balances out with occasions when I get called all the time to come in because they are short.

[flashgoddess]

Actually, I prefer to "share the joy" by offering to take any and all call offs. :yelclap: I love being called off.

steph

Everytime the phone rang and I was cancelled, I would dance around my house!!!

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Everytime the phone rang and I was cancelled, I would dance around my house!!!

Me Too!:Melody:

Actually what would happen is that I would get up for work at 0145 and go into the living room, where our phone is. No phones allowed in the bedroom. If the red light was blinking, I'd start to smile and then I'd dance if the call was from work and I was called off.

The joy . . . .:redbeathe:yeah::yelclap::monkeydance:

steph

[lilcajunnurse]

If you are a full-time nurse there must be some policy on how many hours a pay period you are promised. if we cancel at our facility we cannot cancel below 64 hours which is still a huge difference from 80 hours. Doesn't sound fair as we are expected to be there when needed but asked to go home because of census. NOT FAIR.:angryfire SOME THANKS WE GET. Also, does your facility look at acuity. We no longer cancel in my facility because we got burnt once due to acuity.

[SarasotaRN2b]

Living in Florida, especially during the summer, being called off is just a fact of life. I work on a telemetry unit and this weekend, our census topped off on Friday night and Saturday night at about 18. That meant that on nurse was flexed at 11 (after 4 hours) and another was either called off altogether or reassigned to another floor. After 11, each nurse can have up to 6 patients. If the census is 20 pts by that time, usually they will keep the fourth nurse.

Come October through April/May, we'll be back in season and will have both sides of the floor open and the travellers will return if we don't have enough core employees. OT is definitely a major opportunity. So I say work as much as you can when you can and enjoy the summer and schedule yourself for more vacation time (great if you have kids) during the summer.

Kris

[steelcityrn, RN]

Every hospital is different, but I get your point. You had planned your schedule for 12 hours, available to work all 12 but then called to stay home the first 4 hours. How convenient for them to cancel someone like that. I do not agree with it at all.