Do nurses get holidays off?

Nurses General Nursing

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Some have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.

Specializes in geriatrics.

Regardless of the fact that you have children, your employer and your coworkers won't really care. Nursing is 24 7. If you are working somewhere that involves shifts, expect to work them. That's the way it is, especially as a new grad.

Many nurses have families, and they too have to make sacrifices. Someone has to take care of the patients.

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Specializes in MR/DD.

Just because the calender says that Christmas is dec 25th does not mean it has to be. Holidays can be celebrated any day you wish. I just worked second shift on thanksgiving.. we had thanksgiving lunch instead of dinner.

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One side of my family had a 'gathering' as close to the 4th of July as was practical (and always a weekend). When we all got together, nobody looked for a calendar to see if it was "legal" to have fun :D

Make it your own.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

You just get used to celebrating when you have time off. My kiddos were always happy to have Christmas if it was on the 22, 23, 24, or 25! It is being with family & friends that is important....not the date on the calendar,:)

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Specializes in geriatrics.
OCNRN63 said:
I don't have kids, nor do I celebrate holidays. But feel just as entitled to a day off as the next person. Just because someone has a kid doesn't mean their time off is more important than another's.

You should have known being a nurse was going to require holiday work. Who did you think was going to take care of the patients?

I'm really tired of this mentality. We all make our choices in life. Just because I'm single, that does not mean I am less entitled to my time off. You had the children, you are responsible for them.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

Usually. It has fallen to work one winter and one summer holiday and it's not the same each year. Not sure about my new job. But sometimes you can find people have different priorities and are willing to swap. for example I had a co-worker that wanted new years off. She didn't have kids and said she didn't care aout working thanksgiving or Christmas. So if she ended uo on the new years rotation she would switch with someone on the other. Me I could care less about working new years. I will work whatever I am scheduled but I would be more to trade someone if it was new years as opposed to Christmas. I work nights so even if I worked one of those I could make it work.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Neuro/Oncology floor nursing..

I don't mean to offend anyone but I am an atheist, so I volunteer to work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Easter and any other religious holidays. I am also not into partying and I can't drink so I also work New Year's Eve My father also past away so I work fathers day(I go to to cemetery the day before because the cemetery is VERY crowded on fathers day), if I can have mothers day off. My father died from cancer due to agent orange from being a Marine War. I work all those holidays in exchange for Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and The forth of July. Labor day I rotate each year. Most staff members are grateful I work Christmas eve, Christmas Day and Easter.

This has been the routine for the past few years now.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
ruby vee said:
what's "important" about the holiday? is it the date on the calendar? because i can pretty much guarantee that jesus wasn't born on december 25, the pilgrims didn't have dinner with the indians on november 24 and independence didn't happen all of a sudden on july 4. good news! all you have to "miss out on" is the date on the calendar.

thanksgiving is about giving thanks -- and you can do that just as well on november 20 or november 26 as you can on the 24th. or maybe it's about seeing your entire family together at once . . . again, it doesn't have to happen on the fourth thursday of november. if it's all about eating turkey until you bust and then watching football . . . sundays are good for that, too. your two year old is too young to read a calendar -- he won't care if santa comes on december 23 or december 27 instead of the 25th. at twelve, he might think it's cool that he gets all of his presents a day or two before his friends do, or if he gets more loot a few days after christmas because you went shopping at the after christmas sales. and if christmas is all about the religious celebration -- celebrate with the rest of your congregation every other year . . . god will understand if you have to take care of your patients this year. someone has to.

it's not about the actual holiday . . . it's about all the family or friends or sentiment that goes with it. so pick a day and celebrate then. it's a good lesson about giving back that you can share with your children. and the "christmas morning" videos will show just as bright and happy a face when your child opens presents on december 26 because mommy had to work the 25th. really.

the older you get, the more people in your life, and the more complications. let your kids go to your mother-in-law's house on december 25 when you're working, you take them with you and have christmas the weekend before. or after. they get two christmases, you get to spend yours with people you love. (well, maybe you love your mother-in-law. but i'm sure you catch my drift.) get over the idea that holidays are about a date on the calendar . . . even if you never actually become a nurse, there are other things that can interfere with that date. if your family has a tradition of celebrating when you can all get together, that will serve you well even if someone is working, someone is sick or someone is at the in-laws on that holiday.

just wanted to say thank you ruby vee. i was a little sad/upset to find out i was working all 3 winter holidays this year and although being the newbie i expected it, it still felt crappy. but your view on the situation has really made me feel so much better about this year & years to come when i have a family of my own! so seriously, thank you and happy holidays! (on whichever day they may be)!! ?

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Specializes in Med/Surg..

I agree with everyone re: Nursing is a 24/7 job - you will be required to work some Holidays. My DH's hospital splits the Holidays - one group gets certain Holidays off one yr, works them the next, which is the most fair way to do it. My Hospital doesn't permit vacation requests over the Holidays - Ex: Christmas, you will either work Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. This means, if you have Family far away, forget about ever spending another Thanksgiving or Christmas back-home, unless a co-worker will do your shifts for you, which is highly unlikely, since they want time with their family as well.

I like my DH's schedule better - at least he gets a couple of days to enjoy family time. I worked Thanksgiving night - we have 3 Son's, no way are they going to miss out on the Holiday because of me. So, I came home after a 12hr shift yesterday & with no sleep, spent all day cooking a big turkey dinner (a day late), so we could have Thanksgiving Dinner like everyone else.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
Jmiami said:
Some have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.

As far as I know, few places require one to work a full 24-36 HR shift straight on the holiday. This means that one has time to see their nearby spouse/children during the holiday or the holiday eve. Thus, one does not "miss" the holidays generally with them. You merely are missing part of the day with them.

When I was a child, I missed many entire holiday Seasons with my father. You see, he served our Country in Vietnam. At one point, he was overseas for 20 straight monthes (2 holidays).... At a time when few families could afford long distance calls, and communications could be limited even if one could afford it. I often did not hear his voice for monthes on end.

That is missing your parent on the holiday. A few hours out of the day.... Not so much.

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Jmiami said:
Some have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.

If you don't want to work holidays, work in a doctor's office, a clinic, or be a school nurse, or teach at a school of Nursing, or do Utilization Review. Work for an insurance company as a Case Manager or find some other area of Nursing in which you don't have to care directly for patients at the bedside or in their home.

Unless you work Surgery or Recovery Room, get used to working at least half of the holidays yearly - and that number will vary, depending on how fair your schedule-maker is and how popular you are with her/him and whether or not you have a contract that calls for you to be off a certain number of holidays.. Even these 2 areas won't guarantee that you won't have to be at work.

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

I totally agree with Ruby Vee. Adults place way more emphasis on "the day" than children.

Due to divorcing my first husband I have had Thanksgiving the weekend before that Thursday for 25 years. Voila: No scheduling conflicts, everyone loves MY Thanksgiving dinner because it's the first they have had.

We have our family Christmas on Christmas Eve. If everyone can't be there we get together with those folks another time, coffee & cookies, pictures. No stress.

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