Vacation time being denied

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Sooooo frustrated with my hospital. I have a TON of PDOs (paid days off at our hospital) and I put a downpayment on a cruise which is to take place at the end of August. I put in a request for my vacation time off in January. My work does not approve these requests in a timely manner, they basically sit on them. In March, they posted a notice that only ONE person per shift for the entire unit could take vacation at a time. I had that part worked out, but then yesterday they sent out a notice that NO PDOs would be approved from Aug 21 - Oct 29 due to training for our new computerized charting system. Craziness! So basically if you were fortunate enough to decide to take your vacation in July, you're fine (assuming no one put in for it first) but at the end of August - screwed! Well, everyone knows that if you want to take a summer vacation you have to book it by Jan-Feb time frame - probably March at the latest - so here we are the middle of April and I am possibly in the position where I will have to choose between my job and my vacation. Yes, could cancel it all together - I can't reschedule this year because it's just too late, and I have 3 kids that I'm not going to pull out of school to go.

I am planning to protest this, although I'm still thinking about the wording . . . but does this strike anyone else as kind of crazy? To me it is very short notice AND a very long time frame for training for a computer system. FWIW, I have not taken a day off since last August, and I work extra every single week. But I know they won't give me special treatment. Grrrr. I really do want to keep my job.

being a trainer for electronic medical records i can assure you that your facility knew at least a year ago that emr was coming. i have seen nms take 2 week vacations the first 2 weeks of implementation. training classes are scheduled post go live to ensure that all employees have the opportunity for training, especially those on vacations, fmlas and even mds who wait until the very last minute to attend. if your nm doesn't do the scheduling, go there first, then move up the ladder. good luck...:smokin:

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Thank you all for your replies! Yes, the ultimate problem is that we are understaffed. And YES, we have all known this was coming for a long time, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to them. The problem with waiting for vacation approval before booking is that approvals are NEVER done in a timely manner. Obviously, I put in my request in January and they just leave it sitting in a binder until the time is closer, something that needs to be rectified. I did send an e-mail to my NM and explained the situation nicely (not threatening to quit, just asking how we can work this out). No response as of yet but I just sent it last evening. There are three others on my unit (plus a secretary) all of who are willing to quit over this. I mean, how can they penalize us for not using our ESP powers to book our summer vacations in July? Not only that, but we were only allowed to book vacations one per shift for the entire unit (in our case, NICU, Nsy & PP - that's nearly 50 people. So yeah, I'm not planning to drop this, even though I *could* get my $$$ back on my vacation - it's just wrong.

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Thank goodness you can get your money back.

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Specializes in ER.

Just wondering what the outcome was?

I'm in a similar situation, need time off to attend my son's graduation, (overseas), and even though I mentioned it when I was hired last year, AND put in my written request in January, its still being denied.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Just wondering what the outcome was?

Since the member who originally posted this thread has not logged on in one year, a very long period of time might elapse before (s)he replies.
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Actually I still get notices via email when someone posts on my thread. My vacation was not approved, and I didn't go. I barely got so much as an apology. Basically I could have called out & taken my chances, but I had just recently started working in the NICU there and didn't think I'd get hired in another NICU without more experience. So I switched my cruise to the following spring break. If I had been in a better position professionally I might have gone anyway & taken my chances, but you'd have to be prepared that you can lose your job over it.

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Thanks for the update. Glad you got your trip, even if at a different time. Hopefully it was more enjoyable on the new dates.

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In hind sight was it worth it to postpone?

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Specializes in ER.

Thank you for the update, and sorry you had such a problem getting your vacation arranged.

I'm trying to go to my son's graduation, so its not like I can move the dates or postpone it, but I have basically been told that even though I have accrued 3 weeks vacation, if I take it I will be fired.

I only have one son, and i don't want to miss his graduation, but it looks as if it will cost me my job.

Denying vacation seems to be a US problem, I have never had this anywhere else.

Time to cross the pond again I think!

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