working on Christmas?

Nurses General Nursing

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I've been a nurse for almost 8 years. I have always volunteered to work EVERY holiday (newyears, 4th of July, Thanksgiving etc...) just to have Christmas off to be with my family. I am 6 months into a new ER job and they have scheduled me for Christmas Eve AND Christmas day:sniff: My poor kid's are really upset. My husband is also a nurse and is scheduled to work Christmas day this year too.

I had to tell my parent's that we were both working and ask if they would take the kids. My mom was pretty nasty and less then understanding. She said she didn't think it was "fair" to ask that I work Christmas when I have kids. I told her that people still get sick on Christmas and I wasn't the only employee with children.

Here is what I need from you all...;) Please help me explain to my (never had a job outside of the home) mother why I have to work Christmas. and second...Help me understand why I have to work Christmas:sniff: :lol2:

Specializes in Med/Surg.

Yes, I have to work a 12 1/2 hr. shift on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because Christmas is my holiday, and it is also my weekend to work. I am just a little bit bitter about that...working both days leaves me no time to be with my family.:angryfire

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Bummer...There's got to be a way to balance work and family. I would give up one for the other but it wouldn't be vice-versa.

Yes, I have to work a 12 1/2 hr. shift on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because Christmas is my holiday, and it is also my weekend to work. I am just a little bit bitter about that...working both days leaves me no time to be with my family.:angryfire
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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

It is the Adults that generally make it a problem, not the children.

WOO HOO!!

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Originally Posted by mrbill72315

If there are nurses on your floor that don't have children, then they should volunteer to cover for you.

It's what nurses do!

SHOULD??? I don't think so!!

Cover if they want to but never should. That's just rude.

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:stone well that is no fun having to work both days. it is unfortunate your nurse manager has done this. usually a nurse gets to work one day or the other.....not both. has your nurse manager explained why you have to work both days? did you get thanksgiving off? (so many questions...so little time.)

:o what is also unfortunate is your mother's reaction to your work schedule. sorry.

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This may not help for this year but I suggest your department get a group of staff together to discuss staffing issues and possibly find solutions such as a scheduling committee. It is terrible that you have to work both. At my job FTE's are required to work 2 of the major holidays (Thanksgiving, C-Eve, C-Day, and New Years) but 1 of the two has to be either Christmas Eve or Day, regardless how long you have been there. You can volunteer for more but it is not required. We also self schedule and rate those holidays 1-4 what we want to work the most. Of course everyone is not always happy but at least we have some control. Sorry for your dilema.

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At our hospital-when it is our turn to work either Christmas or New Year-we work both the day and the eve-but we get paid holiday pay for both shifts. You are fortunate in this field to have had the last 8 years of Christmas's off. Ours is a profession that doesn't quit just because it's a holiday. If you are feeling badly about being away from your family on the holiday--think of how your patients feel, as well as their family members who have to be separated from their family and sick on the holiday--what can you do-since you have to be there anyway-to make their day brighter?

the way I see it--there are alot worse jobs to have if you have to work the holiday--for example-convenience store attendant--so even though I have to work every other Christmas-I'm thankful that I'm doing a job that I love, and I look for ways to make the day a bit brighter for my patients and their family.

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If you are feeling badly about being away from your family on the holiday--think of how your patients feel, as well as their family members who have to be separated from their family and sick on the holiday--what can you do-since you have to be there anyway-to make their day brighter?

My Dad was dx'd w/colon CA on 12/25/03. He died on 4/26/05. I know how he felt about his nurses on 12/25/05 and if you think it's a pain to be working on Christmas, I agree with CSwain, consider how your patients feel.

Somewhere the spirit of Christmas has been long lost. It isn't about what we get to experience, it is about what we get to give.

Call it what you wish. But I'm right and you all know it.

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Yes, I have to work a 12 1/2 hr. shift on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because Christmas is my holiday, and it is also my weekend to work. I am just a little bit bitter about that...working both days leaves me no time to be with my family.:angryfire

Working holidays goes along with the privilege of being a nurse-it's one of those things we do. I have worked every other Christmas Eve and Christmas for the past 14 years. I could be working somewhere else that closes down for Christmas every year--say a food manufacturing plant--but then I wouldn't have the privilege of doing what I love. Hopefully next year should be your year to have Christmas off.

Cheer up and ask yourself what you can do to make the day a little brighter for the patients in your care. I know they will be grateful that you are there, and that there are caring people in this profession who are there every day of the year.

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My Dad was dx'd w/colon CA on 12/25/03. He died on 4/26/05. I know how he felt about his nurses on 12/25/05 and if you think it's a pain to be working on Christmas, I agree with CSwain, consider how your patients feel.

Somewhere the spirit of Christmas has been long lost. It isn't about what we get to experience, it is about what we get to give.

Call it what you wish. But I'm right and you all know it.

Yes--you are right--and hopefully those nurses caring for your dad did not let bitterness show that they had to be there on Christmas day.

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Yes--you are right--and hopefully those nurses caring for your dad did not let bitterness show that they had to be there on Christmas day.

Nope, they sure didn't. He absolutely adored each and every one of them. He didn't have a single complaint the entire time he was hospitalized. Considering he wasn't an easy man to take care of and he was just told he had cancer, he STILL didn't have a single complaint about the nurses. He thought they were beyond amazing. He honestly, sincerely, appreciated each and every one of them.

If they were annoyed or bitter about working, they sure didn't let it show.

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How truely lucky you are for missing Christmas for 8 years. The last area that I worked which was neuro rehab, the nurse manager worked hoildays so that you worked every other holiday, and then the next year you worked the holidays you had off. The catch was that if you had Thanksgiving off then you were expected to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with New Years eve and day off.

This year I moved to the Cardiovascular floor at the same Hospital and agreed to work Christmas Eve and Day both 7p-7a and got Thanksgiving off and New Years Eve and Day.

As I see it Christmas is a Day that was set aside to honor the birth of the Savior of the World, when in truth no one truely knows what day he was born on.

Plus I see nursing as perhaps the only profession that mimics the life of Christ. So I am Happy and enjoy working Christmas when it's my turn.

When it comes down to it does it REALLY matter when you celebrate Christmas as long as you remember the reason, purpose, or spirit of the season?

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