Holiday rotation

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Just wondering how other facilities schedule holidays.We get a list in October, you sign your name and then number Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years in preference of what you would want to have off. Then at the beginning of November the schedule magically appears and you may or may not have your first preference off, even if other people with a lower preference for that particular holiday have it off instead. It appears to be entirely at the whim of the scheduler and manager. I had Christmas my first two years, this year I got Thanksgiving- but I was bumped to a different position. I've heard other people complaining that they have all three holidays and others got none. I realize no one approach can make everyone happy, but this random (by admission of the scheduler) just seems dumb. How do you do holiday rotations?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Not LTC, but our weekends and holidays are divided into 3 teams. Each team takes one winter and one summer holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day). The following year, holidays are rotated. So, if you worked Thanksgiving and Memorial Day last year, this year you're working Christmas and July 4th. Helps with people trying to schedule family gatherings and vacations well ahead of time since the rotation is sent out in December (New Year's is always included on the previous years calendar). The only time it stinks is if someone switches which team they're on- they do run the risk of working the same holidays two years in a row, although the schedulers try to make them the off person if possible.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

Our staff is guaranteed to work every other major winter holiday.That's every other year so some people work T-giving and Xmas one year and are off both the next.My T-giving and New Years fell on the same cycle,Xmas was the opposite.That was nice.I don't do holidays or weekends in my new position and now I'm too old to enjoy it!

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Specializes in LTC.

I much prefer the list as I like a certain holiday off and I am willing to work the other two so others can have off but they insist on rotating them. For example if you had off Thanksgiving you will be on Christmas and the next year off Christmas and on Thanksgiving.

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Specializes in Allergy/ENT, Occ Health, LTC/Skilled.

Every other holiday, I have never heard of it any other way. I work PRN so am not required to do holidays. My facility does not offer holiday pay so I never pick them up either.

They have holes on Christmas day because they lost a full time nurse a few months back. I really have no idea who they will get to do that. I would be willing to do it for holiday pay but other than that :no:

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Specializes in LTC.

Every other holiday. If the holiday falls on a day that would normally be your day off, you still work the holiday (e.g. if the holiday fall on your weekend off, you still have to work even though it's not your weekend). Holidays are: New Years Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Since it's an odd number, the holidays you work are opposite every year. This seems like the most fair way to do it.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

We have no holiday rotation at all. If the holiday happens to fall on a day you are regularly scheduled, you work it. I've had years when I hit every single one, and I've had years when I had them all off. Crazy as this sounds it works out pretty well. Since we have set schedules everyone knows well in advance if they will be scheduled or not so it is reasonably easy to either makes plans around work, switch with somebody else or even take it off as a vacation day as long as you put in the request plenty early.

For instance, I put in for Christmas off this year before January and had it approved right away. Of course the fact that I don't usually ask for holidays off if I'm scheduled to work them and I've been there over 20 years doesn't hurt. Our vacation policy is "prime time" vacation which is between Memorial Day and Labor Day and also all Holidays is granted based on seniority if the request is put in by April 1rst. At 20+years nobody comes close to me in seniority so I pretty much get whatever I ask for.

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