Negotiating the Holiday Off

[Brian, ASN, RN]

Holidays off ... what's that? Nurses getting holidays off is not the norm. We work in all types of inclement weather, during disasters, and holidays. Just because the Post Office and Banks are closed doesn't mean we can take off. How do you ask for a holiday off? Is it like pulling teeth and just as painful?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I remember one time when I had to work Christmas Eve night, and feeling rather resentful about it. Then I drove past a 7-11 where one lone clerk was ringing up a half-case of beer for a customer, and it occurred to me that he was working Christmas too, and only getting minimum wage. I stopped feeling sorry for myself right then.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I never "asked" for a holiday off. We are scheduled to work every other major holiday, I gladly do my share. My family celebrates after my shift or another day. When my son was a toddler he never knew what day it was until we told him,then when he became a teenager he wanted to sleep in for hours.It always worked out.

[middleagednurse]

I was a single mom with 4 kids. I had to work one Christmas day so I told the kids that Christmas had been rescheduled and would be on the 26th that year. So 12/25 was just a normal day, and 12/26, when I was off, was Christmas. It worked out great.

[canigraduate]

I don't have kids or big family gatherings on Christmas, so I usually work it and take someone else's place. This year, however, I am taking the whole week off. How did I manage that? I have a travel contract ending just before the holiday and don't have anything lined up until the first of the year. Pure coincidence.

I asked for Thanksgiving off one year, and that turned into a fiasco involving calling half the unit to find someone to cover. I ended up having to trade three days on to get one off.

[Alfi_srq]

Our unit circulates a sign sheet beginning of November. Each staff member including CNAs rates the holidays in the order of importance for them to get it off. For example, this year I wanted Thanksgiving off more than others, so it was my number one. Christmas I chose to work so it was my last on the list. Then management makes schedule based on that list. I did rate New Years Eve as my middle priority but I am on the schedule to work. However I am in the top of the list to be flexed. So hopefully census will be low enough for me to get the day off.

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

Haha ? I'm working 23, 24 and 25 this year as a new nurse. Taking the same approach and was feeling kind of guilty. Glad I'm not the only one doing this. My daughter is 4... We'll open up presents the morning after Christmas. I'm kind of hoping that if I work this Christmas, if I want next Christmas off they'll be more likely to grant it? Hoping so, but that might not be how it works.

[CountryMomma, ASN, RN]

I don't ask for the federal/Christian holidays off. It'd be a pure disaster anyhow.

Funnily enough, the holidays I celebrate are not considered federally designated holidays anyhow, so my holidays are a little bit easier to arrange, but I still don't try. I figure the PTB in my religion know people are sick 24/7 and my lack of getting into a huge complicated bartering system just to have one day off does not register on the "I care" scale with the gods anyhow.

Now missing my kids' birthdays? That kills me.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

If I work the day of the holiday we just push it to another. If family can't accommodate this we simply miss their party. No biggie to us.

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work double shifts on weekends only. This was my strategy for nursing school. Now that nursing school is over, I still have those shifts, so I have most holidays off, but I'm scheduled to work Christmas this year. No one asked, I was just scheduled. It doesn't bother me because I have no children, my family lives in another state, and I'll soon be leaving for a hospital job, although I'll stay on a per diem basis. Anyway, I spent Thanksgiving with my family.

[Wrench Party]

Meh, when you grow up used to your parents working holidays, you celebrate when you can. The point is to spend time

with family, not to celebrate on a particular day. I don't think my creator is going to smite me automatically because I celebrate

Christmas late with my folks this year.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

When I worked a job that required 24/7/365 coverage, we rotated holidays and I worked when scheduled. Now I"m clinic and it's never an issue. And it's wonderful =)