advice needed re: trading PRN shifts

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as anyone could tell from reading any of my writing on here, i am extremely burnt out and have been for some time. my goal was to keep going until the end of this year, but after last week, i seriously doubt my ability to keep it professional between now and then. any patience i ever posessed has vanished (and tbh i've never had all that much for random people i don't know), my anxiety attacks have gotten worse, and every time i work i have to constantly step away from obnoxious patients and/or family members and go into the supply closet for a few minutes until i can control myself.

i want to quit NOW. But I stupidly agreeed to work a bunch of shifts the week of New Year's, and another week in mid-January.

today i met another PRN RN who usually works in another building, and she was saying that census was always really low and she was constantly getting cancelled and wanted more hours. I told her to contact the DON in this building, and gave her his number. I also said I was having the opposite problem and had a bunch of shifts over the holidays that I wanted to give away. She said she would take any shifts I wanted to give away if she was available those days.

What do I say to my DON about this? At the company I work for, we're not allowed to trade shifts among ourselves; it all has to be done by the DON so he can keep track of who's working when. The other PRN is going to call him this week and let him know she wants more shifts and is available. I can't think of a professional way to say "hey, another PRN will be calling you wanting holiday shifts; can you please offer her as many of mine as she wants?"

And for the shifts that she cant or doesn't want to take...I know there are other PRNs looking for holiday hours, but I rarely actually work with any of them so I can't mention in person that they are welcome to any of my shifts that they might want. And I can't call or text them because it's against the rules and shift trades have to be done by the DON. So I would basically have to ask him to send a mass text to the other PRNs asking if any of them want any of my shifts. yikes. I don't feel like I can be honest about WHY, obviously I can't say i'm so burnt out that i don't trust myself to practice competently at the moment.

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Just say you have personal family/health issues going on, and that this other person would really like the hours.

As long as it doesnt screw your company, I dont see why they wouldnt be willing to accommodate such a reasonable request

The most important point is to do it sooner rather than later

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

As long as you're following protocols and the shifts are covered, it shouldn't be an issue.

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Just say you have personal family/health issues going on, and that this other person would really like the hours.

good idea. health issues, keep it simple. they don't have to know it's mental health issues. :p

The most important point is to do it sooner rather than later

also a good point. i do tend to procrastinate and put off having potentially awkward conversations. but you're right, the sooner the better.

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I agree with explaining why (in a vague yet understandable way) you cannot work the shifts you previously agreed to. As long as the shift is covered by a similarly competent nurse (I'm assuming that this nurse is qualified to work in your department) I don't see why it would be an issue.

I would think that your DON would appreciate your efforts to cover your shifts in advance versus waiting and becoming so stressed by that time that you have to call off to keep your sanity intact. Good luck!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Are you able to just cancel the shifts? We're allowed to cancel casual shifts within 72 hours of a shift... & no, you don't have to give a reason.

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Are you able to just cancel the shifts? We're allowed to cancel casual shifts within 72 hours of a shift... & no, you don't have to give a reason.

technically, yeah. but most of the shifts in question are right around the holidays (i.e. Christmas Eve, the day after, the weekend after, New Year's Eve/Day, etc.) I would feel like an ass calling and just cancelling all of those hard to fill shifts.

And I would love to think that I will never have the need to return to a nursing job ever again after this month, but just in case my life turns to complete **** at some point in the future, I don't want to get a bad reference from this place.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Yeah I understand that but with enough notice I don't think you should feel bad (I would be cancelling now). If the job bothers you enough I would just say something came up and you can't do the shifts.

That, or suffer through them.

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