Am I Wrong To Think This?

[Bugaloo]

I work midnight shift (7p-7a), weekend option at a hospital about 30 miles from my home. My floor is a stressful, busy med-surg floor, and a lot of times, I am the charge nurse. By the time my three days are over, I am wore out!

I chose to work weekend option so that the rest of the week I could homeschool my 5 year old son, spend time with my husband and have time for my other interests. It's like I am two different people: Through the week, I am a homeschool, stay at home mom. Come Friday night, I turn into Nurse Bugaloo for three shifts. I feel that I am a good nurse, and I do a good job while I am work. It is the best of both worlds.

The problem is this: A few weeks ago, our Nurse Manager, who I greatly admire, mentioned in a meeting that from now on, our yearly raises would not only be based on work performance. They would also take into consideration how many meetings and inservices you attend, and how involved you are in signing up to work on different hospital and floor committees. For the record, all of their meetings and inservices are mandatory and they are all held throughout the week (as are all committee meetings).

Am I wrong to think that our raises should be based on our work performance? I am a team player when I am at work. But, after almost 16 years of being a nurse, all I really want to do is work my shifts, be done with it, and then spend the rest of my time with my family. I don't want to run 30 miles back and forth for meetings and inservices on my days off!

Please let me know what you think!

[jmgrn65, RN]

We have to attend so many meetings/inservices a year. Is your hospital a magnet hospital or trying for magnet? sounds like it, they are big on nurses being involved.

[ineedcoffee]

I think the commitees should be optional and most definitely have no effect on your salary.

[vamedic4, EMT-P]

Bugaloo I completely agree with you. I work 26 miles from my home and I'll be darned if I'm coming in for staff meetings/inservices/other BS unless it's absolutely life or death necessary. To tie yearly raises to inservices /committees/ whatever is yet another method to discriminate and save some dollars.

Oh, and since you and I both work nights...I notice at my facility at least...everything is scheduled during the day. Go figure.

vamedic4

[Bugaloo]

As far as I know, we are not trying for Magnet. It has always been known that meeting and inservice attendance was a small part of our yearly raise, but now it counts for MUCH more.

[rjflyn, ASN, RN]

I agree sounds like they are trying to get the staff involved. I feel though that if you offer a weekend option then if you are going to have mandatory meetings then you need to have them on the days those staff work. jmgrn65 mentioned magnet and working in a hospital that that just got surveyed and is waiting on the result I can tell you they want lots and lots of staff nurse involvement. That means committees and meetings. For what's its worth it was a 5 year project and about the time they started the did away with the weekend option.

Fortunately my management schedules things usually at shift change.

Also meeting/committee attendance is on our evaluation, have to have 75% attendance, unless excused.

Rj

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

I worked nights and had to come back in at 4 PM for mandatory meetings. If you have to recertify for BLS they are held during the week during the day not at night or on weekends(normally).

We had a clinical ladder that included continuing education, inservices, volunteer work, etc. There were 5 different levels. You could stay at level 1 forever if you would like but your additional raise(beyond the base for everyone) would be less at level 1 than level 5-it was your choice. You could receive a 3% raise at level 1 or 8 % raise at level 5 (as an example). No, it isn't fair, but we all make choices-your choice will be your family-not the big raise.

otessa

[Bugaloo]

I worked nights and had to come back in at 4 PM for mandatory meetings. If you have to recertify for BLS they are held during the week during the day not at night or on weekends(normally).

We had a clinical ladder that included continuing education, inservices, volunteer work, etc. There were 5 different levels. You could stay at level 1 forever if you would like but your additional raise(beyond the base for everyone) would be less at level 1 than level 5-it was your choice. You could receive a 3% raise at level 1 or 8 % raise at level 5 (as an example). No, it isn't fair, but we all make choices-your choice will be your family-not the big raise.

otessa

Otessa, Very good point. Thanks for the additional information about how your pay scale works. It seems to reward nurses who choose to climb the "nursing ladder", per se. That is a good thing. But you are right. At this point in my life, I choose to focus more on my family than climbing that ladder.

[Jules A, MSN]

I totally agree with you but I wouldn't get too upset because if your raises are anything like ours, they are ok, but nothing to write home about.

Hang in there.

[RN1982]

I think being on committees should be optional. I believe Bugaloo's workplace in implementing Pay per performance. My former job started this crap too. Your raise was based on attendance, press ganey scores, the unit's budget and involvement within the unit. It didn't evaluate your bedside skills or anything like that. I quit shortly after that crap started.

[Melinurse]

I think being on committees should be optional. I believe Bugaloo's workplace in implementing Pay per performance. My former job started this crap too. Your raise was based on attendance, press ganey scores, the unit's budget and involvement within the unit. It didn't evaluate your bedside skills or anything like that. I quit shortly after that crap started.

The facility I used to work for was the same as described above plus they included the number of falls on the unit in our evaluations. I worked night shift and even if the " fall " was on day shift it showed up on the RNs evaluation. They were trying to discuss some other " punishment for falls " as though they thought it was our fault. Give us some staff and maybe the number of falls would decrease.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Well, it's not an unusual arrangement. Most hospitals I know of ask their nurses to participate in a committee or some other group that works to "better" the general work environment or a unit's specific work environment. It's not strange.

I understand you like doing your thing on the weekend, then leaving the hospital behind to have your 'other' life, believe me. But perhaps it's just not feasible any longer, as your facility is obviously falling into line with so many others. A nurse who is not involved in anything other than her one, two, or three shifts is not a "merit" employee, and therefore doesn't deserve the merit pay raises. One who does nothing more than put in her time (no matter how well) , or does nothing else for the facility, is only meeting the minimum, and therefore not entitled to anything more in return.

That's the bottom line, really: if the $ increases that go with putting in the time requirement (a committee) is really important, you'll find an hour once a month, or every other month or less (they rarely ask for more!) not a big deal. If the time is of that great a concern, then you'll understand why the co-workers who DO do these committees get the raises---and you don't.

FWIW, I have spent a grand total of less than two hours on my committee work this entire year. And I'm a 'team player'! :)