Anyone else dealing with this?

Specialties Rehabilitation

Published

I just started a new job at a LTC/Rehab facility. Currently I am part time and I'm certain they want me to make the switch to full time soon. I also work with a home health agency prn.

For a few months now the LTC has been over-scheduling 2 nurses and 1 CNA per shift. They expect all staff to show per the master schedule but not all are on the daily assignment sheet. If the staff on the assignment sheet show up for work the "extras" are required to leave. Typically they rotate who is "extra" but like everything else it is subject to favorites. They only pay you for the 30 or so minutes you stand around and wait for everyone to show. No time/ trouble pay and no on call pay. We never know who is going to be on the assignment sheet because they are not printed until one hour before the shift starts.

Typically this happens to each nurse at least twice per pay period but sometimes more often. Being that I work 2 jobs it makes it hard to balance a schedule when I never know when I will REALLY have a day of or not. Not to mention the wasted 60 minute round trip.

Am I crazy for having a problem with this? How should I deal with this? My DON is great and I love my job. I would really hate to leave.

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That is goofy!! Why on Earth would they do this?? Did they have problems with people not showing up for work?? Well....fire those people and hire ones who do show up!

What a crummy thing to do to people....send them home as soon as they get to work.

Do you have any other job options??

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Thankfully I do have my home health job. I just hate to jump ship so soon. I wish they had told me they scheduled like this when they hired me.

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Specializes in Hospice, Case Mgt., RN Consultant, ICU.

It is totally inconsiderate and unprofessional. Also, I am thinking this practise is illegal. If you are scheduled to work and they send you home they should be paying you for a half day. It appears that the Federal Government may be back in business soon so I would check with the US Department of Labor.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

This practice is becoming increasingly common as workers are perceived as more 'disposable' than ever before in today's economic climate. Staffing coordinators refer to this technique as 'padding the schedule.'

They pad the schedule with extra workers for reasons involving convenience. If someone calls off at the last minute or fails to show up altogether, they do not have to scramble at the last minute to find a replacement to work the shift because an extra worker is there to fill the sudden staffing hole.

And if everyone shows up to work like they are supposed to, the extra workers are sent home. It makes things easy for management and creates hardships for the workers who are forced to go home without a day's pay.

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On our unit it's rare that they'll have more than two nurses scheduled but I have seen up to three, even more rare are four. This typically occurs for day shift. They'll either float techs to another unit who is low, and for nurses, they can take PTO. But, they'll call ahead to make them aware so they don't drive all the way out! And the schedule is laid out for the next 4 to 6 weeks!

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Specializes in Rehabilitation.

We call it flexing someone at my facility. We typically flex pool employees first; full time very rarely gets sent home.

You didn't post about nurse/patient ratios like most people on this thread, so if that's satisfactory, I'd deal with a shotty scheduling system... That or suggest an on-call system.

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