Anyone ever heard of a policy like this??

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The hospital I work at has a policy for nurses that if you call in sick on a weekend that you have to make it up. For example, if you call in on saturday they automatically put you on for the next saturday. But your floor manager can put you on another day if needed more. We have had people who were actually admitted into the hospital on a weekend they were to work and were put on for the next weekend. So we're only allowed to get sick from Monday through Thursday.

Specializes in trauma, critical care.

This type of thing happens whenever there is a downturn in nurse hiring.

Hospitals have plenty of nurses, so they think they can get away with treating them like peons. These same hospitas will wonder why they can't retain nurses when fortunes are reversed. It is one of the primary reasons magnet designations developed.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Tele/Onc.
People have a right to call in (for whatever reason) .

Ummm, actually, no they don't. Most of the time you're allowed to call in for specific reasons. If you are calling in for other reasons, then that's dishonesty.

Calling in really hurts your co-workers and the patients. Most people are darn lucky to have a job in this economy and people with an entitlement mentality only make it worse for the rest of us. This is especially true in nursing.

If you are really ill or have sick children or another real emergency, then by all means do what's best. But to constantly call in for "mental health days" or for "whatever reason" is not your right.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

We also have this rule and I wish management would "grow some" and single out the problem people instead of coming up with these rules. The inequity in expectations for performance from employee to employee is stunning. A few people seem to have made a career out of never lifting a finger and management knows it. :(

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Unfortunately policies are policies. It is a major problem I suppose for hospitals to not have staffing on the weekend. We all prefer not to work on weekends that is a fact . In order to assure staffing institutions must have some type of reinforcement measure. There is nothing wrong with the policy. If every one was responsible and not try to play the system then it would not be an issue. Although these policies exist I am sure management does have to consider the individuals circumstances. This does not mean they will not have to work on weekends it just means that there must be some type of compromise between the employer and employee.

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People have a right to call in (for whatever reason) I think that policy is total BS. If you had a union, I don't think they'd put up with it. This is just another one of those ways that management, since they can't be creative enough to come up with incentives for working weekends, tries to bully nurses. The hospital can run just fine without them (ps. how many weekends do they work?), but a hospital can't run without us.

And this attitude is exactly why many institutions come up with these policies. If you have a job and are scheduled to work you need to be at work unless you are actually sick and that doesn't count being sick of work. Too many people make it a habit of calling in on weekends because they can think of something they would rather do than work even if it is just sleeping late or sleeping off the hangover they should not have this weekend because they were scheduled to work.

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

Many years ago I worked at a facility that had a policy like that. So if someone didn't come in on Saturday, they frequently didn't come in on Sunday, either. What a pain. Very annoying to those who worked that weekend.

I dislike punitive policies when there are no balances - - I worked at another place that allowed you to turn a certain number of unused sick days into vacation days. People were really careful about not using their sick days. It was nice to have some extra time off the next year.

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Specializes in trauma, critical care.

The problem with the policy is that it is likely superfluous. One of the first policies developed by any H.R. department will be one for absentees. That is the policy that should be followed. If the notion that nurses need to "make up" a missed weekend shift is a part of the larger absentee policy, then it should be re-examined.

If a nurse calls in on a regular basis (weekend or not) the situation should be addressed with the individual and a progressive chain of discipline followed -- usually verbal warning, written warning, and termination. If the nurse has a valid excuse (doctor's note, police report, death certificate, etc.) and time off/sick days/PTO, then it is no one else's business.

Blanket policies that leave no room for individual situations are bound to cause turmoil, hence, this thread.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

My hospital has a similar policy -- but work well with the staff to find a "make up shift" that is acceptable to the person who called in. If you call in sick on a weekend, you "owe" the unit a weekend shift -- but it is not an extra shift added to your schedule. The management works with the nurse to revise the nurse's schedule so that she "pays back" the weekend shift at a future time. It may be the next week, but it also may be the next month, built into the next schedule. She may also be asked to switch from a well-staffed weekday to a poorly staffed one.

In short, she pays the unit back for having to work short that weekend by being flexible with her schedule in the future to help staff a shift that needs help. But it is arranged in advance to give her time to make child-care arrangements, etc. -- and she has a voice in determining which shift it will be.

Most staff members are OK with that system because they realize how hard it is to cover a last-minute weekend sick call ... don't like working short ... and want to discourage weekend sick calls that aren't truly necessary.

Outright abusers can be caught and disciplined. But there are a lot of bordeline cases that are impossible to catch and punish. It's the borderline cases that cause the most problems in the long run because people can get away with it.

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Specializes in intensive care major medical centers.

if on a weekend plan thats the way it is

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Here's an even "better' staffing "rule: work 11-7 and if someone calls out on day shift, we have to stay and work 7-3. however, none of the other shifts has to cover our staffing shortages... we are left to deal with it as best we can. Makes ya love nursing doesn't it?

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I am surprised a facility is allowed to force someone to work another day for a call-off day. We have a strict absenteeism policy. After you call in 4 times without having FMLA you start a disciplinary process. First 4 days is a verbal written warning ( the first day of this group of 4 is considering the start of a "rolling year" therfore the first day doesn't fall off till the following year at same time. Once a day "falls off then days are counted starting with the second day etc. etc.) the 5th time is a second written warning, third time is 2 days off without pay, the fourth time is 5 days off without pay and the 6th time is termination. We are unionized and this was agreed upon by both sides. Of course people have found ways around it. They go to drs. and get intermitten FMLA for everything such as Migraines, back pain, asthma, chronically ill child etc. etc. therefore when they call off with FMLA they do not get disciplined, and get paid even if they call off on a holiday and do not have to make up anytime. we have work schedules for 4 weeks at a time and would not just be able to add someone on for a missed day even if it was the week-end and we maybe short. The Union would never agree to this nor would the budget allow possible overstaffing so someone has to make up a day.

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Specializes in LTC.

We have this policy, but it is enforced sporadically. If you call in on a weekend, you are supposed to call the staffing coordinator before the following Tuesday to figure out another weekend shift you can work to make it up. If you don't call by Tuesday, the staffing coordinator can choose a day for you. If you have a doctor's note or some other documentation then you do not have to make up the shift.

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