Are Managers against nurses?

[tiacali]

I helped our floor by working xtra days days even came in early in the morning to cover a nurse that worked for 20 hrs. Our floor was in need of staffing. The day I came in early was a full on day, it was a horrendous day. I was schedule to work the next day so I asked my manager if I can be taken of the schedule because there was no way I was getting out on time. It was recommended I call off. WHAT!!! ( I usually only work 3 12 hour shifts a week. that week I worked 4 12 hr shift plus a 19 hour shift) I worked xtra days to help staffing and even came in early that week. The same way I did a favor, a favor can't be returned. I was dumbfounded. There was no way I would be a safe nurse the next day. Anybody been in same situation?

[SonorityGenius]

Although in fairness to the manager you are scheduled to be ON the next day and because YOU chose to come in early for extra $$$ you want off on your regularly scheduled day?? I am with the manager on this one, many nurses don't understand what impossible situations we are dealing with...

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

I have done scheduling for 26 years now and unfortunately that is generally not how it works. A much better way to handle it is if you only want to work your scheduled hours or a bit more perhaps is to ask for what you want PRIOR to agreeing to come in to help or picking up a partial or complete shift. You have more bargaining power then.

Of course. you can always ask for a schedule change after you have come in extra to help and/or have picked up an extra shift but you should not expect that you will get to pick a day off of your choosing. That way you will not be constantly disappointed or have animosity towards management. Also I would never think that if you help out it will not be remembered..it is remembered and you may get something you need or want later because you have been a team player. The true bottom line is do it because you want to for whatever your reasons are (cash,team player.like to work and keep busy). and do not forget that you probably will enjoy the extra cash that will come your way.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Well, considering you came in to cover someone who had worked a 20 hour shift, and you worked a 19 hour shift, this is not just some understaffing. This is a considerable issue. Your manager needs to hire some more people. In any event, if the manager said no you could not take the next day off, I would ask if perhaps you could come in later in the day. If that did not work, then I would call out, and be mindful of the fact that if you pick up extra hours, you will still be responsible for your own shifts. Not to mention that 12 of the hours you worked overtime will be paid at your regular rate as opposed to your overtime rate. Any way you look at it, it is just not safe staffing. I am assuming that you are not a union shop. If you are, I would take it up with your union steward. 16 hours in a 24 hour period is all we can work, and by hour 16 one's eyes would be glazed over......

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I think you are not seeing the larger picture. Your agreement to fill one hole one day does not evaporate the need for you to cover your scheduled shift the next day. Your manager probably has no authority to "give" you the following day off, but if you call out "unexpectedly" there are probably other staffing resources available such as a float pool to cover the shift.

[monkeybug]

Are managers against nurses? Sometimes. And with some managers, that goes up to most of the time. But your manager obviously doesn't have an abundance of employees, and if she said yes to you then she would have to fill your hole. And unless she can knit nurses, then in the interest of her own self-preservation she has to turn you down. I quickly learned to "do deals." I'll come in if I can have another day off in return, or come in late, or whatever I want.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

It may seem unfair, but covering one shift just to leave another one empty doesn't work. Next time when you offer to come in keep in mind that you have to work tomorrow.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

We had a nurse who looked like heck one morning...kept commenting on how tired she was. After a few hrs of the shift, she made the comment "I don't even feel like I'm doing a safe job right now." After that the charge nurse politely told her she had to go home. You can't say that and be working as a nurse. Most of us felt bad for her. Was she kept up by a sick kid? Tired because she has a loved one in the hospital? As she was leaving she was overheard saying "I just wore myself out with all the overtime I worked upstairs." Needless to say, the 'feeling bad' went out the window. Now she was probably picking up the extra time so she could have a larger paycheck...she was not doing it just to help them out.

You may have picked up time with the best of intentions, but it does not do any good to fill holes in the schedule if you are going to create one yourself. It's not a quid pro quo. Your manager is not doing this because she is against nurses--she is just not able to do something against policy, especially when it is a situation you created.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I'm not going to reiterate the posts above, but it's good to keep in mind your scheduled shifts before picking up extra shifts. As a float, I've turned down extra shifts on a unit I like better for that exact reason. I can't leave a unit short staffed that's counting on me to be there.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

When you come in extra, that is what it is. You are still expected to work your regular days unless a deal was cut prior to saying yes to working extra. You can't create a whole somewhere else in the week.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

well where i work you would be expected to ome in and stay to cover more holes even after all that voluntary ot. any comming in or staying (even mandated) wont get you off your scheduled shifts unless hou are mandated to stay and woukd have less that 8hrs between clock off and in then they let you come in 2 hrs later

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Somebody put a gun to your head to take all that overtime? Practice saying, "No, that won't work for me" in the mirror until it's second nature for the next time they ask you.

I have often thought that the greatest gift technology has given nursing is answering machines and voicemail. Just don't answer the phone.