But I have little kids!

RN-PA, RN · Oct 11, 2003

I used to work at a place where you wrote your holiday preferences on a list, and then the manager would take it and assign from it. Sometimes you got your request and sometimes you didn't-- I don't think seniority was a factor, but you could let the sup. know that you worked the last Christmas and wanted this one off or whatever. I found it somewhat stressful to wonder which ones I'd have to work.

I prefer the method of holiday assignment where I now work because it's cut and dried. You work every other holiday, no haggling, but you can swap with a co-worker if you need to. I'm in the year wher I work July 4 and Thanksgiving. Next year I'll work New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Christmas. I don't look forward to that every other year that's holiday-filled, but we all do it, so misery loves company. :)

sixes · Oct 11, 2003

Ihave 6 children all teens now. I never minded working christmas

Got up in the morning open presents. They all went to grandmas for Dinner. Mine was delivered or saved. No dishes No cleaning up the wrappers, NO PUTTING the toys together.

Where I work we are given 5 days off ewither at Xmas or New Year and it must include the eve of and the day of. And Admin makes sure you are rotated. I have offer to wrok both but to no avail

featherzRN, MSN · Oct 11, 2003

I don't have kids and I'm Pagan, but I still love Xmas. :) I take off Dec 21/22 (winter solstice), which no one else wants off (when necessary), but thankfully this year I work at a M-F, 9-5, no weekends or holidays clinic. Everyone else is fighting about vacation at that time-being Per Diem, I'll cover all the vacations they want because I know I always get 'the day' off. :)

(I did take off the afternoon on Halloween/Samhain). :)

H.

Elenaster · Oct 11, 2003

Originally posted by cotjockey
We fill out a form every year that lists the "big" holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day) and we number them 1-5 by which holiday we want off first. About 90% of the time you get your first choice off. If too many want the same day off, they go by seniority first, then all kinds of things come into play like how many sick days you take, how many meetings you attend, how many extra shifts you work, etc... I've been there longer than all but 2 of the nurses on my shift and this is the first year I've had my first choices off. I work Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and the rest I am off. I know a lot of people are upset that the "old" people get all of the "really big" days off, but we all put up with if when we were "new" too...

At my former place of employment, we used a similar system and it worked pretty well, but we also had a huge staff. In my new unit, if we work it one year, we have it off the next, which I feel leaves little room for flexibility. I realize this is my first year in my new job and will have to "pay my dues."

We also have a couple of issues that are really big points of contention this year. First of all there is a weekend nurse going on maternity leave the first of November, so she will miss all the major holidays. Those of us who work during the week are going to be assigned weekends, with no say and we will not receive the weekend pay (aside from the $1.25 diff). BTW- we work six week rotating schedules, so those are going out the window just in time for the holidays.

The other situation that's causing problems is there's a new nurse in our unit (she started in July), that has been employed as a nursing assistant for 12 years, none of which were in our unit. Because she has employment "seniority" she was allowed to essentially trump the other nurses and now has all of Thanksgiving off. One nurse in particular is really angry because this would have been his year to get Thanksgiving off. I don't blame him, and I don't think it's fair because she's an RN now who counts in staffing AND she's new to the unit. It's nothing personal against her, but I think mngt. made a poor choice. Her first week off orientation is next week, for Pete's sake!

EastCoast · Oct 11, 2003

Holidays bring out the worst in everyone. I am faced with a PA in our group who has been off christmas and thanksgiving for 3 years and the other 3 of us have covered some part of this. We are awaiting the fall out this year. I feel b/c i'm a nurse at heart i always say 'put me on whatever you need to' and have goten the shaft but this year i am not putting up with it. This PA has worked outpatient medicine their whole life and just starting dealing with holiday shift work these past 3 years.

I don't think it's fair that my jewish colleague (who was hired just prior to christmas 2002) is expected to work a ridiculously long shift on christmas and she does it graciously so i will always try to cover for her significant holidays.

As a nurse manager it was rotational of course but first people were asked to list what they preferred off and then it was compared to the previous year. Usually it worked out. What was a major annoyance to me was :

the newlyweds and singles who 'had to have valentines off' and wanted it to be my problem and

the mothers on halloweeen. It would be given that october 31 no evening person who had kids wanted to work so the single people would get screwed. this was awful if halloween fell on a mon. or fri b/c it meant a 3 days weekend for some people. if i did it fri on b/f your weekend off type of pattern i had mothers outraged they had to work. This drove me insane.

cannoli · Oct 11, 2003

That has always irritated me also. Just because you don't have kids doesn't mean you don't have a life.

It's not just holidays, some people expect to be accommodated for other things as well, including the weather, just because they have children and you don't.

Sometimes it's not just the staff member but their friends and the supervisor also that have these expectations (that you will work instead of them).

I think they all have a lot of nerve, (and the answer to their "expectation" is no).

sjoe · Oct 11, 2003

So what does your union have to say about this?

EastCoast · Oct 11, 2003

If you are a nurse and expect major holidays and weekends off go to work in a doc's office or a clinic., or school nursing.

Wake up call:

If you are a new nurse and are somewhat surprised that your boss has the expectation of you working holiday/nite/weekends/birthdays/funeral/ and any other majorly important event in your life( unless you find your own coverage) than it is a miracle you had the brains to get through school.

shodobe · Oct 11, 2003

I work in th eOR so we are essentially closed on major holidays. We begin the year with list of major and minor holidays and we sign up on a senority basis. This is hospital poilcy. So if you come to work here expect to take holidays such as Xmas or New Years for many years to come, unless people above you on the list quit or new hires come in behind you. If you know this when hired then there should be no whining. I use to take half day call for the girls, I work with all women, who had kids on Xmas so they could open gifts in the morning then I would spen d the rest of the day with my wife, we have no kids. I hear alot of complaints from people here about the holiday rotation where they work. My question is, did you know this before started to work or not? If so then you have nothing to complain about since this will be very difficult to change. If not then it will still be difficult because that was the way it was before you got there. I know it is hard to get things changed because we have a situation here where one employee has gotten Xmas week off for 10 years straight! Why? because she has worked here 35 years. Senority. The floors are more difficult because you are dealing with more staff so much harder to please everyone. Mike

allnurses Guide · Oct 11, 2003

We also number the holidays and put our preference and our Sups try hard to accomodate everyone. Our staff is small so that makes it easier. One nurse will work Christmas because she has her big holiday dinner with family on Thanksgiving. I will work New Years anytime because it is not a big deal to me at all. If there is a problem with scheduling, the Sups look at who had what off last year and give it to the one who did not have it off.

No seniority here . . . which I like.

steph

uk_nurse · Oct 11, 2003

Wow some strong points here regarding nurses who have children and as you may have read i have 3 young children. We have 'family friendly hours' in our hospital which was introduced by the Government. I would like to see if some of those who have disagreed about requesting time off to be with their children still have the same views when they themselves have children of their own.

Its not just at christmas time but what about those without children who request time off because they want to go out at weekends (which happens all year round and frequently too) and those who have children cover for them... I think people who go out alot at weekends frequently are forgetting this. I am sure just requesting that one day off for christmas day to be with their children is a small request compared to those who frequently want to go out and enjoy themselves at weekends. I'm sorry but alot of replies on this board seem to be 'against' nurses requesting xmas day to be with their children.

Noney · Oct 11, 2003

As long as we do 8 hour shifts instead of 12's I don't care.

Several years ago, everyone wanted Christmas off. I was supposed to be off, but I felt sorry for the DON, and volunteered to work Christmas. She was happy she gave my Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve and New years Day off! I've never got that lucky since. I will work any New Year Eve and Day.

Noney