call offs

[worldqueenie]

any good policies/programs in place to help curb call offs?

Prefer something positive rather than a negative. Just getting written up after so many doesn't seem to work. Any creative ideas would be helpful.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

They don't get the bonus pay for working their weekend off OR do they get any OT due to the makeup. As for extra people, not happening. Due to vacations and requested time off... there is always an open shift to place them on.

How you are describing it is how it SHOULD work in my facility. But the facility is allow them to use sick time for the call out day(s) so the paycheck is what it would have been had they worked. And the following week, because we don't have the staffing to cover them, they are still scheduled for their normal days (we have a set schedule of days..same day off/on every week) AND they are scheduled for the weekend which gives them OT. Really backward thinking on the part of my facility.

[SE_BSN_RN, BSN]

Just a simple, "Hey, how are you today? Did you get a lunch break? No? Here, I'll cover you for your 1/2 hour. Go put your feet up. Thanks so much for all of your hard work!" Or, "Wow, look at all these orders. I'll help you note some. Any MD calls I can make for you?" Order pizza once a month, go get Starbuck's or soda's once a month. It's the little things that mean the most to a frazzled over-worked nurse! You ever need me to work an extra shift for you? Get me 3 59cent tacos for lunch at Del Taco and I'll come in whenever you need me! :)

[nursinger]

We have self scheduling and have to make sure the shedule is balanced before it's handed in to the unit manager, and she says and I quote, "As long as it's balanced, I won't have to change anyone's days off, but then she comes along and changes it all anyway just because she can.... She's plain evil....a she devil.

[noc4senuf]

I once worked in a facility where they would offer large bonuses to nurses for picking up extra shifts. It backfired, they no longer would pick up unless they got the bonuses. I am not footing a bill for routine treats to a coffee shop, tacos or such... not happening.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I once worked in a facility where they would offer large bonuses to nurses for picking up extra shifts. It backfired, they no longer would pick up unless they got the bonuses. I am not footing a bill for routine treats to a coffee shop, tacos or such... not happening.

If paying $50 a week for coffee buys you enough goodwill that someone comes in for an extra shift you come out ahead. Facilities that use agency nurses can easily make bonuses work when the alternative is paying $60/hour. Look at the treats as a cost of doing business, not a blackmail attempt. As a manager, if you have an us-them relationship with your staff no amount of ice cream or pizza will fix that. If you use treats and socializing to bond as a team it's a real win-win for the entire facility.

[noc4senuf]

No agency or pool needed in my facility. The staff routinely go to the staffing office to be placed on the side of the schedule in case of call ins... then they get called first.

[sls73]

I agree. I know I can't afford it out of my paycheck. I believe genuine "pleases and thank-you's" go a long way. My staff also know that I will help if needed, I am no better than them. A positive working environment where staff feel valued helps. I dont use agency either.