being called off..

How often is normal? On my floor, 1-3 nurses are called off mostly every shift.

I've been there 6 months. Called off once due to stomach flu, have taken no other PTO but I'm out due to using it to cover the frequent call offs due to over staffing.

And they are still hiring nurses...not sure why.

Is this common? Its been going on for 3 months now. I do not have any more PTO to cover it and I need to pay my bills...

It's common -- for facilities that are about to have a union revolt or are about to close down. Otherwise, not so common. This is a perfectly good reason to leave after working less than a year. Time to start looking for another job, and when asked why you're leaving the first one, explain about the call-offs and paying your bills. Chances are they've heard it before about the institution in question. As for continuing to hire -- are they perhaps trying to bust their union?

Worked for a small community hospital years ago and call offs were frequent during the summer. I think the census was in the 20's!

Work for a level 2 trauma hospital. Call off? What's that?

The first location people would request first call off. I never tried at the other facility. I think they would have laughed in my face.

I don't understand - why do you have to use your own PTO (isn't that "personal time off") to cover a shift when someone calls out sick??? Am I misunderstanding?

Call off in this sense means told not to work or sent home because there aren't enough patients to justify the staff (well, in the minds of the ones not working in patient care).

It's either use paid time off or take it without pay.

Ooooooh - I get it! Thanks!

It's common -- for facilities that are about to have a union revolt or are about to close down. Otherwise, not so common. This is a perfectly good reason to leave after working less than a year. Time to start looking for another job, and when asked why you're leaving the first one, explain about the call-offs and paying your bills. Chances are they've heard it before about the institution in question. As for continuing to hire -- are they perhaps trying to bust their union?

We aren't union so no go there. Curious, why would a hospital about to close hire too many nurses?

We get floated to different units if we are overstaffed but we are Union so they can't send us home unless we agree. I would also find another position.

Can I ask why hiring newbies is union busting? Curious on your thoughts.

I was told by the boss that I could use my PTO, because that's what it is for. I reminded her that PTO is actually for vacation. NOT to pay bills.

Wow, I've been there five months now and Wednesday was the first day I've heard of anyone getting called off. It wasn't on my shift (third), and I've been able to pick up 1-2 shifts every week since I started. I kept my per diem job elsewhere in case I couldn't get enough time, but so far that hasn't been an issue. Guess I hang onto it, though, in case I experience anything like this in the future. I had no idea you had to use PTO if you're called off, I thought it was just an unpaid day. I would be really upset if I had to use my own time unnecessarily. Good luck!

I think she is choosing to use PTO because she can't afford that much unpaid time off. I've never been forced to use it when I was downstaffed. I usually chose to simply because I had more PTO than I need and it was rare to be downstaffed.

We aren't union so no go there. Curious, why would a hospital about to close hire too many nurses?

I don't understand, but I've seen it. Maybe someone who works in management could enlighten us.

How did you win that in your contract? We have call offs and can't do squat about it.

We had that in our contract, too. If our unit was overstaffed, we could choose to float or to take PTO, but if we chose to stay and work, we stayed. I think it depends upon the strength of your union and the skill of the negotiators.