Canceled up to 3-4 times a WEEK. What do?!

jmll1765, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

That stinks! Sorry you have to go through that OP. We get called off on a rotating basis with anyone having overtime getting called off first followed by PRN staff and then the regular full time staff. Someone usually requests call so we usually don't have to worry about it. Hope it gets better for you..personally I would move on, any place that repeatedly puts the same person on call sounds like they have some faulty managerial practices!

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

I would check your contract and hospital policy. Many have a limit built in. We aren't union, but we can only mandatory cancel a peron 16 hours per pay period. We rarely have to do this as people always want a cancel. We have a list we go by.

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

I hate to bust your bubble, but ER is getting canceled all the time too. You usually come to work and then if it looks like a slow day they start sending staff home. They used to keep us just in case it got busy, but no more. Not since 2008.

MrChicagoRN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

I hate having to cancel anyone, and do not do it by seniority.

We cancel by whose turn it is after first canceling registry, OT, low census requests.

Consider telling them you are available for other shifts, fill ins, etc as needed.

Also, in many states you may be eligible for partial unemployment benefits in any week that your income decreases below a certain threshold

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

I'm a recent graduate, fortunate enough to land a job right away and have been in a community hospital ICU for just over a year now. The problem is I've been cut literally 3-4 times a week and it's impossible for me to really get my life started with such inconsistent income. I was offered another ICU job but turned it down as they also cancel by seniority.
What my boss is doing to remedy the situation? Hiring another person for our shift (med-surg transfer) with more experience than me so I'd be bumped down even further.
Sorry if I'm ranting... just difficult because I'm saving for a wedding and for a house, but my last paycheck was literally ZILCH, NADA, ZERO, NOTHING for 2 weeks, I was canceled straight for two weeks.

You can apply for unemployment benefits.....so I would look into that. I would check with HR to make sure this is the policy for cancel and that it is seniority only.....and tell them you are applying for unemployment benefits.

I have worked at many different facilities and they all do it by turn...including the union facility. They only consideration is having a certain skill level available for the critical patients and ACLS certification.

I would continue to look for another position....maybe perdiem at the other facility and try it that way. Maybe look into agency as well.

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

That is HORRIBLE.
Hospital census has taken a nosedive - all over the country & this has had a severe impact on staffing. There is a USA Today article (10-13) A job engine sputters as hospitals cut staff which reveals that nearly 42,000 healthcare industry jobs have been lost since January 2013. At some point, the hospital should just decrease the number of FTE's to reflect what is actually needed & cut the extra ones loose... this would be better than trying to keep everyone hanging on with false hope.

We've reached the same conclusion. I and my fellow nurses where I work, have been loisng 1-2 days a pay period for at least 6 months. Those are 12hr days. We keep thinking it'll get better and it hasn't. Our conclusion was almost exactly as the one above. Why doesn't the boss just say this is the new reality. You might be scheduled 36 hrs, but you'll never get more than 24.

Management hired too many nurses when it was obvious there weren't enough shifts to go around. Now none of us are working enough, but we're all hanging on. When they hired the last 2-3 we approached management and said we'd volunteer for xtra days just to be on call. Shifts would be covered no matter what. The new nurses were hired anyway.

Even if 6 nurses quit to work somewhere with more hrs, my facility would just hire 6 more to take their place. I don't know why. It has to be about money.

Anybody have a clue?

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 18, 2013

That's why I have two per-diem jobs: between them, I usually get the number of shifts I want each month.

Vishwamitr · Oct 18, 2013

Dear MurseBSN,

I didn't construe your post as a "rant". This is one of the purposes of this nursing forum where we bring ideas, issues, and personal experiences in "View"-like discussion (I strongly suggest that you read "My defining Moment as a Nurse" recently posted by an ARNP).

I find it very strange that in your city, cancellations are based upon seniority rather than by rotation. I can understand that seniority counts when it comes to asking for vacation; we certainly have dibs over you. But for cancellation? I don't know what to say, co-nurse.

My only suggestion to you is to sign up with an agency, get on other hospitals' pool, try your hand at travel-nursing (you never get cancelled because they have to pay your regardless) and keep a tab on cancellation-log. Stranger things have happened in Nursing Offices.

DoGoodThenGo · Oct 19, 2013

We've reached the same conclusion. I and my fellow nurses where I work, have been loisng 1-2 days a pay period for at least 6 months. Those are 12hr days. We keep thinking it'll get better and it hasn't. Our conclusion was almost exactly as the one above. Why doesn't the boss just say this is the new reality. You might be scheduled 36 hrs, but you'll never get more than 24.
Management hired too many nurses when it was obvious there weren't enough shifts to go around. Now none of us are working enough, but we're all hanging on. When they hired the last 2-3 we approached management and said we'd volunteer for xtra days just to be on call. Shifts would be covered no matter what. The new nurses were hired anyway.
Even if 6 nurses quit to work somewhere with more hrs, my facility would just hire 6 more to take their place. I don't know why. It has to be about money.
Anybody have a clue?

Find out what the pay rate for those new hires; if it is less than seasoned staff then you probably have your answer.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Oct 19, 2013

I hate to bust your bubble but ER is getting canceled all the time too. You usually come to work and then if it looks like a slow day they start sending staff home. They used to keep us just in case it got busy, but no more. Not since 2008.[/quote']
Wow, you must be in a small rural ER. My inner city ER is packet almost every day and we are bursting at the walls. There is often OT available.

MunoRN, RN · Oct 19, 2013

We're the opposite, Nurse fight tooth and nail to be the one that gets LC/on-call. I have worked places where low census was common, but even then there were extra shifts available to be picked up in other units if you really wanted, can you pick up extra shifts on other units?

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 19, 2013

oh the great benefits you get from a union shop (assumption). So glad I work in a right-to-work state. We rotate so that everyone feels the pain.

*** I work in a union hospital and we are never canceled. Our hours are guarenteed. They will however float you to any unit they need you on and that you are qualfied to work on. That means one level down and lateral. For example SICU nurses can float to MICU and to step down. Step down nurses can float to med-surg. Med-surg nurses can float to rehab and long term care. Many of the ICU nurses also float to PICU and ER by choice. If they really don't need you anyplace you can come to work and orientate to a new unit, or even occasionaly be unassinged and just "help out".

We get the choice, work and float, or stay home. New grads are never canceled or floated for thier first 6 months.

I used to be in the OPs position back when I worked in a non-union hospital. I ended up cross training to several units (MICU, PICU, ER, resourse nurses, PICC nurse) and so was usually able to work someplace. But still some weeks I would not get a whole pay check.

So happy to work in a union hospital where I know I will always get my whole pay check.