Christmas Schedule

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Hey! just wondered how your Christmas schedule looks? I dont have a Christmas this year. It totally isnt fair! My NM has me working Dec. 23,24,25. I am transferring to O.B. soon, so i guess i will just grin and bear it!

Originally posted by baseline

Holidays are time and a half where I work. And doesn't make ya nuts when they say "I've got a family"...meaning kids. I have a family and my 86 year old Mum is .......well ....86! ( sorry...I have all the holidays off....flashbacks of Christmas past! )

You are sooooooooooooo right!!! If I want to just spend the day contemplating my navel, the so what?

My decision not to have kids...someone else's to have them.

So don't make it my responsibility to make your schedule holiday free...my time off is just as precious to me as it is to those with children.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

I have an awesome schedule this year...I worked 3-11 Turkey day, I only work 4 hours on Christmas Eve...11p-3a, off Christmas day, work 4 hours on New Year's Eve 3p-7p and off the Day :D

Our NM lets us deal with the scheduler...if she needs certain times covered and we do it, we can work whatever we want. Usually night shift on Christmas Eve and eves on New Years Eve are the hardest to cover, so if you volunteer to work any block of those, you get whatever else you want :)

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Originally posted by studentdeb

Just a question for you all, when you have to work the holidays, do you get holiday pay? or regular pay?

Thanks

We get the screws put to us on this. If work the holiday, then we get another day off with pay. The administration tries to tell us it is like getting double time (yeah, right). I am sure it just saves them money somehow. We would all rather be paid double time for actually working the day, and forget the other day off with pay. We have been fighting this battle for years.

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I had to work Thanksgiving, and I will be working a couple more 12-hour shifts during Christmas. My co-workers and I celebrated Thanksgiving with each of us bringing in something. We had tons of food, more than we could possibly eat. The thought of working on these holidays really bothers me. On the other hand, I will earn a couple thousand dollars extra over the course of a month, so it will be rewarding in one way.

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Originally posted by fab4fan

You are sooooooooooooo right!!! If I want to just spend the day contemplating my navel, the so what?

My decision not to have kids...someone else's to have them.

So don't make it my responsibility to make your schedule holiday free...my time off is just as precious to me as it is to those with children.

OK, I'm envisioning Christmas morning~~~~~~~~

Adult at home on Christmas morning contemplating thier naval,

OR

4 year old child at home on Christmas morning without Mommy.

Hmmmm..............

Conclusion~~~~~Kid needs Mom more than you need your naval.

(The only thing I agree with what this woman ever said; "It takes a village.")

JMO, Ducking now.

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If I'm not scheduled on the holidays (7on/7off) I usually volunteer to cover them for the folks w/kids just to help avoid problems like those mentioned (But I've got kids!...). With no wife or children (yet...) its not the best season rattleling around in the ole apt. As for Christmas, I may be on the home leg of an aeromedical mission home from europe. Again, I think we're all single on that one....

Regardless of how its done it should be fair and consistent- w/o regard to the child issue.

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Originally posted by flowerchild

OK, I'm envisioning Christmas morning~~~~~~~~

Adult at home on Christmas morning contemplating thier naval,

OR

4 year old child at home on Christmas morning without Mommy.

Hmmmm..............

Conclusion~~~~~Kid needs Mom more than you need your naval.

(The only thing I agree with what this woman ever said; "It takes a village.")

JMO, Ducking now.

Well, like I said, I believe that my time off is just as important to me as it is to anyone else.

I have just had my fill of being guilt tripped because I don't have kids...having kids means making choices. I think it is unrealistic to expect that people who are childless are supposed to always accomodate those who do.

Sure, it "takes a village." But I don't recall the rest of the statement to include that childless people should work all the holidays. Where is there any reciprocation? That's very convenient to throw that at someone, but rarely do we get any cooperation when we need days off...because people who have kids will say they have things they need to do with their kids.

So, I now take the holidays that I am entitled to...sorry, this is one topic that just really gets me fired up.:(

Maybe my example was a bit flip, but you cannot imagine how many times I have had to practically defend myself for taking holiday time I had coming to me...someone always thinks his/her child is more important than me getting to be off when my friends are off, or just getting some needed R & R.

I need to stop...I can just feel my BP go up, because this reminds me of really bad past experiences.

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Fab, I think your response is fabulous! I wrote something similar myself and then didn't post it a couple days ago- I didn't want the venom. But since you were brave, I'll join you.

Everyone who accepted a nursing job accepted it knowing it involved weekends and holidays. If the choices you (meaning a parent who expects to not work holidays) have made in your own life prevent you from upholding your repsonsibilities, you have another choice to make: find your own coverage or get a non-holiday job.

I'm not slamming parents, here- I'm soon to be married and debating motherhood myself. But the job description doesn't say "only the childless work Christmas." It says everyone pulls their share of unpopular shifts.

Just because I don't have kids doesn't mean my life should juggle around yours. The non-parents already get our lives juggled around the parents- I want Wednesdays off to go to school but someone can't get a sitter that day- guess who gets the day off? Hint- it's not the non-parent. Mary's childcare situation is set up for Mon-Tues-Thursday- guess who gets their schedule made around Mary's, without regard to MY needs?

I'm all for responsible parenting. But the demands of a nursing career are responsibilities, too. I meet mine and expect my coworkers to meet theirs, too. I never signed up for a job that required me to do MORE than my share so that someone who chose to have kids can do less.

It should NEVER be assumed that just because someone has a 2 year old at home that their holidays are more important than mine. Holidays are important to ALL who observe them- how people accept and juggle their responsibilities is up to them.

I'm fine with people bargaining and trading but favors should be requested, not assumed.

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ratchit: Thanks...I was bracing myself for this one, but you just reach a point where you say, "Enough, already!"

The thing is, I don't even observe holidays, and there was a time when I volunteered to do them all, out of deference for those who have kids/do observe. However, people started taking advantage of this, and it got to be "expected", and on the very few times I took a holiday that I would have had scheduled off, I was treated like Cruella DeVille.

So that was when I decided to just take holidays like everyone else. I have come to appreciate how nice it is to be off when everyone else is off.

I can totally relate to what you are saying about scheduling. And my feelings are pretty much the same. If someone is going to hit me with some sort of moral obligation to contribute to the well-being of his/her child, then by rights I should also have some say in other matters regarding the child, too. It goes both ways.

You choose to go into a profession where working w/e and holidays is a given...you choose to have children. If this causes a conflict, then it's the parent's responsiblility to work things out.

Sigh...can anyone work for me next Tuesday? My cat has soccer practice...LOL!

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"on the very few times I took a holiday that I would have had scheduled off, I was treated like Cruella DeVille. "

That's just wrong. I can see why you stopped doing it. Did you ever say anything to these people who assumed you'd do all the holidays? Did they ever get to hear "But you should work it instead of me" coming out of their own mouths?

If someone is going to hit me with some sort of moral obligation to contribute to the well-being of his/her child, then by rights I should also have some say in other matters regarding the child, too. It goes both ways.

LOL- never thought of that angle! I like it! If I have responsibility for raising the child in any way, I should get some decision making power too! "Sorry, but I'm vetoing ballet class- I think you're overextending little Susie." LOLOLOL

You choose to go into a profession where working w/e and holidays is a given...you choose to have children. If this causes a conflict, then it's the parent's responsiblility to work things out.

My point exactly, but you put it much better.

I have to get offline, too- my cat has gymnastics in an hour.

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so far, i have to work Christmas cuz "new employee" status...DANG!! I worked July 4th, Thanksgiving and christams..oh well...............................................

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I work two jobs per-diem. Was scheduled 7-3 on Thanksgiving by choice but was cancelled because of low census. Am off Dec 21-26. Work 7A-7P on New Years Eve by choice. I spent many, many holidays working when my kids were little. Was it worth it? To be honest I think I missed out on a lot. Now they are all grown and away from home. They only get a couple of days off to come home for the holidays and I'm not going to spend that precious time working.

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