Dealing with calls from work

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm a new nurse and I like my job, but I really enjoy my days off too. I work 3 days in a row and most of the time have four days off. On a occasion I'll have 3 days off. I work on a unit where it's mostly pain management and it can pretty challenging dealing with very demanding patients and some not so nice patients. When I get home from work I'm very tired. It annoys me to get calls almost every other week when I'm off to ask if I can come in to work. I don't mind helping out sometimes, mostly to help my co-workers who will be struggling with the patient load. When I do decide to come in it seems as if I get the worst end of the deal, "I'm thinking I came in on my day off to help out". The last time I came in I had 7 patients, our patient load is usually 5-6. I felt like I was drowning and had a hard time keeping up with everything. I was scared I would forget something. I have a hard time saying no. When I do say no or don't answer the phone I feel guilty. On the other hand, it's not my fault that they have staffing issues. When people do come it when asked they aren't able to get overtime because they get low census on one of the days and are left with just three days and no overtime. I have this horrible feeling that if continue to say no that my manager will find so way to get back at me for not wanting to come in. What does everyone else do in this situation?

Don't feel guilty and learn to say no. Your sanity is so very important. I learned to say no early on. Now they rarely call me because they know what my answer will be and they save me for the end of the call list.

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Specializes in ICU.

On super bowl sunday I said yes the second time they called offerred time and a half plus 25 dollars an hour incentive pay. Hey the CEO gets 3 mil

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I work 5 or 6 days in a row most of the time, and i have only 1 day off.. And I'm a new nurse, so pls don't complain about that u get caled at home, I get called too but I never answer them.. I have only 1 day off and 6 days I work, most of the time I work 2nd shift. I worked twice in a row with 7 work days, and still I get only 1 day off... owh yeah and I'm soon a godmother, and I didn't get my day off on that day.. I still have to work..

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36 yrs as a nurse, I have received these calls. I still remember being called in for a night shift because my unit really needed help. After I'd been there about 3 hours, one of the regular night shift nurses came to the unit for a break. It was then that I found out it wasn't my unit that needed help. They knew it was easier to get help in the OB unit, so they called me in and "floated" my co-worker to medical floor. I was appalled that they lied to get me in. You can bet that I personally checked with my unit before ever coming in again. To be fair this was many years ago. Another thing that has been fixed is the come in on your day off and then get low census on one of your regular days-resulting in no overtime for that extra shift. We quickly fixed this with union contract language. Now, if you are at least a .8 FTE, you receive overtime for coming in on your day off. If you are less than a .8-be sure to say "you're putting me on call, correct". If they say no, then you say "no thank you" "I'm not available today". Nurses need to stand up for themselves. I also believe that nursing dept directors don't want to have to utilize their staff to fill in the empty shifts. They also have their hands tied by upper level management and finances. I know my director has to explain every bit of overtime generated for our department. Her feet are held to the fire too. I utilize caller ID and voicemail, as others have suggested. I will return the call at my convenience. Sometimes, I can say yes-but not as often as I used to. I need my days off to prepare for the next scheduled work days. Good Luck.

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I used to have the same problem. Then I learned to say "NO" . Your health and sanity are not worth the money, and honestly does not endear you to your employer. I know the guilt you are feeling from saying no but you have to put you first. If you stop answering or say NO a few times, the number of calls will decrease.

It is your life outside of work. After 16 years on the job, I have learned you have to take it. Saying No does not make you a bad person or lazy. Don't answer the phone if it is work unless you want to, they can leave a message and you can return their call at YOUR convenience. Don't let your work become your life or it can prevent you from having one outside of your work. I found it alot easier to say NO after I fell in love and wanted to spend my days off with this wonderful man. And after we got married, it got easier, because my job was not my life but my home life was.

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I'm a charge nurse on the 3-11 PM shift at a long term care facility, in charge of supervising 8 employees and caring for 48 patients. This weekend I was left two people short, which is the equivalent of having no coverage on one hall containing 12 patients. Management knew about it well before they left the building EARLY on Friday afternoon to enjoy their long holiday weekend, yet they did nothing about it. If management can leave the building on Friday afternoon with a "clear conscience", knowing full well that they stiffed me two people and that I don't have adequate staffing to safely care for the 48 resident's that I'm in charge of then don't expect any guilt on my part when you call me to come in on my day off and I don't bother answering the phone because "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part" and I won't be helping you out anymore.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

My first job as a new nurse was on a busy critical care floor. It was tough and usually limped out of there with exhaustion written on my face, yet I would get asked if I would pick up an extra shift if they were short. Apparently, they didn't care if I looked a mess leaving the shift to ask me that question. I always said No because it's important for me to recoup. On my days off, I simply ignored each and every call from the job. They would call and leave 2-3 messages, yet I delete every one of them without listening to the messages so I don't feel so guilty. No repercussions. It's not your fault they're short staffed.

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Specializes in ICU.

I used to feel a sense of duty to my coworkers and employer. No more.

I have two work friends whom I will come in on my day off for if the acuity is high. They have done it for me. The others meh. I have plans.

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Trust me, management/administration doesn't mind if you say no. They also don't mind if you don't answer your phone. As a bedside nurse for 25+years! I learned this. I also figured out that if we were short staffed on a dayI WAS THERE all of us on that day would have to "suck it up" and take more patients. I never felt bad about others not wanting to come in, so I didn't feel bad about not doing OT if I didn't want to. These days, whether your doing OT or not, your going to get slammed either way.

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Specializes in NICU.

I work a unit where overtime can be common, but everyone is pretty pragmatic about it and helps out when/if they can. Luckily, that means that if they are calling on your day off (very rare), it's because there was no other alternative. When our census is high, we have 'call blocks' where we can sign up to come in early, stay late, or even pick up an entire shift, all at time and a half. Call blocks do wonders to prevent unwanted calls--you can pick what/if you want to do, and if you don't want any overtime at all, there's always someone else who could use the extra cash.

However, back before nursing school, I worked for a restaurant that had a nasty habit of calling me on days off to come in and work. It didn't take me long to catch on to the joys of voicemail. I will admit that it is hard for me to say, "no" if they actually get me on the phone.

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Specializes in Critical care.

I don't take any calls from work. If they leave a message I delete it before listening. It can wait til my scheduled work day to hear what they want. Nothing on my days off.

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I don't take any calls from work. If they leave a message I delete it before listening. It can wait til my scheduled work day to hear what they want. Nothing on my days off.

You're my idol.

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