Do you feel "on call" even when you're not?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

At a recent community concert, the general surgeon's pager went off, he goes to the lobby to call the hospital, then comes back through the door and begins to look over the audience. I get up and make my way back to him. 3 other nurses soon follow. There was a 2 vehicle MVA, with one of them carrying 5 boys from a birthday party. We all left immediately to help out.

Do all rural nurses feel compelled to run in, regardless of whether they are on call or not? (No wonder it feels like we are never away from the job!). :p

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yes, but I really am on 24/7 call- they only call me for kids though.

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No I do not feel like I am on call all the time. I do not get paid call time. Now if I was at home and the super called me and said "hey, Becky we have had major accident in the county with more injuries than the current staff can handle...can you come and help us for awhile?" I would go in if at all possible.

When I don't go in is when there has been a hole on the schedule for 4 weeks and management decides 1 shift before maybe they ought to try and fill it. :( That aggravates me to no end. It's different if someone calls in or an emergency comes up then I will give more consideration to going in. To cover management's butt because they haven't even tried to cover a hole that has been present for weeks is their problem.

(Yes, I am definitely feeling grumpy tonight!!) :(

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

Do you feel "on call" even when you're not?

No way!! I give 100% when I am putting in my scheduled 36, or so, hours per week. Then, I go home.

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I'm on call 24/7 too. Luckily most problems can be taken care of

over the phone in my job.

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I work at a small rural 22 bed hospital with a nurse shortage. No we are not on call but YES - we go in and are happy to do it because when the ambulance pulls up it usually is transporting someone in the community we know and care about. Rural nursing is another world away from city nursing.

We had a family of mom, dad and 4 little children burned when a water heater blew up in their farm home. We had nurses, as well as other hospital employees coming out of the woodwork to help the night they were brought in. I work 40+ hours a week but would I have ignored the phone ID that night...NOT!!!

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No I do not feel like I am on call all the time. I do not get paid call time. Now if I was at home and the super called me and said "hey, Becky we have had major accident in the county with more injuries than the current staff can handle...can you come and help us for awhile?" I would go in if at all possible.

When I don't go in is when there has been a hole on the schedule for 4 weeks and management decides 1 shift before maybe they ought to try and fill it. :( That aggravates me to no end. It's different if someone calls in or an emergency comes up then I will give more consideration to going in. To cover management's butt because they haven't even tried to cover a hole that has been present for weeks is their problem.

(Yes, I am definitely feeling grumpy tonight!!) :(

I have to agree with dee. I know what my ER can handle, and even though I am not in the ER anymore, I would go in and help out. We use a disaster call back list. The nurses closest to the hospital get called first and the calls spread out from there. Since I live about 4 minutes from the hospital I am usually one of the first ones called.

I normally don't go if the open slot has been there for a while.

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Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.

No I do not but I must say that if a patient of mine is actively dying and they are closer to me than other nurses I do not mind them phoning. I go out to do the pronouncing and post mortem care.

It gives me some closure too with patients I have had for 6 months to a year.

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Specializes in ER, OB, Med/Surg,.

Working in a frontier hospital, a car wreck can be more than the staff can handle on their own. Yes, I would go in if things are going crazy...I guess it is part of what I do....I choose to live here and I choose to work here!

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Specializes in OB:L&D, Nursery and Postpartum.

That is what is great about rural nursing. I work in a small town hospital. I am in a very small OB dept, only 4 of the 9 RN's live in town. I have had staff call me on maternity leave and say that they have a OB delivering and one coming in bleeding. All I said was, I need a sitter, the staff member sent her kids to my house and I was at the hospital in 15 minutes. That would never happen in big hospitals!!! We all know when it hits the fan that we would want someone in with us. The same goes with other departments, if ER would call like that, we would send any available help

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At my hospital, My co-workers usually give me the heads up if there is going to be a sick call, or that they have filled up, and need extra help. I dont mind the extra money. I like working with other shifts i dont get to see.

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I think part of rural nursing is being available to help out if needed. It just seems to go with the territory. We don't have that many nurses working in our small rural hospital, and if we didn't stick together, we wouldn't last long!

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