Do You Ever Ignore Your Employer's VM When They Try to Call You In?

VANurse2010 · Feb 2, 2015

All the time, and it's never been an issue.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

I am old enough to remember when answering machines came out-- waaaaaay before cell phones. We took about fifteen minutes to realize that if we let all our calls go to answering machines, we were no longer subjected to pleas and guilt trips. I am sure staffing coordinators all over the US gnashed their teeth as the vendors noticed thousands of nurses snapping up their gadgets.

There is no reason you can't let your voicemail serve the same purpose. You stand on the shoulders of those who went before you in clinical and professional expertise; let me be the second or third to offer you a hand up on this critical issue. You're welcome.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

Before I looked at your 'experience: 24 years' line, I would have thought you a new nurse! These are the ones most typically guilted into pulling yet another extra shift when it's convenient for the facility. In my own experience, I found that the vast majority of the time that *I* needed an extra consideration I couldn't get one (much like you just found) but lo and behold if THEY NEEDED me, well, wasn't I just awful to let my colleagues suffer without my much-needed extra help?

Bah. I got suckered into countless extra shifts to "help my coworkers" only to find that on my regularly-scheduled shifts *I* was drowning because someone else had called out....OR staffing had waited until the Witching Hour to try to find us another nurse.

I learned to ignore my VM, and neither my nurse managers nor staffing EVER had my cell phone number. I said I only have a home phone, they either reach me there or I'm just unreachable

So, no.....stop feeling guilty. The facility will ALWAYS run short (as you must certainly know!) and you cannot personally be held accountable to fill every gap. PLUS, after the shaft you got when finding out you lived "too far out" to be picked up for work....but NOT "too far out" to drive in when it was convenient for THEM......fuhgettaboutit!

westieluv · Feb 2, 2015

Ha ha, no, I'm not a young nurse, but I'm one of those "people pleaser" types who takes on a lot of guilt, so situations like this get me all worked up. I keep thinking it over and over in my mind and wonder if they've found anyone, even though I really don't feel like I can do it tonight due to, as I said, having shoveled literally tons of snow in the past 24 hours. I feel like I at last owe them an answer, but if I call and tell them no and they get snippy about it, it will make me feel even worse than I do now.

I wish it was easy to just "grow a backbone" in these types of situations.

Thanks for all of the helpful comments. I will try to turn off the guilt for now, lol.

caliotter3 · Feb 2, 2015

After what they did to you the day before you are conflicted about not answering the phone today? Stop wasting mental energy on them!

nuangel1, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

yes all the time .if I don't want to work I let my phone go to voicemail.

SWM2009 · Feb 2, 2015

All the time and I don't feel an ounce of guilt over it.

westieluv · Feb 2, 2015

Keep it up, guys, you're starting to get through to me. The guilt and anxiety is starting to subside.

This facility knows that their nurses don't want their coworkers to get screwed so they depend on that getting nurses to come in when they're sick or had other plans instead of hiring more staff. The nurses here even buy things like office supplies and water pitchers because the facility has learned that if they don't provide the necessary supplies the nurses will do it out of the goodness of their hearts. I'm still pretty new and I think that this is ridiculous, so I may never fit in, because I absolutely will not provide supplies that this company should be providing themselves.

MA Nurse · Feb 2, 2015

Yes. I ignore them all the time. As nurse I think we tend to feel guilty a lot and we are hard on ourselves. In fact, Ive blocked their number so I dont even have to think about work when I am off. if I want to work, I will call them. Maybe I am like this because Ive been a nurse for almost 25 yrs. Take care of yourself and enjoy your time off.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

I ignore the calls every single time--unless I actually want to work that day. In fact, the second I realize it's a can-you-work voicemail, I delete it.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

My personal boundaries have become rather rigid in the past couple of years because I am a work in progress. Therefore, I no longer have any fear of answering my phone and refusing to work extra shifts when the staffing coordinator calls.

If a nurse doesn't feel like picking up extra shifts, just say no. Reinforcing my boundaries entails respectfully informing people on what I will and will not do.