Every other weekend & holidays??

LittleCandles · Apr 29, 2015

Unless you work in a clinic you're most likely gonna be scheduled EOWE and holidays or if you work thru an agency but honestly you won't get any hours if you turn down weekends and holidays and you won't make a ton in a clinic.

You didn't think about scheduling before going into nursing?

Caffeine_IV · Apr 29, 2015

There is search in the upper corner if you are on your computer where this has been discussed ad nauseam.

In addition, you can look at the websites of your local hospital and see the varied positions they have available.

-The daytime (outpatient) positions without weekend/holiday requirement often pay less.

-You will be in competition with experienced nurses for these positions.

-Seniority gets nurses a preferential schedule in many facilities.

Seaofclouds, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2015

I've only had two jobs that didn't require every other weekend and holiday. The first one was at a doctor's office and the pay was only $15 per hour. We did have 1 Saturday morning every 8 weeks to answer phones and do phone triage while the doctor's rounded at the hospital. The second one was as a Nurse Manager. While I didn't have to work every other weekend and holiday, I was on call 24/7 and if we didn't have enough staff, guess who had to go in. The pay was great when looking at just the pay, but when I did the math to see what I was making per hour for all the hours I was putting in, it was less than I was making on the floor.

The rest of my jobs have been in the hospital and required every other weekend and holiday. Even with the requirements, I still have been able to spend time with my family. One thing I learned about holidays is that they can be celebrated anytime.

VANurse2010 · Apr 29, 2015

There's clinic nursing, but "sometimes" you need acute care experience before you can hired in a clinic. Also, you may be able to find a hospital unit that does every third weekend. However, health care is not a bank, and you really needed to think about this before you got involved in nursing. Why should they accommodate you, a new grad with little to offer, over multi-year veterans who don't want to work EOW and holidays?

Libby1987 · Apr 29, 2015

I work Mon-Fri, get most holidays off and am well compensated, but you aren't yet qualified for my position. I got my experience working a few years of weekends and holidays, and fortunately only several months of nights.

RNperdiem, RN · Apr 29, 2015

I work in a large teaching hospital where a lot of the nurses on my unit are in school for something:MSN, NP etc. Them and the people who prefer the weekend differentials (extra $10/hr) sign up for most of the weekend shifts and as a result, a lot of nurses can get by without having to work many weekends at all. This is always a shifting situation as staff leaves, but in practice, you might not always have to do every other weekend.

As a new grad, you will not have the first pick of most available jobs, so a temporary situation might have you working nights, weekends and holidays. So if you hold out for a job with lots of specifics, finding that first job might take awhile.

hes2371rn, ADN, BSN · Apr 29, 2015

I've only had two jobs that didn't require every other weekend and holiday. The first one was at a doctor's office and the pay was only $15 per hour. We did have 1 Saturday morning every 8 weeks to answer phones and do phone triage while the doctor's rounded at the hospital. The second one was as a Nurse Manager. While I didn't have to work every other weekend and holiday, I was on call 24/7 and if we didn't have enough staff, guess who had to go in. The pay was great when looking at just the pay, but when I did the math to see what I was making per hour for all the hours I was putting in, it was less than I was making on the floor.
The rest of my jobs have been in the hospital and required every other weekend and holiday. Even with the requirements, I still have been able to spend time with my family. One thing I learned about holidays is that they can be celebrated anytime.

I am in that boat as well...I am a clinical coordinator for ED & ICU, my job is to work M-F 8-5 however, I am on call 24/7 and I am the one who has to go in when someone gets called off, yes I do make more, however like you said again, it really doesn't equal out, because after you put in 50-60 hours in one week, you are really making less than you did while in staff...I am really starting to rethink this whole management part of nursing and getting back into patient care full-time

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Apr 29, 2015

Hi everyone,
I will be graduating nursing school next year, and I am trying to figure out what I want to do. I was wondering what kind of positions there are out there that I do not have to work every other weekend, and a holiday. I am a huge family person, and being with my family at night and holidays is very important to me! I do not want to make a lousy salary as well.

There are very few positions that are for your ideal schedule and salary requirements; all of those that come to mind require experience preferred -insurance nursing-which include utilization review, advice nursing, clinical coordination and case management; maybe school nursing (depending on the school and district) ; and agency nursing (expectation is that you hit the ground running in those aspects and it depends on what your contract entails).

I do not care about working one weekend a month, but the every other is something I am not interested in. What kind of jobs do you guys have and the hours? Is the pay okay as well.
Thank you!!

I work 2 12s and 2 8s as an ED nurse; usually 1-2 days off in between; I work technically every other week end, but it comes out to every other one weekend day, instead of the whole weekend; we also get to pick one Summer holiday and one Winter holiday, but that includes the day before and the holiday, and we get the preferences to work; which usually works out.

As far as pay; I'm compensated due to the hours I work and the differentials paid, plus my experience; it's on par for the median income for my area.

anewsns · Apr 29, 2015

Maybe you can go per diem in one or two places and choose your hours and get paid a decent salary. And check their per diem requirements. You'd have to buy your own health insurance and make your own sick time though.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Apr 29, 2015

Is this a joke? So you want to make really good money but not work any weekends or holidays? Ok, if you find that job let me know!

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2015

You can still celebrate with your family if you work an off shift. I still work weekends and holidays and am able to have Christmas dinner, and other holiday meals with my family. Another thing is you can have Christmas dinner, for example, on the 23rd if you're working the holiday.

I work nights. As a new graduate you will likely not find a day shift, and may end up on nights. You need experience before working in ambulatory surgery, or a clinic.