Extra Shifts, Extra calls, feeling a bit guilty

[33762FL]

I'm a new nurse, I've been working med surg less than a year. I'm officially a part time employee as are most nurses at my facility (actually I was hired as PT, "laid off" and made per diem for a few months, then hired back as PT when somebody else resigned). I am also in school for my BSN at this time and have some other personal things I'm trying to take care of. I get called almost every day to work extra shifts, and I feel I have to say no more than I can say yes due to my BSN work and just the fact that I need some down time to "recharge" before working again. I have never called off for my shifts, I am a day shift person but have volunteered to cover nights, other floors, work 2 shifts back-to-back, you name it, I've covered it.

I believe I've seen this topic discussed once or twice before on AN, but opinions are appreciated. I feel guilty not helping out more, but I know I need to do my BSN and get some time for myself. (?)

[Red Kryptonite]

I just had to turn down an extra shift from work an hour ago. I just said, "I'm sorry, but no. As I said before it's too much with school." I wanted to make sure that I pointed out that I had told them this before. You've got to have boundaries. Your employer wouldn't put themselves out for you, so don't do it for them unless you want to and it serves your needs.

[ScrappytheCoco]

I can assure you the CEO of the hospital doesn't feel guilty when you work short. If you don't want to go in, don't. No guilt.

[wanderlustnurse88, RN]

I don't know if it is done alphabetically, if it is that would suck if your name is Williams and you'd love to work more but they never call you.

Most places do it by seniority. The person who has been there the longest gets called first. Part-times get called first at straight time, then casuals. Then if management has approved overtime, full times get called at OT, then part-time.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

IF you are available to work, then answer the call with, "Yes I can come in but only if you pay me as if it were overtime". And if they say no, then you can say no, as well. Encourage all of your peers to ask for OT when they are called. The hospital will counter with "But you only worked 24 hours (or whatever), so this isn't OT" Then YOU say, "It was not on my original schedule, so it IS overtime as far as I am concerned!" If they are desperate, they may take you up on the offer, and pay you as OT. If they say this is a one-time deal, say OK.

The next time they call, ask for the same deal. And don't fall for some bu!!$hit line to promise not to tell anyone else. Start telling everyone NOW that you will only work extra if you are appropriately compensated. They can only say no, we will call someone else,

This is very good advice. I will add I have used this exact strategy to get double time out of them. I worked at a crap hospital for a little while where chronic understaffing was a management principal. I even overheard out CNO say that paying current nurses OT was the cheapest form of labor for them. I was 36 hours a week so if I came in on OT the first 4 hours would be at regular pay. For that reason I always refused it. My buddy said yes one time IF they would pay him double time. A desperate unit manager agreed. After that I started to say the same thing. Sometimes they took me up on it and sometimes not. Made it pretty easy to tell how desperate they were.

What I learned was that if it meant the staff RNs were going to have to take more patients and kill themselves getting everything done then the answer was no. If it meant that the nurse manager was going to have to staff the unit herself then the answer to double time was yes.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I worked prn at a skilled nursing facility.My boss comes up to me at work and then ask me to cover a shift. Right now, I'm getting behind on school work & I'm also starting a full time job at a hospital. How can I say no without it looking bad? I know I'm prn but I will not know my hospital hours until probably Feb 16. Any advice?

My advice is if you don't want the shift, say no and don't worry about "looking bad." The beauty of prn work is that you maintain in control of your schedule. Being prn doesn't mean you are available for extra shifts. It means you are available when you say you are.

I've worked prn before and I turned down last minute offers of shifts all. the. time. I promise I never entertained the thought "Well I really should, after all I only work 1 day a week." The thoughts were generally 1) I have plans, 2) I don't have child care, 3) I have several full-time jobs at home (referring to my kids), or 4) I just don't want to.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Good advice from merlee and PMFB-RN. Legally they may not have to pay OT, but they have the ability to if they choose to. I and others I've worked with have also agreed to work doubles if we can be taken off the schedule for the next day. It's much easier to find a nurse to come in in 24-36 hours, than it is to find one to come in in 4 hours. On the occasions I've offered to stay in exchange for another day off, if they say they can't make that promise then I'll say "then I can't stay for a double." Simple as that.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Since most employees are contracted for a certain number of hours (unless you're PRN) it IS overtime when the employer is calling. If they want the shift covered, tell them it's OT, no exceptions. That decreases the endless phone calls too, because managers know who to call when they're absolutely desperate.

I worked with someone who basically informed all the managers, "Unless you're offering me OT, don't call me." She still received calls but it wasn't the endless harassing.