Forced canceling/calling off question!

ICU_RN2 · Nov 18, 2011

I guess I don't expect answers regarding unemployment unless you have a personal experience...but do your facilities mandate cancellations like this?

Thanks for your help!

KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2011

If your facility is like most then you should be on probation for a period of time once you are off orientation. During this period you probably are entitled to nothing. And if you are a new employee from outside the institution, you also have the misfortune of not having any PTO to cover those days that you get cancelled. At this point I would consider looking for another job because this situation to me would be unacceptable.

Where I work, people sign up as volunteers to get an EA (excused absence) if someone needs to be cancelled. There are always people signed up so it has never been a problem. On the very rare occasion that nobody wanted and EA and we were over, our manager didn't force anyone to take a cancellation and just ate it for the shift.

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 18, 2011

Yes. Hospitals routinely cancel shifts when they have too many staff for the workload. (Or ... I should stay ... more staff scheduled than they are willing to pay for.) They can't afford to pay to staff as if the unit was full of patients when the unit is only half full. etc. All businesses have to deal with that issue.

Each hospital has its own system for how it determines who goes home and who gets the privilege of working. Be sure you understand your hospital's system well so that you can assure you are being treated fairly under the rules of that system. But I don't know any hospital that is willing to pay staff to sit around doing nothing when there are not enough patients to justify the expense of fully staffing the unit.

That's the problem that occurs when a hospital is full staffed. A hospital that is chronically short staff rarely has the problem because they are staffed at low levels to begin with. The nurses are usually really busy and their resources are stretched to the max. That's a patient care/safety problem. If their census goes down, then everyone gets an easier day -- but no one has to go home. However, if the unit is fully staffed to begin with ... you end up with too many staff on duty on those days when the patient census goes down. That becomes a financial problem.

As for unemployment compensation ... each state has its own rules about what qualifies and what does not. You'll have to check with your local employment office about that.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Nov 18, 2011

Your facility has to follow federal and state guidelines, then union contracts if any, and then their own policies. I am more in favor of EVERYONE taking turns with cancellations, regardless of seniority. Otherwise, you might lose the new people. You need to get a copy of the policy from HR. As for unemployment, that would be under the state guidelines, so you would need to ask HR about it and/or the unemployment office. Another option, once you are out of orientation, is to orient to another dept. I had this problem when I worked Pedi, because summer was low census. I crosstrained to ER and was able to pick up shifts there.

FLArn · Nov 18, 2011

You may want to sign up with a staffing agency where you could possibly pick up shifts to make up for being cancelled from your primary job. How much notice do you get when you are cancelled?

CanadianGirl79 · Nov 18, 2011

Are you PT or FT? If you're fulltime, I dont think you need to worry - they don't cancel FT staff. (At least, they don't at my hospital)

If you're PT, you probably will get cancelled more until you've built up seniority. As others have said, maybe look into a second job if it starts happening a lot, just to supplement your income?

merlee · Nov 18, 2011

Despite seniority, mandated cancellations should rotate.

FLArn · Nov 18, 2011

Has anyone in management said why they have recently hired so many if it puts them so overstaffed? Are they expecting several nurses to retire soon/ travelers to complete contracts soon? It seems strange that they should hire to be overstaffed. I would be concerned if I were an older experienced nurse that a forced retirement" was in the offing. I've seen this happen to others as a way to cut staffing costs.

EMT-newbie · Nov 18, 2011

FLArn, depending on where you are in the country hospital stays are down 1-10% from historical numbers. If they hired based on historical data this could be the cause of the overage and now management is trying to adapt.

belgarion · Nov 18, 2011

You need to check with your state's employment commission about unemployment. The rules vary from state to state but I do know in some you can receive UI for excessive numbers of call offs or send homes. That's one reason most facilities rotate the call offs or pay employees a token wage for being on call when they are told not to come in.

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Nov 18, 2011

when I was on probation, I actually wasn't allowed to get cancelled or put on call. That only happened after I went through my 90-day period. We rotate through cancellations/being put on-call. Doesn't matter if you've been there for years or brand spanking new, if it's your turn then then it's your turn. Typically the PRNs/OT's are first to be considered, then the PT/FT's.