forced to come in on days off?

[nursebag]

I have seen several threads about this, but my situation seems to be a little different. I am a unit manager in a nursing facility, and I work Monday through Friday.

In the past several months, the med nurses/ floor nurses have begun to call out more and more due to the fact that they know their shift will be covered by myself or another reliable nurse that is a unit manager. It has come down to where the nurses that are on call are refusing to come in, so they never have to fulfill their on-call duties.

I don't mind covering every now and then except for the fact that I have been called in so much lately that I am falling behind in my actual job duties. And I am not doing it for the money because for every shift that I work, I have to take that much time off later in the week to avoid making overtime.

If I was being called and ASKED if I could come in, I would not be so concerned. But I recieve calls/messages that say, "We need a shift covered. Everyone I have called has said no, so you have to cover it."

Really? I HAVE to? Why did everyone else that was contacted not HAVE to cover the shift?

I'm basically not being given a choice of whether or not I cover these shifts. And when I have had a legitimate reason for not being able to work, I've been put on a guilt trip by my supervisors. I need time off and a personal life, but that excuse is not going to be accepted.

I'm feeling taken advantage of, and I guess my question is...if you were in my place, what would you say next time you got a call such as this? I'm just tired of being the only person being told that they HAVE to come in, yet none of the other nurses who are contacted are being held accountable.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I agree with all of your replies. I wish it was that simple. There have been times when I have been busy and missed the calls/texts. I will find my phone with 10+ missed calls and text messages saying, "You need to pick up the phone." "You need to call me back." "You need to get to work ASAP. They are waitingo on you." I know I'm not conveying the situation very well. But when I find messages like this, I get major anxiety and feel like I HAVE to respond or go to work.

No, it is exactly that simple. You do not HAVE to respond. Your anxiety is your choice, they have no right to mandate you to cover shifts, and you should choose your own safety and mental health in refusing to answer the phone. Staffing is not your responsibility (is it?), it's theirs, and you are enabling their incompetence by bailing them out time and time again. Stop. Caller ID and voice mail are there for your protection.

It's time to play the "And then what?" game. As in, "But then nobody will be at work."

And then what?

"Patient care will suffer; someone could be charged with abandonment." (note: that someone cannot be you if you don't go in and take report)

And then what?

"Somebody will have to stay overtime."

And then what?

"They don't like to pay overtime."

And then what?

Do you see where this is leading? Eventually, management is going to have to start holding people accountable for not coming in when they are on call. If they don't fulfill their call duties, write them up. Then fire them and replace them.

If staffing is the responsibility of you and the other manager who gets suckered into this game, then start showing some leadership. Write them up, deny their raises, do what you have to do. If the two of you do not have that power, then this is not your problem to fix.

[ixchel]

Enforce your policies regarding the on-call nurse duties and self-cancels. If you don't have policies make them. Are the on-call nurses getting call pay, then not coming in when called? Policy should include cancellation of that day's call time pay if they refuse to come in. Self-cancels should have timeframes, frequency, and progressive discipline policies. If the current staff doesn't like it and leaves, that's the risk you run. Any new hires will not have a backlash against the policy because they know it coming in.[/quote']

All of this!!! There should be disciplinary action when those who are responsible for the shifts are not covering them. If they can't come in when they are on call, they should be responsible for finding someone who can. If they don't, suspensions or terminations should be considered. I can feel you really want to do the right thing, and in the end, you are getting screwed. That isn't fair to you at all. Get out that old policies book, print the pages that apply and post them everywhere. You deserve your days off, and you deserve the time you need to get your job done!

[DoeRN]

What are you're on call policies? You said you are a manager why can't you start disciplinary actions against the nurses who are refusing to come in on their call shift?

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[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Just who is n charge here?

if the on-call nurses are not meeting the job expectations, fire them and hire someone who will.

there are a lot of threads here about people needing jibs, so it can't be that hard to find people who will do the work.

Put on your big girls pants and start acting like a manager. If you continue to let your staff walk all over you like this, you are headed for bog trouble.

[krisiepoo]

What do you do if you're sitting at home with a book and a glass of wine? Do you never have a drink because you might get called in?

They can guilt trip you all YOU want it's up to you to let them do that. Who cares how often they call/text. If you don't respond, they'll stop

[NurseNightOwl, BSN, RN]

What do you do if you're sitting at home with a book and a glass of wine? Do you never have a drink because you might get called in?

They can guilt trip you all YOU want it's up to you to let them do that. Who cares how often they call/text. If you don't respond, they'll stop

My response would be, "SRry, hammerrred." Every time. ???

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

No, it is exactly that simple. You do not HAVE to respond. Your anxiety is your choice, they have no right to mandate you to cover shifts, and you should choose your own safety and mental health in refusing to answer the phone. Staffing is not your responsibility (is it?), it's theirs, and you are enabling their incompetence by bailing them out time and time again. Stop. Caller ID and voice mail are there for your protection.

It's time to play the "And then what?" game. As in, "But then nobody will be at work."

And then what?

"Patient care will suffer; someone could be charged with abandonment." (note: that someone cannot be you if you don't go in and take report)

And then what?

"Somebody will have to stay overtime."

And then what?

"They don't like to pay overtime."

And then what?

Do you see where this is leading? Eventually, management is going to have to start holding people accountable for not coming in when they are on call. If they don't fulfill their call duties, write them up. Then fire them and replace them.

If staffing is the responsibility of you and the other manager who gets suckered into this game, then start showing some leadership. Write them up, deny their raises, do what you have to do. If the two of you do not have that power, then this is not your problem to fix.

If you're the manager, then you must have some disciplinary authority over those nurses who aren't fulfilling their call responsibility. Exercise it.

[RNGriffin]

I am fulltime float, and I often get calls saying you must come in. I politely excuse them and state, "I work here to have a life, not the other way around".

My point, you are not obligated to go in to work on your days off, unless you agreed this would be your schedule. I would avoid answering unknown numbers on my day off. Staffers are notorious for using personal cell phones and other unit numbers to call in workers...wouldn't do it!

[cassie77775]

If it isn't your scheduled day and not your on call day, turn off your phone. Let it go straight to voicemail. That way you won't start feeling guilty with repeated phone calls. When they ask, tell them that you were having family time and want to enjoy your life uninterrupted from outside interruptions. They can't penalize you for not working when you aren't even scheduled! And why do the people that are refusing to work still have a job?!

[PMFB-RN, RN]

I agree with all of your replies. I wish it was that simple. There have been times when I have been busy and missed the calls/texts. I will find my phone with 10+ missed calls and text messages saying, "You need to pick up the phone." "You need to call me back." "You need to get to work ASAP. They are waitingo on you." I know I'm not conveying the situation very well. But when I find messages like this, I get major anxiety and feel like I HAVE to respond or go to work.

Why weren't you out of town? That's where I would have been, or better, out of state.

I don't give my work my cell number. If you already have consider getting a new number and leaving work with your land line number. My cell company website allows me to block numbers. On occasion I will block number for a specific period of time. When you leave work on Friday have work numbers blocked and refuse to answer your phone unless caller ID tell you it's from a person you want to talk to.

You are enabling their behavior.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Why weren't you out of town? That's where I would have been, or better, out of state.

I don't give my work my cell number. If you already have consider getting a new number and leaving work with your land line number. My cell company website allows me to block numbers. On occasion I will block number for a specific period of time. When you leave work on Friday have work numbers blocked and refuse to answer your phone unless caller ID tell you it's from a person you want to talk to.

You are enabling their behavior.

Good ideas!

[NurseNightOwl, BSN, RN]

Just as disturbing as the fact that you HAVE to come in (or feel like you have to, whichever it is) is the fact that you're then forced to take time off in order to keep from going into OT. That is SO WRONG!! That OT pay should be your compensation for covering for other people and inconveniencing yourself!!