Free time/vacation time while being a nurse?

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Aug 10, 2013

The first year is really hard! Try to get a few long weekends to do little trips. Your hospital should ave a policy about when you can use vacation time and your unit wl have specific guidelines about sign ups and such.

Morainey, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

I am a new grad and have been working 3 12's on a med/surg unit for about a month now. I have to admit I am already feeling trapped and tied down to this job (2 year contract). I am young, 23 years old, no kids. I have always had dreams of travelling the world and thoroughly enjoying life while I was young without the responsibilities of a family. Though I knew weekends and holidays would be sacrificed when I started nursing school, the reality of that is only now hitting me, and it's hitting me hard. I get depressed whenever I think about sacrificing my dreams for work. Ultimately I know I have to keep this job for those lucrative 1-2 years of experience but in the meanwhile I would like to do what I can and make the most of whatever time I get off. How do you all fit in free time for yourselves and vacations while working full time? Is it possible to get time off during the holidays? How much time can you take off in a year? I was wanting to a few days off around Christmas/New Year's to travel but I'm thinking as a new grad it won't happen and I'm pretty down about it.

Unfortunately that's the reality of a full time job in hospital nursing. I've worked three 12s before - that's 4 days a week off, which is oodles of free time.

Working holidays and weekends goes hand-in-hand with working in the hospital. You can try to creatively schedule your holidays, but usually if we are off the holiday we work the eve, and vice versa. If you are trying to plan, like, 2 weeks vacation off during Christmas and New Year's, well, good luck. Gotta pay your dues.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

Nursing has been great for time off. At my facility its really hard to get time off around the winter holidays but otherwise it's been pretty easy to give myself huge chunks of time off while using minimal vacation days.

Prior to nursing I worked M-F 8:30-5 and that was much harder to manage. If I wanted a week off I used a week of vacation. If I had to go to the doctor I had to use vacation. Anything that had to be done during business hours had to be squeezed in to lunch breaks or I had to use vacation time.

Working some holidays and weekends is totally worth it to me because the alternative sucks.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

we work everyother holiday (eves mean nothing) and weekend. it is next to impossible to get time off in dec. also you can request your days to work in a row but you might not get them . I rather work weekends and holidays and have time off during the week to run errands. this is all just part of a working life. few people, in any field, have oodles of time off during weekends or holidays .

BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN · Aug 11, 2013

Young and I'm guessing this is your first FT job of any kind. It is an adjustment to be accountable to someone else for so much of your time. This is the reason we have always made our children work FT in the summers, over vacations, etc, even though they didn't need the money necessarily. We didn't want the "real world" to shock them when they had to meet the expectations of employers, colleagues, etc. College and graduate school, even while holding down a part-time job, are nothing compared to being responsible for a real FTE day in and day out. You are now accountable to a team, and all of the other members also want to go on vacation. Those members have also been there longer than you have so you will get last choice probably. Welcome to adulthood.

It's not so bad, though. You are only in your first month, and it sounds like no one even explained how it works. You are already off 4 days per week, you are earning PTO. Sometime after your probation period (often 90 days) you are eligible to use your PTO, and then you can take a little jaunt. Start thinking about where you would like to go for a quick 3 day relation, where is the weather nice that time of year, that you can comfortably afford to visit? Request the time off well in advance.

And why aren't you doing day trips? Rejuvenating the spirit on your days off now? My partner and I biked 50+ miles yesterday, had a nice lunch, walked around at a folk art sale, biked home. It was very relaxing, a fun day. You can easily do things like that without a chunk of time off.

I think you just need time to adjust to a new lifestyle and you need to get creative with your free time.

And no, I wouldn't count on having the holidays off your first year in Nursing. :no:

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

This is one of the few things I really liked about working in the hospital and only working 36 hrs/week. You can get creative with your hours and manage to take a lot of time off without using a lot of vacation time.

One week work Sun, Mon, Tues and then the next work Thurs, Fri, Sat. That gives you 8 days off without using any vacation time. That's how I got most of my vacations in when I worked in the hospital.

You can get two weeks off if you do something like this: Work Mon, Tues, Wed one week, take vacation time the following week, and then work Thurs, Fri, Sat the week after that. Two weeks that will only cost you one week of vacation time.

I used to travel 3-5 times a year when working in the hospital. Traveling/vacation time around the holidays may or may not be allowed, depending on the unit/hospital. It was not allowed at my hospital.

boogalina, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN · Aug 11, 2013

I try to make days off more "me" time by doing as many of my little pesky chores as I can stand during the days I work...for example, mop a floor, vacuum, batch cook, etc...things that don't require running errands or a lot of time, but if done all on the same day would make that day feel like work. That leaves me a "zombie" day off (I work nights), 1-2 "me" days with some errands mixed in, and another day to sleep before resuming the 3-night work week (I work 12s). Splitting up days is yucky, so I try to work 3-in-a-row.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

Work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday one week and Thursday, Friday, Saturday the next. Even with no seniority I was able to do this at least once every other month as a new grad. Bam, 8 days off. When I worked nights and lived in an apartment with a room mate I had tons of free time and tons of disposable income. Way more than your average 23 year old. I went on all kinds of trips.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Aug 11, 2013

Also, I enjoy working full time more than working part time and being in school full time. My free time is mine, without feeling guilty about not studying.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2013

Also, I enjoy working full time more than working part time and being in school full time. My free time is mine, without feeling guilty about not studying.

That's definitely a plus of no longer being a student. Other than continuing ED and professional development stuff, work stays at work.

It's such a huge adjustment. I remember feeling exhausted and old when I first started working. Working an extra pt job on the weekends didn't help any!

nurse_sharon · Aug 14, 2013

Thanks to all for your advice!