Frequent cancellations

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 29, 2016

Finally, since you are a FT employee and probably earning PTO... once you get your bank built up... having an extra day off with PTO pay isn't so bad. :)

I'd much rather keep my PTO for a real vacation instead of a free day here and there. I get very little as is.

I would get a PRN job, OP. I have a full time job at 0.9FTE at one place and my PRN job (where I used to work full-time) to supplement. The PRN pays at a much higher rate than my FT gig, AND I have access to a defined benefit pension all the while diversifying my skill set. :)

Also establish a hills-and-valleys fund. Save the "excess" (hills) so that you have enough to cover the famines ("valleys").

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Sep 29, 2016

Am I the only one who thinks they are keeping the OP on orientation for another reason? Like the fact that the OPs pay does not come out of their unit, so they are getting a full time nurse, without having to pay for it. And honestly, I would be glad as well, as it would secure my hours.

Plus, if they offered full time employment, they should be giving full time hours. For several reasons, the biggest being benefits. It will affect the OPs benefits. I don't like the hospital deciding how I use my PTO time. My PTO time is my time. Not for me to arrange my day around work for them to cancel me at the last minute, plus take my PTO time.

They should have only offered the OP part time employment if they cannot fulfill the full time gig. A lot of you are missing that point. I don't care about ebbs and flows. Yes, census is not always high. I've never experienced that, but I know it happens. But you cancel prn and part timers. You cancel agency and resource, not, your full timers.

And if that is continually happening, your unit is not run well. Management should understand this and be hiring accordingly.

OP, I would be looking elsewhere. You have to live. There's nothing wrong with accepting a full time position and expecting to work full time hours.

DeeAngel · Sep 29, 2016

Sounds like you need a second part time job to guarantee your hours. I've been cancelled and sent him when census dropped many many times. Cutting staff hours related to census goes on everywhere I think.

doodlebuttRN · Sep 29, 2016

OP, I completely understand where you're coming from. Many, many people (in nursing and elsewhere) cannot afford to be cancelled when we are depending on a steady, regular, CONSISTENT income. There's nothing wrong with that. I truly admire the poster(s) who're able to maintain his/her finances so that a missed paycheck here and there isn't such a big deal (absolutely no sarcasm here. I really do admire that, and am always working to get there myself), but unfortunately, many of us aren't there yet, for whatever reason.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be panicking too. I would stay on orientation for another month, and while I'd hope for the best with that job, I'd definitely be out looking for something more stable as much a possible. After all, when your shifts keep getting cancelled and you cannot feed your family, your manager sure isn't going to be offering you financial support, no matter what they may promise in the meantime (promises about FT hours once off orientation, despite more senior staff being canceled, unit closed, etc).

Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst.

And I really hope for the best for you at your new job.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Sep 29, 2016

I don't get this. People saying it's no big deal to be sent home. If you are a full time employee, you should be guaranteed full time hours. That is 36 hours.

Any company where I have ever been apart of management has stated if you hire an employee with full time status they are guaranteed full time hours which is no less than 36. If, you are hired on as part time or prn then nothing is guaranteed, but being hired as full time status guarantees you full time hours and full time benefits.

At my facility, if you don't reach the magic 36 a week, they pull from your PTO time. You must maintain that for the benefits, or, the insurance company will adjust your benefits.

I don't live paycheck to paycheck, but I know people do and I expect my 36 per week. That is the agreement I was hired under. I guess I'm not understanding the whole, it happens, oh well, attitude. If census wavers so much they have to cut full time employees, something is wrong.

caliotter3 · Sep 29, 2016

Start looking for that second job to fill in your hours. If it turns out to be more than a fill-in hours situation, then you have remedied a bad situation by finding your next employer, if it comes to that.

nutella, MSN, RN · Sep 30, 2016

I'm in the last 2 weeks of my 12 week orientation at a surgical ICU at a level 1 trauma center. I love the job and I love the people I work with, but the amount of cancellations on this unit has me terrified. I'm the sole provider in my family and cannot live without at least a full time paycheck. The only thing that has protected me so far is being on orientation. Cancellations are so bad that they have shut the unit down and merged with MICU multiple times since I started. I'm starting to rethink my employment here. To make things worse, although my preceptor and other coworkers think I should have been taken off orientation a month ago, my manager is talking about keeping me on orientation for possibly another month. I took a full time job to work full time hours and get full time pay, but every day it seems like I've taken a full time job with part time hours and pay. I want to give it until the end of the year at least. Am I wrong for thinking/feeling this way?

No, you are not wrong thinking that way!

Unfortunately, this is the new way that administration tries to deal with the fluctuating census. They will hire you full-time but with some kind of restriction that if there is not enough work you can get canceled for so and so many hours.

Some other strategies besides looking for a different employer are to get a prn job at a different location where you can pick up hours or you ask if your hospital has a prn float pool or such. You might be able to float to other areas that are understaffed like IMC.

AllOfMyWat · Sep 30, 2016

Think about corrections nursing. You will never be fully staffed and always have overtime.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Oct 1, 2016

Think about corrections nursing. You will never be fully staffed and always have overtime.

My experience in Corrections was very different. I was looking for a part-time job, and took a per diem position thinking I could pick up 2-3 shifts a week. Once I was off of orientation, I was only able to pick up 2 to 3 shifts a month. Between the handful of full-time employees who worked 60+ hours a week and the many, many travelers, not much was left to fill. I ended up leaving.

Harveyslake · Oct 4, 2016

It all comes down to the "Profession" being treated like day labor. If you expect an employee to be there when census is high, you have to pay them to be there when census is low. It's simply the cost of doing business. Administration should be ashamed of itself for creating an environment where full time "Professional" nurses have to take a second, part time job to make ends meet. As far as using PTO on the days you get cancelled,....that's a double win for administration. Now you have less vacation time to take on YOUR terms and administration doesn't have to cover your shift during the time you would be on vacation. I know,...lets SALARY all nurses with OT limits and see how often we get called off. I bet not often!!!

Harveyslake · Oct 4, 2016

We already have to work every other holiday and every other weekend,...how DARE administration create a working environment where we have to sacrifice our hard earned PTO just to make up income for mandatory days off at their convenience!

NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN · Oct 4, 2016

I worked at a small hospital that often "merged" its critical care units (or even med surg and tele floors when the census was really low). I was pool so I was first up to be canceled. Being able to work in any care environment would help (so that you can be floated to different areas in order to keep your hours). I also worked two agency jobs with low minimal commitments. If I got cancelled by one, I could usually pick up last minute at one of them. The down side for my employer is that they realized that if they cancelled me prematurely then they usually couldn't call me in later because I would be working elsewhere.