Holiday scheduling

Nurses General Nursing

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Just wondering if you all have your Thanksgiving week schedule posted on your units yet. As of yesterday, ours isn't up yet and the staff would like to know if they're working or not so they can make plans. Our HN is notorious for this. She probably won't post it until this coming Friday afternoon just as she leaves to go home. Her philosophy is that she won't have to listen to people b*tching about their days off for the holidays. All other units I've worked on usually had the time posted at least two or more weeks in advance which is appropriate I think. I am most likely working, but others would like to know what's going on. So how is it on your units?

Specializes in Pediatric Rehabilitation.

we work 7on/7off, so we know as far ahead as you wish to calculate..

this year, i'm scheduled on for Thanksgiving & Christmas, off for NY's..

got lucky though, made a deal w/ my HN before I took this position..I'll have Christmas off this year

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We post at the end of each year the holidays to work the next year. Typically we alternate Christmas with New years, you work one or the other. our schedule is posted thru the weekend following New Years. Thanksgiving is not coordinated with Christmas, it pairs off with the 3 summer holidays, but usually your rotation keeps Thanksgiving on the opposite year of Christmas. (Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually thought of as family holidays-New Years is more of a party holiday) Our Thanksgiving schedule was posted by mid October. We follow a policy that every 4 week schedule has to be posted at least 2 weeks before it starts.

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I work the same 8 days a pay period, year in and year out! So I know my schedule for ever!! Vacations are given by seniority. I work in a facility where the nurses are union, so if we sign for a posted job, the days of the week we work are always the same. It is nice becasue with my part time if i use 2 vacation days, at the end of my long week, and middle of my short week, i can get 9 days off!! Love this part time!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

I had a nurse manager that did just that. Would post it has she was leaving on Friday for a week off.

We've had our schedule for about a month now. One of the day charge nurses does the schedule. We know our schedule through New Years Day!

We self-schedule, so she tried to give us what holidays we requested, then she went by last year's schedule. i.e. if you want xmas off this year and worked it last year, you'll probably get it.

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We were on a "A" and "B" holiday rotation. Last year the A's worked Memorial day, Labor Day and Christmas. The B's worked 4th of July, Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. This year, they announced (about three weeks ago) that we are going back to requesting the holidays off in the order of importance to each nurse. That really upset a lot of people who had made plans based on what they thought their schedule would be. The NM also considered what holiday you worked last year if a bunch of people all wanted a certain holiday off. I liked the A&B system, but I have a lot of people who have learned over the years that I prefer to be off Christmas Eve so if I am scheduled for that day and someone else has Christmas, I am an easy person to trade with. Our schedule has been up for about 10 days now and runs through the first week of January.

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I've worked in a few restaurants open on holidays. Usually once the new calendar came out at the beginning of the year, we would all rush to it and sign up for our vacation days. So on Jan. 1 you'd have to figure out what days you want to take off around the major holidays. Then after enough people signed up, the days would be marked off for no more vacation requests. The mngmt would ask for volunteers to work the holidays. Usually enough people signed up. If not, we'd find out the week before if we were working Christmas, etc.

Unlike hospitals, however, we usually had a skeleton staff on Christmas. New Year's eve was a different story...

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Specializes in Med-Surg Nursing.

Our unit does A and B holiday rotation. I am a B, which means that this year I work Thanksgiving and New Years. Next year, it'll be the opposite. I'm working 8 hour shifts on those holidays. I got a "sneak peak" at the Christmas/New Year schedule and I see that they scheduled me to work The 30th, 31st and the 1st, three night shifts in a row, which is ok. As I'm off Jan 2nd, 3rd and 4th so as long as Ohio State beats Michigan again, they'll go to the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe to play for the National championship! And I'll be able to watch the game. YAY!!!!!!

GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!

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luckily for me, my clinical mgr has posted holidays for the next two yrs and when someone quits and they hire a new person, they just plug the new nurse into the slot of the nurse that quit! I really like this idea....

believe me, I have worked at places where they dont post it till the very end and it is absolutely frustrating to have to explain to your kids whether mom will be home on the holiday or not!

:roll

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Specializes in ICU, nutrition.

Like several other people who posted, we also have our holidays scheduled in advance. Whatever holidays you work this year, you are off for next year. So this year I was/am scheduled Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and next year I'll be off for them and work Mardi Gras, Easter, Independence Day and New Years (2004, not the one coming up). We can trade holidays if we want, and we'll stay on the same holiday schedule. So if I can find someone to work Christmas for me this year, I can still be off for Christmas next year.

Since we always have more than enough people scheduled for each holiday, we take turns being on call. We also have to work the day before each holiday (unless it's your holiday off), so we might be on call for the day before and scheduled for the holiday, or vice versa. The people with the most seniority get to be on call for the major holidays (as long as there's two core nurses scheduled).

So far it seems to be fair. I was on call for Labor Day, and I didn't have to work. So I have yet to work a holiday this year. I've got my share coming up though. :)

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