Pulled to another shift!!!

Genista, BSN, RN · Dec 29, 2002

Another reason why nurses form unions! My employer pulled me to NOC shift for 3 weeks...it would have been indefinately, if left up to them, but our union contract stated we couldn't be mandated for more than 3 weeks.

That kind of "fill in the gaps" mentality is unfair. You don't see upper management pitching in on those odd shifts- why should we? How about some bonus pay for your extra effort, like an "off shift" bonus for working off your normal shift? How about an extra $100/shift, on top of differential? Bring it up at the next unit meeting. :devil:

OC_An Khe · Dec 29, 2002

Our Union contract forbids that type of management behavior.

There is no shift rotation permited.

Is it a true Baylor plan or just a deal to work every weekend?

Going80INA55 · Dec 29, 2002

About the Baylor Program. Why would anyone agree to give up EVERY weekend and then work holidays too? If I agreed to work every weekend I would refuse to do holidays during the week. PERIOD. Now, if the holiday falls on the weekend well, it is mine to do.

Why didnt your 3-11 shift cover the holiday? it sounds like you have 7-7 and the standard 8 hour shifts.

Is there any talk of your place doing a Baylor for the 7-7 shift? That would help you.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Dec 30, 2002

Our hospital doesn't have a straight day shift. You area considered a 25% rotator. That means you can be rotated up to 25% of your time in a year. Most of the time it is to evenings in our unit.

I guess I would check and see how you were hired and what your contract says. It may be similar to ours. We are also hired as XX hrs biweekly, and we can be pulled off of our 12's to cover as needed. That sucks!

altomga, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN · Dec 30, 2002

Oh my Gosh!!! This sounds like another dayshift vs nightshift fight!!! Okay, let me first say that we have many wkend only people on nights, but they do have to work 1 major holiday no matter if it falls on the wkend or NOT! Us full time nights have to work 2 majors. But I feel that this is at least fair. They chose to work only weekends for themselves, so they still should have to work at least 1 major!!!! Recently the tables were turned on my unit; where nights is usually short and forced to work that way, we actually are staffed and it was days that was SHORT STAFFED!! But the mgmnt made sure to cover their holes by having the night shift "volunteer" or be picked to work 7a-7p! Well, I went ahead and volunteered....now we are working on this schedule and days got some travelers in and their schedule is 8-9's (without us night people) and they only need 7 RN's to still have a float charge. Well guess what; they won't take nights off the day schedule. OH did I happen to say that we had to work an extra shift over our normal for this????

Anyway..........there will always be tension b/w the shifts; does anyone else feel that some of this is caused by mgmnt showing favortism towards the day people??????

Good Luck! :rolleyes:

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 30, 2002

definately one of the places I work there is CERTAIN favoritism for the dayshift. Not favoritism toward the PEOPLE-- but it's easier to cater to "squeaky wheels" and those you SEE.......mgt rarely hears from nights unless a major problem arises and when it does, we are encouraged to "deal with it". My manager has YET to stay late or show up early to visit with us...we have to seek HER out to discuss issues/problems. That is very common many places.

And it's true when dayshift is short-handed, they work harder to find coverage. I used to be called to help out (I am perdiem nights) and when I said I could not, they could not understand, if I had not worked the night before, why not? BUT THEY VIRTUALLY ARE ALWAYS COVERED. That's just how it is----and always has been.

Anyhow, I still say when a shift or group finds a solution, and gets management to buy off, so much the better for them. Seniority SHOULD count for something, I agree, but it's not always that way. I know that firsthand, which leaves me to decide if the situation is one I can live with or not. if not, I move on. Gypsy me.

deespoohbear · Dec 31, 2002

Oh, I don't dislike our night people at all. I think they are a great bunch of nurses. What I do dislike is management making deals with certain employees and others are left to cover the "holes." Night shift is actually up in arms over a situation that has occurred on their shift. A new nurse was hired, part-time for 7p-7a. This nurse said that she wanted to work two specific nights during the week (set schedule) and management agreed to give her the two nights she wanted, plus every 3rd weekend. Now, night shift is almost "overstaffed" (if there is such a concept!!) during certain nights. Night shift self schedules, and now the rest of the nurses are being asked to work around this new nurse's schedule. The new nurse is a super person, and a competent nurse and is well liked by her co-workers. But the other nurses are resentful to management for agreeing to this schedule. I don't understand why management can't get it through their thick skulls about trying to retain the nurses they have by offering them some perks for their service and recruit new nurses to the organization. I think it easier to keep the nurses you have, than to have to orient a new crew every few years...... :confused:

ExCorporateRN · Sep 21, 2007

traumaRUs: If your unit is using travelers, you can negotiate an indpendent contract getting agency type pay per hour e.g. $65-85 (which is what the agency is charging, not paying the travelers). Facilities are desperate to keep qualified staff and will do this with the right approach. They are getting a known person with skills. They will likely ask you to keep your contract quiet and write in a 'do not publicise or recruit' type clause, but you will have blazed a trail. Eventually other RNs will do this, your facility will be well staffed with permanent staff etc. See the nurse entrepreneur subject area on this site or ****************** for detailed help (you'll need to be a member, but the info is valuable, helpful and real.) Empower yourself.

This idea is absolutely brilliant!!!! This is some of the best advice I have seen on this site.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 21, 2007

I am a dayshift person. I work 7a-7p full time. I have been with my current employer for almost 8 years. Due to the high turnover of nurses, I am about 5th on the list for seniority for our department, out of about 35. The past few years, our nursing management has made some deals with other nurses to be able to keep them. Some of the nurses wanted to go to "baylor" (weekend option) on 7p-7a, so they were obliged. So now our regular night crew doesn't have to work weekends, because of all the baylor people covering that shift. But the day shift crew is working every 3rd still, with no extra compensation. Which of course, has the day shift crew riled up. Now we will add salt to the wound, and rub it in. Since the baylor people don't have to work holidays unless the holiday falls on their weekend, guess who gets stuck filling in the 3p-11p shifts? The day shift people. I had to work Christmas 3-11, and now I have to work New Year's Eve 3-11. Two other day shifters got pulled also, and they are as upset as I am. We weren't even asked. And the other thing that ticks us off about this, is that the people working day shift have A LOT less seniority than the three of us that got pulled. Seniority doesn't mean squat at our facility.....One of the nurses has already threatened to call in but the DON heard about it and told the one nurse that she would be disciplined if she calls in...love be treating like a bunch of 5 year olds....
Anyone have any ideas on how me and my co-workers can handle this unfair situation? Thanks for letting me blow off steam.......

This is probably not what you want to hear, but the way I see it (admittedly, as a nightshift person!) is that the nightshift is the one that is hardest to fill, so the nightshift is the group that has to have some concessions from time to time.

Kudos to your nightshift crew for finding a solution that works for them. Why should they have to work weekends if they have found a crew that wants only weekends? Makes sense to me. And as for holidays, same thing: why should the weekend people have to work holidays when they are already doing the shift no one wants?

Speaking of the shift no one wants, you need to keep in mind that while you don't like the shifting sands of the day shift, you probably ALSO don't want to work 7p-7a...right? What I find ALOT of is dayshift folk complaining that the night shift had this or that, to which I have to respond: "And when I see YOU in here trying to fix a woundvac without support or doing admissions at 3am, or trying fruitlessly to get an MD to call you back at 4, then I'll be happy to see it your way"!

Let's face it: I've never seen them in a futile scramble to find someone to come in to cover the day shift. There's never a lack of nurses who want to work days! The day crew where I work is fast to complain that the night crew had one more tech than days. Yeah, and we also had 30 patients for 2 RNs and an LPN: would NEVER happen on days. So, if the night crew has managed some conciliations for that crap, well, good for them.

maelstrom143 · Dec 29, 2007

I am relatively new to the field, but have been fortunate enough to do days and nights, as well as see how it is on an 8h schedule vs a 12h schedule. Both days and nights have pro's and con's. Nothing is perfect. I am now on nights. I am exhausted. I never feel rested, I miss seeing the breathtaking sunrises on my way to work as I used to be able to do...By the third day of work, I feel fuzzy-headed and usually feel ill by the end of the shift. And if I have to do an unfortunate fourth day? I pray...very hard...that I not make any errors detrimental to my patients. Doctors are rude to night shift personnel, but they tend to be ill-bred as a general rule. A physician with manners is more of an oddity than the norm, which is pathetic, considering that less educated people often behave in a less boorish manner than the average physician. Indecipherable handwriting when there are less personnel to interpret it, spills, messed up equipment, medications, supplies...things day shift personnel take for granted are a blessing for those on nights. Oh, let me not forget the incessant griping of family members never awake when I am and vice versa...I hope to eventually move back to days, as I seem to be at my most alert in the mornings.

As to days, they have their own set of woes...doctors rushing by expecting orders to be done yesterday (the order was given 5 minutes ago!); calls to pharmacies, families, etc.; admissions/transfers/discharges; meals; crazy family members that are sometimes more trouble than any of the patients; and a myriad other things they could complain about if so inclined.

I guess, my whole point is this: if something good happens to dayshift, great for them. If something good happens to nightshift, great for them. Neither is really taking anything that belonged to the other. They are just trying to survive as best they can and no one is perfect. In an ideal world, both shifts would work together to get management to hire agencies to pull the shifts that cannot be manned by the facility. Oh...I forgot...therein lies a whole other can of worms. We really need to reevaluate our priorities and realize that we all need each other to make a facility work well and keep patients safe.