Has this ever happened to you??

[Quit Floating Me]

I work at a crisis stablization unit. One nurse per unit. We do 8 hour shifts at this facility. I work full time nights (midnight to 8:30am) five days a week. I come onto my shift tonight (my third shift) and the evening nurse (we get along well) tells me that a nurse is not scheduled for the morning shift (8am to 4:30pm). She said if no one comes then I have to stay and work that shift. I was looking at her like - I do know that I cannot just leave my clients without replacement but I am not going to stay and work another 8 hour shift after working nights (then come back at midnight to work my scheduled shift). I will call the supervisor, his boss and his boss if I have to get a replacement. We do use agency nurses frequently. I also am making this thread because I sent an email to the scheduler last week regarding my schedule. She asked me if I could work over time and train on other units. I responded and told her I have no interest working over time or on other units due to being in school full time. She emailed me back and thanked me for letting her know (so she can stop calling me at 3pm when I'm dead asleep). I don't know if the previous sentences matter in this situation except that they know I am not available to work extra. At this facility overtime is not mandatory.

Shrug. What do you guys think of this?

[New Angel]

I am also a Night nurse at a 24 hour psychiatric locked facility. Thank goodness I have a manager that will always work when others call out sick, she's the best! However, one sunday morning, she was out of town and my morning nurse relief-coworker called in sick at 4am...It's almost impossible to cover Sunday morning shifts within 3 hours notice....and I had obligations/was unable to stay past 8am.

Unfortunately, this is the business we have chosen, and it is ultimately our responsibility not to walk out the door without relief to care for the patients. No, you should not be made to work overtime hours when you do not want to....however, you will soon see, that many employees do double shifts in 8-hour-shift facilities...yes, it's tiring, especially when you're not prepared and it comes up last minute, but it is not as outrageous an idea as one may think. {great $ too.}

I am aware that the possibility may arise that staff doesn't come in, and I will have to stay for a double shift...that's just the biz. However, I would no want to work somewhere that admin/supervisors were not willing to step up and help you out when this situation arises and you cannot stay.

If this is a persistent preoblem for you, perhaps working as a nurse in a doctors office, where the facility is only open 8-12 hours a day is better for you....more stable. I am considering that option too, simply because a 24-hours facility may not be the best fit at this time for my schedule {and life.}

[Umberlee]

I'm new to my place of employment, but we have two nurses for a max of 16 patients here. If a shift can't be covered, instead of the off-going staff having to stay, the on-coming staff will work with just one nurse. It seems to happen with fairly regular frequency, which makes me extremely nervous as a new staff. One reason why I want to stick to just nights until I'm certain that I know what I'm doing here. As it is now I spend half my shift just trying to find stuff.

[TerpGal02, ASN]

Yep this has surely happened to me, and to a lot of my other coworkers although it has been a less frequent occurance since basically all the more senior nurses basically told our director of inpt services they were walking if the schedule couldn't be righted. Our scheduler would put the schedule out filled with holes and expected it to be filled by mandation. I was mandated to night shift from evening shift in June so 1500 to 0730 and expected to be back the same day for ly regularly scheduled evening shift. It was terrible. By the end of the second evening shift I was delerious and almost felt drunk. Very, very unsafe, although you are fired at my facility if you walk out of a mandation.