First off...yes I love being a nurse...but I hate having to work the major holidays
This year I have been assigned X-mas Eve...which would be okay if there were only the 14 and 12yo, but the 4yo will not be able to wait until I get home X-mas Morning...he is up @ 5am...I work 1hr away and my shift doesn't end until 7am..I would much rather work Thanksgiving, X-mas day night, New Years Eve, whatever, but I hate X-mas eve
Call me a cry baby....but does anyone else love their job, but really despise this aspect of it??
My regular job is 8-5, no weekends, no holidays. But I also work per diem nights twice a month (kids' college money). Now that my kids are older it doesn't matter much -- so I often work the holiday shifts because so many of the people I work with have little kids and really need to be home. I know that was very important to me when my kids were small.
While we do work the holidays (only exception is Christmas), I too, volunteer to work them so my coworkers with children can enjoy the "family time" together. I've worked holidays ever since my very first job out of H.S. so many, many moons ago, that it really just does not bother me one way or another. Even when the kiddos were small we just worked around it.. they needed to understand that adults must work and that we just don't always get what we want. I felt the sooner they learned that about life, the better... it was like Deb said above.. adapt and overcome.. ( I tweak it a bit into my own favorite motto : adjust or selfdestruct ).. heh.
Yes, it's difficult at times, but again, this is the line of work we chose.
Don't feel so bad, I just started at a new facility in March, they are VERY strict about their holiday rules, I went from having to work 1 holiday a year to this year I worked on Memorial day off 4th of July, off labor day on Thanksgiving, on Christmas day off New Years Day and although it's not a holiday, I will not see my 3 kids dressed up for Halloween as I have to work 11am-11pm. My children are 5, 2 and 11 weeks.
First off...yes I love being a nurse...but I hate having to work the major holidays
This year I have been assigned X-mas Eve...which would be okay if there were only the 14 and 12yo, but the 4yo will not be able to wait until I get home X-mas Morning...he is up @ 5am...I work 1hr away and my shift doesn't end until 7am..I would much rather work Thanksgiving, X-mas day night, New Years Eve, whatever, but I hate X-mas eve
Call me a cry baby....but does anyone else love their job, but really despise this aspect of it??
First off...yes I love being a nurse...but I hate having to work the major holidays
Call me a cry baby....but does anyone else love their job, but really despise this aspect of it??
Hey, that's only human. I have been a nurse for 28 years. When I didn't have children I always offered to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now I do whatever I can to get @ least 1/2 of the shift covered so I can enjoy those days with my family but if I end up working the whole shift so be it, I'd rather those with young children be off. Unfortunately it doesn't really work that way at my hospital. The charge nurses and assistant nurse managers who don't have any children at home always end up with Christmas eve, Christmas and Mother's Day off. There's something screwy about that. It's like the higher you are on the totem pole the more you can demand and get away with. It's so unfair. It makes me not respect them as nurses. They are the same ones who will refuse to take a patient assignment in a pinch. The whole idea of total patient care they say is so "wonderful" unless they realize that suddenly they might have to wipe a butt. Oh, don't even get me started :angryfire
like a said, you're only human, don't feel bad for feeling the way you do because I'm sure we all feel the same!
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Mommy guilt is the hardest thing to deal with, I know. Just do the best you can to explain what you do and why you do it and they will eventually understand. Like I said, think of the military families whose loved ones are over in Iraq or Afghanistan. It CAN get worse. Hang in there. I know how you feel, having worked holidays for 7 years now. It does not get easier, but you adapt. So do the kids; they are more resilient than we give them credit for!
First off...yes I love being a nurse...but I hate having to work the major holidays
This year I have been assigned X-mas Eve...which would be okay if there were only the 14 and 12yo, but the 4yo will not be able to wait until I get home X-mas Morning...he is up @ 5am...I work 1hr away and my shift doesn't end until 7am..I would much rather work Thanksgiving, X-mas day night, New Years Eve, whatever, but I hate X-mas eve
Call me a cry baby....but does anyone else love their job, but really despise this aspect of it??
I am a older nurse whose children are all grown. Christmas Eve is no big deal to me but I hate working Christmas day because we have a big family dinner. Why am I telling you this? Because there might be someone like me out there who could help you out.
if it is part of the job i can accept it but last year i was working w/e doubles and i got scheduled for Christmas day...thank goodness that horrible don is gone..probably will have to work Christmas again this year but like i said it is differant if you know that it is part of the job and not because someone is dumping on you
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Yes oramar brought up a valid point. Maybe you can do some switcheroo w/willing coworkers? Is there anyone who does not celebrate Christmas at all? (I worked with an Islam-observer, for example, who did not mind working Christmas for obvious reasons). Try to tap those resources!
Just want to say thanks to Tweety and all the other nurses and aide's that willingly work X-mas to allow those of us with kids to have it off . You guys are great !!!!! :)
Agree. We knew this before, no need to cry now. May sound a tad harsh, and granted, ALL of us would prefer not to have to work holidays. But then so would the police, the EMTs, the FireDept.
And I do believe our PATIENTS would far prefer not being laid up in a hospital bed on a major holiday as well.. kwim? At least we get to go home after our shift... they don't.
I agree- this is one of the things you just need to take into account when you CHOOSE to be a nurse (or cop, EMT, etc...). Also, I am always surprised when people feel they deserved more holidays off because they have kids....just a pet peeve. Single people celebrate Chrsitmas too. Not saying you are saying this, just an attitude i have noticed a lot. We all pull our weight, thats what makes nurses so close knit and special. Who do people think runs the hospitals on Christmas, elves?
Just want to say thanks to Tweety and all the other nurses and aide's that willingly work X-mas to allow those of us with kids to have it off . You guys are great !!!!! :)
My pleasure. But I'm getting a little nervous as the "preliminary schedule" came out. It's one we can look at and request any changes before the final one comes out, a nice courtesy from our manager.
I'm the one and only person scheduled to work this Xmas Eve 7p to 7a. :rotfl:
jnette, ASN, EMT-I
4,388 Posts
While we do work the holidays (only exception is Christmas), I too, volunteer to work them so my coworkers with children can enjoy the "family time" together. I've worked holidays ever since my very first job out of H.S. so many, many moons ago, that it really just does not bother me one way or another. Even when the kiddos were small we just worked around it.. they needed to understand that adults must work and that we just don't always get what we want. I felt the sooner they learned that about life, the better... it was like Deb said above.. adapt and overcome.. ( I tweak it a bit into my own favorite motto : adjust or selfdestruct ).. heh.
Yes, it's difficult at times, but again, this is the line of work we chose.