Hello to All...I am writing this note with a heavy heart...When I became a nurse, almost three years ago, I knew that I would be working every other weekend and Holiday...This year is going to be a tough year..Unfortunately I will be working both in a three day span of time...I am scheduled to work Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after..What a bummer...I work 3-1130pm and apparently my hospital has a policy (for which I have never seen nor anyone on staff has ever heard of before) that Christmas eve is the holiday and if Christmas day falls on your weekend you are responsible to work also...I find this "policy" unacceptable...Especially since most of the staff on the other weekend have all three days off!...I am curious to here what your policy is and what your take is on this situation?...Fortunately, I work with some great colleagues that, thankfully, have a heart and I have been able to peer swap..However, there are several of us in this situation and not all have been able to peer swap...I have to say that I feel really, unappreciated by my nurse manager (she is new and in years past the nurse manager has "tweeked" things; but of course it's been almost a decade since this last happened)..Especially knowing that I rarely get a dinner break and often do not get off work anywhere from 15mins to 1 hour late (It is looked bad upon to sign out late or with No Dinner, so often I just "pick and choose my battles"..It adds up over time)!..I know we should all band together and say something about the Holidays, no breaks, and getting out late but unfortunately the unit I work has a high turnover rate (due to acuity & fast pace) and I am, believe it or not, one of the senior staff and the newer/younger nurses are afraid to say anything (they often say they will but do not, myself and a few other senior staff members look like the "complainers")...I am feeling bitter and unappreciated..Am I wrong?
That doesn't sound fair. Everywhere I have worked Christmas day was the holiday. If you worked Christmas, you were off Christmas Eve. If you were off Christmas, you worked Christmas Eve. Every year it rotated. The holiday rotation would trump the weekend rotation. So even though the 25th and 26th is my weekend off, it is my turn to work Christmas so I have to work it.
This is my second year of nursing. I worked on christmas eve night, christmas night, and old years night my first year of being a nurse. I had family from overseas visiting. My shifts weren't terrible but it was hard being my first year ever in my life working these holidays. In January a list went around to write down when u wanted your holidays and guess what i requested december, and now i'm actually having trouble to get my leave because several other persons want that time off at the last minute. I think that it would be fair to have every other christmas off! Nobody said that nursing was a bed of roses but there must be some equity. Do not let them take advantage of you. You have rights too!!!!
I'm blessed. I work thanks giving 7-3, christmas eve and the day after but christmas off ( yay). New years day but off new years eve. So I really can't complain.
Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
Everyone crying about working Xmas. It's the nature of the beast. Get over it.
Every place I've ever worked requires regular staff to alternate b/t Xmas and New Year. If you work Xmas one year, you work New Year the next. Each holiday covers two days (Xmas Eve/Xmas Day and New Year's Eve/New Year's Day.) If it fell on your weekend but you worked it last year, you are booked off. No staff allowed to take vacay during that time. Some people want to work both holidays to collect stat pay. Switching is acceptable. Casuals have no obligation so allowed to do what they want.
No you are not wrong, the schedule should be adjusted so that you can have at least one of those 3 days off. No wonder there is such turnover on this unit. Is it possible to give one of the shifts away, to someone who maybe wants/needs the holiday pay?
My mother was a nurse and she worked in the NICU most of my life -- It was always she either: worked Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve, got Christmas Day off.. or got Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve off and worked Christmas Day (I forget how New Years worked but it was involved in the rotation somehow). She probably would have quit right there if someone told she she had to work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas... that is sad! Sorry
Having worked more holidays than I can remember, I feel that too many nurses make themselves miserable over this. Who says celebrating Christmas or Thanksgiving has to be on that particular day? The only time, in my mind, where it's not movable is if people are coming from out of town and can't adjust their schedule at all. But really, it's an arbitrary day that was picked on our calendar.
I haven't celebrate Christmas on December 25 in years. Growing up, Santa came when it was convenient based on when we were going to visit out of town family. Now Christmas is whenever family can get together.
Christmas IS an arbitrary day on the calendar. Historically, Jesus was supposedly actually born during the summer. Kids don't care if Santa comes early, they think it's great!
Flexibility. It's essential in nursing. It's essential in LIFE.
The job before this one had a freeze during Christmas. Started around the 12th of December and lasted until the 2nd of Jan. Absolutely no vacation could be taken during that time. If you called in sick, you had to get a doctor's note. No exceptions at all.
This job, you work every other holiday and if your weekend falls during that holiday - you work it.
My extremely flippant answer is to recruit more diversity to your unit. As a non-Chrisitian, I always volunteer to work Christmas and New Years and take call as well. I feel better knowing that other staff have the day off to spend with their families and don't have to worry about patients. I also have the joy of being able to request my own religious holidays off and have that ace-in-the-hole of saying "Well I worked your holiday, I'd like to have mine off." Plus I get paid extra to work a holiday I don't celebrate. Lovin' it.
At my hospital the newer nurses are scheduled every other holiday and the more senior nurses are on every 3rd holiday. If holiday falls on your scheduled weekend you do not have to work the day of the holiday but you are scheduled for the rest of the weekend (only get the official holiday date off). Most times we can do some swapping so that people that work the holiday will take over the whole weekend. Bummer that you have to work your weekends that happen to have a holiday also even if it is not your scheduled holiday, that doesn't make much sense to me - you must have many extra hands scheduled on this holiday (all the scheduled holiday workers and all the regular weekend workers).
Having worked more holidays than I can remember, I feel that too many nurses make themselves miserable over this. Who says celebrating Christmas or Thanksgiving has to be on that particular day? The only time, in my mind, where it's not movable is if people are coming from out of town and can't adjust their schedule at all. But really, it's an arbitrary day that was picked on our calendar.
yes it's nice to be home when we want to be, but that's the nature of our work. Someone has to work and sometimes it's us.
My husband is in the airline industry-we have very rarely had Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, birthdays, etc on the actual day. We celebrate when we are together. Our kids actually love this setup since it is different than most of their friends!
I'd be happy with your policy, at least this year. I was to have that weekend off but in my facility they make a whole new "holiday schedule" based on who worked last year and then seniority. Since I'm new, I get to work, which also means I will work THREE weekend in a row since the holidays are on weekends this year. Nice huh?
floatRN
138 Posts
That doesn't sound fair. Everywhere I have worked Christmas day was the holiday. If you worked Christmas, you were off Christmas Eve. If you were off Christmas, you worked Christmas Eve. Every year it rotated. The holiday rotation would trump the weekend rotation. So even though the 25th and 26th is my weekend off, it is my turn to work Christmas so I have to work it.