holiday schedules

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my unit is new at self scheduling amd have been having many discussions aboaut how to implement the holiday schedule. I am open to any idea that other units have used that has been successful

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Well, my unit alternates July 4, Labor day, and Memorial day. For thanksgiving, you either work thanksgiving day or eve and the same with Christmas and New Years. That way everyone gets to spend a day at home with the family.

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Specializes in Adult Acute Care Medicine.

Our institution has 6 holidays.

If you work Xmas then you get New Years off and vice-versa.

Other than that, our unit puts in holiday "requests". Usually, it works out that people wish to work opposite holidays - and most people get what they request.

For adequate staffing, the final decsion is made by who has most senority. (Lowest senority usu. do not get all requests).

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Surgical ICU, Medical ICU.

For our holidays, we make a list and half of the people who worked last year on the specific holiday get it off. It rotates like that. People are pretty good about putting themselves on or off for holidays. When someone has so much senority they automatically don't have to work holidays anymore. I think >10yrs or something like that. Most want to though because of the holiday pay. Seems to work for us!

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Specializes in critical care.

we have holoday "pairs" it works like this:

you either work memorial day OR labor day. 4th of july OR Thanksgiving. and out of x-mas eve x-mas day and new years eve new years day we work ONE Day and One Eve. We put in requests and then it goes by senority. Everyone has to work holidays CAT

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We work the holidays as a block, so if you are scheduled for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's Day, you also work the day or night before. We decided to block the holidays because we have so many people who have family out of town and it makes it really hard to spend time with them if you have to work the day before. We put up a list of the holidays and everyone writes down their first and second choices for holidays off. More often than not, we have enough people who prefer one over the other and people get their first choice off. When it doesn't work out, they make the decision based on seniority, willingness to work overtime or come in on days off, number of call-ins, number of times being tardy, etc. Sometimes it is a good incentive to get people to to work and to have them show up on time instead of when they feel like getting there.

The holidays sometimes bring out the worst in people when it comes to scheduing...some people get very upset when they have to work...I always wonder what they expected when they went to nursing school.

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Specializes in Government.
We decided to block the holidays because we have so many people who have family out of town and it makes it really hard to spend time with them if you have to work the day before.

This is a very important point! Since most facilities also have vacation blackouts over the holidays, this type of schedule can make some semblance of family holidays possible.

I worked at one facility for 9 years and between the blackouts and the eve/day holiday schedule, I never got to go to one family holiday event in that time.

I really believe everyone going into nursing should prepare to work holidays. However, when I was approaching my ten year mark at my facility I was told I'd never under any circumstances be able to take a Christmas vacation no matter how long I worked. Unless I had a maternity leave. Unwilling to have a baby to get a week off, I quit.

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Specializes in Home Health, Psyc, OR.

In our hosptial we work every other holiday no matter what. We can find someone to work for us on a paticular holiday but it can be hard depending on which holiday we are talking about.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, WCC.

My staff work every other holiday and then the next year flip. I also have a blackout from Dec. 15 - Jan. 2.

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Specializes in med/surg.

We are divided into to lists. It owrks out that we end up doing every other holiday & then each year it flips to the opposite holidays... that way everyone knows what they'll work for the year & no one can complain about favoritisim.

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Just like most of the posters above, we all alternate major holidays and the others...well most of us fight over for the holiday pay!! LOL

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