Holidays - deciding who works??

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How does your unit decide who is working which holidays? Is it a lottery or some other random selection? Do you sign-up for certain holidays? How is it done for you?

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

We rotate them around.

Last year i worked Christmas, this year i work Thanksgiving.

If people want to switch what holiday they are working, they must have management approval and a written agreement.

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Do you mean stat holidays such as Christmas?

We have the right to have either Christmas or NewYears off. Usually, if you had one off last year, then expect the other this year. Since we work a master rotation, often staff would rather leave the rotation as is, regardless of getting time off. Usually we put up a list of everyones names, space for what you want off and asking which you worked last year. Then it's up to the boss to fit it in. Casuals will write down what they're willing to work too. Staff sometimes trade shifts amoung themselves too.

If there's a problem, seniority will win out.

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.

We have an A and B holiday schedule. Half of us are A, half B. I don't remember exactly, but A works Thanksgiving, off Xmas, on New years, off next holiday (can't remember which one it is). Opposite for the Bs. We can trade around it we want. At my old place, it was a lottery type thing. You put in for what your wanted, listed in priority, and usually got the opposite. I worked nights, and usually ended up working either the eve or night of every holiday. This left you never really having a whole holiday off to enjoy. I hated it.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

TG is 1,

Xmas is 2 and

New Years is 3.

Each year you work ONE of those three - it rotates between the A List, the B List and the C List. 1/3 of the unit is on each list, you CAN trade with a willing party on another list IF both parties agree and the manager sigened off on it.

It used to be that everyone had to work EITHER Christmas day or Christmas eve - which meant NOBODY could leave town during christmas. That STUNK!

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Oh and....

TG is TG day AND the day after. Xmas is Xmas AND Xmas eve, NY is NY Eve AND NY day.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

It used to be that everyone had to work EITHER Christmas day or Christmas eve - which meant NOBODY could leave town during christmas. That STUNK!

I did that at a job, luckily at the time i only lived 20 minutes from my family, but there were plenty of peopel that didn't. Yes, it really does stink.

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Specializes in NICU.

We work with about 18 nurses a shift, and there are about 100-125 nurses working on the unit. We get a handout and return it with our top three preferences of which actual shift to work and two preferences of shifts we really want off. We have to work a total of 20 hours of holiday time. The manager puts in everyone's requests, and then if the staffing is lopsided, we have to try and move ourselves around before the managers do it for us. For the most part, we usually get what we want, maybe not always our first choices, but we never get the holidays we requested to be off. One of the joys of working in such a large unit!

Our holidays that we have to choose from to make that 20 hours:

Thanksgiving Eve - night shift

Thanksgiving Day - day, PM, and night shifts

Christmas Eve - PM, and night shifts

Christmas Day - day, PM, and night shifts

New Year's Eve - PM and night shifts

New Years Day - day shift

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU, Med/Surg, Ob/Gyn Onc.

Thanksgiving we work if we were off last year. Christmas and New Years we either work Christmas/New Years Eve or Christmas/New Years Day. Nobody can get both off. It stinks.

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at my hospital we do every other one. we get double time for working holidays (even if it is your regularly scheduled day to work) so sign me up!! i can eat turkey any day!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

We list 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice. Lower senior people can deal, but then the rest of us get screwed as they work 4 hours shifts and we get stuck working 12 hours. We aren't ALLOWED to work 8 hours on the holiday if we work any 12's at all, which totally sucks.

I'd rather do an a-b schedule...it would be much more fair.

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