Holidays: Here We Go Again

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It's that time of year - The HOLIDAYS! :o

Do you know yet if you're working? Are you OK with it? How do you handle it?

Every year, I swear I'm going to call off on Christmas. Every year, I don't. Those who do seem to not get punished but I just don't have the nerve. Unless a loved one or I am very sick or some serious tragedy occurs, I'll be at work. :angryfire:o:madface:, etc.

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Specializes in neuro, med/surg/, cardiac care.

By contract our schedule has to be out by now. Is my year to work Christmas, but again lucked out, am working christmas eve days and boxing day night, and New years off. Is not so bad, I don't think as not travelling too far out of town for dinner.

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Specializes in ER OB NICU.

It would be nice to have a contract or rotating holiday schedule, but where I have worked too many are related to administ. or nurse managers, or DON or CEO or Drs. wife, etc, and they all get it off. One year I was simply tired of CCU, and decided to quit n Nov. and with proper notice did, and the DON from my old job before that called and begged me to fill in some on nights for a couple of months, said I could even have FT benefits. I agreed only with the agreement that I have Christmas Eve off, did not ask for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day , NY day or EVE> and EVERY other nurse on the night staff had asked for NY EVE off. The DON had an ignorant idea of working three 8 shifts on holidays instead of 12hr. shifts, which basically meant a 1/3 more people had to work to cover the shifts, and I lived an hour away. I got scheduled to work the night before Thanks. 7p to 7a Thanks Morn. then 3-11pm on Thank, even though I had to drive home an hour at 7a and would need an hour to drive back by 3pm, and there was you stay to 7:30am, and have to be there at 2:30, so basically I got to drive 2 hours and be gone 7hours total, which meant , if lucky I might get 3 hours sleep, but certainly no dinner, which was the purpose of 8 hour shifts. THEN I was scheduled to work Christmas eve from 7p to christmas 7a(altough promised to be off ) and then scheduled as the ONLY RN on New years Eve. I called the don 10 times she never called me back,and the ADON, said she could not schedule change holidays. So I gave the DON the ultimatum, that she promised me before I took the job that I was to be off Christmas EVE> She would not ever answer me. so two weeks before Christmas I wrote her a letter of resignation, as I had wanted to be off throught the holidays and was thinking of changing positions, (which I did after Dec) but she did not keep her word, and I had it written on the paper I signed to go back to work as she requested. SHE had no choice and wrote me a letter to accept the resignation, and WHO KNOWS OR CARES how she covered all those shifts, I also had 5 small children, and NONE of the other had any children at home. SHE just made any promise it took to get you to do something and then FORGOT about it. I hope everyone gets a better, more fair rounded holiday schedule.

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Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

yes love my union

on xmas and off 8 days over NY

but with any luck and seniority might get xmas day off due to empty beds

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.

Every August the nurse manager (OR) gives the staff of techs and RN's a holiday schedule for taking call. We list the holidays we don't mind taking call for as !st, 2nd and 3rd choice. It always works out fine. One RN wants call EVERY single Thanksgiving so she doesn't have to deal with in-laws. hahahaha!!!!! :idea:

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I'm working Thanksgiving. Off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Working New Year's Eve and day. I'm happy with it :)

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
One RN wants call EVERY single Thanksgiving so she doesn't have to deal with in-laws. hahahaha!!!!! :idea:

Well, I've done that one myself. Many times! It's the perfect excuse: I have to work ( or I have to sleep, I worked nights).

Get the spouse and kids off to the in-laws and have a nice, peaceful day's sleep!! :lol2:

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It's that time of year - The HOLIDAYS! :o

Do you know yet if you're working? Are you OK with it? How do you handle it?

Every year, I swear I'm going to call off on Christmas. Every year, I don't. Those who do seem to not get punished but I just don't have the nerve. Unless a loved one or I am very sick or some serious tragedy occurs, I'll be at work. :angryfire:o:madface:, etc.

Yes, I'm sick of it too. We never get out schedule early. Don't even know if we're working Thanksgiving yet or not, let alone Xmas. Same thing happened last year, I've thought about getting another job because of it. I want to celabrate at my home, but not knowing what we're working until a week before makes it nearly impossible. Used to be a manager, simple, you work according to the hospital policy, you put the schedule out accordingly, if people don't like it, they find someone to swich with. I understand they are trying to give people the holiday they want off but, that's what makes it bad, if someone worked a group of holiday's one year , they know next year it will be the opposit, that way they can plan. No matter what people will bi#>@, so just do it already.

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I'm always surprised to see that people don't know if they're working a holiday or not....our facility has us on Team 1 or Team 2 scheduling, so that everyone works alternating holidays. If you worked thanksgiving last year, you're off this year. Off christmas last year? Expect that you're on this year. Simple.

Only exceptions to that is if there's just too many scheduled for a given holiday, in which case seniority rules in cancellations or rescheduling. And most of us that work 12 hour shifts WANT to only work 8 hours on holidays, otherwise we don't get any time with families on those holidays. Sometimes it can be accommodated, sometimes not.

It's really not a big deal this way. The ONLY thing left to surprise us when we get the schedule out for the holiday months is whether we're off or on the day before or after a given holiday. If you're off Christmas Day, there's no law that says you HAVE to be scheduled on Christmas Eve, although sometimes people are and sometimes they're not. Again, alternating years applies. Simple.

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I make a deal with the NM: I'll work Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Years Eve and Day if I get Christmas Day off. She's always eager to accept my deal because my coworkers want Christmas Eve and New Years off. It's the only day that I get to spend with my family without having to worry about going to work. I work WEO, and the contract states that I only have to do one spring/summer holiday and one fall/winter holiday. I don't mind working holidays. Feels like any other day at work.

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If you worked thanksgiving last year, you're off this year. Off christmas last year? Expect that you're on this year. Simple.

That's how we always did it. Fair for everyone involved. I always volunteered to work through the Thanksgiving weekend in return for a 4-5 day stretch before or after. I can't remember the last time I 'did' Thanksgiving ON Thanksgiving...

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

I volunteered to work all the holidays this year because everyone's been so great about my having to take a lot of time off this year for things.

But surprise! they gave me one of them off anyway. Which is very cool. I work with some great folks. :)

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