holidays and hospitals...

[LanaBanana]

As a relative newbie to the hospital, I was wondering what most places consider a "holiday?" I know Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years Day are. Are Christmas Eve (day) and New Years Eve (day) considered holidays?

We were all asked to sign up for a minimum of 2 holidays, with all of the above listed as options, but I don't think the pay is higher for Christmas eve and New Years eve. I have actually signed up for all of them just because my family plans don't interfere so I might as well let someone else be off.

[jojotoo, RN]

We have three minor hoidays: Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day. You have to work one of them. It is a department requirement that you work two shifts of the following: Thanksgiving Eve or Day, Christmas Eve or Day, New Year's Day or Eve.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Those are the only three days that we receive time and a half for.

That's nice of you to sign up to work. I'm requesting Thanksgiving off and volunteering to work the eves and days of the other two. The scheduler already informed that it will come to pass as I requested. :)

[TazziRN, RN]

We alternate every year: if I work Christmas one year I have Thanksgiving off, and the following year it flips. The holiday that I work, I have the eve off.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Our facility holidays are New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas Day. If you work on these days you get time & 1/2, and you get an 8-hr. holiday day to schedule at the discretion of you & your dept. sometime within the 4 weeks following the holiday.

In my dept. we alternate Thanksgiving. Staff is divided in 1/2 - one year you work Thanksgiving, the next year you're off.

Christmas Eve & Day, and New Year's Eve & Day are grouped: you must work 2 of the 4. Same thing with the 4 spring/summer holidays.

[ortess1971]

We have a ton of holidays, it looks like.

Minor

Presidents Day

Memorial day

Victory Day(used to be VJ day-we're the only state in the nation that still celebrates it)

Columbus day

Veteran's day(most hospitals in this state observe it-we don't)

Labor day

Christmas

christmas eve

Thanksgiving

New Years

New Years eve(forgot Fourth of July!)

We have a couple of travelers and they were surprised at how many holidays we had. In the OR, we take one major holiday and one minor holiday a year. You can either do 8D which is 7am to 3:00pm or call, which is 3pm to 7am the next morning.The 8D is on a call-in basis also.

[NurseryRN]

Our Holidays are Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

Our Part=time staff if they work a holiday they get time and a half for 8 hours. Full time staff have to work every other Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, New Years Eve or New Years Day.

No one can have time off between Christmas and New Years.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

Our holidays are Christmas eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day and Thanksgiving. We have to sign up for at least two. However, I believe we do not get holiday pay for working the eves.

[llg, PhD, RN]

There is often a difference in the official holidays regarding pay and the official holidays regarding scheduling.

For example: My hospital pays for 6 holidays per year (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). However, the "eves" and the day after Thanksgiving and Mother's Day and Halloween and Easter and the first day of school etc. are problematic on the schedule because many people don't want to work those days. We therefore have scheduling guidelines that deal with a few of those shifts in addition to the official paid holidays. In particular, our holiday scheduling guidelines include requirements for the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve even though there is no pay differential for those shifts.

llg