How does your unit handle mandatory cancellations?

[ms. ann]

Here is the scenario: I work full-time in a NICU and our census has been low for the last few months hence they have been cancelling several nurses each shift. They start by asking for volunteers and that worked for awhile until most people were using up their leave. Now our unit is at the point where they are doing mandatory cancelling and if you don't have the leave it is leave without pay. What happens is they call you and say you are cancelled and it is mandatory but they can call you back in if they need you, isn't this being on call? If they call you back for 11 pm you still have to use your leave from 7-11. Is this just a part of nursing? Just curious how other hospitals handle low censuses. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

If they say you're canceled, you should be canceled and not "on-call". If you are on-call you are limited in what and where you can go that day and should be given on-call pay appropriately.

As to order, in my ICU it goes like this:

1) People working overtime

2) Flex/PRN people

3) All else in reverse chronological order from the date of your last on-call or cancel (we keep track of when you're placed on call/canceled).

Our census has to be extremely low to cancel anybody. We have 12 beds, so 6 nurses not including the charge. We'd have to have six or less for somebody to be canceled-- we will put up to two on-call.

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

we get reallocated to another unit. now i dont work on a unit like yours, but could you ask if you could be cross trained in case this still happens? that is terrrible! i totally understand!!

-H-RN i will be interested to know what comes of this

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

We are a closed unit and we have a min. staffing of 3 nurses regardless of census. Generally speaking we start by asking for voluntary call off first. If there are no takers then we call off PRN first, part time second and then full time based on the last time you were called off. If you really can't afford to be called off you can float to another area of the hospital if they need you. For me I would go to ER. Others would go to M/S and be the tech for the night or the med nurse for the night.

We are on call when we are called off and if we are called back in, it's call back rate plus our on call rate so we tend to tread cautiously when we do call off someone.

Prior to starting this job though I worked in a place that had the craziest schedule and you could almost guarantee at least 1 call off every 2 weeks but you could almost guarantee you would get called in on your call days so it evened itself out in the end but it was VERY frustrating.

[sample24]

If they say you're canceled, you should be canceled and not "on-call". If you are on-call you are limited in what and where you can go that day and should be given on-call pay appropriately.

As to order, in my ICU it goes like this:

1) People working overtime

2) Flex/PRN people

3) All else in reverse chronological order from the date of your last on-call or cancel (we keep track of when you're placed on call/canceled).

Our census has to be extremely low to cancel anybody. We have 12 beds, so 6 nurses not including the charge. We'd have to have six or less for somebody to be canceled-- we will put up to two on-call.

Ours is the exact same as this w/the exception that if we are placed "on-call" and then get called in, we get call back pay, not regular pay. For instance, today I was regularly scheduled but got placed on-call. 2 hours later I got called in but got to clock in call back for pay purposes which means more $$ for me

K

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

People who are working overtime can get canceled, and they can ask for volunteers, but we don't do mandatory cancellations for people on their actual hours for the week.

[Riseupandnurse]

I am prn and have never gotten mandated in the 18 years I've been at one hospital. Even when I ask off I seldom get off. I really can't understand it, since they hire boatloads of new RNs every May. Where do they all go?

[patwil73]

My hospital has established a fund for cancelations. It equals out to 300 shifts or 2400 hours.

So if census is low we cancel agency, then OT/extra shift people, then per-diems. After that it goes by volunteer. Finally the rest come in and work as Non-Nursing Related Duties and get paid from the fund.

If it does ever run out then we can cancell in order of rotation but as I said only once has it ever run out that I know of.

We can place per-diems on stand by but regular staff can't be mandated for stand by.

Pat