I was told last month I would be frst cancel on Christmas Day by my boss. well here is Christmas Day and I wasn't cancelled.
instead someone else was cancelled, who is the "pet' & she has NO kids, and has not worked ANY holiday time as of yet, and is not scheduled for anymore. (sorry for the run-on sentences)
I was scheduled for Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
I am more upset about the bold face lie.
Day's like today make me feel like changing my career all together!
I have always done PRN, up until this year. I took a full time position, and I am now regretting it!
I read your post before anyone had replied, but hesitated to respond . However, since you asked...
There may be many things besides being someone's "pet" here.
Maybe, maybe not. Has this person worked several Christmases in a row, or does he/she have an ill elderly relative, or an out of town relative that lives too far away to see very often? Was he/she ill? Did the person who promised you 1st cancellation forget your conversation from last month?
It helps when a unit has a system for sharing holidays (i.e., choose your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices to work of the 3 generally recognized winter holidays, and hopefully get some fairness). But simply being told by one person a month ago that you will be first cancel might not even be remembered, let alone be honored if for some reason it is not the most reasonable in the long run.
You voluntarily work for a facility that must cover holidays. I'm sure you'd like to have the day off to spend with your kids, but you can still be there at a time when they receive their gifts and share a holiday meal. Most people who don't have kids still have elderly parents, spouses, siblings, grandkids, other relatives or friends, and like to spend the holidaywith those loved ones. I agree with Caroladybelle:
"what does having kids have to do with whether one gets Christmas off or not?"
I read your post before anyone had replied, but hesitated to respond . However, since you asked...
There may be many things besides being someone's "pet" here.
Maybe, maybe not. Has this person worked several Christmases in a row, or does he/she have an ill elderly relative, or an out of town relative that lives too far away to see very often? Was he/she ill? Did the person who promised you 1st cancellation forget your conversation from last month?
It helps when a unit has a system for sharing holidays (i.e., choose your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices to work of the 3 generally recognized winter holidays, and hopefully get some fairness). But simply being told by one person a month ago that you will be first cancel might not even be remembered, let alone be honored if for some reason it is not the most reasonable in the long run.
You voluntarily work for a facility that must cover holidays. I'm sure you'd like to have the day off to spend with your kids, but you can still be there at a time when they receive their gifts and share a holiday meal. Most people who don't have kids still have elderly parents, spouses, siblings, grandkids, other relatives or friends, and like to spend the holidaywith those loved ones. I agree with Caroladybelle:
"what does having kids have to do with whether one gets Christmas off or not?"
If that was the case the manager should not have promised Melody first cancel. A good manager would have come to Melody and said "I'm sorry but I've decided to bump so and so up to first cancel ahead of you, and these are the reasons." A good manager would have lived up to her word. A good manager would have recognized that Melody would be upset.
Perhaps it is innocent that manager genuinely forgot Melody was first canceled. But if I was first canceled and found out someone else was canceled, someone who hasn't worked her fair shair of holidays, someone who was a pet (and we all know there are managers out there that have their pets), then I would be upset too.
I think I would approach the manager and voice your concerns. He or she may have honestly forgotten that you were promised 1st cancel. Check with her first.
I agree that you are right to be upset about being lied to, and if you feel that way you should pursue it via discussion, or review the cancellation policy...But, did you ever think that they wanted you there because you might be the better or more qualified worker?
And what does having kids have to do with whether one gets Christmas off or not?
I have no kids of my own (that I know of), but logic tells me that spending Christmas with your children, watching their heart and eyes filled with joy as they open their new barbie or red fire truck (dammit I always wanted a nice new red fire truck) might be a little more special than spending it under many other circumstances. But of course, I could be way off base.
It could be an adult's last Christmas to ever spent with their dying parent. THAT'S special. Plenty of other reason to want a holiday off.
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(I don't have kids but that doesn't mean that i don't have things that i'd like to do with my family.)
To the OP: complain to the manager. A verbal promise doesn't mean squat in the workplace. Next time she says or promises this or that, get it in writing. Even that's not a guarentee, though
Go back to PRN. Wish I could. I sure loved setting my own schedule and not having to justify it or change it for anyone. I even voluntarily worked every weekend but it was my choice. Sure miss it. . .
I've been lucky enough not to have what happened to you happen to me but have seen it done to others. I gave report one morning to a nurse who had been promised "first cancelled" and they had cancelled 2 or 3 other people and forgotten about her.
I'm really sorry you were lied to, that's what really would have gone up my spine too.
Whew - I'm sure you didn't need all the negative comments. Also, from a supervisor's angle - please go talk to yours. Make sure your facts are straight and present things clearly and concisely as to how this affected YOU - not what happened to someone else. Good luck...btw I didn't learn lying either - did I miss a class???
I used to work PRN. I had to work one summer and one winter holiday and they held to that, someone else would get the first cancel on the holiday.
As PRN, I was also supposed to get the first cancel, but I was always made to work, and the "friends" got the cancel. A lot of times that involved my floating to a sister hospital or the floor from hell, while the "friend" who should have been working got to stay home.
I got darn sick of that!
The lying gets old pretty fast, and I have seen a lot of people who lie in the hospitals I have worked in.
Now I work agency and I don't work holidays or weekends.
I would feel betrayed and all around lowsy if I were you. The trust has been violated and it's a risk to challenge the privileges of the "pet". Trust your instincts about what to do in this situation- Does your boss play fair or get defensive when he/she is confronted with his/her biases?
A good manager should make sure that working holidays, weekends, floating, etc. is distributed fairly and evenly among all staff nurses. Nothing causes more resentment when certain employees appear to be receiving preferential treatment. I would talk to your manager about this. It is important to be assertive and demand fair treatment in the work place or people will most certainly walk all over you!
We had an interesting situation last night. Our unit has a policy (and a good one IMO) that there has to be at least 1 female staff on the unit for all shifts. Christmas Eve I was cancelled back to 11pm because had I come in, it would have just been 2 male nurses on the unit (me and the 3-11 nurse). The other option was to bring in a female PCT. By cancelling me, the female nurse I was to work with (7p-7a) came in so no extra money had to be spent, so all was well. Earlier, however, they did have to get a PCT to work a few hours so they could have a female on the unit.
So Christmas day rolls around, same situation. I told the ACM I did not want to be cancelled again and the female nurse I was working with had long before requested to be cancelled back to 11p. So I come in and lo and behold the 3-11 male nurse ended up being cancelled. Now obviously I understand them not wanting to spend the $48 (if they make $12/hr--this is just a wild guess) to have a PCT work for 4 hrs to allow for a female presence. Here is what is a trip. From 3p-7p it was 2 male nurses...that's it. No extra PCT. Nada. Why was it ok on some occassions but not on others? I felt so bad for my coworker who pretty much unexpectedly had to come in at 7p instead of 11p. As a manager, being inconsistent is about the worst thing you can do to your employees.
jemb
693 Posts
I read your post before anyone had replied, but hesitated to respond . However, since you asked...
There may be many things besides being someone's "pet" here.
Maybe, maybe not. Has this person worked several Christmases in a row, or does he/she have an ill elderly relative, or an out of town relative that lives too far away to see very often? Was he/she ill? Did the person who promised you 1st cancellation forget your conversation from last month?
It helps when a unit has a system for sharing holidays (i.e., choose your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices to work of the 3 generally recognized winter holidays, and hopefully get some fairness). But simply being told by one person a month ago that you will be first cancel might not even be remembered, let alone be honored if for some reason it is not the most reasonable in the long run.
You voluntarily work for a facility that must cover holidays. I'm sure you'd like to have the day off to spend with your kids, but you can still be there at a time when they receive their gifts and share a holiday meal. Most people who don't have kids still have elderly parents, spouses, siblings, grandkids, other relatives or friends, and like to spend the holidaywith those loved ones. I agree with Caroladybelle:
"what does having kids have to do with whether one gets Christmas off or not?"