I don't want to come to work on my days off.

[Wheaties]

I feel guilt ridden when I don't come to work on my days off. I don't know if guilt ridden is the proper adjective to use on how I feel. All I know is that it gets to me and bugs me for a while when I don't pick up that phone. I don't even like going to work on my days off. On my days off, my local hospital usually calls my house to see if i wanna come to work since they are short staff in nurses. I have never picked up the phone and answered it coz I'm doing something else or I'm going out to run errands.

I've been working in that hospital for 1 and 1/2 years now as an RN. I graduated May 2006. I work in a Med-surg/Tele floor.And not once have I come to work extra on my days off. I've only called in sick once, coz I was physically exhausted that day and I couldnt sleep at all.

I like the people I work with, the nurses, supervisors, charge nurses are all very helpful and nice, I love working with the patients. But working in Med-surg is often for the most part quite overwhelming. We have lots of paperwork, and often times it gets busy and I am fightin to catch up with the amount of work to be done. Not only that, but when I am assinged with a team, when they assign me to an LVN, I get 12 patients. If I work by myself as an RN, I get at most 6. I can handle a team of 6 patients by myself. I'd come to work everyday if I know that I wouldn't be assinged to a team with an LVN. For the most part, a lot of nurses don't stay in that floor for a long time. I can understand why, I don't blame them. Just when we have enough nurses, some other nurses leave to go somewhere, and we become short staff again. Its a combination of factors really, med-surg is a tough place to work sometimes.

I guess I'm making this post because I want to know what your opinions are on not keeping to work on your days off. How do you folks feel about it? I'm still new in nursing, and like I said, I've only been an RN 1 and 1/2 years.

[EmmaG, RN]

Just say no. It's as simple as that...

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

Your days off should be just that ...... days OFF from work.

I work 3 days a week, which is full time. The other 4 days of the week are MINE. All mine!!

Being a nurse is tough. It's a lot of responsibility and it's hard work. You need days off to keep from burning out.

I hope you can try and enjoy your days off without feeling guilty. You deserve those days off to do whatever you want, and if you don't want to work .... don't :)

[oramar]

This is a complaint we have heard over and over again. Managment must stop doing this because harrassing and harranging a nurse on his/her days off can hasten burnout and aggrivate turnover. The person is a nervous wreck when they work because of all the stress and then they are a nervous wreck at home because of the constant phone calls. Hanging a overtime slip and giving a person a chance to sign up for overtime (if they so choose) is one thing but invading a persons down time is another all together.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

That's why I'm glad our unit rarely calls people for extra shifts. We can sign up for extra shifts if we want, but they hardly ever call us ...... unless they are critically staffed, which is rare. They don't harrass us, which could be why we're very well staffed.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Why are nurses so loyal to our workplaces when the degree of loyalty is virtually never returned to us? This "martyr mentality" does not make a great deal of sense to me.

I feel no sense of guilt when staying away from work on my days off. After all, I am entitled to my days off. When census drops, management feels absolutely no shame when they send employees home for the day. Why, then, should I feel bad about enjoying my days off?

I didn't create any staffing woes, so I should never feel guilty enough to 'correct' the shortfall by working extra shifts. Neither should you.

[acerila]

I stopped answering and they stopped calling. I think they feel like they can take advantage of you because you are new so don't let them.

The other week they called a co-worker at mine at 5:45 to come in at 7. She is way too nice and she ended up coming in. I overheard them saying that the person they called before her ended up slamming their phone down on them (good for that person .. and no they weren't mad or offended they found the whole thing hilarious, they were laughing about it for some time)

[caliotter3]

Don't make yourself sick by coming in and starting yourself on the workaholic cycle and don't make yourself sick with guilt by having the fortitude to say no. Your days off are your days off. You will learn to respect your time to recuperate as your body grows older and your health gets a little less "perfect". If you feel that guilty, then maybe you can make the decision to go in once in a blue moon. But only to make yourself feel good and only on your terms. Otherwise, stay away from the workplace on your days off. It will make you sick over time. Many workaholics will be able to attest to this. Find something constructive to do with your family or something rejuvenating for yourself to do instead. Your peace of mind will more than make up for the twinges of guilt that you feel over not allowing them to work you into the ground, or later into an early grave.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

Thank goodness for caller ID! If it's my day off, and my cell rings and it's the hospital, I don't pick up. I don't feel guilty either. Granted, I haven't had this happen at my current hospital, but my old one would do it every so often. I know it can be hard not feel guilty when you're new but you'll get over it. If it's always the same person calling you, you could find out their number and have fun calling them at 3 am to get your point across!

[Diary/Dairy, RN]

Amen - get caller ID - if they call you - DO NOT ANSWER!!! That's what I do!

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If I don't feel like answering the phone I let it ring, and the machine picks up. That's a direct result of being a nurse and taking so many calls to come in and work every dam day. The more time you put in as a nurse the less guilty you will feel about ignoring the phone.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

If you don't want to work extra, then don't! No, you do not owe them your free time.

And if you do decide, in advance, you want to sign up to work an extra shift, then make it contingent upon getting an acceptable assignment. "I will work on Friday but only if I can work by myself and have no more than 6 patients." Nothing says they'll follow through on this, but if they don't then they won't see your smiling face working extra again!!

Oh, and if you're asked to work extra and don't want to, just say "No." At the most, "No, I'm sorry, I have plans." It's nobody's business what those plans are, whether those are plans to do your laundry or whatever else!!