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.
Specializes in Peds leukemia, APON, GI in a clinic.
Hey Wheaties - I would suggest you take your very valuable 1 1/2 yrs. experience and try it out at a few different places. You will find someplace where you are not scared to come to work. And when you find a place to love/be loved, the phone ringing will not have the power to terrify you any longer.
When I'm in charge, I have to make those dreaded calls. I don't enjoy doing it, and if someone says 'no' I thank them and hang up. I've actually been counseled for telling new nurses that they don't have to work every time they're called.
When I was doing Nursing Supervisor (I did this instead of getting cancelled, about once a week), I did night shift and had to do staffing in the morning around 0445 so I could gt agency by 0500...If a unit or floor was short staffed, I used to have to call the staff that were off those days and ask if they would like to work. I hated it but didn't have choice, if staff wouldn't come in I had to get approval for agency staff and then the agency and if there were no agency staff, I would call the respective manager and ask them what they would like to do, at this point I would usually get asked if I could stay and work until they got to work...I sometimes would give in and stay...If I couldn't get any of the staff to come in, then I would get yelled at by the staff that were having to work short staffed...What was I supposed to do? I hadn't learned how to sh*t a nurse yet...
I never hassled the staff and was always nice and asked really nicely about them coming to work, most of the time they said no, sometimes they would work...If I got lucky the night before I would get approval to make a deal, extra pay or another day off, etc...So sometimes I could try to make a deal...
Anyhow, just wanted y'all to here from the other side.
I work night shift. I don't even own a home phone anymore. When I come home, the cell phone stays on until I go to sleep, usually about 0900. Then I turn it off until I wake up, which is usually around 1600-1700, depending on how exhausted I am. If it's my day off and I've been running errands, etc and don't get to bed until noonish, I turn the phone back on whenever I manage to haul my happy little behind out of bed.
My days off are just that.....MINE! When we were short-staffed for about a 2 month period, we all pitched in and pulled some extra shifts. But we were able to schedule them in advance, for the most part. And that makes a huge difference.
On a funny note, we were short staffed last Saint Patty's day, and I was called to come in at about 5 pm, and I told the charge nurse the real reason. . . . .sorry, just had a beer!
Specializes in Critical care, neuroscience, telemetry,.
As Nancy Reagan said, "Just say no."
Don't feel guilty. I've watched a lot of people die, and not a one of them has ever expressed regret that they didn't work more. Enjoy your job, enjoy your time off and seek to find the balance in your life.
nobody forces them to short staff....when it happens, I'm more than happy to come in once in a while...knowing that they better work with me if I have a family or school thing happen on a worknight....If they don't work with me, then I'm not working extra.....Plus, You can usually say...well, I'll work 1/2 shift, on just our floor, and with no more than x patients.....if they're desperate enough, they'll do it! We used to have incentive pay, and that's gone now, but the extra money is nice once in a while....
I agree, you'll burn out quickly if you keep feeling guilty about things like this. It's not your job to keep your workplace appropriately staffed. They have options -- pool, agency, and last but not least, having the supervisors do a shift on the floor.
Because you're a new grad, they're bugging you for another reason -- you cost less. With all the demands on you -- physically, emotionally, mentally -- I'm sure you just don't get paid enough to sacrifice your health.
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
I moved the phone out of the bedroom and I have caller ID.I work with a supervisor that tries to browbeat staff into OT.I just walk away.I don't owe any excuse.I'll offer myself when it is convenient.Try doing that-let it assuage your guilt.Tell yourself you will give x hours of OT per month (if you wish) and stick to it..Also as another poster said-they will bargain with you-ask for a different day off or a particular assigment.If they need you they will work WITH you...I
Be thankful you are not scheduled call days on what should be your days off. This is what has been happening on our unit and it is not in our contract to be scheduled mandatory call days..48 hours a pay period...we are taking in to HR and going to refuse to do it anymore....it makes having a home life impossible, having another job impossible.
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wonderbee, BSN, RN
1 Article; 2,212 Posts
The powers that be are trying to misappropriate something that belongs to you, your time. Why should you feel guilty?