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

Leo2 · Jan 20, 2008

Why do you not want to work with an LVN ? Leo2

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jan 20, 2008

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.

Seems to me that if you're on call, you're "working." That's not a day off by any means. :angryfire

ktwlpn, LPN · Jan 20, 2008

Why do you not want to work with an LVN ? Leo2

Have you worked acute care? It doesn't matter if it's team nursing or not-we LPN's have a much more limited scope of practice.An RN covers for us and effectively is responsible for our patients,too.Depending on the state you are in and the p and p of the facility this may put a sizeable burden on the RN. Here in my state I can't push any IV meds- nor can I hang blood but I can monitor a transfusion after the first 15 mins.I believe an RN has to assess each acute care patient daily so even if assigned to an LPN an RN still has to do that..The last time I worked in acute care LPN's were not permitted to take verbal orders or access central lines -these thing have changed.I don't think the OP meant to start an LPN vs RN debate...It is what it is.....

ASSEDO · Jan 20, 2008

when you get called in to work on your day off, there is definitely one or two problems with the hospital. neither is your fault! please do not blame yourself because:

1. the hospital works on a skeleton crew, (hospital problem) or

2. the hospital is disorganized and cannot get the work out of the employees that are present that day, (hospital problem)

rejoice on your day off!!!

you having a day off is not your problem. you don't own that problem, and never will. you are an individual contributor to the hospital environment that is dysfunctional. as long as you go in on your day off, the hospital will not hire enough staff. you are doing the other employees of the hospital a favor by not going into work on your off day. at some point, hospital administration will determine they need to provide adequate staff for employees that take regular time off, vacations, holidays, illness, and disability.

an old saying for the 60's "hell no, i want go!" should now be applied for understaffed hospitals, by overworked employees.

banditrn · Jan 20, 2008

I worked part-time for the last 3 years that I worked at the hospital. That was the only job available in the unit I worked, and it was fine with me - I had other things to do on my time off.

This meant that my supervisor also thought that my days off should be used at her discretion. I would pick up for her occasionally, but not nearly as often as she thought I should.

One day she started in on me in front of the other girls, about how it must be NICE to only have to work part-time, etc. etc. and about how many hours SHE had to work.

I told her that the number of hours she worked was HER choice, and that was the last time I ever picked up any shifts for her.:icon_roll

abbaking · Jan 20, 2008

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.

Don't ever feel guilty for not comming to work an extra shift. I don't. My hospital does the same thing with me calling me on my off days to work extra. I usually say NO, because I have a life and I need to relax and sleep for a few days rather than break my back and get burnt out with a motherload of patients.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 20, 2008

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.

we're scheduled for call, too. i work 36 hours per week, and must schedule myself for call two twelve-hour shifts every six weeks. that means i'm accountable to the unit 40 hours per week, but my benefits are based on 36 hours per week. when i get called in, i get paid for the extra hours, but my benefits are still based on 36 hours. a union could help us out with that bit of bull$hite!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 20, 2008

i started in the "dinosaur days" before caller id or even answering machines. i don't remember when answering machines were invented, but i got mine in 1984 immediately after marrying my then-husband. even before we were officially back from our honeymoon, the staffing office was calling us three times before the start of each shift! would tom come in to work? (he worked float pool.) would ruby come in to work? (i worked micu.) would either of us please come in to work? if one of us was working, they'd call for the other. not only every day we had off, but every shift! they had a list of who they'd called and the response, and if you said no too many times, you'd get counseled.

we bought an answering machine and just stopped answering the phone. if it was someone we wanted to talk to, we'd call them back. if it was work and we wanted the overtime, we'd call them back. if you didn't answer the phone, you weren't saying "no" and wouldn't get counseled.

caller id has made things even easier now, but i'm still following pretty much the same principles. if we want to talk to someone, we can pick up the phone or call them back. and i have no guilt about not picking up the phone. of course, there are those pesky on call shifts when i have to be available.

nurseinlimbo · Jan 20, 2008

I don't answer my phone at all, it's usually a 1-800 or work, if it's anyone else I might answer. If it's work and they need me, I let them leave a message for what shift and when, I rarely take short notice calls, and once I have my 19-20 shifts in for a month, I don't take anymore. I don't feel guilty, but it does annoy me that I am somewhat a prisoner even on my day off. We have some nurses who will remember for 2 weeks that they called and you didn't answer....

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · Jan 20, 2008

The older I got, the easier the word NO came out of my mouth. Caller I D was the best thing that nurses can have.

theatredork · Jan 21, 2008

There's absolutely no reason to feel guilty about not working on your days off.

A friend of mine told me a great story once:

During a really bad snowstorm one winter, the hospital was short-staffed due to more than the usual call-outs. My friend kept getting phone calls all day, and finally he picked up.

Hospital: "Mike, can you come into work today, we're really short?"

Mike: "Sorry, I'm snowed in my house."

Only HR had his address, but the worst part is that he lived right across the street from the hospital.

Diary/Dairy, RN · Jan 21, 2008

My Mom's friend Kathy had an excuse list - it was about 50 items - posted by her home phone. If they called, she just read off the next one, and crossed it off. When she got to the end, she just started back up again.

I have used some really bad excuses myself too - It was at that point I decided I needed a new job if I was willing to go to such lengths to get out of work.