In what order are nurses placed "on call"

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

My facility absolutely tries to keep the pain from lost hours, from low census,

as fair as possible. This season is the worst I've ever seen.

Taking turns at staying home is a start, but that method breaks down quick.

It's not unusual for one nurse to work 4 12s and another to only get one. Every

time we try to "fix" the scenario that allows the above to happen, then another

loop hole opens up. It would be wonderful if each of us would compare notes

about hours worked, and then share the shifts that were available. :icon_roll That

doesn't work at all. It seems like when there's a drought we turn into savages.

Stomping on each other in an effort to get as many hours as we can.

Does anybody have any ideas outside the box, that work for you?

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Our contract says Per diem, part time and then full time. However, nobody adheres to that and I do not know why. Its in the contract. All they have to do is grieve it.

We have a list of all the nurses on the unit. When somebody is placed on call 'o/c' is place by their name. This way we have instant access of who was on call, sick etc..It's done on a monthly basis, so it works well.

Our contract also has low census hours. We won 600 hours for our facility. The nurses can come in for 4 hours allotments and do audits, etc..Once the 600 hrs are gone, there is no more and they do no rollover.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

My workplace cancels PRN employees first, then part-timers, then the full-timers.

[carrie_c]

My hospital calls off prns first. But low census is not usually a problem on my floor. Some of us beg for it sometimes! It can get crazy. We also have a low census page we can sign up on if we want it. The first person to sign up gets it, regardless of full time or prn. It works very well.

[Aurora77]

First on call are those who would be getting OT that shift, then the PRNs, then FT/PT based on who's gone the longest between being on call. We were getting low censused during the winter, but we've been crazy busy all spring and summer. Hope things pick up for you.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Ours is like Aurora's.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Depending on the facility, whether or not it's union, and what the contract says IF they are union.

Usually.....the most expensive go. Agency/Per Diem first (unless the agency/traveler has a contract that pays whether or not they work, if I have to pay even if they don't work? Guess who's working)

Next is request, then when last canceled, and then how many hours total of non voluntary cancel is present.....and If there is any OT/extra worked this pay. I always make very effort to make sure as many of the nurses get the hours they need/assigned as much as possible. If I have a nurse and it's not her turn but she has 3 extra shifts this pay, has been canceled once (which means she is still up 2) and the other nurse has been canceled once but it is her "turn" by last canceled date....the nurse that is up 2 will be canceled.

It was found to be a heavy burden on the part time employees and the least senior to always be canceled.

At a union facility I work at....there is a no mandatory cancel policy in the contract so I cancel CNA's and secretaries instead after requests are filled.

It is very difficult as a manager/supervisor to make these decision and you can tell when everyone is hurting...but for some managers it just isn't a simple answer.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

needless to say, this is a not an easy question to answer simply because the issue at hand can vary from facility to facility. however, in the facility where i work we tend to look at the amount of ot, prn nurses, agency nurses, in order to make a decision. therefore, is not an easy task but we try to accommodate everyone, considering most of all the facility needs in order to provide a high caliber of patient care.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

First volunteers (usually have more than enough, especially in summer), then in alphabetical order (order can be switched if the person whose turn it is happens to be on call following their shift- then next person in line is off and the next day is for the person skipped). We keep track not only of days but also hours since we have 8, 10, and 12 hour shifts and sometimes people are sent home early still counted as low census.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

We cancel OT first, then PRN, ET, retired PRN. After that then we move to regular staff. We keep a log on who has been cancelled. If we are mandatory cancelling then we only cancel in 4 hour blocks to keep it fair. For regular staff cancel, it is a crap shoot on if you will be cancelled for a full 12 hours or not, we only cancel in 4 hour blocks and if we need you to come in, then you have to come it, if we don't need you then you have the option to take the next 4 hours, etc off if you want, if you don't then we move to the next person on the date list.

[RainMom]

We keep a list of everyone with a record of dates for when they were forced off for low census. Then if someone will be called off, the previous shift looks at that record & the person with the date farthest back will be forced off, usually given on call status. If multiple people are forced off, the 1-2 people with the most recent dates being forced off, will be given on call.

[MunoRN, RN]

We have the opposite problem, we fight over who gets to be called off. Personally my preference would be to decide by height.