Soooo...I worked Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. I have both off this year:p Our ER has tried really hard to be fair in who works what. Usually the newest staff work Christmas. That means that whoever was last hired is automatically on for Christmas. (which is why I worked it last year)
I had never worked Christmas before and it nearly broke my heart...But, after posting something here, I waaaaay got over it:D I recieved many replies that basically said "Christmas is any day you make it" I actually enjoyed working Christmas last year. Lot's of actually sick pt's! My family had Christmas the day AFTER and it was really fun.
This year in our unit was difficult. Here is the scoop. Two nurses were hired at exactly the same time. The Christmas shift was filled by nurses who volunteered to work except for one slot. So, our poor director had to choose one nurse to work. The first new nurse has "little kids" ages 2 and 3. The second new nurse has a husband who has been in Iraq for the past two Christmases and a new grandchild to see. The first nurse (with "little kids") was scheduled for Christmas. :chair: ohmyholycow...She pitched a FIT. Crying and throwing things in the break room about how "she has little kids" It was a scene. She went down the schedule and realized that many of us have both holidays off and really went crazy.
Anyhow...What do you think was "fair" She managed to throw enough of a hissy fit that our director posted the position as "open" and another nurse actually wanted to trade for Thanksgiving... I just thought the nurse throwing a hissy was ridiculous.
OK, as a mother of an 8,6 and 4 year old, I would just like to say I can't stand the "but I have little kids" tantrum. I would never be so obnoxious as to think someone without children does not deserve to enjoy the holiday as much as I do.
Thank you for saying that!!!!! I do not have children (by choice), and it's refreshing to read your post!
On holidays, if it is your regular day to work, you work it. We're lucky that we have a lot of people on our floor that actually like working the holidays ($$)
Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.
Some hospitals just don't offer it.
At my hospital in order to get bonus pay for working holidays, you have to cash in your PTO time, but I can't do that because #1 I don't have enough time saved up and #2 I am still in my orientation period, so my benefits are still frozen
I'm not a nurse, but have worked as a Health Unit Coordinator on a pediatric unit for the last 10 years. Our nurses usually work every other holiday, and even though we are a small unit (18 total beds) there never seems to be a problem with working it out among themselves if people want someone to trade with them. All this talk did remind me of a funny story! :) When my youngest daughter was in about 3rd grade (she's 17 now) she had to write a paper on her family's holiday traditions. Her teacher was saddened to find out that apparently our only family holiday tradition is that Mom works and Dad orders pizza!!!
After the Thanksgiving from hell with my relatives - I look forward to saying "sorry I have to work at the hospital on that holiday. Duty calls." My family is so nuts I'd rather work, and I can't wait to use this excuse.
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
After the Thanksgiving from hell with my relatives - I look forward to saying "sorry I have to work at the hospital on that holiday. Duty calls." My family is so nuts I'd rather work, and I can't wait to use this excuse.
:chair:
The first year I was dating my husband, we went to his Dad's for Christmas. It was the most miserable holiday I'd ever spent (and bear in mind that my own father's drinking almost universally ruined Christmas Eve when I was growing up, so saying it was the worst is really saying something about how bad it was). The next year, I refused to go. My husband fretted about upsetting his Dad, but I said ''oh well, I've gotta work. You do what you need to do'', and he knew I was really saying ''I'll be upset if you don't stay here and spend what part of the day that you can with me''.
That year, his sister-in-law said to me that she wished she had the nerve to tell fil that they were staying home. I told her life is short and that atmosphere was spoiling the day for her kids. The next year, they stayed home, too. The year after that, my fil didn't host Christmas. He didn't enjoy it and the stress of the day, plus my obnoxious bil and his steadfast refusal to rein in his 4 kids made it feel like being in a powder keg, not celebrating a holiday. No thank you...
at my place we can sign up for 4 hour shifts on holidays so everyone gets to enjoy most of the day with their families. sometimes people volunteer to work the whole shift.
jenrninmi, MSN, RN
1,976 Posts
Why not??