how does your l&d unit run?

mitchsmom · Nov 16, 2008

I have a couple questions on how your l&d unit is ran? First question is how you run your holiday rotations? On our unit if you work the holiday for example memorial day you have to work the whole weekend even if it is not your weekend rotation. and if it is your holiday off for example thanksgiving you have to work the day before and the day after.
Next question is if your a closed unit, how do you run it? Please share how you run your unit and if you do not want to repost it on this thread you can email me.

We have to alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving and usually if you have Christmas off, you work Christmas Eve. I don't think we really do that for T-giving though.

The other holidays fall where they may.

Our department (which includes postpartum and peds) is closed, which for us means no one floats out and no one floats in, and we are responsible for all of our own scheduling and finding a fill-in if someone calls off, etc.

Does that help? If you have other questions, feel free.

jenrninmi, MSN, RN · Nov 18, 2008

For our unit, I believe you need to work one winter holiday and one non-winter Holiday (I think Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years). But we also have non-holidays scheduled. We do this because sometimes a person might get stuck working every Christmas Eve or New Years Eve, just because it falls on their regular scheduled day. So, this way the person can have the two days off. Now, I'm Resource (perdiem, registry or whatever you want to call it), I just have to work one 8 hour holiday a year. I chose July 4th (July 3rd at 1900-July 4th @ 0700). So that worked very well for me.

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 18, 2008

We alternate holidays, if need be like said before me. The manager posts what everyone worked the previous year and then posts the holiday sign-up. Rarely, does anyone have to work what she does not want to...... W,e sign up for 6 or 12 hour blocks on holidays. It works well. They fill up fast, as working only 6 hours is less onerous than the whole 12 on any day. And a lot of folks do like that holiday pay an will take all 12 (I being one of them).

Does this help?

mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 20, 2008

We self schedule so you just put yourself down for a holiday or you put yourself on call for a holiday and all is good. It all seems to work out really well there without many interventions from upper management. We do not have set amounts that must be worked however with that being said, it is kept track of somewhere and if need be (like you are not pulling your weight with holidays), they'll pull it out and schedule you for some holidays.

Some people I work with have NO ISSUE with working holidays, they want that 12 hours of holiday pay. I noticed for all our winter holidays we were more than adequately staffed......

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Nov 20, 2008

I think our unit could take some ideas from this. I think we are WAY too micromanaged in this area.

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 20, 2008

THen propose it, Elvish! It has worked beautifully for many years on our unit.

PegRNBSN · Nov 21, 2008

How do you self schedule. We tried a couple of years back but no one wanted to work the undesirable shifts and there were the same nurses changing their schedules to cover the holes. We have a large unit (50 nurses) so it is pretty complex. Mixture of 8 and 12 hour shifts.

We divide the Christmas and New years holidays into 6 shifts (three on the eve and three on the day) The shifts that pay bonus are the "holiday" shifts the others "non-holiday". You work one of each, either all on one holiday or splitting the two. We work opposite of what we worked the year before. What shift you get is determined by seniority with everyone giving a first and second choice. You always have the option to switch.

The day after TG is trickier but we look at who has to work the weekend and who had off the previous year(s)

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Nov 21, 2008

We are in two groups, and within those two groups are two options.

Group 1 Option 1 is TH, NYE, NYD and Option 2 is CE, CD.

Group 2 Option 2 is TH, CE, NYE, and Option 2 is CD, NYD

Apart from that, everybody has to work 4 minor holidays (Mother's Day, Easter, Father's Day, Halloween, Mem day, Labor day, and MLK day)

It gets really confusing after a while. Last yr I worked Christmas Eve & Day. This year (finally) I get Christmas off. I'm working the Wed before Thanksgiving, then the Fri/Sat afterward, and then NYE/NYD.

jhhrn68 · Nov 21, 2008

After reading this thread, I think I am going to propose self scheduling, or at least a little more input from the staff about the schedule. I know we always have to have someone working that can scrub and someone that can circulate and someone that can be the charge nurse. But we are all intelligent adults who work well together, usually. right now the scheduling is in the hands of one person.