Low census = shift cancellation.....help!

janetjanetbobanet · Dec 4, 2008

The mall job doesn't sound too bad, but it might be hard to get one these days with the high unemployment levels.

lpnflorida · Dec 4, 2008

A second job as a back up is not a bad idea at all. We had several low census days throughout the summer. Then 2 months were there was no cancellations at all. The past 2 weeks, low census again. This whole past year has been up and down. I have not seen anything like it in 30 years.

oldladyRN · Dec 4, 2008

Can they cancel you like that if your hours are guaranteed? Is this hospital owned by PSI?

Jules A, MSN · Dec 4, 2008

I would definitely get a second job of some sort if you are having trouble making ends meet. The good news is in our line of work once the holidays are over things should pick back up at least with the pediatric population. :)

tkane · Dec 4, 2008

Thats happening where I work also. I've been thinking about a mall job (parttime) thru the holiday season. I guess maybe the nursing shortage is over & with the economy like it is I'm worrying about my hours. Anyone else out there experiencing this?

TX_nurse_08 · Dec 4, 2008

They are supposed to give us at least 2 hours notice (i.e. - call us at 5 am if we are scheduled to work 7a-7p) of cancellation. If they inform us that we are cancelled when we arrive at work, we're allowed to stay and work for 2 hours to make a trivial amount of money for our inconvenience. I have no guaranteed hours, I'm a regular full-time employee. They don't stop any benefits because of the decreased hours, and they rotate whose "turn" it is to be cancelled! The thing that irritates me most is that we have so many agency and travel nurses that have recently (as in 2-3 weeks ago) been taken on and THEY get all of their hours since they're under contract! Oh well, what can ya do? Besides try really hard not to be jealous of these nurses being paid near double what I'm paid, working a guaranteed 40 hours per week, and living free in furnished apartments or hotels with room service. I do love room service.... :chuckle

nurseshepherd · Dec 4, 2008

I try to keep an unstructured PRN job to help with situations like that and for addition income when I have a project or financial need. Working in another area of nursing is always a challenge and helps you grow as a health care professional. Having said that, my primary issue is the hourly rate and safe working conditions. Good luck to you and God bless.:wink2:

Speed Freak · Dec 4, 2008

A mall job is always good. Pretty stress free. What is it that Dave Ramsey, the financial guru always recommend? Delivering pizzas?

With me being a fit and scary looking dude, I usually turn to bouncing when I need extra money. I also have a cousin who is a bail bondsman and I do some bounty hunting for him. He is disabled so he can't handle some of the "physical" aspects of bringing someone in.

highlandlass1592, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2008

They are supposed to give us at least 2 hours notice (i.e. - call us at 5 am if we are scheduled to work 7a-7p) of cancellation. If they inform us that we are cancelled when we arrive at work, we're allowed to stay and work for 2 hours to make a trivial amount of money for our inconvenience. I have no guaranteed hours, I'm a regular full-time employee. They don't stop any benefits because of the decreased hours, and they rotate whose "turn" it is to be cancelled! The thing that irritates me most is that we have so many agency and travel nurses that have recently (as in 2-3 weeks ago) been taken on and THEY get all of their hours since they're under contract! Oh well, what can ya do? Besides try really hard not to be jealous of these nurses being paid near double what I'm paid, working a guaranteed 40 hours per week, and living free in furnished apartments or hotels with room service. I do love room service.... :chuckle

Whoa! Got some misconceptions in your post there. :no: I can guarantee you the travel and agency nurses aren't being paid double what you are making and definitely don't get free housing...it all comes out of the bill rate to the hospital. This is something the travel nurse has no control over. And remember, if they are lucky enough to have guaranteed hours in their contract, if they don't work they don't get paid and in some instances if they don't work, they have to pay money back to the agency they work for. (this includes having to pay back part of the housing cost as well) They frequently don't have the bennies you have as a staff nurse (uh forget sick time and vacation time) and that impacts the bottom line. Oh and to really be able to make traveling work, they have to duplicate expenses by maintaining a permanent tax residence or everything they make is taxed at a ridiculous rate! And never once in over 4 years of traveling did I ever have room service. Traveling is a life style choice and it's great..it definitely has it's positives but I would hazard to say they aren't what you think they are. Whew, had to get that off my chest. You're saying things that others have said and it really couldn't be farther from the truth and I honestly don't think it's fair to spread misconceptions about other nurses if we can help it.

That being said, sorry to get off topic. If you are experiencing some low census days, you gotta figure out what works best for you. I mean, you said something about having no stress working at that mall job (which you know will have stress just not nursing stress). I don't know with you doing psych that you'd be comfortable with med/surg or floor nursing and LTC is really an art form all unto it's own. Guess it boils down to figuring out what makes you happy. Personally, I've done agency shifts when I can (which are totally drying up where I'm at-at facilities I mean). I've also used low census times to try to cross train to broaden my skills but again, I don't know if that's something you'd be looking for.

As for working at the mall making you better off (with the no stress thingie) and employee discount, well in my case it wouldn't be beneficial if I was looking to use that employee discount much. Could come out further in the hole than I started out, especially if I started working at a book store. LOL

All that being said, what appeals to you most about picking up a second job? The lack of nursing stress? Then I'd say go for the mall thing. Think you might like to pick up skills as a nurse? Check into some agencies. I don't much about the per diem psych world but doing some discreet inquiries might gain you some info. you like. Whatever you decide, good luck and I hope things work out for you.

caliotter3 · Dec 4, 2008

Have you thought about home health? Great opportunity for flexibility there. You can work as little or as much as you want, all you have to do is to communicate your availability to your staffing coordinator. In your case, you would want shift cases. If it were me, I would schedule one or two shifts per week or every two weeks, on an ongoing basis. That way you can count on that income to make up for any future cancellations at your primary job.

uscstu4lfe · Dec 4, 2008

why in the hell would you take a mall job for a minimal amount of money vs. a nursing job that pays a lot more? THIS makes absolutely NO sense to me AT ALL.