Low census vs. on call????

[ontocrna]

Anyone else experience this? Shift is 7p-7a. I get a low census phone call this evening "till 11p". So how is that not on call status? I can't have a margarita with dinner! I still have to have a phone on me so they can determine my status beyond 11! All this means to me is I'm on the schedule till 7a and I can't do anything until then and I'm not going to get paid time and a half if that changes like a person on call would get. Low census to me should mean for your whole shift otherwise it's just on call, right? Lastly, I can't really say no to whatever change is made beyond 11 because after all I'm on the schedule till 7a. Granted I don't have big plans but I'd really like to just have the shift off tonight and not get the dumb wake your bum up phone call at 11 to tell me that they aren't going to call and wake my bum up anymore throughout the night. I should get paid for my hassle as an on call nurse if it ain't the whole night! How does your hospital do it?

[pers]

We all work 12 hour shifts (7-7) on my unit but staffing is done by eight hour shifts (7-3, 3-11, 11-7). If you are put on call, regardless of the shift, you get $2/hr and remain on call till you are called in (with standard pay) or called off (on call pay stops and you have to use PTO if you want paid for the missed hours). We usually keep at least one person on call rather than calling everyone off completely but it depends on the house census as well since you can be called in to work any unit, not just your own.

If you get called off it's done when staffing for the next eight hours is done and you are called off till the next round of staffing. So if you are scheduled at 7a and get called off you won't have to come in till at least 3 (but may be called off then as well). If you work at 7p you may end up having to come in at 11 or may be called off for the remainder of the shift. If you get called off, you don't have to come in early though. Sometimes we'll call someone off and then someone else won't be able to make it in and we'll try to get the person called off to come in and if they say no there is no penalty (if they were put on call though, they have to come in).

[Music in My Heart]

Either we get called off or we don't. Call time gets paid @ $16/hr.

[Cthebigguy]

Well, I guess it is facility/administration protocol. I have heard of some places that once they put out a schedule, that is it... no changes (even if census gets to be excessively high/low). Other places they have incentives to be on call, an example (a coworker had left for an offer like this) if you get called in Mon-Thurs=it is time and half, Fri-Sat= Time and half, plus paid breaks and 10$ meal paid, and if it is on Sun= 2x time, paid breaks and meal up to 20$, if you where not called in = nothing.

And I have seen a place (I decided not to take this job), that I was on call every other week, and if I was called in I was expected to be there and no incentives where given... I told them unless there was an incentive I wasn't doing it, and they told me no, so I told them to find another aide (hard, given that place had just had over half the crew walk out.)