Missed a call for an on-call shift

[BabyLady]

It's been awhile since I have posted.

I have always prided myself in being professional and I make myself available to work as much as possible.

I work the night shift and I am one of those people that can go to bed that night after sleeping all day.

I was on call tonight...and they made a really big deal before I left the previous night to fully expect to work tonight at 6:00 because they were on high census.

I slept all day, washed my uniforms, got up, took a shower, fully expecting to work.

It came 6:00 ....no phone call...so I called them, and they decided to "work with the staff that they had" which meant that a couple of nurses probably got higher assignments than normal.

I was disappointed because I needed the money.

So at 10:30...I went to bed.

At 11:00...they called.

Guess what? I have a Blackberry and I got up around 3:00 a.m. and checked my phone for e-mails and discovered that I had 3 missed calls...I ALWAYS hear my phone ring.

So I tried to call from my house phone and discovered that my ringtones were not working.

I called work immediately, offered to come in right then, they ended up calling someone else in for me....and I know darn good and well that several of my coworkers probably got woke up in the middle of the night trying to get someone to cover for me.

I cannot tell you how embarrassed I was....what makes it worse is that this is the SECOND time I have missed a call from work because my Blackberry ringtones suddenly stopped working and required the phone to be rebooted in order to get them to work.

The only reason my work doesn't have my house phone number is that the clericals that work the day shift think NOTHING of calling night shift people at 11:00 am., 1:00 pm...whatever...for non-emergent reasons..even if you are already scheduled that night...calls that can easily wait another 3 to 4 hours.

It's hard enough to sleep during the day...so when I get woke up, I'm up. I can't get back to sleep and have to work that night severely sleep deprived which isn't safe.

I called and offered to come in on the day shift if they needed help...charge nurse wasn't exactly nice about it.

Now I can't get back to sleep because there is nothing that I hate worse than looking like an idiot at work and now I'm worried about getting in trouble on Monday with my manager...which I fully expect to happen because they see this no different than a no-call, no show.

Those of you that have experience on the night shift much longer than me....how does your hospital handle these? Is some sympathy given? Or do they not care that sometimes technology fails.

I would love to go to my cell phone company tomorrow and get a different phone, but I am 8 months from a contract ending and it would cost me over $200 to make the change.

Any advice and encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

[caliotter3]

Yes, they require us to be on-call all night.

I work as a NICU nurse and of course, we never know when babies are going to be admitted.

All I heard before I left is how they had 11 nurses on the schedule, but had worked the night before with 14 so to FULLY expect to come in at 6:00.

I was very surprised when I called and they said they didn't need me...but they still expect you to sleep by the phone to be called.

Oh yeah, for the sum of $26.00.

Twenty-six dollars is not enough for me to stay awake all night. You called in, that is enough.

[kcochrane]

The only suggestion I "like" is a prepaid phone?

A prepaid phone, from what I have been able to research on the internet, will cost me about $30..and I found a plan this morning that charges 30 cents a minute, but once you purchase the initial start-up of 50 minutes, which is around $20....you don't pay anything per month or per day...you just get dinged with the minutes when you use them.

http://www.net10.com/

Net10 is a good one if it is available in your area. I got mine at dollar general a while back. The minutes last for 2 months and you get a certain number when you buy the phone. I would still go back and complain also about your blackberry and/or you can research it online. I find a lot of ways around phone issues. But in most cases your service will allow you to get a replacement for $50 even if you don't have insurance.

[CathyLew]

Twenty-six dollars is not enough for me to stay awake all night. You called in, that is enough.

It depends on the facility, contract etc.... Our hospital if you are on call, you are on call all night. I think its more like $50 or something. But they can call you at the beginning of the shift, or 2 hrs before the shift ends. Doesn't matter. Call is call.

If you don't like that, then you take one of the many positions that do not have an on call. But....the good thing about on call is...you are called in, you get minimum 4 hrs pay. So if you are called in for one hour, you get 4. and call pay is always time and a half. So some nights you wait by the phone all night, don't get called in and get your 50 bucks. Other nights, you are put on call, and 45 minutes later, they call you in. and you get time and a half for 11 hrs..... that is why call works and is woth it.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

Twenty-six dollars is not enough for me to stay awake all night. You called in, that is enough.

I am not understanding your posts. The OP called at the beginning of her 12 hour shift to see if she needed to be there at the shift start time. When you're on call for a shift, you are on call for that shift....they may need you at any time, if they get admissions or whatever. They do not know at the start of a shift what's going to come in, that's the purpose of putting people on call. How is calling at 6pm sufficient to say someone isn't needed all night long? Had they not potentially needed her, she would have been called off entirely. It's not a difficult concept. A couple bucks an hour is standard pay for on call time, too. You get paid usually more if you are called in, where I work it's time and a half.

The only "cut off" time we have is the guideline that you don't call someone in if there is only 60-90 minutes left in the shift, as it wouldn't be worth it and the next shift will soon be starting.

You don't have a "cut off" time with 10 hours (or whatever) remaining in a shift. That defeats the whole purpose of BEING on call. When you agree to being on call, that is the chance you take, that at some point during the shift, they may need you. Had they called her OFF, and said, "no, don't worry about it," yes, calling in was the only accomodation. That was not the case, however. If someone doesn't want to be tied to the phone all night with the chance of having to go to work, then you can refuse to be on call, go to work, and they'll offer call to someone else. You're equating being on call with having a night off.

[caliotter3]

My last employers haven't paid me show up pay or overtime pay or holiday pay. Anything to nickle and dime the employee as I see it. I would not work on call unless I agreed to the rules of the game. I don't answer my phone at any time unless I know the caller or I'm expecting a phone call. This is due to the fact that I have received too many to count harrassing phone calls in the past. I stopped answering my phone because of these calls.

[CathyLew]

The only "cut off" time we have is the guideline that you don't call someone in if there is only 60-90 minutes left in the shift, as it wouldn't be worth it and the next shift will soon be starting.

Yea, we don't have anything in writing, but you wouldn't call someone in with an hr left...since it would take them at least 30 min to get there

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

My last employers haven't paid me show up pay or overtime pay or holiday pay. Anything to nickle and dime the employee as I see it. I would not work on call unless I agreed to the rules of the game. I don't answer my phone at any time unless I know the caller or I'm expecting a phone call. This is due to the fact that I have received too many to count harrassing phone calls in the past. I stopped answering my phone because of these calls.

That's the thing...the OP knew she was on call, and knew "the rules of the game," as it were, so no, calling in at 6p doesn't suffice for the rest of the noc.

Babylady, I would put your efforts into explaining the situation to your employer, not to us. I took what you said about your phone options to reply, and you got mad about that, too. Either way, you obviously have to do SOMETHING, as this has happened more than once now. I don't think your employer would tolerate it happening one more time? You don't HAVE to get a new phone, or a separate phone, or give your employer your landline number, but if you don't, you're doing it at your own risk. That's all I'm trying to say. I understand you're upset about it, I would be, too....but, it's all in what you do from here. Not doing anything to resolve what is now a recurrent situation is not going to reflect well on you. Giving them your landline number won't cost a thing. Again, I understand your reservations; however, it wouldn't be worth risking losing my job over, either. At least not to me.

[RelloydRN]

Shake it off. It was an honest mistake, no one died over it, and they're not going to fire you over it. Fess up, apologize, and life will go on.

However, I would suggest you get a different phone, maybe a cheap prepaid one, for work calls only. That way there will be no issues with miscommunication. Oh, yeah, and one of these days call the clericals with a stupid question at two a.m. and say something obnoxious like "what? you been sleeping all night?" or my favorite "did I wake you up?"

I totally agree with buying a cheap prepaid phone for work only. Put it on the loudest most annoying ringtone that will wake you even if you are in deep sleep.

[CeilingCat, ASN, RN]

What's done is done. No sense losing sleep over it. What matter is what you'll do to prevent it from happening again.

If it were me, I'd give them my home phone #. Get an answering machine and screen calls when you're not on call.

Get a reliable basic phone. I can't speak for all cell companies, but my provider (Verizon) will give you the lower price on a phone if you extend the contract out. If you don't want to do that, for example if you had Verizon you could add a Friends-And-Family second line for $9.99 and get a basic phone free. Make one number a "business" number for everyone at work. And keep your Blackberry and other number for everything else.

Then when you go into work and can talk to your supervisor about the problem, she will see you're sincere about it not happening again.

[CFitzRN, ADN]

"Ceiling Cat" - hahahaha!! I love icanhascheezburger stuff!

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I actually DO have call forwarding! I never use the feature and never considered this....that would actually solve the problem and allow me to turn the cell off when I'm sleeping and do call forwarding on days I am on call...and not cost me a cent!

THANK YOU!!!!

[PopeJane3rd]

" I think that is part of being a nurse, being on call 24 hours a day with or without sleep."

Really? Why, are we superhuman? That comment seems utterly ridiculous to me. Medical care providers should stop deluding themselves into thinking they are so indispensible (there are others to choose from) and so uber-self-important that we should somehow be immune to the physical needs of every other human being and still be able to work miracles. The truth is, we have lives in our hands, and we bloody-well need to have sleep so as not to be dangerous practitioners. I would far rather have a practitioner who is well-rested taking care of my baby, or other family or loved one, than some self-important superman (or woman) who thinks they are above the need for sleep.

It may be a ridiculous statement to you. However, look around yourself. It is not all far-fetched. Why do you think nurses get burned out? Doctors and patients sometimes do expect nurses to go above and beyond. And obviously they expect you to be on call 24/7 if the OP said the clerics call at weird times and her blackberry goes off quite often. So which is it? I'm sure those clerics and her coworkers can sense she's iffy about coming in that's why they haven't approached her or pressed her for her phone number. People are alot smarter than we give them credit for. They can tell when someone doesn't want to be called or come in. It doesn't take long to single those people out. They may be calling her just for that reason too cuz they know she doesn't want to be bothered and trying to put her in a compromising position. That's why philosophy at work is to always look out for yourself. People play games like that at work too.