On-call in the OR

[lozstar]

Hi everyone

I have been an operating room nurse for nearly eight years. I really enjoy what I do but I have had dreadful call ins over the last month. Over one weekend I worked an extra 20 hours on top of my normal 40 hours. Last night I worked all night so was up for 20 hours without sleep... then went home and had two hours sleep, and had to wake up to return to work but luckily my boss said stay home.

Anyway, when I get this tired and have been working crazy hours I find myself asking "why do we do it?". I know why I went into nursing to help people etc but I do find the call ins take its toll physically. Sometimes if I have had a really rough night or last few days with call ins I get to the point where I feel like I could break down and cry. This morning I really felt like I couldn't concentrate at all so was so grateful I didn't have to work.

I know some people will probably say I should give up the call ins and as much as they are a burden sometimes I still love the rush of adrenaline you get from being involved in an emergency case.

What's everyone's experience with call ins in the operating room? Do you get worn out with on-call? How long have you been doing it? I'd be interested to hear from you.

[TraumaORnurse]

I work night shift in the OR at a Trauma Center, we are staffed 24/7; during the week we are fully staffed for scheduled as well as add-ons & trauma during the day, 6-ish teams from 3p-7p finishing the day, 2-3 teams 7p-11p, and 2 teams at night. We have currently have 2 call teams at night 11p-7a, but will soon drop down to 1 team since we added a 2nd scheduled team at night. Weekends is staffed with 3 teams during the day and 2 at night, with 1 call team, however our weekend call shifts are only 12 hrs. Our call requirement is 2 week night shifts and 1 weekend shift every other month. AND we rarely call our call staff in. Typically if we do, it's right at 11pm finishing urgent cases and they're typically there less than an hour. Very rarely have I had to call someone in at 2 or 3am. Weekend nights does get called in a little more frequently because that's when the traumas pick up.

Apparently they used to do silly, non-emergent/urgent cases in the middle of the night, but the hospital has worked to change that...unless the patient is febrile & CT concern for necrotic gallbladder, they do not need a lap chole at 3am. So now most of the cases at night are truly urgent/emergent...open or severe fractures, hand injuries, dead bowel, appy, crani for bleed, and good old belly trauma.

[Nurseorj]

I take eight shifts of call a month two weekend days and the rest are weekdays . I get called in 100% of the time . Where I work we don't leave early on days that it is slow because they give us busywork . Or call ships are 16 and 24 hour shifts at a time . Doctors do not schedule call for emergencies they schedule it for anything they want . It sucks. Does anybody else work at a place like this ? If we work all night we still have to come in the next day and work until surgeries are done also . Would PRN be a better choice for me or traveling ? I have worked in surgery a long time and this is by far the worst schedule I've ever had

[acerbia]

I take eight shifts of call a month two weekend days and the rest are weekdays . I get called in 100% of the time . Where I work we don't leave early on days that it is slow because they give us busywork . Or call ships are 16 and 24 hour shifts at a time . Doctors do not schedule call for emergencies they schedule it for anything they want . It sucks. Does anybody else work at a place like this ? If we work all night we still have to come in the next day and work until surgeries are done also . Would PRN be a better choice for me or traveling ? I have worked in surgery a long time and this is by far the worst schedule I've ever had

We only have 1 team on Saturdays and Sundays, all shifts. If the "weekend team" needs a break because doctors have been doing lap chole after lap chole, the call team will be called in to give them a break/lunch, etc. Instead of standing up to the doctors, they just keep pressing on because they know they have a call team. Some people allow themselves to be pushed around by the doctors, and will call in the call team to work the shift just to appease the ortho doc(s) that wants to run 2 rooms simultaneously.

If you work all night, you have to work your regular shift whenever you are scheduled. No exceptions. Sometimes they will let you go home and sleep, but if they're short that day, then you just have to deal with it.

Your schedule is pretty awful, but mine is arguably worse. Everything about my facility is terrible lol

[Edit for spelling]

[Skip1998]

I totally understand. 21 years in the OR and I've worked so many 24 hour plus shifts I can't remember how many. I don't call in because I took the job and I knew the expectations and I don't want to screw my coworkers. On the other hand even though I've never had this, I believe if you work all night you should get 4 full hours of sleep before you go back in. Prisoners are treated better.

[bayoulady]

Our call is very similar. It is ridiculous that they let surgeons put on a "scheduled" case late on a Friday or a Saturday with the on-call team. We have already worked our 40+ hour week and are coming back for emergencies AND the scheduled crap. We also usually have to come in and work the next day. If we are not busy we can stay in and sleep but that is unusual. I am looking for other jobs now. I have my CNOR and my CPAN but my boss does not cover for us or stand up for us with surgeons. There have been 3 resignations in the last 5 months (with no one to fill their positions - just a few travelers here and there). We are overworked, tired, and discouraged. Time for me to leave this life-sucking job behind. I have been doing this 5 years.

[bayoulady]

Very same situation with our OR. Same number of circulators. Same OB RN's. Blah, blah, blah. Maybe time to go to some other area of nursing for me. The problem for the CEO and Managers will be that we are in a VERY rural area and there are JUST NO trained, or capable of training, RNs. Good luck to them on burning out their very capable staff.

[chloebonnie]

Im sorry for your experience! hope they revamp the call policy

[jag nurse, RN]

I work med/surg and need to do something else. Nursing has switched to pleasing the patient/family in every possible way (HCAAPS) and then charting about everything to appease a sue-happy world. Whereas, it used to be about patient care. I am looking at ED, OR, or PACU. The on-call (or rather the no-sleep part of on-call) is what scares me. I want to be safe. In the medical field, however, where residents do 80-hour weeks (used to be 120 before they changed the laws) and nurses work scheduled shifts plus call hours, there doesn't seem to be anyone standing up saying, "We're dealing with HUMAN LIVES, here, and this isn't safe!"

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I had posted back in 2012.. Finally found my surgery center job! No more call for me. A lot of the hospitals around here are begging for staff. So, I think many OR nurse are fed up with the call thing too.