On Call

[Mikeinhouston]

Does your facility place nurses on call for the floor units not just OR, PACU and Endo? And if yes what state are you from. Is it legal in California or not? And what type of facility do you work for? For example do you work in acute care facility, LTAC, Rehab., Psych. etc. Please HELP.

[VANurse2010]

Yes, but you are allowed to refuse it - but if no one else will agree to take it and it's "your turn" then you have to take it. That almost never happens as someone almost always wants it.

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

Yep! I work on a split PCU/tele unit, and we are put on call quite a bit. When we are over staffed, they first put on call anyone with a PTO request or who has an extra shift in the last 7 days. Otherwise they go down the list based on last on call date. If nobody else wants it, you must take it if it is your turn. We hardly ever get put on call fall-spring, but census has been down lately. This used to happen at my previous job working in a distribution center too. It is definitely legal in my state, but I am not sure about California.

[melmarie23, MSN, RN]

I work on a LDRP unit and we gave on call obligations. You never know when the labor bus will pull in!

[SoCalGalRN]

On my med surg unit, staffing will sometimes place someone on standby instead of getting called off but we can refuse. There is no mandatory call.

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

Oh, this used to drive me crazy!! I was working at a HCA facility and you had no choice about being "on call". For a 12 hour shift, they could even call you in at the 11th hour and make you come in for that last one, and we found out before they d/ced the policy that some of the "favorites" of the sup or manager could decide to take off early and have u come in for an "emergency".

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Yes, we can choose to take on call if the census is low. We are not mandated to do so. We can be asked if we want an on call also if the census is low, or discharges make the census low. If people have extra time (ie: PTO) they will sometimes take it, otherwise, we are not required to.

If you are a union facility, look and see what the contract says about it. Otherwise, there should be a policy. One could argue if you are a full time worker, and they are calling you off, and you don't have PTO available, it should not be a mandatory thing. Unless they are going to pay you anyways if you are scheduled.....which is unlikely.