OR call schedule

[jenniecubbies808]

our call schedule has been targeted for revision; and it is a mess. I am curious who out there loves their system of signing up for call and what works well. I want to avoid complaining, especially since I am very low in seniority and know that everyone above me has dealt with being on the bottom at one time, but the revisions are affecting more than me, and I want to improve morale in our department. We have about 25 nurses on the call sign up; it is only for circulating shifts, we have a 1st and 2nd call, and those who sign up for second call must be trained for open heart (I am not yet). Most of the senior nurses give up their call, but lately have been assigned call, in a 3-7p hole created by a new shift. Our shifts are 645-1515, and 845-1915. Now that we have six nurses on the later shift, when we sign up for call this creates that 3-7p hole. They are unhappy about being assigned (don't often have to work because the later shift is already there). Their decision was to make the late shifters only sign up for the 11p-7a shift, and not allow us to sign up for 7-11p. I'm exhausted just explaining this! It seems to me that this can be resolved by creating a 3-11p shift, which no one will go for....or somehow transition to 12 hours shifts with 12 hour call? We have only eight rooms, and do about 20-40 surgeries per day M-F. We take 12 hour shifts for weekend call, and often have about 5 surgeries every Sat. Again, I'd love to hear what works well for your department.

[not2bblue]

I am really confused by what you are trying to explain. So, we have specialty call (even though we do everything but hearts) and we are required to take so many hours per monthly schedule. Usually, we get one 3p-7a (or 5p-7a or 7p-7a call, starting at the time you go home) with a 7a-7a weekend (saturday or sunday) and one week we have 2 days of call to round out the required hours. All of it is randomly assigned.

[prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP]

We dont have a large OR. Most nurses work 7-3 or 7-7. We have a few other shifts like 9-5, 11-7, 11-11, and 7p-7a. We day shifters take one weekday call of 11-7 and One weekend call your choice 7-3, 3-11, or 11-7. We have a CVOR team and they do their own call and we do have some nurses from another OR floor but they mostly deal with gyn so they cant really help with other specialties.

[birdie22]

I work an trauma hospital, so the comparison might not work but....based on seniority, we have to take about 4 calls/month. It varies if the call is weekend or weekday also depending on seniority. The weekday call is either 3-11 or 11-7a. If you usually work til 3pm, you are assigned an evening call. If you work later than 3p, you are assigned a night call. The weekend calls are 12 hr shifts.

[Wolf at the Door, BSN]

I work an trauma hospital, so the comparison might not work but....based on seniority, we have to take about 4 calls/month. It varies if the call is weekend or weekday also depending on seniority. The weekday call is either 3-11 or 11-7a. If you usually work til 3pm, you are assigned an evening call. If you work later than 3p, you are assigned a night call. The weekend calls are 12 hr shifts.

It appears to me the bigger the hospital the less amount of call per nurse. at least in the OR

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

It appears to me the bigger the hospital the less amount of call per nurse. at least in the OR

Agree. Between being a trauma center meaning being staffed 24/7 and larger facilities tending to have a fully staffed second shift, it seems like less of a need for as many people on call and a larger staff to share it. Heck, the major trauma center in the big city has two teams who do nothing but sit and wait for traumas to happen.