Published
Hi guys...
looking for some advice here.
So I am a RN and scheduled 3-12 hr shifts per week. This is what I was hired for. Recently, we are down 1 nurse and had an agency nurse coming but didn't show up so now everyone has been working extra shifts to cover. No updates on another agency nurse in the near future. Am I required to cover these shifts or can I refuse???? I only want my 3-12s or 72 hrs a pay period and honestly, my free time outside of the work is worth so much more to me than 1.5x pay. But I don't want my coworkers to take the blunt.
Suggestions or thoughts? How can I approach my manager that I don't want to work overtime anymore??? We don't have a pool staff to pull from and we can't afford anyone being sick, etc.
Green Tea, RN
138 Posts
When I was working on Med-Surg floor, I regularly got a phone call from my manager to pick up a shift. On my day off, I never answered a phone call from her because I didn't want to pick up a shift. I never felt guilty not answering a phone call from her because I was not on call or anything.
Don't sign up for extra shift if you don't want to. If you keep working extra hours, your manager will not notice the needs of hiring a traveler. In addition, having staff nurse work extra hours is cheaper than hiring a traveler, in general.
Does your manager help working on the floor when it's short of nurses? I'm curious because staffing is supposed to be manager's job. My manager? She never worked on the floor even if the floor was short of nurses. It made me wonder why I had to clean up the mess even though the person who caused it would not do anything.