When I was hired onto this floor, I was told I would be doing night shifts exclusively (very clearly stated in the conversation and on my paperwork). I was also told that we do self scheduling based on seniority. She said that I may end up with the more undesirable shifts, as the low person on the totem pole. I was and am fine with that. I am the newbie and I understand that as was one of the last people to sign up, that I would have to take the dregs. Fine, cool, I will work around it. Then I found out how it actually works...
We are completely short staffed. We have lost 7 nurses since my first day on August 1, and we were already short staffed then. I am one week off of orientation and I am in the middle of the pack seniority wise already. We are especially short staffed on day shifts. There are holes on every single day and night. When I sign up, I follow the rules (2 full weekends (Fri/Sat for NOC) a month, no splitting weekends and at least 2 Sundays. I have even signed up for extra weekend shifts, figuring it was the best way to get my 3 in a row. I try to sign up for days that have the most holes. So, I follow the principles of self scheduling, I try to do the best thing for the floor.
Then the finalized schedule comes out and I am not on a single shift that I signed up for. Every weekend I work is split (even thought the no split weekends rule is so strict when you sign up for shifts), meaning I work at least one day every weekend. I don't have a single 3 day in a row stretch for the next 2 months that is (tentatively) scheduled. I don't have more than 2 days in a row off. I am working every other day most weeks (which is CRAZY on a night shift schedule). I am working two nights and a day shift some weeks. I don't even get the courtesy of a phone call telling me I, a night shifter, have been changed to a day shift. I look at the schedule and want to cry! The rationale is that we "have to put the needs of the floor first" and "all staff is rotating, you are just PRIMARILY nights" (funny that is not what my paperwork says).
Then there is the holiday schedule. We put in our preferences for holiday shifts. On the paper, we had the night before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years Day. We had to rank them. The day most important to me to have off was Christmas Eve. I said I would work all of the other days if I had Christmas Eve off. The first holiday schedule came out and showed just that. Then the scheduling committee decided that only the day of the holiday would count for day shift and the night before a holiday would count for nights. We were expected to work 2 of the 3 shifts. But we didn't get to fill out a new preference sheet. They just completely made it up. I now work Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve. No one will trade days yet because there is talk that they are redoing the schedule again! My family keeps pestering me about holiday plans, and I can't make them because I don't know what my schedule will be.
Then there is the issue with night shift of what is going to happen on the night shift of each of these holidays? No one signed up for them, because they are trying to get at least one holiday shift off. So, they are going to have to just put people in. And that will probably be me.
Another issue. We are not allowed to put in requests for days off other than the 2 weeks of vacation we sign up for for the next year (obviously I wasn't there to sign up for anything last year). So, is it your kid's birthday? Too bad. Do you have to go to a wedding? Too bad. You want to take a class? Too bad. You are expected to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 50 weeks a year. You absolutely can NOT put in unavailability at any time. Hired for nights? Too bad, I am putting you on random days. You can find someone to switch with you when the schedule is FINALLY finalized one week before it starts. You can't find someone to switch? Too bad. You can't have any life outside of work and we completely dictate your schedule, even though we completely misrepresented this to you upon hire.
I understand that as nurses we have to work holidays, nights, weekends. I am FINE with that. But there are supposed to be upsides to this type of schedule. Flexibility, four days off a week, etc are all things that were touted as the benefits of nursing, and of this floor by the manager. It really sucks that half of my days "off" are spent switching my schedule to the opposite shift that I have to do the next day. Getting off from a 12 hour night shift at 730 on a Thursday and then being back for the day shift on Friday is insanity! I know this is probably not the only place that is like this, but other floors in this hospital do their schedule more efficiently.
I also know that the scheduling issues were not always like this. Only since this particular scheduling committee came into being, according to people on the floor. I am trying to suck it up and get through this, but it is straining my marriage, my health, my relationship with my child. I just feel so completely powerless over my life. This is not what I signed up for. Thanks for letting me complain and whine a bit- I am done now and will work on making this better in any way I can.
