Responsible for being on call ?

I have call every 4th weekend. I take the beeper and keep my fingers crossed. A few times I have had to go in and take a med cart. (which wouldn't be that bad except I don't get extra pay since I am salaried) Can't really take the time off during the week either because "comp time" is not acknowledged. Oh well....Basically I like the job so I can deal with it. My regular hours are Mon. thru Fri. 7-3:30........

Thanks,BP76, for your answer. I don't think it's fair,to have to go in,especially being salaried.

I have to rotate being on call 24/7 for an entire week. It is the most unpleasant part of my job, by far. I have to take the beeper about every eight weeks.

Catmom :paw:

Wow ! 24/7 ..... Does that require you to have to go in on occassion ?

I too have to be part of the rotation, but after reading above, am very lucky it is about once every 6 weeks. I am also asked to be supervisor if they are short, usually for the next shift. I also am asked to help with admissions and accidents when RN is out .

I feel this is out of my comfort zone, I have very bad arthritic knees, hence why I went after this MDS job, my knees just can't take pushing the cart and walking the rounds.

I would like to come into work and only do just my job. I hear alot from the others here, about team work, but that seems to only work for them, I never see any team work when I need help.....ohhh well, Im sure you all know that.

Happy Monday to everyone,

Boy...mdsdebbie...That makes me Sooooo...MAD !!!! We need to put our "feet" down...,yes,collectively. The administration needs to play by our "team rules" too. How do they expect us to give our roles the attention it requires when they have a bad case of "the dumping syndrome" ? I'm so mad I could spit nails....

Yeh, Debbie and Rascal, Can you see them coming to help us catch up on care plans???:rotfl::omy:

That's exactly part of the reason I left my MDS position - they wanted me to be on call for 7 days every 3rd week. This includes working the floor as needed, taking 'calls' and still keep up with the MDS job duties. I also was salary and there was no incentive to put in over 40 hours a week for 'the man'.

The longer we continue to allow administration to take advantage of us the longer this dilemma will persist. I have been guilty of it myself.

In the facility I just resigned from, there are 3 nurses on call - the MDS, wound, and restorative nurses. The DON & ADON are not. (I've heard that it's because they are on call for IV's whenever we have them inhouse, and there isn't someone on staff that shift, to do them)

My replacement was handed an 'on call' schedule before I left, and there were several days during her week that she was going to have to work the floor (mostly partial shifts) because of lack of staffing. She was furious.

That really is BS......Did you know this arrangement when they first hired you ? I understand that you are no longer there.

We have a consultant group, that comes in for 2 days every month, and picks apart all the MDS's that I completed, finding where we could of made more money if I changed the ARD, sometimes they spend hours reviewing and digging to find a MD appointment I missed in the consult papers that didnt make it in to the chart. Then they present their findings in front of me to the DON and the Administrator. It makes me feel so degraded. I try to tell myself that the consultants have to find something to keep their job, and sometimes they want me to code ADL for higher points that I will not, and it always makes me look bad. Like I dont have enough stress with dead lines. My boss tells me that the consultants are here to help and for me to learn from, yeah right, they put me on the defensive, can't learn in that environment.

I love digging and making that extra point, I started this job thinking each MDS was a challenge, now I sort of face it with regret. I feel like a lone nurse, not sure where to fit in. I can't fit in with the nurses on the floor, because I dont do "all"they do, and they don't understand "all"that I do.

We are a good bunch, we the money maker, MDS nurse. I want to feel appreciated, but I do only when we all talk to each other. Sorry that I rambled on a bit, but it is so easy when you have others that understand, and I know you are reading this and nodding.

:typing