Staffing...

EndoRN · Jul 20, 2001

Hi Jamta,

I work in a lab at an outpatient surgery center and our hours are exactly as you described. We come in a half an hr. before the first case is scheduled. Usually about 6:30 am. We have three rooms, so it depends on what time that room starts. Sometimes I'll get lucky and my room won't start until 9:00! And then we're done when our room is done! Anywhere from 1:00 to 6:00! It actually works out pretty good, though. I usually get about 37-40 hrs./wk. And there is no call, weekends or holidays there. :)

When I worked GI at the hospital we had 3 shifts of nurses:

6:00 am- 2:30pm

7:00 am- 3:30pm

8:00 am- 4:30pm.

We alternated call and worked one Sat. a month for half a day.

All in all, I really like the hours in GI. It beats working the floor any day!!!!!!

TLCRN · Jul 25, 2001

Hi Jamta,

I work in a GI Lab in a hospital. Our "open for business" hours are 0700-1600. However, the MD's are allowed to "schedule" cases anytime they need to. We take alternating call...a week at a time. We are available 24/7. The problem is the after hour procedures are suppose to be emergency cases, but they call us in for Pegs:rolleyes: But our administration says that we have to be available for any procedure. What to do?

endomarge · Jun 25, 2002

I have worked in and endo department for 20 years and the hours were flexible...The first two nurses one hour before the procedure as we admitted and recovered the patients.

3o minutes before the procedure two more came to set up the room and etc.

Aways two nurses at each procedure....one for CS and to turn the room around the other to assist the doc and wah the scope.........yes we washed our scopes too

ddcile · Sep 4, 2002

I work in Hospital endoscopy unit and we work 6:30 to 3pm. We must clock out at the end of our shift, then come back for after " OFFICE HOURS" cases that begin at 5pm. They say since we are on call, we need to do in house procedures the doctors classify as "emergencies"( pegs, non bleeding egd's and colonoscopies.)

ie we know they are just doing them to facilitate their schedule.( the doctors) Now due to the doctors opening their own outpatient endo center , our hospital is hinting at us working split shifts 7 am to noon, then 5pm to 9 pm to get our 8 hours in. The doctors will work in the hospital endo suite in the morning and evening and their clinic in the middle. I have been at the hospital 15 years and have small children and do not want to work this schedule. Can the hospital make us or do I have to find another job???

ButtRN · Sep 5, 2002

I work in a large teaching hospital in a very busy endo unit. The shifts are "8" hours with various starting times, 7, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, 8, 8:30, 9, and 9:30. Quite frequently depending on staffing 8 hours does not happen, especially if you are on the later shifts. But we get a schedule for 6 weeks so you know what you will be working and you work your life around it! If you are working the later shifts, have nothing planned to do outside of work, make sure the kids have somebody to watch them as you may not be leaving before 7pm. It works!

Oh, and as far as having 2 nurses in every case, dream on! We are blessed if we have a tech(depending on the tech) and we do conscious sedation! And we manage to turn the rooms over very quickly so we can get done maybe in an 8 hour day!

ButtRN · Sep 5, 2002

buttrn

patsue53 · Oct 17, 2002

I work in a hospital lab and our open ours are 7:30 to 4:30 (I think....doesn't really seem to matter what our hours frankly.)

But we have nurses starting at staggered times starting at 6:30 and the latest shift starts at 9:30. Then the "on call" team takes over. Like others that have posted, these are supposed to be emergency cases but often are cases tacked on at the end of the day for physician convenience. We have an RN and an LPN in each procedure and this policy is strictly adhered to. It is not safe for the RN administering conscious sedation to be running around assisting the physician.

ddcile, our physicians are in the process of opening their own clinic and I'm afraid that we're going to be in the same boat as you are. It's a good year and a half or so down the road, but at a recent meeting with staff and administration it was hinted at that we will have to be more "flexible"with our lab hours. This does not make me or any of the other staff happy at all! Of course at this point we don't even know who that staff will be since obviously our superbusy lab is going to be losing a great deal of business and the staff will have to be cut. ....but I digress.

We take call every 8th weekend and 1 night every couple of weeks. This varies with how many teams we have. This will also change when the staff count changes. Right now it's ideal....but who knows what's down the road.

oh well...life is about nothing if it's not about change.