The Sacrificial Nurse Weekend

[Joe V]

Yes, it's a sacrifice, working weekends. Nurses miss out on so much family time and especially ME time. When we do get a weekend off, we try and do as much as we possibly can from paying bills on time, buying groceries for the week, taking the kids to the park, hike, or just sleep. So, how do you do it? How do you balance a "normal" life without every weekend off?

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[nutella, MSN, RN]

The weekend work is not unique to nursing.

Other professionals in the hospital and other professions like police, firefighters - even retail - and so on also have to commit to working weekends. Of course if you work 12 hour shifts the whole weekend is gone but you get a day off during the week, no?

I did not have a problems working weekends especially when my children were younger and my husband always at home the weekends. That way I got a break from the kids/family and was able to work. Now I am off weekends and that is ok as well...

[RNKPCE]

When your kids are school age "me" time will be they are in school and your days off are weekdays. Nice to run errands on weekdays than fight the weekend crowds. Weekends traditionally are a little slower where I work. Docs make rounds more leisurely, less patients going to and from procedures and surgery.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I actually enjoy working weekend's sometimes. Less chaotic.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Working in a PediED, depending on the season, it's not too bad working on weekends; a lot of the nursing staff are experienced and are a part of the weekend program and have a TON of experience to help out with us newbies.

I rather work less weekends, however, having days off during the week to not have to contend with tons of people during shopping is a HUGE plus-me and huge crowds don't always mix.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I now get every weekend off...however, I enjoyed working weekends as a floor nurse. It resulted in higher pay, less doctors, fewer administrative figureheads, and a more relaxed working environment.

I actually worked 16-hour weekend double shifts for several years. It was nice to receive full-time pay and benefits for committing to two 16-hour shifts weekly.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

Weekends are LESS chaotic? I want to work wherever the people who think that work... because at my job, there are just as many procedures and tests, but there are ten times the family members than there are during the week because they are all off work and hovering.

I particularly love it when there's fifteen of them in the waiting room, and they come back two at a time to hear the explanation of what's going on because it's too complicated for them to understand well enough to explain to the others in the waiting room, so every single one of them has to hear the whole story directly from me. Usually they come back really misinformed and confused because one intrepid family member attempted to explain things to the rest of them and explained badly, and now they're all in a panic.

Not to mention weekends are when all the crap hits the fan because all the family members are finally able to be in one place at the same time, which usually results in at least one shouting match in the waiting room when there's a couple people on the side of letting the patient become palliative but someone is dramatically offended that anyone would even THINK about suggesting that Grandma should be anything other than a full code!

Weekends therefore also become a more likely time to withdraw care since everyone can sit around and watch Grandma die together, so there's all the death paperwork and taking the patients down to the morgue going on. Not to mention all of the wailing and gnashing of the teeth, particularly from the family members who lived a million miles away and never saw Grandma while she was alive, but who have to make sure that we are aware they are loudly grieving now.

I'd love to be off weekends. I don't care about having weekends free at home, per se, but I just really hate the chaos.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Weekends are LESS chaotic? I want to work wherever the people who think that work... because at my job, there are just as many procedures and tests, but there are ten times the family members than there are during the week because they are all off work and hovering.

I particularly love it when there's fifteen of them in the waiting room, and they come back two at a time to hear the explanation of what's going on because it's too complicated for them to understand well enough to explain to the others in the waiting room, so every single one of them has to hear the whole story directly from me. Usually they come back really misinformed and confused because one intrepid family member attempted to explain things to the rest of them and explained badly, and now they're all in a panic.

Not to mention weekends are when all the crap hits the fan because all the family members are finally able to be in one place at the same time, which usually results in at least one shouting match in the waiting room when there's a couple people on the side of letting the patient become palliative but someone is dramatically offended that anyone would even THINK about suggesting that Grandma should be anything other than a full code!

Weekends therefore also become a more likely time to withdraw care since everyone can sit around and watch Grandma die together, so there's all the death paperwork and taking the patients down to the morgue going on. Not to mention all of the wailing and gnashing of the teeth, particularly from the family members who lived a million miles away and never saw Grandma while she was alive, but who have to make sure that we are aware they are loudly grieving now.

I'd love to be off weekends. I don't care about having weekends free at home, per se, but I just really hate the chaos.

Weekends are busy with visitors overflowing the waiting rooms and requiring Hilton-level service at the inner city teaching hospital. But there are fewer doctors around, rounds are less chaotic, almost no management in house and PT isn't insisting upon walking my patient RIGHT now when I've just gotten them settled down and comfortable for a nap and am about to go do the same on another patient.

I love having days off during the week to make appointments, do my errands (when everyone else is at work), go to the movies and shop. It's been years since I've had to stand in a long line at the ski lift (everyone else is working) or hunt for an empty camping space for a last minute excursion.

I don't understand this mindset that the weekend is the only time one can have fun.