They said they’d have me work night shifts and now they’re scheduling me for rotating shifts.

[ThatOneRN_]

I was recently hired at a hospital. They usually make their nurses do rotating shifts. I’m a night person so I told them I’d prefer nights, they said they would make it work but still had to hire me as a rotating shift nurse on paper. Now they send me the schedule for after my orientation period and they scheduled me for a full rotating schedule. 

Would it be rude if I emailed my supervisor about this? What’s a polite way to say it?

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

No, it's not rude.  Rotating shifts would be a deal breaker for me.  It's barbaric and unhealthy and there's no reason you should have to do it since you are willing to do nights.  Perhaps it was just a mistake and your request just didn't get through to the scheduler.  

[HiddencatBSN, BSN]

You can bring it up but “we’ll make it work” is a really soft commitment on their part and they hired you on to rotating shifts. I’m not optimistic they’ll fix you schedule but it’s worth a shot.

[JKL33]

"I have received my schedule and see that it involves regular shift rotation. We had a discussion at the time of my hiring that it would be worked out so that I am working straight night shifts. I am not able to accommodate a rotating schedule."

Don't babble too much or walk on eggshells with your words. Think of this as you having signed up to work some shifts to get the supervisor off your back and then just decided not to show up when the shifts rolled around. AFAIC unless the person who made the schedule was completely unaware, this is otherwise flat-out false pretenses, lies, etc.

Start looking for a different job so that, if at all possible, you can be prepared to leave if they can't keep their word. They can eat the cost of your orientation. I agree with the above, I think rotating shifts are barbaric and unhealthy. They also should be unnecessary especially when they have employees interested in working straight nights.

[chare]

3 hours ago, JKL33 said:

"I have received my schedule and see that it involves regular shift rotation. We had a discussion at the time of my hiring that it would be worked out so that I am working straight night shifts. I am not able to accommodate a rotating schedule."

[...]

"I would prefer" and "they said they  would  make it work" is far from a hard commitment.  If the OP responds in this manner he or she had best be prepared to be told the job offer has been rescinded.

[Sour Lemon]

I would approach it as a simple misunderstanding and go from there.

"Hi xxx,

I received my schedule today and was surprised to see that I'm on for days as well as nights. My understanding is that I would be scheduled for nights, only. How can I get this corrected?

Thank you!

blah blah blah

736-876-9867"

The night jobs I've had all required some day shift orientation, so I wonder if it might be that?

[Anne Swepston, ASN, RN]

Being a traveler is difficult to begin with, we REQUEST our preferred shift, although, at the end of the day, once you sign on that dotted line, you are at the mercy of the hiring facility ... "travel staff are to be flexible and available to fill in where a facility has needs in order to function".  That's another reason why you/we are getting paid "the big bucks" ... HA HA HA. ... REALLY .... they truly are sadly misinformed most times, as one of my assignments barely paid me enough each week to pay for my housing.   The same goes for "blocked scheduling" ... during the placement process you are assured blocked scheduling, yet when you arrive, you are scheduled 2 on 1 off 1 on 3 off 1 on 1 off 3 on ... etc.  The only thing I've been been told in response to what you are experiencing is that "WE ARE IN THEIR HOUSE".  So just go with the flow.  I would try getting shorter assignments, that way you aren't stuck in something that is not promised to you.  Most are asking nurse's to extend; at least it's a safety net in the event that you are miserable.  BE SAFE ?

[HiddencatBSN, BSN]

4 hours ago, Anne Swepston said:

Being a traveler is difficult to begin with, we REQUEST our preferred shift, although, at the end of the day, once you sign on that dotted line, you are at the mercy of the hiring facility ... "travel staff are to be flexible and available to fill in where a facility has needs in order to function".  That's another reason why you/we are getting paid "the big bucks" ... HA HA HA. ... REALLY .... they truly are sadly misinformed most times, as one of my assignments barely paid me enough each week to pay for my housing.   The same goes for "blocked scheduling" ... during the placement process you are assured blocked scheduling, yet when you arrive, you are scheduled 2 on 1 off 1 on 3 off 1 on 1 off 3 on ... etc.  The only thing I've been been told in response to what you are experiencing is that "WE ARE IN THEIR HOUSE".  So just go with the flow.  I would try getting shorter assignments, that way you aren't stuck in something that is not promised to you.  Most are asking nurse's to extend; at least it's a safety net in the event that you are miserable.  BE SAFE ?

If it’s in the contract they should honor it though. A verbal “yeah we can make that happen” is very different.

[JKL33]

8 hours ago, chare said:

"I would prefer" and "they said they  would  make it work" is far from a hard commitment.  If the OP responds in this manner he or she had best be prepared to be told the job offer has been rescinded.

I hear you, I do. But I would be fine with that ^  because this person (the manager)  knew exactly what their true intent was....they either meant their word or they didn't. I have no time for people who would try to BS me in this way. Maybe this in and of itself is a character flaw but I can't stand being taken for a fool, it's almost at the top of my list of intolerable things. So yes, I would burn it down over this, so-to-speak.

However, it's good that you pointed out that my tone may lead to that conclusion. Because not everybody would be fine with that actually happening. ?

[JKL33]

You see...unless this is a mere oversight (which I acknowledge there is a small chance it could be), this is absolutely a manager saying whatever is necessary while betting on a new employee and waiting until they've done all the work of getting acclimated to a new job to surprise them with the fact that "nothing I said was written in stone."

Well, I simply don't operate that way. Either keep your word or yes, I will look for a manager who can at least try to get through the day without blatantly lying. It's completely unnecessary: This manager could have told the truth and still found someone who needed a job enough to sign up for what was actually being offered.

[BlueEyedDevil]

8 hours ago, JKL33 said:

You see...unless this is a mere oversight (which I acknowledge there is a small chance it could be), this is absolutely a manager saying whatever is necessary while betting on a new employee and waiting until they've done all the work of getting acclimated to a new job to surprise them with the fact that "nothing I said was written in stone."

Well, I simply don't operate that way. Either keep your word or yes, I will look for a manager who can at least try to get through the day without blatantly lying. It's completely unnecessary: This manager could have told the truth and still found someone who needed a job enough to sign up for what was actually being offered.

Yep. I highly doubt this was an oversight. I've had a manager in the past verbally inform a few people they'd be getting critical staffing pay bonus for picking up a shift only to turn around and not give it to them. The excuse being that manager said it was never agreed to and was never said. I've been screwed with a lower than agreed upon amount when I was a newer nurse, as well.

Let it be a lesson to everyone. Get every, single little thing in writing. All communication done via text or email, never face to face if at all possible when negotiating pay or shifts or anything of the like. If things are done face to face, send a follow up email confirming what you both talked about and make sure to forward responses to your private email.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

Another cause could be that whomever you interviewed with and had the discussion about nights only did not pass that information along to the other management/leadership team and/or people who make the schedule; I've seen that happen before.

But this is one of those hard lessons learned, if it isn't on the job acceptance paper from the get go then you won't really have much of a leg to stand on unfortunately. Hopefully they will be accommodating or you'll find some coworkers who prefer to work all days and you can swap.