They won't stop calling me!

Published

The facility I work in had an organized 'Wound care dept' consisting of 2 nurses during the week and myself on the weekends. We are the only ones that do wound care in the building because we recieved special corporate training and can provide consitancy with care and documentation. Something happened recently that caused the facility to lose both of thier weekday nurses at the same time. Since then the scheduler/don/admin have been blowing up my phone begging me (on my vmail) to come in and help since Im the only one left that knows all the proper documentation (anybody can read the TAR, but few know how to properly measure and describe). I havent returned their calls for several reasons 1)I dont feel like its my place to run in and rescue them, they should have had a plan in place before they let those nurses go. 2)With all of the drama going on in that building, Im afraid to do anything above what is expected of me for fear my head will be the next to roll 3)pulling extra shifts there does not earn you any brownie points or incentives, its just kinda expected and 4)I rather enjoy my weekdays off with my babies. So how do I get them off of my back. So far Ive just been ignoring their phone calls (and they are getting crafty using their personal cells to call me now). I hate to make up some excuse but Im not sure how honest to be in telling them I dont want within 100 feet of that place till saturday??

Thanks

Preach nurse, preach!!!

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UPDATE: I never answered the phone, and did not return their calls. By day 3 they have gotten the hint and stopped calling altogether. I hear from my weekday friends that they were able to get a trained nurse from a sister facility to come in and help (and I bet theyre paying a pretty penny for her too!). Hopefully mgmt learned a valuable lesson and will hire/train more people to avoid this scenerio in the future.

Thanks for all the replies

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Glad to hear it has worked out. At least I hope you don't run into any problems because you looked after your own interests.

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How exhausted can a weekends only Nurse get?

Most of us do not work the "9-5" jobs and work 10+ hours a day 6-7 days a week. We have a family too. It is not the "problem" of the employer that one wants to be with family either. Have you read the Nurse Creed Lately?

Being familiar with a procedure does in no way mean you can perform the skill

adequately. I have assisted in many surgeries and I am "familiar" with the process, but this by no means suggests I should be allowed to perform the surgey. These day the attitude seems to be "its not my job," or "its some one elses fault." No wonder the Medical Profession is in such dire straights. The patients used to trust the Nurses and Doctors, now they no longer have respect for the Medical Professionals, and I can see why.

I really didn't get past the first sentance....How exhausted can a weekends only nurse get?? Really????

So during the week, I just sit around while other nurses are working :uhoh3:

I'm a weekends only nurse (sometimes I come in when called) but I am rarely sitting around doing nothing. (I'm taking my 1/2 hr comupter time now) I have 5 kids. 5 active kids in different activities in and out of school. I also have sick inlaws that I help take care of and I try to do a few things for myself like going to the gym. When I got to work, I actually enjoy my time there as crazy as it may sound...I even work in a short staffed LTC unit with sub acute patients.

Sooooooo as I mentioned above, I only work weekends because of my kids. I do not have baby sitters or nannies at my disposal. When I work, my hubby takes care of the kids. Sometimes he gets off of work or home early and I am able to go when called in but I am in the same boat as the OP.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

And...."Have you read the Nurse's Creed?"

Seriously, how altruistic does that poster expect us to be?! Sorry, but my time is very valuable. Nursing is one part of my life. It does not define me. I'm sure many others would agree.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Glad it worked out OP; but I might have answered at least one call to say no so they would be looking elsewhere sooner. Just MHO.

Side note: I do believe God called me to be a nurse (not a nun, :lol2:). But that isn't the ONLY thing He called me to be, or I wouldn't have 3 marvelous kids. Or Scout troops for many years. Or a Master's degree that allows Him to send me other places as well as the hospital. Or any of the many other things that I do for Him and for myself.

First He called me to be a believer, then a wife, then a mother, and a good neighbor. Neighboring covers nursing as well, and He expects me to be paid for it (the laborer is worthy of his hire). :redbeathe

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Just say no.

It is their responsibility to find replacement nurses. Do not take on that responsibility. They'll milk you for all it is worth. Plus, you coming in to rescue them will allow them to back off trying really hard to find replacements.

You are allowed to say no.

"NO" is a complete sentence. You do NOT owe them an explanation. You are entitled to your days off! As Spidery's mom says, don't rescue them!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
I often get called to come in. on days off, on the night before a scheduled day shift (?), on VACATION TIME. it never ends. It is unprofessional of me to not answer my phone when I am not on call? I strongly disagree. The IT department would NEVER GET CALLS AT HOME from nursing . at least not where I work. It is a huge facility that uses EMR so there are some IT people on call, they would be the ones answering the phone should an issue arise. Not the IT employee on his/her day off................ The attendings who would answer the calls from the residents are ALSO ON CALL at least in my hospital.

But if you worked in the IT department and all the other IT people got laid off or quit (we don't know which happened here), and you were the only one who knew the system, it would definately be unprofessional of you to not answer the phone. Even though the is not on call, the OP has stated she is the only one who knows the charting system, yet she will not even pick up the phone to answer any questions that her supervisors may have. The OP didn't say that this was a common occurance. There are special circumstances here.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
When I had a request for time off denied because there "was no one to cover" I used my answering machine to screen calls and from that point forward staffing became a management problem not my problem everywhere I worked. I no longer work in a hospital so that is not a problem for me now, but I rarely ever volunteered for overtime when I worked the hospital. I had no problem letting the answering machine pick up the call, no problem saying no and no problem, when they did beg me to come in, negotiating for overtime plus another day off. We take enough abuse...no lunch sometimes, no bathroom break, taking verbal flack from everyone....etc etc.........Set limits, define boundaries!!!

I find this very interesting. Your time off was denied, so in retaliation you refused to come in for any other shifts. Which means that your co-workers might also be denied time off because someone won't cover. Which means they might stop picking up shifts.... etc. Alternatively, if everyone were willing to pitch in a little bit more when they are able (NOT ALL THE TIME, just sometimes), everyone would be happier, you might have gotten your time off and you wouldn't be so bitter about it all.

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Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.
]I am not certified and I do wound care all the time. Any nurse can learn the basics of[/b'] proper wound care. We all have lives and interests outside of work, and are entitled to them. Plus, how effective are you as a nurse if you're burnt? Not very.

quote]

This is my sentiment too. This is wound care...not Brain surgery! I did it frequently...certainly the nurses could do it in the facility until other "highly specialized" training (there's those words again) training was given..come on!

We were all responsible for our own patients on the floor. I was also the DON in a LTC facility that had an Acute/Rehab unit..we made skin rounds weekly and I made wound rounds daily...it really isn't all that SPECIALIZED. I had a wound nurse but she did not do the dressings-the nurses did that..she basically charted and made sure the supplies were in stock.

and I still can't get that "creed thing" out of my mind....it really does sound like some type of cheesy Hallmark card. (shudder)

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:lol2::yeah: What scent of bodysoap is that? I use Axe right now but might change to what you are using.

<_>

>_>

Cause I'm finding out, the Axe commercials are bogus. I'm yet to have a beautiful woman throw herself on me after I use it. Such a scam of an advertisement.

I've been in to coconut scents lately ;)

Yeah, Axe is stinky. DH uses Chaps or Old Spice and that works fine for me.

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I started a new thread with an alternative version to the Nurse's Creed mention in this one.

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/more-realistic-alternative-593777.html

I don't claim to be Keats or Shelley, but at least this one doesn't make me choke.

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