Using PTO

[missnursingstudent19]

I have been at my job for almost 9 months, and haven’t used any PTO yet. I’m thinking of using some soon, but I’m not sure how to go about it. Should I tell my manager far enough in advance that she hasn’t already made the schedule out yet (she makes them for 6 weeks at a time) so that she can know ahead of time not to put me for those days, or should I request it after the schedule is made so that I can see which days to take off that would give me the most days off in a row?

[Ioreth, ADN, RN]

Check your unit and facility policies. At my hospital, PTO is paid out as a cash sum when you leave the hospital. At other, non-hospital places I've worked before my current life in nursing, getting PTO paid out like this requires working there a certain number of months first. As far as scheduling PTO, my unit requires that we ask for PTO before that schedule goes out. Asking for PTO after the schedule is out isn't allowed. If I wanted that time off that I'm already scheduled, then I have to switch shifts with someone else. The only exception to this is a call off the day before if I'm sick or "sick" (though I've never called off "sick").

[missnursingstudent19]

14 minutes ago, Ioreth said:

Check your unit and facility policies. At my hospital, PTO is paid out as a cash sum when you leave the hospital. At other, non-hospital places I've worked before my current life in nursing, getting PTO paid out like this requires working there a certain number of months first. As far as scheduling PTO, my unit requires that we ask for PTO before that schedule goes out. Asking for PTO after the schedule is out isn't allowed. If I wanted that time off that I'm already scheduled, then I have to switch shifts with someone else. The only exception to this is a call off the day before if I'm sick or "sick" (though I've never called off "sick").

The part that confuses me is, how do I know which days to request off before I know which days I’m expected to work in the first place? Like, lets say I requested March 1st and 2nd off...I may not have even been scheduled to work those days in the first place whenever the scheduled went out

[Sour Lemon]

1 hour ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

The part that confuses me is, how do I know which days to request off before I know which days I’m expected to work in the first place? Like, lets say I requested March 1st and 2nd off...I may not have even been scheduled to work those days in the first place whenever the scheduled went out

Just ask for all the days you want off. If you're always off on Monday and you ask for Tuesday off, they might schedule you to work on Monday instead. Assume you are scheduled for EVERY day.

Ask as far ahead as possible, as requests may be handled on a "first come first served" basis. It's not a bad idea to follow up, either.

Beware that some employers are more difficult to work with that others. I've known people who simply quit their jobs to go on vacation, then come back and find a new job. I've also worked with someone who "got injured" every year and went on medical leave to take their vacation. PTO requests were frequently turned down (or just ignored until the week before), so they did what they had to do.

I once asked for five days off to go out of town and was scheduled to work on the middle day, but off on the other four. Thanks!

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

9 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

The part that confuses me is, how do I know which days to request off before I know which days I’m expected to work in the first place? Like, lets say I requested March 1st and 2nd off...I may not have even been scheduled to work those days in the first place whenever the scheduled went out

We self schedule. So if I need March 1st and 2nd off, I can put in the schedule "req off" so they don't schedule me. Or if I have a doctor appt, I can put in "off" that day. 

We use PTO mostly for taking a week off. I work 3 days a week, so if I were to go on vacation (bwahahahaha what concept) I can put in for that week and use 3 days of PTO.  

We can also use accrued PTO to get paid for holidays (whether worked or not-12 hours extra pay or 12 for not  working). 

I have had to call out for a car accident and a broken down car (over 8 years). I also have intermittent FMLA for my two T1 kids. 

Check your policy, there should be one that spells most things out. 

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

For the first year and a half I was working I didn't use PTO because I could schedule things I wanted to do around my days off. However, it backfired when I found out we can only carry over 80 vacation days into the next year, and we lose the rest. I didn't find out until November and then it was too late to get the time off, so I lost weeks of time. So, as others have mentioned, check your unit/hospital policy on how request time off and make sure you won't lose time off that you earned. I learned the hard way. 

[amoLucia]

Another word of advice .... late into my career, I learned to keep ahead of my PTO. If there's any possibility that your position is in 'rocky' straits' (for whatever reasons), start taking time off to work down the time due you. If you are terminated, you will LOSE any accrued time.

General rule-of-thumb, almost all places will want time-off requests in advance of schedule completion.

Like PP JBMmom said, don't learn the hard way. Some facilities are notorious for their devious tricks. Always play the game by THEIR rules, so it behooves you to become familiar with their HR policies. And do FOLLOWUP, just to make sure the 'paperwork wasn't lost'.

If you're thinking of leaving, you may want to quietly take your PTO in REAL TIME as some places will only allow you to cash out at half-value.

YOUR loss, never THEIRS.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

20 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

The part that confuses me is, how do I know which days to request off before I know which days I’m expected to work in the first place? Like, lets say I requested March 1st and 2nd off...I may not have even been scheduled to work those days in the first place whenever the scheduled went out

It sounds like you do not need any particular days off. Why exactly do you want to use your PTO? Are you just looking to get some rest, or a stretch off? Whatever.. you earned the time off and should be able to have it... unless there is a conflict with other nurses also requesting that same time off.

You would need to request the time off before the manager starts working on the schedule. There is a time frame and a procedure for that.