VA 72/80 schedule

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I work for the VA ER in Las Vegas, and our unit is considering the 72/80 schedule. Does anyone have any experience with this? If so, do you like it? What are some of the pros and cons?

Also, how does the AL and SL work when you take leave?

Do you still accumulate leave and retirement at the same rate?

Thanks. Any information will be helpful.

Specializes in Cardiology.
5 hours ago, MADDOG70 said:

I don't know what you mean by 8 or 12 hour charting. We have CPRS. We chart as we go. Im ER. I don't know about floors. Read the official VA handbook. Im yoked we have to still do our 80 hours and can't have an 8 hour day off for holiday cause we don't have enough staff. We get overtime but I don't want it. My dads in hospice. I want my holiday off and not work my 80 hours too. Its insane here

On the wards we have to do 8 hour charting. For example when I work a 12 hour shift I have to chart a dayshift assessment note and an evening/nightshift assessment note. At my last job I did one assessment a shift (unless of course there was a change). I asked a nurse educator if we will ever go to 12 hour charting and she said no because the CNO and medical center director hate 12 hour shifts but know they have to have them or else they would have no staff. So what they do is when they audit charts they make nurses work 2 12’s and 2 8’s or worse 5 8’s as punishment. When nightshift comes in at 1930 they cannot chart assessments until 2330 at night.

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I realize that this is an old topic, but my unit is also wanting the 72/80 work schedule. Has anyone been able to successfully convert their unit to this schedule? If so, I would love to speak with you.

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Specializes in Cardiology.
Just now, lbrown29 said:

I realize that this is an old topic, but my unit is also wanting the 72/80 work schedule. Has anyone been able to successfully convert their unit to this schedule? If so, I would love to speak with you.

As many times as we have tried our chief will not allow the acute side of the hospital to go to 3 12's. The union isn't too keen on supporting the idea either.

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Do they ever give the rationale behind it? I see it as an option in the handbook, but I’m just trying to figure out why the answer is always “no.”

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Our chief who is not even a Nurse refuses to allow it. She said it’s only for hospitals that are understaffed They pick and choose what rules they want to follow based on their agenda

we are all understaffed, they just refuse to admit it. Keeping the budget low helps with admin bonuses this time of year.

NNU is no help either. They don’t do their jobs by us. They rarely help a nurse win anything.
Most Nurses here end up suing the VA successfully.
NNU needs to be replaced. They’re too big for themselves and offer no support at all here in Chicago.

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Specializes in Cardiology.
34 minutes ago, MADDOG70 said:

Our chief who is not even a Nurse refuses to allow it. She said it’s only for hospitals that are understaffed They pick and choose what rules they want to follow based on their agenda

we are all understaffed, they just refuse to admit it. Keeping the budget low helps with admin bonuses this time of year.

NNU is no help either. They don’t do their jobs by us. They rarely help a nurse win anything.
Most Nurses here end up suing the VA successfully.
NNU needs to be replaced. They’re too big for themselves and offer no support at all here in Chicago.

Our chief wants all the floors to go to 2 12’s 2 8’s but all that does is rearrange the deck chairs on the Titantic.

3 12’s actually allows you to hire more because you pay less (72 hrs vs 80). Im not shocked she is an administrator.

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One of the vague arguments that I’ve heard through the rumor mill is that we would still be getting paid our same annual salary, but hour hourly rate would go up because they would remove the extra 8 hour shift per pay period. Would working the 72 hours Impact anything else as far as leave accrual /holiday pay? I wonder if they would be more willing to go for it if we were able to show that it wouldn’t add any expenses. Thank you all for your input! It sure would be nice to find a VA that has accomplished this. We all should start a petition to get it changed and see if it has an impact!

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I believe the Tucson VA may be doing the 72 for 80.

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I would happy to get a petition going to remove the NNU. They are a joke. Our contract does not have descriptive language. They do not pursue harassment grievances.

i filed a whistleblower report and then the harassment began. they ALMOST killed a vet by sedating him so much he was intubated and in a coma for 2 months!!! 2 years later he came to ER with police hog tied for violent behavior and then they refused to admit him from our MH floor. They shipped him off to a private *** hospital in the worst part of Chicago after 2 days of laying there on a stretcher still in the ER

Mine gave up at second step. I was told that the Director would still not admit I was harassed and my manager caused a hostile work environment even though I have the work schedules to prove she singled me out, refused to let me take approved FMLA for my dad who’s in hospice and she sent a coworker a private email from her yahoo account telling him I filed a grievance about the schedule so he can’t have his Friday’s off to work a second job.
only option now is to hire a lawyer out here who has sued the VA for other Nurses and wins. It takes 2 yrs. the VA wants to make sure you spend every penny u have to fight them. They wait until you are about to go to trial before they settle.
I love taking care of my vets and helping them navigate the BS.
We lose so many great nurses do to these issues. We need a stronger union that will help us protect our patients.

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Specializes in Cardiology.
1 hour ago, MADDOG70 said:

I would happy to get a petition going to remove the NNU. They are a joke. Our contract does not have descriptive language. They do not pursue harassment grievances.

i filed a whistleblower report and then the harassment began. they ALMOST killed a vet by sedating him so much he was intubated and in a coma for 2 months!!! 2 years later he came to ER with police hog tied for violent behavior and then they refused to admit him from our MH floor. They shipped him off to a private *** hospital in the worst part of Chicago after 2 days of laying there on a stretcher still in the ER

Mine gave up at second step. I was told that the Director would still not admit I was harassed and my manager caused a hostile work environment even though I have the work schedules to prove she singled me out, refused to let me take approved FMLA for my dad who’s in hospice and she sent a coworker a private email from her yahoo account telling him I filed a grievance about the schedule so he can’t have his Friday’s off to work a second job.
only option now is to hire a lawyer out here who has sued the VA for other Nurses and wins. It takes 2 yrs. the VA wants to make sure you spend every penny u have to fight them. They wait until you are about to go to trial before they settle.
I love taking care of my vets and helping them navigate the BS.
We lose so many great nurses do to these issues. We need a stronger union that will help us protect our patients.

My VA uses AFGE.

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Specializes in A little bit of this and that.
1 hour ago, MADDOG70 said:

I would happy to get a petition going to remove the NNU. They are a joke. Our contract does not have descriptive language. They do not pursue harassment grievances.

i filed a whistleblower report and then the harassment began. they ALMOST killed a vet by sedating him so much he was intubated and in a coma for 2 months!!! 2 years later he came to ER with police hog tied for violent behavior and then they refused to admit him from our MH floor. They shipped him off to a private *** hospital in the worst part of Chicago after 2 days of laying there on a stretcher still in the ER

Mine gave up at second step. I was told that the Director would still not admit I was harassed and my manager caused a hostile work environment even though I have the work schedules to prove she singled me out, refused to let me take approved FMLA for my dad who’s in hospice and she sent a coworker a private email from her yahoo account telling him I filed a grievance about the schedule so he can’t have his Friday’s off to work a second job.
only option now is to hire a lawyer out here who has sued the VA for other Nurses and wins. It takes 2 yrs. the VA wants to make sure you spend every penny u have to fight them. They wait until you are about to go to trial before they settle.
I love taking care of my vets and helping them navigate the BS.
We lose so many great nurses do to these issues. We need a stronger union that will help us protect our patients.

Your manager, your chief, your associate director, etc, cannot deny your FMLA protections.

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We all know that can't. But they did. AND they made me change it 3 times! They would approve each one. Then 2-3 months later say no it's wrong redo it. They tried to stop me from working because the 2ND FMLA said my dad needed continuous care and according to them I should be at home taking care of him. I explained the care was being divided between siblings and hospice but they made me change it to intermittent. Again NNU did nothing. It's sad because I just wanna give back to Veterans that gave so much to us. It's my passion to care for them.

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