Vacation scheduling

Disagree. Should a senior nurse be able to boot a junior nurse out of his/her vacation simply because Senior requested later than Junior?

The way we do it is the date you sign up doesn't matter within the two week priority schedule period in February That way if someone is off they don't get screwed. Approval is given by seniority. After the priority scheduling period is closed then it's first come first served regardless of seniority. I find this enormously fair. The senior staff should get some sort of payoff for longevity. FTR, I'm pretty much in the middle of the pack seniority-wise so I'm not being self-serving.

So far everybody is happy with this arrangement because we almost always get what we want. Of course, we try to be reasonable too. Those of us who are single make every attempt to not schedule vacation during the weeks that the kids are off for the summer unless there's some sort of family reunion type vacation. I generally vacation in September. This year I'm going in August but it's the third week and most kids are back in school or getting ready to.

We give 160 per week with 40 alternate hours. Our summer is Memorial Day to Labor Day week. We can only take 2 weeks in this time, only people with 30 years in can take 3 weeks. The sign up goes from Memorial week to the end of the year.

It is seniority based. The top 10 put in their requests in for the time from Memorial Day to the end of the year. Then the rest are assigned a time to call and put in their requests until the whole list of staff is done. If there happens to be time left then it goes they the list again until it is gone. Most of the time the people who take alternate hours get them as there are always people willing to work extra time ( can't cover with overtime). It works pretty well. Not everyone gets time in the summer ( we have over 100 nurses) but everyone gets something in the time frame. We can also take a day or two, we aren't required to take a full week so it works out that people can pick up a stray day here and there and string their days off together.

When you're working in unionized environment, seniority rules as far as vacation requests.

My current position is non unionized, out of scope so requests are generally first come first serve. However.....seniority still plays a role here also.

Mine is first come first serve. I would hate seniority based as I could never go on vacation I the summer.

I think the seniority scheduling is awful... It is great for the nurses with seniority though, I can't blame them for it. Ours is one schedule for our 3 combined units and only one nurse can be off each week no matter if they are different shifts or not. Aka with over 52 employees and it being seniority based, I get no vacation because no weeks were left when it was my turn to choose. It's an awful system, but management is looking into changing it to keep nurses around.

That sounds horrible. Mine is seniority based similar to PPs where in feb the manager goes around by seniority asking what weeks they want until everyone has selected. Then if people want additional weeks, they can take them after everyone has chosen their first week. If your hosp does it by seniority and there are 52 employees, they should accommodate the number of nurses allowed off so that EVERY nurses, even new ones, get vacation. No nurse should not not be able to take vacation AT ALL bc they are low on the seniority. They may not be able to take it when they want but they should be able to take it sometime!!!

I like first come first served. Unfortunately there are some people that request days off a YEAR in advance.

Any requests for vacation during "prime time" which is from Memorial Day through Labor Day and Thanksgiving and Christmas are granted based on seniority if the request is put in by April 1rst. Due to that policy no confirmation of prime time vacation time is given until then as a more senior nurse could put in for the same time as somebody else right up until then. After April 1rst it is first come first served. Only one nurse on a shift is granted vacation during the same time, though they will occasionally allow a day overlap that has 2 nurses off. Weekends can be problematic as there is also a policy based on years of service that requires you to cover your weekend yourself unless you've worked there a few years.

It's a little complicated but it works.

It is important to maintain a balance that respects seniority but also will help retain newer staff. Our unit allow the top 10 staff to pick 2 weeks of their choice within the calendar year. Then lower staff pick 2 weeks.

It goes by seniority to a certain date and or deadline for requests to keep senior staff from bumping junior staff.

The vacation picks then go back to the top of the list.

This way it prevents senior staff from choosing all their desired time 5-6 weeks before others have a chance. it allows less senior staff a chance for school vacation weeks or summer time. (maybe not mid July to mid August, but at least time in June)

We do not allow staff to take full weeks over the winter holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas or NewYears. No even the nurses who have over 40 years.

Elaine

it sounds like your unit needs to increase the number of staff off. There is way to calculate. FTE X hours accrued years. (higher seniority accrue more time)

Calculate all RNs on your unit. Then sum then divide by 52. (leave some time for sicknesses if your institution does not have a separate sick time bank)

I have almost three years of seniority at my hospital, but only one month as a nurse. I understand the "seniority" reasons for letting them choose first, but sometimes it is unfair. Why should I get bumped off from a time slot just because someone else decides they also want that time off. I haven't had any issues so far in my old department, but I don't know how lucky I will be this time around. As a mom of three kids in elementary school, the times I choose to have a family vacation are limited. If I have to work all the holidays to get my preferred vacation time then I would do it. Just last week a book came out for 2016 vacation time. People have already penciled in their time. At my facility, you can roll over only one year worth of vacation time. I may skip 2016 all together and only use holiday and personal time for important things. Hopefully after paying off some debt I can take a nice well deserved cruise with the kids in 2017.