Vacation time

Sour Lemon · Aug 10, 2018

Hi - I'm a new nurse and will be starting next week at my new job. I know that you cannot take a vacation in the first year, but I wanted to know how hard is it to ask for vacation time? I haven't been home (Philippines) for more than 2 years since nursing school. I'd like to go in 2020 after 1 year of work. I look at my benefits and it looks like have 19 days vacation time.
how early should I discuss with my manager or with someone about this? I would like to visit the Philippines for 2 weeks but also don't want to seem like I'm asking for a lot! I just miss home a lot and want to upfront with my job if this makes any sense. One doesn't go to the Philippines for one week you lose 2 days of travel time. any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you!

This depends entirely on your employer. Some love to stamp "DENIED" on everything and some are quite accommodating.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 10, 2018

You are going to have to talk with your employer -- and I recommend talking about it sooner rather than later. Ask in the spirit of: "I just want to know what I can expect in the future so that I can make plans ahead of time." ... or ... "As I am thinking ahead to the next couple of years, what would be the best way to schedule a trip to see my family?" etc.

I work for a hospital with several nurses whose families live in the Philippines. They are allowed to take extended vacations to go there -- but they are required to arrange them well in advance and they can't take those long vacations during peak times for other staff members wanting off, too. Other employers may or may not have similar policies.

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Aug 10, 2018

I guess everywhere is different, but no vacation for a year? Sounds excessive. It has typically been 3-6 months where I have worked. Seeme crazy to ask people to get through the first year of this craziness without a good vacation somewhere in there.

That aside, check out the policies for your hospital. I know my unit also has its own additional policies about time off. Look at those first and then ask your manager if you have additional questions.

If you are working 12s, there are ways to piece together your schedule so you only use a week of vacation time but can still get a good long trip home. Work Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, use three vacations days the next week, and schedule yourself Wednesday-Thursday-Friday the next.

As a final thought, you can always ask your coworkers to help you out or switch with you if all else fails. I try to be accommodating when I can with switches, and many of my coworkers are happy to make certain trades when I ask as a result.

Good luck!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2018

I would never work somewhere that didn't allow vacation for a year. I've been at my job for 5 months and at the beginning of September I'll be going on my 3rd vacation since I started. Then in November I'm getting married and going on a honeymoon for 10 days.

When I worked in the hospital, vacation time worked as follows:

Summer- the schedule went up sometime around March. 120 hours of RN vacation time were allowed each week. The day the schedule went up it was a cut-throat race to see who could get to it first to claim their week(s). Any staff getting married in the summer were guaranteed 2 weeks off and their weeks were on the calendar before it was posted.

Outside of summer- Email the NM/scheduler to tell them "I would like to take vacation these days/weeks". As long as it didn't overlap with multiple other people's vacations you were good to go.

I always did (and still do) take my vacation times outside of summer because it's easier to get the time off. People who have kids need to work with a school schedule.

Michelle0396 · Aug 12, 2018

This is the thread I'm looking for! Thank you for sharing.

I'm in similar predicament to you. I haven't been back home in the Philippines for 14 years and a very important wedding in my family (in December, mind you) and my new nurse residency program just had to collide. I checked the time-off policies, I wouldn't be able to accrue enough vacation hours. I have an interview scheduled next week and I don't know if I should disclose this information. I already prepared my elderly grandmother for disappointment but I can't help feeling like I didn't give it my all. So for my own personal compromise, I will forego the wedding this year because I would like to establish myself in the unit, rather than finish the residency program and then run off to the islands. And in exchange, I will pray and hope for vacation by 2020 for my grandmother's 75th birthday in November.

It's such a tricky situation. The only reason I went home was due to a funeral and I don't want to keep sending the message to my extended family that I can't be present for the good times as well. Best of luck to you.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2018

This is the thread I'm looking for! Thank you for sharing.
I'm in similar predicament to you. I haven't been back home in the Philippines for 14 years and a very important wedding in my family (in December, mind you) and my new nurse residency program just had to collide. I checked the time-off policies, I wouldn't be able to accrue enough vacation hours. I have an interview scheduled next week and I don't know if I should disclose this information. I already prepared my elderly grandmother for disappointment but I can't help feeling like I didn't give it my all. So for my own personal compromise, I will forego the wedding this year because I would like to establish myself in the unit, rather than finish the residency program and then run off to the islands. And in exchange, I will pray and hope for vacation by 2020 for my grandmother's 75th birthday in November.
It's such a tricky situation. The only reason I went home was due to a funeral and I don't want to keep sending the message to my extended family that I can't be present for the good times as well. Best of luck to you.

You can always try to negotiate the time off if you get an offer. I've successfully negotiated for new jobs to honor pre-planned vacations when accepting each of my last 2 jobs. I do think it would be harder as a new grad, though.