Weekend scheduling

[anitahd]

Hi everyone, just wanted to ask if any of you ER nurses work every third weekend? We have to work every other, but management says if we come up with a schedule that is fair for everyone and doesn't short the staffing on weekends then we can do it. I have been trying to figure out a simple schedule using the least amount of people and cannot come up with anything. Our manager said at first that all nurses would have to work 12 hours shifts for it to work. Of course some 8 hour nurses didn't like that idea. Sooooo, we came up with the idea for a pilot using about 10 nurses and trading with each other to get the every third weekend (all 10 are 12 hour shifts nurses and are on the same shift). I don't have to fill in anything for the other shifts or other days. I still can't come up with a proper schedule that will allow us to trade and only work every third. Is this making sense? Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks, Anita

[TazziRN, RN]

My entire career has been every other weekend for part and full timers, one weekend a month for per d's.

[snowfreeze, BSN, RN]

I think that patients are sicker and do much dumber things on weekends that you need to have either the friday and monday off surrounding your weekend or have a 4 day weekend on your weekend off. Anyone want to give a perspective on why patients are thicker and sicker on weekends?

Is that when they have a chance to take a deep breath from work etc and find they are sick?

[TazziRN, RN]

I think that patients are sicker and do much dumber things on weekends that you need to have either the friday and monday off surrounding your weekend or have a 4 day weekend on your weekend off. Anyone want to give a perspective on why patients are thicker and sicker on weekends?

Is that when they have a chance to take a deep breath from work etc and find they are sick?

I agree. Also, in our area we also see a lot more babies on the weekends, because the only other place open is the clinic. On the weekends it's staffed by a PA and they do not see babies under 3 months or pregnancy complications, so those get sent to the ER.

[galenight, BSN, RN]

We work every third weekend and every third holiday. This requires you to have at least 2 full time and one part time person for each FTE slot. We do a rotating schedule that only varies with holidays and trades or vacations. It works very well for us at the small rural ER where I work. We all work 12 hour shifts. We do have one older nurse who works 8 hour shifts, but she is not in the weekend mix. We always work Fri, Sat, Sun and always have at least a 3 day weekend off, sometimes a 4 day. Good luck.

[vampireslayer]

I work every Saturday & Sunday to allow me to be home with the kids after school during the week, deal with sick kids needing to come home from school, orthodontist appts, vet appts for the dogs, attend school parties and field trips etc. So although I occasionally miss being with the family on weekends, the Saturday/Sunday works for me.

Maybe you could come up with enough nurses to do that, work every Saturday/Sunday, to relieve the pressure on the others that don't want to work weekends? You get shift differential for weekends, so those nurses who take the weekend shift (we call it TDA "two day alternative") ONLY work those 2 days, unlike everyone else who has to work 3 days a week, so they will only lose a small amount of pay by going down to 2 days a week, because those weekend hours pay more than the weekday hours. TDA employees are also eligible for benefits like insurance, I think (I don't take it because we get our insurance through my husband's job).

Adding the TDA alternative would relieve a lot of pressure on filling those weekend shifts, as long as you make the TDA shifts attractive (like with good shift differentials, and eligibility of insurance).

VS

[carachel2]

I think that patients are sicker and do much dumber things on weekends that you need to have either the friday and monday off surrounding your weekend or have a 4 day weekend on your weekend off. Anyone want to give a perspective on why patients are thicker and sicker on weekends?

Is that when they have a chance to take a deep breath from work etc and find they are sick?

Yes, I think they "tough it out" all week so they don't have to miss work, school,etc, and then use Saturday to come in. We had a case of this last weekend...lady had to be intubated because her pneumonia was "that bad." She had been really busy that week and her husband couldn't bring her in either. Very sad.

[bill4745, RN]

I work every fourth weekend, but my hospital has a very well-compensated weekend program. Working two 12-hour shifts every weeekend is almost a full-time salary and benefits.