Working Holidays

[Fun2]

What does your hospital require when it comes to working holidays?

I've seen it where each employee must work 2 holidays a year, Christmas equalling 2 holidays. Therefore, if you work on Christmas, you are able to take off all other holidays....a good deal if you don't have kiddos, I guess. (I have 2 little ones, so I'd be missing a bunch. )

[CCU NRS]

we get to submit our choices 1-5 for Christmas eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, New Years Eve and New years day, Then the manager works on the schedule and tries to give everyone their first Choice at least

so lets say I list in order of prefer to have off

1. Chirstmas Day

2. New Years Day

3. New Years Eve

4. Christmas Eve

5. Thanksgiving

see I work day 12's 7a-7p so like new years eve, I get off at 7p I can still celebrate but i don't wan to work New years day if I celebrated. We do our famiyl Christmas on Christmas Day so again being home by 7p on Eve is fine if I can have Day off. etc

She works really hard to give everyone at least their first choice and second if possible after that she is pretty much covering the days, I got all of mine in the order I wanted, I worked TG and CE but had today off also working NYE but off NYD where as some peole have a large family they like to spend TG with and don't really care about CD or CE, so she is able to work with our preferences to some extent, I think it is a really good way to try to let us have some choice. we do the same thing for the summer holidays.

[ReinventingMyselfAgain, MSN, RN]

my hospital has the same policy. good thing is, if you can find someone willing to switch a holiday (ie - christmas with thanksgiving, thanksgiving with new years) with you, it can be done without argument from management.

i have a heads-up to nurses with kids harrassing myself and other single, childfree nurses to work for them, or work/stay over extra so they can be with their kids on christmas morning. repeat after me - if you don't want to work weekends, nights, holidays, or a combination of those, go work at a bank instead, and stop freaking griping about it!!!!! ugh! while you're at it, be thankful you *have* a job to go to; you could have been laid-off or downsized instead.

....end rant...

i have a kid, and i agree 100%!!! it's not just about kids. i have a problem with the first thing you said, though. if you can switch, yeah that's great. but what about the ones who can't? there are always people who seem to weasel out of their commitments, when it was indeed their turn to work it.

case in point: i work per-diem, and at my institution, i do not have to work holidays :icon_wink (lucky me!!). so i've had many offers to work for people on the holidays (you wouldn't by any chance want to work on xxx. would you?) one of my co-workers offered to work 12/31, and 1/1, as she wanted thanksgiving and christmas off. (the staff gets to request most and least requested days off). so she got it. now, she's trying to re-neg on it, stating "it's not the holiday i mind, but i usually don't work 2 nights in a row:" i had no sympathy for her, as she tries these things for every weekend and holiday. so if i would have agreed to work for her, she would have again gotten out of her commitment!!

i'm not bitter :icon_evil , it's just i'm never the one who gets away with stuff like that. and just remember, although i am per-diem, i get no paid sick or holidays, benefits, and they owe me no amount of hours per schedule.