The post-it reads “holiday call can be the pits, depending on where you fall in the seniority list.”
Call is what the department makes of it through policy. Holiday call is also what the department makes of it through policy.
I’ve heard good things and not-so-good things from my friends at other hospitals.
Some places choose holiday calls by seniority. Like the hospital I work at.
Reminder, the department that I work in has 9 ORs, one of which is a procedure room. There are currently 25 nurses in the department, of different hours and different levels. These levels can be PRN. If the nurse who works PRN was working this before 2015, then they are grandfathered into no call. Otherwise, everyone takes call.
PRN means pro re nata. You may have seen it on a medication label. This means as needed.
I’m only going to be talking about the RNs here. The rules are the same for the scrub techs.
Unlike the banking or government sector, the holidays that count are dependent on the state. I believe here in North Carolina, there are 8 holidays that the surgical department is closed. These are the standard holidays like New Year’s, Christmas, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.
In the surgical services department where I work, each holiday is split into 12-hour shifts, a day shift 0700-1900 and a night shift 1900-0700. The department also voted that Christmas Eve after 1900 and New Year’s Eve after 1900 are considered holidays. This puts them into the mix.
Going back to our numbers, if there are 8 holidays, including eves, split into 12-hour shifts, effectively doubling the days that need coverage. This means 16 shifts need to be covered. By 25 nurses. This is where seniority comes into play. This is seniority in the department, not in the corporation.
I’ve been there so long (15 and a half years) that I have the most seniority of the OR RNs. Which means I don’t have to take holiday call.
Signing up for holiday call, even by seniority, can be a challenging thing for management to handle. To ensure that no one gets a “hot” holiday, such as Christmas or New Year’s, more than once every two years. There are even lists of the holidays and an A team and a B team who chooses.
Because the OR must be staffed in case of an emergency. Even if it is taking call from home.
This year Christmas Eve, that’s today!, is on a Sunday, which added an extra day to the holiday call rotation.
I’m still senior to everyone else and I didn’t have to take any holiday call this year.
If you are on call this weekend or next, or not, have a Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year.
Don’t forget to think good thoughts for 2024.
We are going to need them.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 