Changing to on-site weeknight & weekend cover

Re: Changing to on-site weeknight & weekend cover

Kim Buckley — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:04:40 GMT

I currently work full weekends and it's rubbish! It's not to bad if you have a quiet wkend but I work in quite a busy hospital and one Saturday I worked from 8am until 11pm! I was half dead! Luckily the night was quiet but if it hadn't had been I would then have had to work all of Sunday aswell with very little sleep! It's a reallys stupid system!

Re: Changing to on-site weeknight & weekend cover

Donna France — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:59:16 GMT

I agree. please stand your ground. Where I work we have just recently started having a nurse on site on nights, while I completely agree that it is the best care for the inpatients you must think of your own health too.

we as a nursing team stuck together to get the best deal possible, we were adament not to work any longer than we had been ie 40 hrs per week, wanted paying for each night etc. after many meetings (and wine!) we finally came up with a contract that pleased us nurses and practice partners.

I think it helped that we all stuck together, for us they couldnt make us do it as not in our contracts so we were the one calling the shots.

Power to the Nurses!!

Re: Changing to on-site weeknight & weekend cover

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:55:47 GMT

All I am going to say is Dont do it, you will make yourself ill....... working all weekend on call is no picnic and I say this from experience.. we changed the way we work as we were doing that, and apart from the fact its against the law, its not good for your health.

Dont be steamrollered into accepting it, get advice from CAB or ACAS, they cant make you do this, Also the thought of having the following fri off... may sound ok just now but thats a pretty rough deal if you ask me.

If I do weekend days... I get the following thur fri off, as well as the weekend, and if I do nights, its sat sun night only.... no days then off all monday and the following fri.