Holidays off?

Some have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.
We have a set schedule set up once hired.. We are A or B and the holidays are split between the two. Once assigned you work this set of holidays year one, then year two you work the other set giving you the previous worked holidays off.. It works very well..

That is part of the price you pay by becoming a nurse! I don't like it either and after so many years I wish they would let their senior staff have some holidays and weekends off, but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.You have to be resourceful to get time off, stay on good terms with coworkers and see if you can switch with them to get the holiday you want off.12 hour nights have it the worst when it comes to weekends and holidays! So stick with days if you want to have any real holiday!Don't forget its not just the holidays you'll be sacrificing, its weekends and last minute mandating 16 hour shifts when they are short staffed and you are the cheapest option!

Unless you work at a bank or govt job, you will more than likely work holidays- even McD's is open on Thanksgiving and New Years. Are you planning on working the 24 hours before and after the holiday, so that there is no time to get a celebration in? Do you think a kid cares what day they get their loot? Make the holidays special for YOU- don't let some intermittent situation derail a career - if it's the career you really want. Good luck

Quote from brandy1017That is part of the price you pay by becoming a nurse! I don't like it either and after so many years I wish they would let their senior staff have some holidays and weekends off, but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.You have to be resourceful to get time off, stay on good terms with coworkers and see if you can switch with them to get the holiday you want off.[FONT="Arial Black"]12 hour nights have it the worst when it comes to weekends and holidays! So stick with days if you want to have any real holiday!Don't forget its not just the holidays you'll be sacrificing, its weekends and last minute mandating 16 hour shifts when they are short staffed and you are the cheapest option!

Quote from JmiamiSome have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.

Quote from OCNRN63I don't have kids, nor do I celebrate holidays. But feel just as entitled to a day off as the next person. Just because someone has a kid doesn't mean their time off is more important than another's.

Last year I worked all three holidays. Since I didn't have any kids I volunteered to work christmas morning, I rather had christmas evening off anyway. I hate working holidays and weekends. I guess its something that we sign up for when in bedside nursing.

what's "important" about the holiday? is it the date on the calendar? because i can pretty much guarantee that jesus wasn't born on december 25, the pilgrims didn't have dinner with the indians on november 24 and independence didn't happen all of a sudden on july 4. good news! all you have to "miss out on" is the date on the calendar.thanksgiving is about giving thanks -- and you can do that just as well on november 20 or november 26 as you can on the 24th. or maybe it's about seeing your entire family together at once . . . again, it doesn't have to happen on the fourth thursday of november. if it's all about eating turkey until you bust and then watching football . . . sundays are good for that, too. your two year old is too young to read a calendar -- he won't care if santa comes on december 23 or december 27 instead of the 25th. at twelve, he might think it's cool that he gets all of his presents a day or two before his friends do, or if he gets more loot a few days after christmas because you went shopping at the after christmas sales. and if christmas is all about the religious celebration -- celebrate with the rest of your congregation every other year . . . god will understand if you have to take care of your patients this year. someone has to.it's not about the actual holiday . . . it's about all the family or friends or sentiment that goes with it. so pick a day and celebrate then. it's a good lesson about giving back that you can share with your children. and the "christmas morning" videos will show just as bright and happy a face when your child opens presents on december 26 because mommy had to work the 25th. really. the older you get, the more people in your life, and the more complications. let your kids go to your mother-in-law's house on december 25 when you're working, you take them with you and have christmas the weekend before. or after. they get two christmases, you get to spend yours with people you love. (well, maybe you love your mother-in-law. but i'm sure you catch my drift.) get over the idea that holidays are about a date on the calendar . . . even if you never actually become a nurse, there are other things that can interfere with that date. if your family has a tradition of celebrating when you can all get together, that will serve you well even if someone is working, someone is sick or someone is at the in-laws on that holiday.

Quote from JmiamiSome have kids, some don't. Some value Thanksgiving and Christmas over the New Years holidays. How often do you find yourselves working important holidays? I have a 2 YO and am looking forward to a nursing career, but if that means missing out on my daughters thanksgivings and christmases growing up it does make me think twice.

This was my first thanksgiving as a nurse, the stuff I would miss ie. holidays, school stuff, etc was the one obstacle I had to get over before I decided to becomea nurse. We had our big dinner on the 23rd, yes I missed out on a day with my extended family, but well the kiddos and my dh are what's most important. I work christmas eve too but have christmas day off. I also work new years day.I do know nurses that were able to trade to get the holidays they wanted off,but unless you work in a drs office expect to be working holidays, and don't expect your coworkers to take your holidays, most of mine also have children.

OP: We were warned on day 1 of nursing school that if we didn't want to work evenings, weekends, holidays, snow days or anything outside 9a-5p, then we were about to enter into the wrong profession. Sick patients don't leave the hospital when you clock out at 5pm, nor do they get snow days, nor does the place empty out for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Nursing is a 24/7/365 profession. We were also warned that the "I have kids" excuse won't fly well in nursing school because it wouldn't fly well in the real world.Working holidays sucks when you have kids. It sucks when you don't have kids. I've had to do it both ways.Most facilities will have a holiday schedule so the days are distributed evenly among all staff and the holidays rotate each year. If you're scheduled to work a holiday and want off, they will usually let you change if you can find a replacement to work your holiday for you. Some nurses are happy to swap and take your holiday for you to make the double-time pay or take a shift that they need to be off. Though even with deal-making, expect to be working some holidays. Of course, land in a doctor's office, and there's no worries about weekends or holidays I've been doing what Ruby Vee's suggested for years, but not as a result of nursing. It's how our family makes holidays work since we're scattered all across the world.

Regardless of the fact that you have children, your employer and your coworkers won't really care. Nursing is 24 7. If you are working somewhere that involves shifts, expect to work them. That's the way it is, especially as a new grad. Many nurses have families, and they too have to make sacrifices. Someone has to take care of the patients.