perdiem and hounded everyday to work

Hi all, I am a perdiem nurse and work three shifts a week because this is all I can do because of the stress of the bedside. I am hounded everyday by emails and phone calls asking me to work. I do feel bad that the hospital is short staffed right now but my sanity needs to come first. Has this happened to anyone else and has there been any "repercussions" for not working more than what you signed up for? This is really stressing me out.

thanks, Heather
I would advise that you just turn off your phone or figure out how to be comfortable with not answering it. Think about it - as desperate as they are for help, are they really going to punish you for not taking more than the 3 shifts per week that you are comfortable with?If it's unbearable, I would go to the nurse manager (or whoever's always calling you) and tell him/her that you will soon be forced to reduce the number of shifts that you're available because the calls are bordering on harassment. Their short-staff situation is not your problem. It's theirs and they should be working on a solution.

I completely agree with roser13. I am also a per diem nurse and get asked to pick up shifts frequently. I work about 2-3 shifts per week. I have learned to say no politely and do not feel bad about it. Honestly personal health and well being definitely comes first.

Ignore them....I bought a cheap phone and gave them that number to call I just turned it off.

I'm in the same position. I choose to work 2-3 shifts a week and that's specifically why I wanted a per diem position. I will get called daily whether it's 0130, 0500, 1300, or 2300...I hate feeling like I'm on call 24/7/365. I never answer and I even assigned a "silent" ringtone for my work number so I won't even hear when they do call. I felt badly at first but don't anymore. If they are so short staffed, they should be hiring more people!

I just had an evaluation with my manager and my not picking up tons of shifts did not come up at all. I chose to be PRN for the flexibility. It is rare that I can just go to work on short notice. I don't stress over it at all. I sign up for more than the minimum of hours based on the needs stated on the schedule. I do not feel bad not going in nor do I get upset when others don't want to work extra hours. I'm thankful for the charge nurses that will text to ask if I'm available vs calling.

You are only "hounded " if you allow it.Ignore the emails and phone calls.. work when you want to.

Thanks for all the encouragement and wise words.

Yes and the endless requests to work become very tiring. Sure, you can opt not to answer or answer and face a guilt trip. I used to answer and say no if I couldn't work. Still....I felt like I could never really shut work out because of this.

Even when I was working full-time the LTC facility I worked for was always calling me on my days off to come in. I had no intentions of giving up my days off as I needed them to do things at home, run errands etc. Finally, they got the message that I was not picking up extra shifts and stopped calling me on my days off. When management constantly gets others to work extra shifts it saves them money, they do not have to hire and pay for benefits of another person etc. When I worked agency they were calling all the time, and I had to also inform them that I was working only x number of shifts. Once they got the message they left me alone!!

Life is short. Cut out the complications and don't feel badly. I have been PRN before. There was a reason for that. I did not waver.

Their short-staff situation is not your problem. It's theirs and they should be working on a solution.

Yes, life is short. thank you for the reminder.