According to WTOP news, studies show that upwards of 100,000 nurses quit during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in huge demand for healthcare workers to fill these empty positions.
This has culminated in a shortage of employees even into 2023, and judging from some social media posts from nurses online, it doesn’t seem like some folks are chomping at the bit to get back into the field.
For example, one Reddit post uploaded by user @Holiday-Strategy-643 that received over 2,300 upvotes called “being on call” a “joke.” The practice necessitates for nurses to be available on an as-needed basis for a period of time.
This means that they can’t take a day off and are only compensated a few dollars an hour for their “on-call” time. Praos Health writes that nurses are paid $2-$6 per hour for their on-call times, “The pay nurses receive during on-call hours (when not at the hospital or clinic) has long been criticized. Some nurses report being paid $2 an hour for the time they’re not at the hospital, and even when the pay is more, many facilities don’t pay any more than $4-$6 an hour for nurses to be on call through the night or over the weekend.”
One TikToker’s clip went viral documenting her on-call time as she waited at home to see if she would be asked to come into work. Savannah James (@djsav) says she was asked to be on call between the hours of 7am to 3:30pm—ultimately wasn’t called into work.
@djsavvv honestly shocked 🫶🏼 #fyp #trending #viral ♬ 3:15 (Slowed Down + Reverb) – Russ
In the clip, she updates every couple of hours to inform that she hasn’t been called in and to show that she spends her time making pizza rolls, playing games, and then sleeping.
The video ends with her in bed with a final update, “7am – no call whoop whoop.”
One commenter said they didn’t think they’d be able to work a job that stipulated this expectation from its employees.
“That has to be so stressful I wouldn’t be able to sleep properly,” they wrote.
Another said while it feels great to never receive a call, it doesn’t allow for them to have an actual day of rest.
“It’s theeee best feeling ever is when they don’t call!” the user said. “But then I be sleeping with one eye open Iike.”
Someone else wrote that they wouldn’t be able to get any rest during an on-call day as they would more than likely miss the phone call, sharing, “Hahaha I could never I sleep through my phone going off.”
One TikToker asked James if she was paid for her on-call time in the comments section of the video. She replied saying that she did, but added “I don’t think it’s much tho.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to James via Instagram direct message.
