[kcalohagirl]

The last day I called in was the day after I was the victim of an assault. I figured finger marks around my neck, the inability to swallow, and the inability to talk above a whisper warranted a day off. The nursing office still gave me a hard time.

Seriously though, I wish I had called in sick my last night of 3 in a row this week. The past 2 nights had been hades. Not enough help on the floor, confused patients, patients with psych issues, patients with pain issues, patients who were on the call light every 15 minutes all night long. . . .we've all had nights like that. I had been fighting a headache all night on night #2, and was seriously thinking about taking a mental health day. When I woke up with a feeling of impending doom I should have gone ahead and called. Instead, I had night #3 in a row of pure hell. Confused patient became agitated, crawled out of bed and tried to run down the hall, became violent when placed in restraints, managed to kick me in the head and stomach, got out of his restraints twice, (thank god we initiated a one on one) was verbally abusive to all staff, and spent the next 4 hours screaming and keeping all other patients on the unit awake. (Which of course didn't make the night any easier.) Patient w/ psych issues was better because of increased xanax dose, however her transplanted kidney (from several years ago) was failing, and her only IV Access was her dialysis catheter. Not in itself an awful thing, but time consuming, and an infection worry. Patient who had been formerly okay was terribly confused and fell out of bed. However, apparently he got back into bed and never said anything about it to anyone (including me when I was chatting with him for a half hour while his family was there) until he apparently fell a second time the next afternoon. My Post Op Day 1 patient kept trying to spike a fever on me.

I didn't call in because I didn't want my fellow staff to suffer.

But the next time I wake up with a feeling of impending doom? I'm gonna listen to it and go back to bed.

*grin*

[Elvish]

I won't say I never have, but I haven't in quite a while.

With my schedule the way it is, I really don't need to. Plus, if I call in now (since I work 24 & get paid for 40) I get 20 hours PDO taken out even if I only miss 12. So I prefer to make it count. Most recent call ins for me were when I sprained a shoulder (1 night) and when I stabbed myself in my LFA (2 nights). I've usually been fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on perspective) to be sick on my days off.

[ShawtNurse]

Everytime I say that I am gonna call out..just to be off I feel guilty and never do it. I can only recall one day about 3 yrs ago when i just called out to call out. I was hanging with some friends the evening before and was like "i don't feel like going to work tomorrow" and called out 30 minutes later.

Since then I have only called out because of illness. I am such a punk! LOL

[DutchgirlRN]

I have taken 1 or 2 mental health days over the past 5 years but since I really needed them I didn't consider it playing hooky. I was far too stressed to work and that's what I told them.

Back years and years ago I used to occasionally play hooky. I knew I had something special to do with the kids and knew if I didn't get the day off I couldn't then call in sick to I just called in instead of asking off. That was the fault of the nurse manager. When she was replaced with a reasonable woman I didn't do it anymore.

[AmandaBrittainy]

I have played hooky once but I just could not risk my licensure. I work in a town with a population of around 250K, For many Saturdays in a row, I was staffed as the only RN in the ER. I kept asking and pleading and explaining how dangerous this was. Then of all things my boss called me at the end of the week and told me to expect to stay over due to the weather (which never effects travel in this area), if not I could face pt abandonment issues, as if my situation wasnt bad enough already. I finally called it quits and magically our hospital was allowed to employ agency again - something we greatly need because they cant keep regular staff. They were in such a bad predicament with no RN for the ER and no one to float, they finally had to make a decent decision and I have never had to work this way again. If we are understaffed now, we close down some of our rooms for real emergencies, it has certainly motivated the hospital without drastic measures and a bad pt outcome. Calling in can be a good thing. It shows the employer that you are inevitably on the front line and they need to provide a safe environment, I also turned them in to thier corporate office, our staffing has been much better since I finally got fed up and solved the problem. That is my only time playing hooky.

[lorita]

Never! The job I'm in now for the last 15 months I've called in once and that was to take care of my 77yo father. My last job of 11 yrs I called in twice once when I was vomiting and once when I had an abscessed tooth (I went to work with the dental pain) had to see the edontist for a root canal.

[icuwant2rn]

we are so understaffed that I used to not call in even when legit sick. Decided I needed to start taking care of numero uno after asking to be first on call one morning as I was leaving shift as I had already been vomiting at work. (Census was running low) They didn't call me off that night, so I went in still nauseated to find that another RN had been put on call that night. The supervisor swore she tried to call me first (after I confronted her about it) but couldn't get a hold of me. Funny my phone never rang that day, the # wasn't on my caller ID, and no one left a message. From now on they will just have to scramble to find a replacement for me.

[brendamyheart]

Originally Posted by cheerfuldoer

First nurses, nurses-2b, etc.....being "sick" does not always imply something is "physically" ailing you.

Being "sick" may be due to emotional and mental stress as well as physical ailments one suffers.

I have taken "mental health" days when I need them. If I need to be the patient who needs nursed, I do not feel guilty in doing so.

That said, I rarely have called in to work. If I do, I'm truly sick...physically, or emotionally/mentally stressed to the max.

I checked "1 to 3 times per year" on the poll.

[LUVtxNursing]

Well, it may be pathetic, but I've called in 6 times this year!! I had valid reason's with Dr.'s notes everytime. 5 of those 6 times were because my little 3 year old was sick, real sick, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, ear infections, walking pneumonia, you name it, he had it!! We had put him in Day Care for the first time, and he's caught everything imaginable!! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't leave him as sick as he was! Thankfully his immune system seems to be toughening up and he hasn't been sick in a couple of months.....knocking on wood!!

[prmenrs]

Hey, MTP! Wanna play hooky w/me??? I know a Starbucks close by.....