[melpn]

Stop beating yourself up over this! It's not like you called out with a hangnail (or a hangover) or because you just didn't feel like going in. Someone had to take care of those sick kids. End of story.I hope everyone feels better-including you.

[maralenn]

When you have kids, their sickness is your sickness. Don't feel an ounce of guilt about it. If I ever had to choose between a job and my kids, my kids would win that hands down. There are plenty of jobs out there, but only one Mommy to take care of my kiddos.

[thumperRN]

Sometimes you just have to do it. I worked nights for a while and I know that sleep during the day and sleep at night are two different things even if you sleep the same amount of hours. You can't be at your best if you haven't slept. You may have avoided a much more serious situation by calling in sick.

[jcgcrna]

Your employer hired you not your kids (or husband, truck, animals). You have a duty to those who pay you. Get someone to take care of your other business or take vacation time. I have no empathy for those who carelessly dump on their colleagues for other than true emergencies. Modern RN's have very little loyalty to their fellow nurses or to their institution. Always a sore subject for someone who has been nursing for about 36 years and has called in for real reasoins of personal illness about 2-3 times.
JCGCRNA

Has anyone else called in sick when their children were sick? I work night shift on a very busy cardiac step down unit. My 7 year old had a fever of 102.6 when I went to work. My husband was given a medication schedule for the Tylenol and motrin. When I returned from work in the morning, my husband told me the children had a 2 hour delay from school due to snow Despite the fact he an important meeting, he rearranged his schedule so I could take a shower and go to bed with my sick son and try to get some sleep. Half way through my shower he informed me the 2 hour delay was now a cancelled school day. I told my hubby to just go to work. The few hours he had arranged for me to sleep was not going to happen with 2 very excited kids who wanted to play in the snow. I now have three children staying home from school. I was so worried about not being able to get the sleep I needed before the next shift I called in sick. I have NEVER called in sick unless I was truely sick. I have been feeling sick to my stomach ever since.

Please tell me some of you have used your sick days for family sick days and that management didn't punish you for it. I have to go into work tonight and know I don't look sick...the guilt is just killing me....

P.S. I called in 8 hours before my shift started. I tried to give as much notice as possible..I do hope they found a replacement[/quote]

[mercyteapot]

At my work, we have both personal sick time and family sick time (the same number of hours per year; it can be distributed in any combination, though- all for yourself, all for your family, or any ratio thereof). This is a good way of doing things, I think, as it is built into the needs of the agency and no one need feel guilty about taking time to which they are entitled.

[mercyteapot]

Originally Posted by BamaBound2bRN

I know I will probably get blasted for this, but why is it that people want their cake, and eat it too? You wanted both a career and a family, and you have responsibilities to both- your choice. If it is something that happens only rarely- then don't feel guilty, but I have worked with people who "Call In Sick" for every piano recital, runny nose, and soccer game. And I have been scheduled for nearly every holiday, because "You don't have children."

Good luck staffing a hospital with people who have no life or responsibility outside of work. I'd venture to guess you'd end up losing about 80% of your mid-career level staff and a hefty percentage of newbies and senior level to boot. What is the point of ignoring the fact that people have obligations outside of work? The wise hospital acknowledges this when hiring staff and planning schedules.

[maralenn]

[quote=jcgcrna]Your employer hired you not your kids (or husband, truck, animals). You have a duty to those who pay you. Get someone to take care of your other business or take vacation time. I have no empathy for those who carelessly dump on their colleagues for other than true emergencies. Modern RN's have very little loyalty to their fellow nurses or to their institution. Always a sore subject for someone who has been nursing for about 36 years and has called in for real reasoins of personal illness about 2-3 times.
JCGCRNA

I agree, and I am certainly not suggesting that anyone should abuse calling in just because they have kids. Nor do I think think that employers should be callous when it comes to taking care of one's family. So many people out there want to fill the nursing shortage, but it seems that they only want to fill it with those who are single and are willing to stay single their whole lives. Sorry, that is not realistic. Also, whether people have families or not, there are always going to be those who call in for any reason they can think of. I'm sure that almost all of us have been affected by such people.

Also, MODERN RNs are different than the RNs of years ago. The RNs of years ago lived in a different economy, when one paycheck per household sufficed and you could take time off to raise your children until they entered school. MODERN RNs must find a way to try to balance work and home, lest they find themselves homeless for not being able to pay the mortgage. There are some lucky RNs who are married to someone who has enough money to carry the household, but not the majority. MODERN RNs are just as dedicated to their workplace as "seasoned" RNs. We are not eager to call in, aloof about our impact on our co-workers, apathetic toward our workplace, etc., but when we are forced to make a choice between our children and our workplace, I think our social obligation to be good parents and our deep love for our children will prevail.

[KyPinkRN]

Originally Posted by jcgcrna

Your employer hired you not your kids (or husband, truck, animals). You have a duty to those who pay you. Get someone to take care of your other business or take vacation time. I have no empathy for those who carelessly dump on their colleagues for other than true emergencies. Modern RN's have very little loyalty to their fellow nurses or to their institution. Always a sore subject for someone who has been nursing for about 36 years and has called in for real reasoins of personal illness about 2-3 times.
JCGCRNA

Has anyone else called in sick when their children were sick? I work night shift on a very busy cardiac step down unit. My 7 year old had a fever of 102.6 when I went to work. My husband was given a medication schedule for the Tylenol and motrin. When I returned from work in the morning, my husband told me the children had a 2 hour delay from school due to snow Despite the fact he an important meeting, he rearranged his schedule so I could take a shower and go to bed with my sick son and try to get some sleep. Half way through my shower he informed me the 2 hour delay was now a cancelled school day. I told my hubby to just go to work. The few hours he had arranged for me to sleep was not going to happen with 2 very excited kids who wanted to play in the snow. I now have three children staying home from school. I was so worried about not being able to get the sleep I needed before the next shift I called in sick. I have NEVER called in sick unless I was truely sick. I have been feeling sick to my stomach ever since.

Please tell me some of you have used your sick days for family sick days and that management didn't punish you for it. I have to go into work tonight and know I don't look sick...the guilt is just killing me....

P.S. I called in 8 hours before my shift started. I tried to give as much notice as possible..I do hope they found a replacement

[/quote]



Not everything is about making money. A good employor knows this. Just because they pay you doesn't mean they should be your top priority, especially when having and raising children. IMO you have more of a duty to take care of your children since they can't take care of themselves. YOU are soley responsible for them where as at work your shift can be covered by someone else. No one else is going to step in and take care of your kids like you would. Obviously the OP didn't just "carelessly dump on her colleagues", but let's think about this... you can always find another job you will never be able to get back the time you don't spend with your children. Everything has a time and place, in my life my kids always take priority over everything. Calling in because your kid is sick I assure you is a very REAL reason. It is people like you who make it harder for parents too get by in the workforce. It's definitly commendable that you have such a good attendance record at work. How would you kids describe you as a parent?

[wincha]

Originally Posted by rn_chickey

Has anyone else called in sick when their children were sick? I work night shift on a very busy cardiac step down unit. My 7 year old had a fever of 102.6 when I went to work. My husband was given a medication schedule for the Tylenol and motrin. When I returned from work in the morning, my husband told me the children had a 2 hour delay from school due to snow Despite the fact he an important meeting, he rearranged his schedule so I could take a shower and go to bed with my sick son and try to get some sleep. Half way through my shower he informed me the 2 hour delay was now a cancelled school day. I told my hubby to just go to work. The few hours he had arranged for me to sleep was not going to happen with 2 very excited kids who wanted to play in the snow. I now have three children staying home from school. I was so worried about not being able to get the sleep I needed before the next shift I called in sick. I have NEVER called in sick unless I was truely sick. I have been feeling sick to my stomach ever since.

Please tell me some of you have used your sick days for family sick days and that management didn't punish you for it. I have to go into work tonight and know I don't look sick...the guilt is just killing me....

P.S. I called in 8 hours before my shift started. I tried to give as much notice as possible..I do hope they found a replacement

of course i have used sick days when my children are sick. my husband makes over twice that i do. he works overtime all of the time. occasiaonally he can take off. luckily my kids are well. i also work very part time and in the evenings.

[wincha]

Originally Posted by BamaBound2bRN

I know I will probably get blasted for this, but why is it that people want their cake, and eat it too? You wanted both a career and a family, and you have responsibilities to both- your choice. If it is something that happens only rarely- then don't feel guilty, but I have worked with people who "Call In Sick" for every piano recital, runny nose, and soccer game. And I have been scheduled for nearly every holiday, because "You don't have children."

not blasting but what do you suggest a single mom do not work? some people have no choice but to do it all as you put it