[nursemary9]

Hi,

We called for a well-being check on one of our Day-shift Nurses who did not show up; she was always there about 30 min. early. Well, of course, we waited a couple of hours & then called. She had been off for 2 days prior to this day.
The Police went over to her apartment. They found her dead. She had committed suicide --they estimated--on the first day she had been off. She was a wonderful, thoughtful young woman--no one would have ever thought she would have done this. We were all quite broken up about this.
We were so saddened that she hadn't felt comfortable enough with any of us that she could have talked & shared with us.

This happened several years ago, & I still remember it as if it was just yesterday. That's why I still get a bit freaked when people don't show up when they normally do.

[sunnydaydream]

Never got the cops called on me, but I did have a co-worker banging on my door getting ready to call the cops one time. I had went on a blind date and was late for work first time in the four years that I had worked there... My co-workers knew what was I was doing that night and thought for sure that I had been murdered. Needless to say I hadn't been murdered, but I wasn't use to being at work at 4am in the morning when I got home at midnight/one am!

I guess, it shows that they care about you and that you are diligent to be on time, but geez I'd be embarrassed!!

[rn/writer]

Originally Posted by Angie O'Plasty, RN

You are home from work today and you and your SO are having a lovely, relaxing time together when suddenly, the doorbell rings. You go to the door. A policeman is there. You open the door and he informs you that your co-workers called him to check on you because you were a no-call, no-show for your shift today!
It is exactly 1 ½ hours into your shift. You check and sure enough, there are messages on your phone from work. You apparently did not get the latest version of schedule changes.
How would you feel?

I would be furious about the schedule changes. Where I work, we get our schedules almost a month in advance and, other than folks volunteering to pick up extra shifts, they are not changed without the signed agreement of the nurses involved. If you agree to switch with so-and-so, you both have to sign a slip and get official approval (with the exception of a rare last minute verbal switch). I cannot imagine my employer being able to pull switcheroos on people without their knowledge. That seems like disaster waiting to happen, not to mention a recipe for frustration and low morale. How can you plan anything if the schedule can be changed without your consent?

As far as having the police check on you, I guess I'd rather have that than feel I could simply drop out of sight and no one would give a hoot.

Glad you're okay AngieO.

[Indy]

I will look at the schedule every time I'm at work to make sure I read it right when I put it down in my calendar. I'm responsible enough to do that and follow it. That being said, if you change it while I'm off without me agreeing to it, don't look for me. I do my part, the thing is a month long so there's time to fix problems, if there are any.

Now they do call on occasion to see if I'm willing to work extra. That's fine since we don't have mandatory on-call.

[TazziRN]

It has happened to me and I've done it. Like one of the above posters, the schedule was changed and I wasn't told. I got a call from my dad, who said the sheriff's dept had just been there, because the ER called them for a welfare check when I didn't show up. I don't recall why I didn't answer the phone, I either had it turned off or wasn't home. I was indignant and when I went in I asked them why they had called for the welfare check. The answer I got shamed me: "Because we cared about you.....sorry about that."

Years later, I was at another ER and a coworker of mine had a daughter who didn't want to go to school (long story, ended up changing schools), so she would sneak into her mom's room and turn off the alarm and the phones. We couldn't send someone out to her house because she had just moved and we didn't know where, so I called the cops. They did a reverse check on her phone number to get her address and went to check on her for us.

[pagandeva2000]

I guess that after the anger and the shock, I would be touched that someone cared enough for me to go that far and investigate my absence. So few people do that these days.

[jlsRN]

Did this happen to you, Angie?

I would probably feel embarrassed and aggravated with management for screwing with the schedule.

[sleepyndopey]

I would feel like I must be a very reliable person for them to assume the reason I wasn't at work must be so serious that they had to call the cops to check on me!
A couple of years ago there was a nurse I worked with(this guy was in his 60's and lived alone). He didn't show up for two shifts and the ADON sent the cops out to check on him and...he was dead. That was sad.

[jlsRN]

Originally Posted by pagandeva2000

I guess that after the anger and the shock, I would be touched that someone cared enough for me to go that far and investigate my absence. So few people do that these days.

Yes, Dr Laura's mother was in a state of decay when they found her....

[FNimuaeMae]

One of the night xray guys didn't show up at my old job, really reliable guy, and they went to his place and found him dead from a heart attack in the shower... it was terrible, he was such a nice guy.

Missy