Is it OK to discipline nurses extra for calling in sick on a holiday?

caliotter3 · Jan 9, 2015

I think that nurses should not call in sick on a holiday, the day before, or the day after, just because they can get away with it. If you want the shift off, then request it off ahead of time and get it approved like you are supposed to do.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Jan 9, 2015

More than one nurse is "spoken to" about sick calls in their evaluations.

They are called into a manager's office to discuss being "ill" and calling out.

Interestingly, there are infection control policies that are really, really clear regarding when one doesn't have a choice--and are not to come to work. (24 hours fever free, for example)

And even more nurses have accumulated more sick time than one can imagine that they either stop accruing it (bonus for the facility) can't take it with them (cash out) if they leave or asked to leave a facility (bonus for the facility) or are asked to donate it to a sick bank, as to pay the salary of a co-worker who has serious illness (again, bonus for the facility).

When the Joint Commission makes some sort of rule about hospital acquired infections of patients by nurses who come to work ill and it affects reimbursement--nurses will be spoken to about coming to work ill......

Just doesn't make much sense--however, it is part of a compensation package to be allowed sick days. The issue is that one is made to feel guilty about using them.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 9, 2015

I think a lot of the reasoning behind this is that people abuse calling off "sick" on holidays because they just don't want to work them. Nurses and nursing students need to know up front that weekends and holidays are part of the 24/7/365 world of nursing, and that calling off just because they don't want to work is not acceptable (nor are they super special snowflakes to whom those conditions don't apply). Does it suck for those that are truly sick? Absolutely, but then again, actions have consequences. As long as the policy is clearly stated up front and available to all employees through whatever means that facility chooses (online policy manual, paper employee handbook, etc.), then those who call off on a holiday know what those consequences will be. I see nothing wrong with enforcing policies that are readily available and applicable to all.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 9, 2015

When members of nursing staff call out on holidays, this simply makes conditions intolerable for the rest of us who are now stuck working understaffed.

If you're sick on the holiday, stay home and get better. However, if you don't want to work holidays, find a job that doesn't have 24-hour operations.

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

I think extra discipline is warranted if they have a pattern of suspicious calling off, or just a history off calling off too often. In that case, it would be their history, and not the actual holiday call off that would be disciplined. The holidays are a major time for getting sick, so it sucks for nurses with otherwise great attendance to get punished just because they were unfortunate enough to get sick during the holidays.

In my unit nurses have been getting the flu left and right, one right after the other since November, but have not been taking the appropriate time off to get well because of the punitive nature that holiday call offs are handled. I've even been wearing a mask, washing my hands extra diligently, and wiping down the station computers throughout the shift instead of just the beginning like I usually do.

Karou · Jan 10, 2015

I am probably one of few people who have a problem with this.

If I happen to be confined to the bathroom, projecting liquid out of both ends on Christmas Day then yes, I am calling in. The fact that I would/could receive extra punishment for this is ridiculous to me. Do some people call in on holidays intentionally, so they can be with their families? Yes. And shame on them. I can suspect that coworkers have done this. I can groan and roll my eyes when we are short three nurses in Thanksgiving, but for all I know my coworkers could actually be too ill to come to work. It's inconvenient, but how can it be their fault that they are sick? Unless they are posting pictures on facebook or mentioning it at work that they really weren't sick, then I have to assume that they were.

One of my benefits of being a full time employee is PTO time. If I am sick, I use it. We shouldn't have to guilty for calling in when necessary. Holidays are awful times to have to call in, but we aren't superheroes and people do get sick on these days.

tyvin, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

I am probably one of few people who have a problem with this.
If I happen to be confined to the bathroom, projecting liquid out of both ends on Christmas Day then yes, I am calling in. The fact that I would/could receive extra punishment for this is ridiculous to me. Do some people call in on holidays intentionally, so they can be with their families? Yes. And shame on them. I can suspect that coworkers have done this. I can groan and roll my eyes when we are short three nurses in Thanksgiving, but for all I know my coworkers could actually be too ill to come to work. It's inconvenient, but how can it be their fault that they are sick? Unless they are posting pictures on facebook or mentioning it at work that they really weren't sick, then I have to assume that they were.
One of my benefits of being a full time employee is PTO time. If I am sick, I use it. We shouldn't have to guilty for calling in when necessary. Holidays are awful times to have to call in, but we aren't superheroes and people do get sick on these days.

No, you're are not the only one who has a problem with punishing nurses for calling out. They call out, they call out...there are always nurses who will work. If there's a pattern and you don't like it complain or get the nurse fired.

fawnmarie, ASN · Jan 10, 2015

At my facility, calling in sick on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays requires a doctor's statement, as does calling in on any holidays. If one does not provide a doctor's note, they will not be paid, even if that nurse has months of sick time accrued.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

Disciplining nurse for a clear-cut case of unscheduled mental health day under the guise of illness--yes. Say, you hear the background noise of a party during the call-in, or the nurse posts about the mental health day on Facebook. Yes, absolutely.

Disciplining a nurse for being legitimately ill on a holiday, with sx that ANY school nurse would require you to pick up your child for, or that the evidence otherwise says are risky (e.g. influenza sx, or sore throat w/ fever)...or sx that impair a nurse's functioning and therefore impairs pt safety--HELL NO.

I went home sick on New Year's Day because I was squelching the urge to vomit and sore to the point of my skin all feeling sunburnt. Years ago, I wasn't working on Christmas but had to cancel our travel plans because my daughter and I both had a GI illness. My immune system is completely unaware of the Gregorian calendar...I suspect most other nurses' immune systems are just as unaware. :sarcastic: Working sick on a holiday is just as unwise as working sick any other day.

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

Mental health days are necessary as well. As a patient I don't want some stretched to the limit ready to snap employee caring for me. Sometimes the best thing we can do is take care of ourselves.

dream'n, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

I agree that a nurse should not face extra discipline for calling in sick on a holiday, other than what's in the policy for every other day of the year. In my 21 years of nursing, I've never really seen holidays call-offs as a problem. I think most nurses make a special effort to work their scheduled holidays, because they don't want to hurt the team on a holiday and because people would view it as suspicious. Plus many nurses LOVE the holiday pay :) Nurses aren't in charge of scheduling their illnesses for the most opportune time, That said, if a nurse calls off on a holiday just for a 'mental health day' and I knew it, I'd lose tremendous respect for them.