Sick Of Co-workers Calling In ALL the Time

LG1137 · Dec 13, 2009

It is an earned benefit. If the employee has accumulated sick hours, he should be able to take them. I agree with earlier post: it is a management issue. The shift should be backfilled to meet the minimum staffing level.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 13, 2009

But how should management handle the person who is clearly abusing their ability to call in sick? It does place a burden on the system to coverage for them at the last minute. It is terribly expensive to have nurses sitting around "on call" to fill in when needed. The resources that management spends on those "on call" people could be used in better ways than to cover for unreliable employees.

It's fine to gripe about this problem. We all do. But how do you think the management should handle it?

No one is talking about the legitimately sick, here. We are talking about those who abuse the system.

Dakovich · Dec 14, 2009

Hmmm, I just hung up from calling in sick when I saw this post.
My manager was a bit snippy, asked if there was "a particular reason" I was calling out. Gee, let's see, I am having a diverticulitis attack.
My intestines feel like they are tied in knots, I can't stand up straight, I have n/v/d, and oh by the way the abx my doc prescribed have some unpleasant side affects.
But by all means, perhaps I should have gone in to work. I could have just as easily spent my evening in the bathroom there as at home.
Most people can't afford to just not come to work. I really doubt that your co-workers are calling in just to take advantage of you.

in my previous career they would suggest we file for FMLA (family medical leave act) in instances like this. If you had a persistant condition the FMLA was the only way to avoid getting "dinged" like another poster had mentioned. we wouldn't get paid when calling in for whatever our FMLA paperwork covered (ie you'd have it cover diverticulitis as verified by your doctor) but we could deduct vacation time if we wanted to get paid for the days off.

Midwest4me · Dec 14, 2009

Oh Skittlebear, I SO agree with your frustration; it makes me so very angry and I have vented about it myself. We are an unionized hospital; 8 hrs' sick time is earned by each employee EVERY MONTH....and no limit occurs as to its accumulation so those of us who DON'T call in much accumulate a huge #s of sick time---great if one ever breaks a leg or hip andis out 6 weeks!! Further, we are NOT required to give(and many don't give) a medical explanation for the sick leave call-in due to HIPPA violations. We merely say: "I won't be in this evening".

For many that 8 hours is just like vacation---many abuse it, set a pattern(I can count on a few people calling in the first week of EVERY MONTH). Float pool personnel are used to cover absences but more often than not, they're already plugged into units and counted as staff on those wards so staff from the previous shift are "mandated" (i.e. required) to stay over for the next shift or part of it if the staffing coordinator can get someone else to come in mid-shift). It get very tiresome getting mandated to work day shift after 8-12 hours of night shift. Day shifters at our hospital are the worst abusers of sick time. Though some may deem this not nice, most of the staff though make it clear to the person calling in(when that person is next on duty) that a mandate occurred because he/she called in and that has helped decrease the # of occurrences. When some of us get "mandated" 1-3 times in a row, then we tend to feel ill too and call in, thereby feeding the bad cycle.

Emergency RN · Dec 14, 2009

Management generally handle these things by historical statistics. If you have say, 150 RN's per shift throughout the institution, with a 2% average daily sick call rate, then that means you should always schedule at least 153 RN's. Of course, some less than stellar institutions don't want, or are unwilling to spend the money for the 3 RN's that they already anticipated (based on those historical averages) will be out sick. They feign surprise when it happens, blame the nurse for calling in, and may insist that other nurses pick up the assignment, or float a nurse from a less busy unit.

In other hospitals where management accepts their responsibility and realizes that these things are nothing but just daily operational realities, they will not only schedule what they historically need, but have a float team that is regularly staffed (the float assignments only becomes known as the distribution of nursing resources is finalized, just before the start of the shift), to assign as need arises. Some units may occasionally become so busy that they actually need to have an "extra" nurse above their usual regular staffing. Having a float team helps to mitigate such contingencies and ultimately ensures quick and effective delivery of our product, ie patient care.

Thus, there are good and bad nursing management practices in relation to sick calls overall.

Sick time abuse, which needs to be qualified; may be dealt with by employee progressive discipline. When an employee seems to be calling in sick in a manner that is statistically above average (compared to that of co-workers) management may choose to investigate the reason. While to tell an employee who has accrued sick time, not to call in sick, is against the law, management may insist on a doctor's report that said employee was genuinely ill. If determined to be so, repeated abuse of sick time can ultimately end in suspension or termination. However, if an employee has legitimate reasons and has not exceeded their accrued sick time, then management is generally obligated to respect the employee's right to continue to call in sick.

Again, the abuse in and of itself is a self limiting issue. Once the abuser runs out of sick time or is fired, then the issue itself has been remedied. Generally, in an entire nursing staff population, how many would have this problem? IMHO, I suspect that the numbers are probably disproportionately small in comparison to the actual attention that seems to be focused on them.

*** Sidebar *** Oh, and BTW, totally tangential to this, but for those that haven't realized this already, statistics in nursing management is a huge tool. It's also one of several tools that managers use to catch people stealing narcotics (eg, every time nurse suzy is on, the morphine waste count goes way up; like Da-uh...) :specs:

sunnycalifRN · Dec 14, 2009

GRRRR....I am sick of my co-workers calling in sick all the time. It would be different if it wasn't the SAME ones that call in month after month. When they are "out sick", I am picking up their slack and it is so frustrating! Yes, I agree that everyone gets sick from time to time and needs a sick day, but when it becomes a PATTERN I start to lose trust in them. I like my co-workers, but it makes it hard to smile at a few of them when they come back from ANOTHER "sick day" knowing the day before I was busting my butt picking up there slack. It makes me want to call in just because I am literally SICK of them calling in SICK. Sorry I sound so angry....thanks for letting me vent.

Skittlebear,

I hear ya. I went several years never calling in sick . . . management gave me a coffee mug!! I have over 1000 hrs of sick leave accumulated (we don't have PTO, sick leave and vacation are separate pools) . . . when my colleagues found out about this, they called me a fool (especially considering that I will lose all the sick leave when I retire or quit).

So, hospital policy does nothing to encourage good attendance (except for a coffee mug!) and their "use it or lose it (when you retire/quit)" policy somewhat encourages employees to use sick leave. When employees are really sick, they have every right to call in. Hospital policy should encourage/reward good attendance.

rn4babies63 · Dec 14, 2009

Skittlebear,
I hear ya. I went several years never calling in sick . . . management gave me a coffee mug!! I have over 1000 hrs of sick leave accumulated (we don't have PTO, sick leave and vacation are separate pools) . . . when my colleagues found out about this, they called me a fool (especially considering that I will lose all the sick leave when I retire or quit).
So, hospital policy does nothing to encourage good attendance (except for a coffee mug!) and their "use it or lose it (when you retire/quit)" policy somewhat encourages employees to use sick leave. When employees are really sick, they have every right to call in. Hospital policy should encourage/reward good attendance.

At least you get a coffee mug! I've not called off or punched in late in 13 years! I'm tired of coworkers calling off 5 days for a sick dog, 5 days for a father-in-law passing away, 3 days for their teenage daughter's BF's surgery, etc. I think I might me sick for the first time on Friday.............

sunnycalifRN · Dec 14, 2009

At least you get a coffee mug! I've not called off or punched in late in 13 years! I'm tired of coworkers calling off 5 days for a sick dog, 5 days for a father-in-law passing away, 3 days for their teenage daughter's BF's surgery, etc. I think I might me sick for the first time on Friday.............

LOL!! My perfect attendance coffee mug was stolen after a couple of weeks!! Good ahead and call in . . I won't tell!!!

Midwest4me · Dec 14, 2009

at least you get a coffee mug! i've not called off or punched in late in 13 years! i'm tired of coworkers calling off 5 days for a sick dog, 5 days for a father-in-law passing away, 3 days for their teenage daughter's bf's surgery, etc. i think i might me sick for the first time on friday.............

sounds like you need(and deserve) a mental health day....if for nothing else, a reward for having gone so long without being ill! cudos to you!

pinkiepie_RN · Dec 14, 2009

I've gotten a verbal warning for missing 4 days since I've started and will be thinking a bit harder about what it takes for me to call in sick. I wonder if other hospitals have different policies; you can miss 7 days/occurrences per year before for you get fired.

LG1137 · Dec 14, 2009

Emergency RN,

That was a very thorough post, thank you. You explained it very well: the abuse is self-limiting; when the employee runs out of sick time, the problem will have to cease.

And kudos to any institution that prepares for those that are sick by keeping a float team, as you called it. That's good management.

skittlebear · Dec 14, 2009

At least you get a coffee mug! I've not called off or punched in late in 13 years! I'm tired of coworkers calling off 5 days for a sick dog, 5 days for a father-in-law passing away, 3 days for their teenage daughter's BF's surgery, etc. I think I might me sick for the first time on Friday.............

:lol: I too, think you deserve a mental health day and a few rewards at that. 13 years! Wow! That shows how dependable you are. Maybe you should take a few mental health days! : )