Ok. I totally understand that nursing is a 24/7/365 operation. Really. And I knew when I went to nursing school that I'd be working weekends and holidays, and planning my vacations six month in advance, at least while I worked in the hospital setting.
But seriously, why bother even giving people the opportunity to earn sick time if you are going to punish them for using it? I myself, though never warned or terminated for it, was routinely "dinged" on my annual evals for "excessive absenteeism".....though I only took sick time I had earned. Every year I had the same response for my manager: "I understand your policy, but I disagree with it. If I am sick or I have a sick child, and I have sick time to take, I am going to take it. I call in well in advance of the shift so I don't leave anyone in a bind. I have also been known to come in when asked on my day off because of other staff sick calls, or to help cover vacations. I disagree that it's excessive absenteeism if it's within the limits of the time I earn." And every year we'd agree to disagree, and I'd go back to the floor....
Now I work in hospice. I work very few weekends, I have paid holidays, and if I call out sick I am told "Feel better....take care of yourself." In fact, the few times I have gone to work sick because of the expectations I had absorbed that that's just what you do as a nurse...and I was told "Go home! You're sick! We don't want you seeing patients like that!".
It just makes me so angry that so many of us are made to feel like criminals or bad employees for taking more than 2 or 3 sick days per year! Sometimes life just doesn't work that way! And no one should be made to feel bad about that!
Andre, I couldnt agree more with you! I have sick time at my job as well and I get a strike against me on every day that I take. Average # of days I should be taking a year is 3-5. Any more than that I am considered less than average, and it will reflect in my yearly appraisal. Its absurd. Especially when you are told "If you are sick, please dont come in" AND to boot I work with cancer patients!!!!!!!
It will be interesting to see at this years appraisal. I had surgery at the end of Decemeber and took time off (my sick time) into Jan so I could recover. Will this planned use of my sick time, get me? We shall see.
I will continue to take my sick time as needed and warranted. I will back everyone up with an MDs note if needed. Let them ding me if they must, wont prevent me being a good nurse and a good job! Im a better nurse when I am not sick!!!!
Every year, my friend gets her eval and they always ding her on her attendance. She has a small bladder for which she has to get stretched every year and she has her PTO plus she files every surgery under FMLA. They still ding her every year.
I called out once. The next day I went in and one of the aides had the same thing - it was going around, clearly infectious, and it was LTC with very frail elders.
See, it's petty stuff like this that makes me question my decision to be a nurse! It's SO sad. I totally agree with the original poster: why do organizations even GIVE sick time if you're penalized for using it!?!
And I think if you look in just about every general employee handbook, there's probably something in there that says something to the effect of: "Please don't come in to work if you are sick. It puts our patients at greater risk." On paper, that's what they say.
I love one of my co-workers who says, "Hey, they give sick time, you're entitled to take it and use it any way you want to." I believe in that, too.
It really makes me heartsick to hear stuff like this. Why isn't anyone standing up for the nurses? Seems like we've come such a long way in how we're regarded, yet we still have such a LONG way to go. I'm really, really saddened by this topic.
I don't call in unless I am in the ER or have been to the ER in the past 24 hours. Their ER. We don't have to have a note because we were told a note wouldn't help us, as "Drs. lie."
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
Our hospital has these huge signs at every entrance that say, "Are you feeling under the weather? If you have symptoms of a cold or the flu or diarrhea with or without vomiting, please do not enter until your symptoms are gone." You have no idea how many times I've wanted to whip out the Sharpie from my tote bag and write an addendum to these signs: "Direct care staff members however are exxpected to report to work as usual."
We too have the eval notations about attendance problems and the doctor's note rule for any absence of more than a single shift or for the fourth and every subsequent absence in a single year. I was out for six weeks following some surgery two summers ago, an event they knew about beforehand and that was fine... as long as I provided proof that I'd had the surgery. (Wanna see my scars?) My surgeon had no problem issuing me one, but he wanted money for it, of course. Our contract states that if a doctor's note is required the hospital has to reimburse for it. So I had the doctor's office mail the note and the receipt to my manager. Well, she got the note, but the receipt mysteriously disappeared. She must have thought I was a complete moron. (Wait a minute, I KNOW she thought that! Never mind.) I had the receptionist at the office make me some copies while I was there for my post-op followup, so I submitted a copy a day for a week until I got my money back.
Another little specialthing they do is that when you call in sick and haven't talked to the manager on duty, she will call you at home to make sure you're really sick. I wonder what would happen if they called me and I was either in the bathtub, hanging over the porcelain pitcher or at the doc's when she called. If we're out more than a single shift they'll call every day to see when we'll be fit to return to work. Harassment? I think so. But did anyone call me while I was out after my surgery to see if I was okay? No, not a one. Oh I lied, starffing called to see if I could work.
Same thing here. My last couple of years at my first hospital I had a lot of sick days because of stress-induced asthma, but I never went beyond my earned time. I got hassled about it. My last place I personally was never hassled because I wasn't sick that much, but I saw others who were.
My current job is in home health. I got a call from my older daughter one day that my youngest had a 105 temp. I was between meetings when I got that call. I told the boss that I may have to leave, that I'd told DD#1 to call me if the temp wasn't down after Motrin. She grabbed my papers and basically said "Go------NOW!" The senior nurse took my case load that day. At the end of the day the boss called me to see if I would need the next day off too. Not "Will you be able to come in?" but "Do you need to stay home with your daughter another day?"
I just found out that I can't USE MY SICK time until I've been out for three consecutive shifts. I only work three days in a row every other weekend, so basically I can't ever use the sick time. Also, if we miss three shifts in a row, we have to get a doctor's note to come back. Like you said, what a waste of medical resources. So not only do I not have enough time accrued to get paid for three days missed, but it will cost me additional $$ in copays to get the dr to write a note that says "Yes, she was sick but now can come back to work again."
We also have a weekend make up policy. If you miss a weekend shift, we get assigned to the following weekend day.
I just called in this morning for the 2nd time in my life. While I hated to do it, I'm miserable and in no way should be around patients. I was told to make sure I go to the doctor to get a note. A note? What, are we in Jr. High? This is my profession. You expect me to make clinical judgments regarding the welfare of my patients but you don't think I can determine when it is appropriate to come to work? While I may have strep and end up going to the doc (I seem to be a strep magnet!), I probably don't, it's probably viral, and I can't image crawling out of my house to sit in a waiting room at some Urgent care just to get a note. What a waste of healthcare resources!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
where i work, they have a policy that allows you three call-outs in a rolling year. any more than three and you're subject to disciplinary action: first verbal warning then written warning and then firing. however, if you have fmla they can't touch you. i'm 52, and i have a few more health problems than i had at 22. with a bout or two of the shingles, an episode of the flu and one indiosynchratic drug reaction to my anti-hypertensives, i'm over my limit. can't get fmla for being middle-aged. there is someone i work with who has fmla for "migraines." interestingly enough, while she can feel one coming on in the parking garage 5 minutes before the start of her shift, or while dining at the local pub an hour before the start of her shift, she never seems to get a migraine once she's already at work. of course, since she calls in sick at least one 12-hour shift a week, she's really not at work that often.
i guess what i'm saying is that our restrictive sick-time use policy is to prevent folks from abusing their sick time and making it difficult to staff the unit. folks who really want to abuse their sick time and make it difficult to staff the unit are going to get away with it anyway. folks who genuinely need to use their sick time and try hard to do the right thing are going to get caught in the policy.
I wouldn't bother with the note. I had one manager say i needed the doctor's note to which I said, no I'm not getting one. I said "i have the flu, whats the doctor gonna tell me that I don't already know, now you can let me have the day off or I can infect all of my co-workers and patients"
Well, where I work, there are times that we have to bring in a doctor's note, or else not get paid for the day off. If we call out on a weekend day (LTC area), a holiday, the day before or after a holiday, or on any other day that management deems "abusive" (next to a day off), then a note is required. I am told that this is to prevent abuse of sick time by employees living it up when they call out, and not actually home sick.
However, it can be really difficult to get a same-day appointment with a doctor, and most doctors around here are not open on the weekends, so if someone is really sick on those days, I guess they will have to go to the ER, or lose 2 days of pay, plus get disciplined.
Moreover, I really can't understand workplaces that give employees paid sick days, but then "charge" the employees with occurences or diciplinary action whenever they use them.
RN1982
3,362 Posts
Every year, my friend gets her eval and they always ding her on her attendance. She has a small bladder for which she has to get stretched every year and she has her PTO plus she files every surgery under FMLA. They still ding her every year.