We have this nurse who calls in sick so often! She will tell you right out, "I needed a mental health day", and smile! I think she should back off to a .8 if she is too overwhelmed by full time hours. We depend on people working their scheduled hours. Of course, it goes without saying that a SICK employee (contagious, fever, vomiting, etc.) does not belong at work.
Yes, our (weak) management has spoken to her, and yes, we are unionized so she has most of those days coming to her, although she is willing to take unpaid days whenever she 'needs' to. (The union is a good thing at our place due to such poor management, and our sick leave is generous.)
I have to agree its is her business......we all call in for a variety of reasons....i would hate someone to question if I was really in pain when I called in with Tendonitis. Anyhow...the nursing shortage is awful and will continue no matter who calls in.
As much as we may love it, ours is a profession that takes a great tole on our physical and mental wellbeing. It really made me realize this when I found out that 50% of the nurses on our unit are on antidepressants and almost as many suffer from chronic illnesses. And that's just the ones that have disclosed the information to me.
In my hospital abuse of unscheduled PTO (combo of sick, vacation, holidays & personal days off) is grounds for termination. I don't care how skilled a nurse is, if he/she misses work on a regular basis (unscheduled absence) I would write her up and on the third warning (oral, written, and final) I would terminate him/her.
In my hospital abuse of unscheduled PTO (combo of sick, vacation, holidays & personal days off) is grounds for termination. .
How is abuse determined? If you are given 7 sick days a year and use them all by the end of said year, is that abuse? If so, why are you given sick days if you are not to use them?
We don't have "sick days". We have PTO (Paid Time Off) which is a combo of vacation, sick, personal, & holidays. Accrual is anywhere from 28 days - 45 days a year; with days being carried over from one year to the next (max. PTO you can accrue is 568 hours). And when you leave our employment you can cash out any unused PTO at 100% (state law).
Abuse is calling in for an unscheduled PTO day more than x3 within a 3 month period. Or, calling in (regularly) on Fridays before weekend off or on Mondays after weekend off. In other words, a pattern of unscheduled PTO.
To me, those who abuse this benefit have a lousy work ethic and I don't want them as part of my team.
My feelings are this, if the hospital or whatever, doesn't want you to be able to use your time, they shouldn't give it to you! And you should NOT be punished for using 100% of the alloted sick time, but rewarded if you don't!!! WHY give people 10 sick days, if you get a warning for using 5?? Just give 5 then!
It is her time, and it is not her responsibility to staff the unit. No hospital should be staffed so tightly that the absense of one person takes down the fragile house of cards, but unfortunately, it happens. The fact that she has gone over her time, does require review, b/c her benefits are based on time worked. She should be told to cut her hours as she did not work enough hours to be eligible for FT benefits, that seems fair.
I know its a pain in the butt when ppl seem to be abusers of sick time and mental health days
but in all honesty, its her right to use them
she may need them also
Just because some ppl dont make their illnesses or personal problems public knowledge doesnt mean they arent legit and really not feeling well......
I'm not playing devils advocate I'm just saying that her actions alone arent causing the problem, they may be contributing to being short staffed if she is doing this habitually but otherwise, you should talk to management about why they cant replace her when shes sick...
its not her fault that there are not enough ppl to work.
having said all that, I dont like ppl who habitually abuse sick time and make the rest of us look bad.
but in all reality, this is an unavoidable part of the job.
and I happen to agree that I wouldnt want to work with someone who really didnt want to be there , I mean someone who shows more than the normal amount of displeasure about being at work.....
My favorite revenge on people who I call PTO abusers -- let them use as much or all of their PTO -- but god help them if they have a major illness or need to take time off. That little cushion of PTO can mean making the house payments or putting food on the table. I don't shed a tear for them. (They probably cut class in nursing school too!)
Our hospital lumps it all together, so if you take off sick, it's also your vacation time you are chomping at. of course, an edict came down that we will be unable to take off more than 10 days in a row this summer as well, so it has done no one any good to save those hours. Still, I try to keep my call outs to a minimum because it just looks so bad on the annual review, plus i tend to not enjoy any day I've called in on if I am not really really sick.
I think with time-off/sick/mental health days, there is always more than meets the eye. I work in the ER, prescheduled time off must be a shift swap or advance time owing. Sometimes something comes up weather it was a really bad day and you just don't have the mental ability to face work. We all have dealt with that one time or another. I think it far better to not show, then come in unprepared and unable to fulfill your duties completely. Our job isn't easy, we know what we are in for, but alas, contrary to popular opion, we are human as well. Human suffering takes it's toll.
As an oncology nurse, I think that an occasional "Mental Health" day off is merited (once a year maybe), but more frequently means you may need to change your job/life/specialty/situation to maintain better mental health.
nursedawn67, LPN
1,046 Posts
I have to agree its is her business......we all call in for a variety of reasons....i would hate someone to question if I was really in pain when I called in with Tendonitis. Anyhow...the nursing shortage is awful and will continue no matter who calls in.