Call in sick?

[ceecel.dee]

She did it again!

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.)

What do you think about mental health/sick days?

[gauge14iv, MSN, APRN, NP]

It isn't the fact that she is using the time she is entitled to that is really at issue - what IS the issue is that she does this unscheduled and unplanned. That makes it rough on the people who work with her. Maybe management should let her schedule her time off every week or two instead of having policies in place that require that she call in in order to use the time.

[emrettig]

On my last job I found myself using quite a few "mental health" days off. Some of it was stress related...not enough nurses doing the job...But last year I had a hysterectomy that turned into a disaster because that "not feeling quite right" was chronic diverticulitis w/ multiple microperforations of the bowel against the wall of the uterus. Had a colectomy in September and now am doing very well.

We don't take good care of ourselves, and we need to. Next time I have that "draggy" feeling and start taking time off for health reasons that are not clear I will talk to my internist.

Keep the Faith,

Eileen

[RNforLongTime]

My hospital has PTO. In my opinon, if there is no incentive for good attendance then why NOT call in sick even if you're not.

We are allowed 6 "occurrences" per 12 months. If we go over that then we get a written warning. After that, I am not sure what happens.

I have called out sick when I wasn't. Did I feel guilty about it? Heck no. Did the hospital feel guilty when they mandated me twice in three days? They sure the heck didn't. I worked 40 hours in 3 days. Was that safe? I don't think so.

I have 132 hours of PTO, I think I need a mental health day!

[NurseDennie, BSN, RN]

I think Gomer was a charge nurse/interim nurse manager I worked for once! SHEEEEESH

Someone else said:

This was done in an effort to curb call offs. Not only did it not reduce the number of call offs, but now we are sure that someone will call of for at least 2 or 3 days.

Good point! The hospital I was last doing bedside care had PTO - they changed from vacation/sickleave/holidays to PTO. Of course during the change, the total number of days "off" decreased by four.

The other thing there was they counted absences per "occurrence." An occurrence was a call out, but if you were out two or more days in a row, then that was one occurrence. There were nominally 10 days of sick leave. But if you had four occurrences in a year (or maybe it was three), then you got some verbal warning. I saw one of the verbal warnings *written out*, discarded in the break room!!

If you were off more than three days in any one occurrence, then you had to have a doc's note. Again that guaranteed that 99% of all sicknesses took exactly three days to get over!

Where I was, you had to call staffing, 3 hours in advance of when you were to start working, and tell them you can't come in. I once tried just stating that I didn't feel well enough to work, and a description of my illness was demanded. Can that be legal???

The other thing that I think discourages people from scheduling "mental health days" a reasonable time in advance is the practice of the boss saying you can only have the day off if you can find somebody to change days for you. Why should I have to do my job and staffing's or management's job, too?

Love

Dennie

[RNforLongTime]

Exactly Dennie!

Last July, I was denied a vacation (only 7 days) because we "didn't have enough staff". Yet, I got mandated a lot during that time period to cover night shift's vacations! There were nights where there were only 2 RN's scheduled for night shift for a 30 bed unit! There was a mandation every night!

I am scheduled for a 2 week vacation in September. Can't wait.

[susanmary]

It's a personal decision to use a sick day -- it's an earned benefit. As a charge nurse, I would NEVER ask an employee why they were calling out sick. Nor would I necessarily share why I called out sick with my manager. By law, "for medical purposes" covers the reason -- management cannot legally ask for more specifics. Let's face it -- nursing is punitive. Dammed if you stay home when you are sick -- dammed if you come to work sick. I do NOT want sick coworkers suffering through their shifts -- infecting staff/patients -- want them to stay home/rest/get better. I will take sick time when I am truly sick -- yes, I realize it's difficult to staff sick calls -- but that's the way it is. I absolutely

don't feel guilty about it. I don't use sick days as "mental health days" -- I plan mini vacations for that reason -- just came back from several days at Cape Cod. But -- I don't judge/begrudge other staffers if they do -- it's their time. We don't have a float pool -- my unit covers our own sick calls.

[Brownms46]

You know several times during my life as a nurse, I have worked in units...where I actually had a head nurse, who I could go to, and say, " Can I have tomorrow off"? And the answer was YES! Isn't it great to feel you can be honest? I guess I prefer an honest...I'm not coming in...because I need a mental health day....from someone...then a out and out lie!

[MQ Edna]

Ouch! This was another thread that really hit home with me. I've hauled my aching, febrile, peeing-blood body in to work because of what it did to my peers, taking onto myself the responsbility that should have belonged to my staffing department. I suppose that those of us who are in the caring professions may have a harder time nurturing ourselves than those in, say, business or technical careers. Even now, when my absence would leave me behind, but not inconvenience my colleagues, I still have to prop my dead body up and do whatever I'm supposed to be doing that day. I'm afraid (hope?) I've instilled the same work ethic in my kids. Oh well...whatever we die of, it won't be starvation...:)

[ohbet]

RIGHT ON KP!

[nurseratchett29]

Last year I had a wisdom tooth out and got dry socket (which in my opinion is worse than childbirth ever thought of being). I walked around with ice on my face for 3 days because i knew if i called in sick my patients parents wound sent him to school without me and that was unsafe. (I was doing pedi private duty with a multi-involved c.p. patient. NEVER AGAIN. I got no thank you and the nurse that was supposed to relieve me after school called in twice during those 3 days. Those of us who do stuff like that always get walked on by everyone.

[amber munchkin]

We dont have mental health days over here, but you can take self certified sick days for up to 5 consecutive days before you need a doctors paper to 'prove ' you are sick. I have to say that I would rather someone phoned in sick than came in and moped around all day moaning and not doing any work...that just causes ill feeling and resentment!

Most people in management know who is pulling a fast one as far as sickness is concerned and keep an eye on the situation.

[Teshiee]

You can look at it two ways. 1. Is she abusing the policy? 2. She is not one of those nurses who is going to allow her health and mental peace of mind go to pot because she doesn't work her fulltime hours. I am with her if I don't feel well I am not coming in. Some nurses work like a dog only to get burned out, ill or mental for the "GOOD OF THE UNIT" when the powers that be could give a rats orifice! If she has the time it is her business. Like my famous saying DON'T HATE THE PLAYER , HATE THE GAME!