Calling out in advance

caliotter3 · Aug 10, 2010

Always wait until the day in question to call in. They think there is always the possibility, probability as far as they're concerned, that you will feel better after a night's rest.

juliaann · Aug 10, 2010

Did you tell them why you were calling out? If someone called out a day early and said it was for a stomach bug, I could imagine why they'd be a little skeptical and/or want to wait and see how you feel closer to your shift.

Just call back tomorrow and tell them (guess what?) you're still sick - if you are.

You might want to take a good look at your facility's absence policy - if you need a physician's note, make sure you get one. Someone in staffing who thinks you're faking (or has a grudge against you because you created extra work for them) can cause a lot of trouble.

That's too bad that you're trying to be respectful of your coworkers and not leave them shorthanded and yet you get treated like a liar and then have to stress about this on top of not feeling well. I hate the "staffing guilt-trip." From now on (if this isn't what you did already), when you need to call out just call the day of your shift and tell them you're sorry, but you're unable to make it that day. If they push for a reason, tell them that you don't want to discuss it, and you'll see them (next day you're scheduled to work).

I hope you get better quickly! :)

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2010

Our hospital has a policy that if you have been having vomiting/diarrhea you have to be symtom free fro 48 hours before returning to work.

And I would match rather have a sick call that evening before rather than 6 in the morning!

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Aug 10, 2010

hi Pepper the cat !!! i agree with you 100%

rn4lyfe08 · Aug 10, 2010

wish it were like that everywhere!

MissChloe · Aug 10, 2010

Yeah, I do, too! I'm feeling a bit better today and I guess I'm just going to go in. I'll just make a point to let her know that I'm still not feeling 100% but I came in because she told me I needed to.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Aug 10, 2010

I think you just proved the point as to why you want to wait until the day of to call. Your manager is going to think the same thing. You're feeling up to working today, so calling in wasn't necessary at all. I think it's impossible to know *for sure* no matter what is wrong, and it looks bad, IMO, to call that far in advance. We have people do that once in a while, and EVERYONE is always skeptical when it happens.

MissChloe · Aug 10, 2010

What I'm saying is that I don't think I would go in today if she hadn't basically said yesterday that I HAVE to be there today. I still DON'T feel good but the way she treated me made me feel like I have to go or I'm going to get into trouble. Which is just ridiculous, because I don't feel good today, just like yesterday. I also don't want to lose my job...

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Aug 10, 2010

Honestly, and I'm not trying to be harsh, but if you feel good ENOUGH to work, then you should be there. If you're truly too sick to be able to perform your job, then you call in. It wouldn't matter WHAT she said yesterday, if you can't, you can't. If it could go either way, then you work. If you get X number of sick days a year or whatever, and you have not exceeded those, it doesn't matter if she says you "have" to or not. She can't decide for you. Where I work, you can call in for any reason at all, as long as it's not more than a certain number of days. They can't deny you a sick day. The fact that you are going anyway leads me to believe you're not sick enough not to. I say this because that's what your manager is going to be thinking, too.

MissChloe · Aug 10, 2010

No, you are correct. I'm more frustrated with the system that is putting me in the situation of trying to figure out what to do in the first place.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Aug 10, 2010

No, you are correct. I'm more frustrated with the system that is putting me in the situation of trying to figure out what to do in the first place.

I do totally get that.

Over the weekend, my car died. I discovered it Saturday morning, before my 7am shift. I called to say I didn't know when I would be there. Originally, they thought they had a float pool nurse to cover, so they were going to let me come in late so I could get things situated. They called back a short while later saying we were getting another patient, so I had to come in. Now, I don't have a husband or anyone living with me that I could wake up and say, "bring me to work." I went round and round with our nursing supervisor (which happened to be the CNO that night!) about it; I knew I could get there somehow but that it wouldn't be by my start time. I was stressed out enough, and with other events from earlier in the week, I had pretty much reached my limit on how many bad things I could handle and it was taking me a little bit to get things straight in my head and make a plan (a few minutes just to THINK and calm down would have helped, but she was pushing for an answer right then). She told me to ask a neighbor, I don't know my neighbors. She told me to call someone; it's 6am on Saturday morning...the couple of family members I could call do not get up that early on the weekends (they work M-F). I had already called a towing company to come and jump me, but it didn't work...my battery was COMPLETELY dead and in need of replacing. He actually came back a second time, but the car just wouldn't stay running. I said, well, then I guess I'm calling in for the first 4 hours (we staff in 4 hour blocks) since I knew I couldn't get there on time. She can't say "no," but she said it in every other term besides "no." She so strongly discouraged it that I felt put in a very tough spot, I knew that even though I couldn't technically get in trouble, it would look bad for me. I was worried about the rest of the weekend; I could call a cab and get there that day, but then I had to worry about how I'd get home, and how I'd get there and back the next day. It's more stressful when you live alone, and don't have someone readily available to drop things and come to your aid. My first phone call was plenty before the call in time cutoff, too, I had happened to be up VERY early and was going to go get a coffee before I got ready (which I NEVER do, so it was a huge coincidence). Otherwise, it would have been much worse, because I wouldn't have known until 15 or 20 minutes before I was supposed to be there! It took a long time for the tow truck guy to get there, he had an accident scene to go to first, so I did not know how long it would take.

I ended up getting there about 45 minutes late, so not too bad, I don't think.

Anyway.......long story short (sorry, I kind of got off on a tangent there!) I DO totally understand the pressure you can get from managers to work no matter what (and when it's due to illness, it's much more unacceptable for them to do that). You can't help the impression that they have of the situation, no matter what you do or what shape you're in. I guess what I was trying to say is, it looks worse to call in the day before, because they'll think that you won't know how you'll feel the next day, so it seems more like just not wanting to work than truly being sick, so how you approach it can make a lot of difference. Calling in the day of is much more credible, IMO.