Just curious-I'm currently a CNA (and in nursing school) and am working very part time at a LTC facility to keep my foot in the door there.
what are the expectations from your facility, if you are sick? Do you get the hairy eyeball if you call in sick? (assuming a legitimate illness...) What if you have a bad cold? Are you expected to show up no matter what? Or are do they honestly not want you there, spreading your illness around... Do they require a doctor's note?
I'm just wondering... I just had to call in. I have had a horrendous cold all week, and now have laryngitis-no voice at all. I called in. I'm going to the doctor in an hour too, so if I need a note, I can get one. I never call in, and I feel guilty. I don't know why... people call in for lesser reasons all the time.
Anyways, just wondering how the more seasoned nurses cope with working and being ill, themselves. Sometimes I get this vibe that although nurses take care of the sick, that we are not allowed to be sick ourselves. That you are letting your coworkers down...that sort of thing.
Every place i worked i kid you not. You were aloud 3 Yes 3 sick days a yr. If you had a Dr's note. Say the Dr say's you have to have 3days off or a week It still counts as a day.
Now once you hit 3 days with out a Dr's note. The next one is a write up. 2nd one you get a 3 day vacation with out pay. The 3rd one is your termed.
FMLA you best have a good reason to use it Not Kidding. Death, Child, and everything has to go though the Infection Control Nurse she is the one who says Yes you can have FMLA or NO you can't. I worked in some crappy places who really didn't care about the staff it was about the bottom dollar. These are my thoughts use them as you wish
We are allowed ONE call off in a 12 week period. One call off can be consecutive days...if you call off twice in that time period, you get a written warning.
There are no prizes for perfect attendance at my facility. I have called out sick for myself and a few times when my child was sick but I told them that I was sick because they will not pay me sick time if I'm calling out due to an ill child.
I've worked at a place that bought back your unused sick time at the end of the year...two weeks before Christmas...made for a nice bonus at holiday time. They also gave you 8hrs of pay to be taken either as a day off or an extra day's pay if you didn't call off in a 90 day time period. Last two hospitals I've worked at have given nothing for perfect attendance. So, hey I have earned sick time...and there are some days I don't feel well.
Wow I feel lucky. We get 75 hours a year (10 days) of sick time. We can't use sick time the last work day before or after a vacation. And whatever we don't use, twice a year we get a check for it. That's a new development in the last couple years to combat people calling in a lot. It really works.
If you can't take care of yourself, the you have no business taking care of other people. You have to take care of yourself first..always. I did work at a hospital where the staffing was really bad, and everyone knew if you called out. Yes, you would get the "hairy eyeball" the next time you came in, whether you were on your death bed or not. I was lucky enough to only get sick on my days off (boo)!! Besides that, I did call in once, but felt better so I came in. It's better to call in early than wait too long and it be too late.
I work for a very large hospital system, and we do NOT get any official sick time. We can use our PTO if we are sick, but it counts as an occurrence.
An occurrence is any time you call in (sick, child sick, car problems, car accident, house on fire, hospitalized) etc. The reason is unimportant just if you don't come to work its an occurrence.
One occurrence includes up to 3 days consecutive absences, after 3 days you must have a Dr's note, and after so many days you have to file for FMLA or something.
Anyway, its on a 12 month rolling period. After 3 occurrences you get talked to. After 5 you get a written warning, and 6 you get a final warning, and after 7 you get terminated.
So I go in unless I am vomiting or just can't function. In the back of my mind I am always afraid my kids will get sick, my car will break, my parents will be hospitalized etc etc, and I will used all my time, and boom I will get fired.
My last hospital was worse. I called in one time when I had a stomach flu (102 temp, vomiting, and diarrhea). When I came back my manager told me my excuse was unacceptable. That I needed to go to the Dr and get some Zofran to put away so if it happened again I could work through it.
You call...you tell them you don't feel well enough to work today...they say they hope you feel better soon...they encourage you to go to the doctor if you aren't better in a few days. Somone covers for you and if they can't, somone stays late, then someone comes in early.
At my previous facility...
You call four people and beg them to cover your shift...they all say 'no.' You call the facility and tell them you are too sick to work...they tell you to show up anyway. You tell them you are really too sick to work...they tell you to wear a mask and a brief and to carry an emesis pan with you.
I work for a very large hospital system, and we do NOT get any official sick time. We can use our PTO if we are sick, but it counts as an occurrence.
An occurrence is any time you call in (sick, child sick, car problems, car accident, house on fire, hospitalized) etc. The reason is unimportant just if you don't come to work its an occurrence.
One occurrence includes up to 3 days consecutive absences, after 3 days you must have a Dr's note, and after so many days you have to file for FMLA or something.
Anyway, its on a 12 month rolling period. After 3 occurrences you get talked to. After 5 you get a written warning, and 6 you get a final warning, and after 7 you get terminated.
So I go in unless I am vomiting or just can't function. In the back of my mind I am always afraid my kids will get sick, my car will break, my parents will be hospitalized etc etc, and I will used all my time, and boom I will get fired.
My last hospital was worse. I called in one time when I had a stomach flu (102 temp, vomiting, and diarrhea). When I came back my manager told me my excuse was unacceptable. That I needed to go to the Dr and get some Zofran to put away so if it happened again I could work through it.
Your policy was sounding pretty good until your idiot manager told you (I assume) that you wouldn't be paid for the flu days you took. Zofran, huh? Were you supposed to plug your butt to hold the diarrhea in? Sorry to be graphic but didn't she have some recommendation for that? For that matter, there's over-the-counter Emetrol for nausea and vomiting, no doctor's appointment needed. I pray that she will be hit with really severe GI flu, have it coming out both ends, be febrile and in severe pain, and still come in to work. She will not be allowed to hide in her office, rather have to run the halls and actually do physical labor. Then, you might see a different response and GI flu will suddenly be acceptable as a reason to call off.
Since when can a manager dispute what a doctor says is acceptable as a calloff reason? Or did you not go to a doctor? Or how about the complete lack of respect for and trust toward you? Next time, go in, puke on her, crap on her office carpet, and faint, striking your head on the way down. Then sue the doodle out of her and them for their callous indifference toward you and your human needs.
Next time, go in, puke on her, crap on her office carpet, and faint, striking your head on the way down. Then sue the doodle out of her and them for their callous indifference toward you and your human needs.
I once puked on the shoes of my jerky supervisor who wouldn't let me go home after I'd vomited like 5 times in 15 minutes. I didn't do it on purpose, but it couldn't have been timed more perfectly.
Hey I never go home early and barely call in, so she really should have given me a break. Especially since I was vomiting with such force.:barf01::barf01::barf01::barf01::lol2::lol2:
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
while my current facility claims they want you to stay home if you're sick, they have a very strict policy. you're allowed three occurances a year. an occurance would be leaving six hours early after you barfed on a patient, or it could be six months off for a major surgery. most times, though, it's in between the extremes. if you're sick enough to stay home, make sure you stay home until you're well because if you come back to work, discover you weren't really ready and go home early or call out again, you're blessed with a new occurance. the fourth buys you verbal counseling, the fifth written -- and freezes your raise. the sixth? termination.
how many do you think are going to stay home with a bout of the flu when they already have three occurances?
:lol2:
KarmaWiseRaven
251 Posts
Every place i worked i kid you not. You were aloud 3 Yes 3 sick days a yr. If you had a Dr's note. Say the Dr say's you have to have 3days off or a week It still counts as a day.
Now once you hit 3 days with out a Dr's note. The next one is a write up. 2nd one you get a 3 day vacation with out pay. The 3rd one is your termed.
FMLA you best have a good reason to use it Not Kidding. Death, Child, and everything has to go though the Infection Control Nurse she is the one who says Yes you can have FMLA or NO you can't. I worked in some crappy places who really didn't care about the staff it was about the bottom dollar. These are my thoughts use them as you wish