Calling in Sick

DeLySh · May 16, 2006

At my last job (non-healthcare) I was told that to ask would be a violation of HIPAA. We were told to ask if they were ok and let them elaborate if they wished to share but not to ask directly. Don't know if that is exactly true but it made sense to me being as it seemed to be asking for private medical information.

DeLySh

TazziRN, RN · May 16, 2006

At our facility we call in to the house supe. They are not allowed to ask what's wrong, although the supes will sometimes ask unofficially, out of concern. The reason is never listed in the official logs, though.

RNtugladimurnurse2b · May 16, 2006

It irritates me when employers ask why you're calling in sick. I think some of them ask because if you call in too many days for an illness then they may want to suggest taking time out for FMLA or something like that. But that is up to the employee to take care of not the employer. If you're sick then you're sick. Hospital workers get sick all the time because of the environment they work in. Administrative staff should know this. Next time they ask "why" simply tell them "because I'm sick" and leave it at that.

Jesskanurse · May 16, 2006

Thank you for the input so far. Yeah, I felt kind of surprised when she asked, and I answered that I felt like crap, body aches, headache..etc but then as soon as I hung up I was like, 'why the heck should she be able to ask why?' I mean, I'm still on orientation, she doesn't know me, so I dont think it was one of those things where she wanted to see if I was okay. ugh.....You would think with all this HIPAA stuff that they would know better.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · May 16, 2006

About ten years ago I worked at a Catholic hospital. If you said you had to go home because of being sick, you had to page one of the sisters. You then had to go to employee health and be examined by a nurse practitioner. Now mind you, I'm not talking about on the job injuries. This had to be done just for leaving work sick. It made me fume to have the NP examine me and ask all sorts of personal questions then note it in my employee record. The nerve.

Genista, BSN, RN · May 16, 2006

When they ask what's wrong, I would repeat clearly, "I'm sick." If they press further, I would tell them kindly but firmly that my health information is private. It's really none of their business.

Trauma Columnist · May 16, 2006

At our facility we call the charge RN and just say that we are ill.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 16, 2006

When they ask what's wrong, I would repeat clearly, "I'm sick." If they press further, I would tell them kindly but firmly that my health information is private. It's really none of their business.

:yeahthat:

LoriAlabamaRN · May 16, 2006

Wow, I actually never thought of it this way. When I take callins, I'm supposed to list what's wrong, but I never press for details. Usually the person calling in will say "I can't come in, I have the stomach flu" or something like that. The reason we are supposed to ask is because if it's something possibly contagious we can't beg them to come in anyway if we are shortstaffed. If someone has, say, a headache and hasn't taken anything the DON will usually call them back if we are in desperate need of people. Rarely works, though. I hardly ever call in anyway so they've never questioned me. They know if I'm sick, I am SICK.

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 16, 2006

We are free to answer the question or not and the staffer is usually polite and asks "may I ask why?".

The official answer is that this is to track illnesses and potential infectious diseases. For instance if five people on one unit calls in with the same symptoms they know to investigate.

We are always free to say "no, it's personal" and they are to drop it. In the few times I've called in sick, I haven't felt that saying "flulike symptoms" is too private and person to share. If I can say "I'm sick" then I can say "I have the flu" just as well. I've never had a problem with them prying or trying to get to personal.

I have called in off for personal crises and mental health days and have said "It's personal" as well. I've never had a problem with that either.

beautifulb · May 16, 2006

I have heard that they can't ask you why you are calling in sick. I usually tell them the reason though just because it's harmless. Telling them I have the stomach bug or fever, etc. isn't too personal to not tell them.

At the first place I worked at (12 yrs ago) we had a log book that listed who called in sick and why. Looking back I can't believe that they did that! Once someone left work early and the reason listed was "miscarriage". Now that is way to personal.