Calling in sick

[bethem]

I am a new grad nurse, in my third month. I was unwell today.

I was rostered on to start at 1330. I had a very mild sore throat all morning, nothing to worry about. At 1255, I began vomiting. I had to leave at 1310 to get to work on time (I live 5 mins away), and I vomited three times in between 1255 and 1310. I knew that it was too late to call in.

I went to work and told my boss that I was below my peak. I told her that if there was a spare nurse around to cover I'd go home, but otherwise I was prepared to stay for the shift. I had some metoclopramide and felt OK apart from the vomiting.

My boss did end up finding a spare and said I could go, but finished off by saying, "If you're going to be sick again, please call in earlier" in a tense tone.

I was trying to do the responsible thing by coming in and being prepared to work. I knew that 35 minutes was not enough notice, so I was sucking it up and just coming to work. When I mentioned it to my boss, I thought I had made it clear that I was only wanting to go home IF there was a spare, not if she had to go out of her way to find a replacement.

Do you think I should have done anything differently? Honestly, until 1255, I felt fine apart from the mild sore throat. I hate to give the impression of being irresponsible.

[NurseyPoo, RN]

This is a case of "No matter what you do..." I have had this happen to me and see it happen all of the time. Don't worry about it. You did the right thing. If you had called in 1/2 hour before your shift you would have been thrown to the lions. I would think the harsh tone was due to the fact that they needed to find coverage for you. I went to work a few months ago with the flu. I was incredibly sick, got the same treatment. They sent me to fast track and managed to get coverage for the next few days for me. I was told that the next time I felt that poorly I should call in. Yeah Right! Our unit is understaffed, it was the weekend, and I work nights! Uh, hello...Can you imagine if I had called in?

Don't get too upset over it. Sometimes a nurse Really does get sick, and Really does have to stay home. I have always wondered why we get SO much PAID sick time but we can never actually use it. God Forbid we need to use one of our sick days!

[jjjoy, LPN]

I HATE those kinds of situations and know exactly how you feel... I want to learn how to not let it get to me so much. I guess I understand that a manager has to make sure they cover their tails by reiterating the obvious ('Call in earlier next time') and that it might be said in a very negative tone because the manager is stressed and would rather not have to deal with it, even though it's inevitable at times. Still... it bugs me and I tend to feel like they must think I'm stupid or irresponsible or something if they think that they need to tell that to me and that I should have done something differently if they have such a negative tone. To be able to let it go even when that manager never clarifies or apologizes or in any way acknowledges that what happened was anything but horribly bad judgement on my part (when I don't see it as such)... sigh... I feel just like a scolded dog looks... anyone got tips on letting such things go???

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

You did the right thing. If you called off within minutes of your shift, they would have been very upset.

Thanks goodness they had a spare nurse! I would have been out of luck in that situation...

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Danged if you do, and Danged if you don't. NO question about it.

Calling in earlier, when you really felt you were probably ok, would have made you feel guilty and them annoyed because you "probably weren't really sick".

Calling in minutes before the shift started, in your situation, and they would have been annoyed because there was no notice. No win.

Trying to do the right thing, see if you really ARE ok to work, is what you should have done, IMO. Sometimes, you can be vomiting a couple of times and then have it pass pretty darned quickly.....you never know who's infectious and who's not, either, so that argument is shot (as in "never go to work sick"). I've been ill AFTER leaving work, so I'd hazard a guess I was ill AT work, just didn't feel the effects.

You're a new employee, so you're trying to do what's best. The answer here is, it's a bad situation no matter WHAT, so do what seems right to you at the time. Staffing is not going to be happy NO MATTER WHEN you call in, as the "spare nurse" is always difficult to find, isn't it? This time, I think you were right.

[meandragonbrett]

They would have been upset either way. If you are sick you are sick. The staffing issues are not your problem to resolve (I know, everybody hates putting their coworkers in a bind by calling out, but sometimes you just don't need to be at work).

[firstaiddave907]

it soudns like eather way they would be mad. so you did the right thing by going in.

[bethem]

Thanks, everyone. I couldn't imagine what else I could do, so I'm glad you all agree I did the right thing! Now to get my flu-vax.