I was talking on the phone Monday with a co-worker who mostly works in Surgery Outpatient (SOP) and Post-Ansthesia Care Unit (PACU). I was considering cutting back some of my hours in the ICU and picking up a per diem in SOP to diversify my experience and try out SOP. We were discussing the latest happenings at the hospital, and we got on the subject of the tolerance for certain poor work ethics at the hospital, the poor leadership, etc. (long story, but probably not uncommon elsewhere)
My friend mentioned, as an example, 'Mike' (not his real name) who works in my unit. My friend works the unit one weekend a month, but mostly in SOP and PACU. Mike called her to see if she could work for him Wednesday (today), and she said she couldn't. So he laughingly said that he felt like he was going to be sick Wednesday, he was feeling it coming on already. My friend questioned him on this, since he obviously was going to plan to be 'sick' on Wednesday. He laughed it off and said "Management will have to deal with it". My friend told him that if they were short, it's his co-workers who would suffer.
Mike never bothered to call me with his request, so I suspect he didn't want to alert too many people to his plans to play hooky if he couldn't find a replacement, or else he didn't want to bother. There was a message on my cellphone this morning that there was a sick call so apparently he carried out his plan.
I love working with Mike, but I'm appalled that he does this. The way the system is set up with sick time at our hospital, it does encourage people to use it up, since low census time comes out of vacation time if you want to be paid for it. There have been other suspicious sudden onsets of nausea by one Med-Surg nurse when it looks like someone is going to get low-census, and insight of the fact that I've already requested it, I've gotten floated to Med/Surg to replace her because she went home sick. This is an established pattern of behavior that is suspicious.
I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I find this deplorable.
One reason is probably that you absolutely MUST have coverage for patients, it's not like an office job. I agree, management treats nurses like naughty children playing hooky. I'm really on the fence with this one.
I really think it all goes back to having poor staffing to begin with. I do not like the idea of being personally responsible for adequate staffing, and that my sick call will put my coworkers in strain, and patients in danger, and I have to show up no matter what, or else something terrible will happen. If management thinks they need more nurses to cover possible sick calls, they should go ahead and hire more, and do not staff people at level when one call in ruins the day for the whole foor.
I'm sorry, but people calling in sick for personal reasons has been going on for probably centuries in every industry. It has always been that way, and it will ALWAYS be that way. Because of this, many progressive companies have stated that the employees may have x-number of days off each year, and they don't call them sick days. This is because they don't care if they are sick, or just want to spend the day at the beach. It doesn't matter. Up to date progressive companies know the realities of life, so they don't force their employees to lie about things. I like this attitude, because if doesn't force anyone to lie about anything. Some of the biggest and best companies to work for have this policy. Many other companies still want to have strict control over its employees, and do not adopt this refreshing attitude. They want to continue to operate like a dictatorship, with evil management, and have poor staffing problems. This can only lead to poor morale, and hence people don't want to work for that company. That leads to further staffing problems, creating more bickering umongst the employees, and job dissatisfaction. It seems this is a huge problem in the healthcare industry. Very sad.
I think most places have paid time off (PTO) rather than dividing sick time from vacation time. The issue is not sick time vs vacation time but calling out at the last minute. Calling it PTO does not change the fact that it is inappropriate because it puts patients and other staff at risk. The reason they say they are sick is because this is one of the only acceptable excuses to call out at the last minute. It has nothing to do with being "progressive"; it is rude, inconsiderate, and dishonest.
I'm getting tired of being unappreciated for never being late or calling in sick. I never miss work, and meanwhile my colleagues are taking sick time to go boating. I'm getting burnt out and maybe I need to start using sick time for my mental health.
Everyone needs a mental health day once and awhile.
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
Everyone needs a mental health day once and awhile.
I agree. I never call in sick unless Im actually sick. But I WILL call "OUT", no explanations necssary and I didnt lie to anyone. My Paid Time Bank covers all days, hoildays and whatever else comes along.
I come in a day that I maybe need to do something in the afternoon
(ie Dr appt, kids etc) and I get the hardest time and sometimes have to cancel my appt. So, Ill call out and save everyone the hassle. Also, you have to call in at least 2 hours before your shift, or youre considered no call, no show.
No one likes a slacker who leaves others in a lurch, but let's face it, no one likes a martyr, either. It's no fun to work with someone who resents everyone for calling in to spend a day with family or friends, or get a huge assignment finished, or because they have a head cold. Stay home if you need to. Go to work if you need to.
I think I have a great work ethic--but I also have perspective. If I can't get off a day that is important to me, or if I've had a crummy week and need a little family time, I'll not hesitate to call in. I'm not going to kill myself, burn myself out, or make myself a grumpy jerk (which would be my burnout manifestation) for a job, no matter how much I love it. My health and my family come first.
At our facility, PTO and sick days are all together. You have to give a certain amount of time before your shift to call in; you can't just call in a couple of hours before. If you have no PTO, you can't call in sick/out without going through a lot of hassle and risking losing your benefits and agreed hours entirely. You can't call in more than 6 times in 6 months, or you risk termination. It seems to work, we rarely have excessive call ins.
If your facility doesn't have enough staff to cover for allowed employee sick and PTO days, how is that the employee's fault? If you want to kill yourself for a job, fine, but don't resent others who don't feel the same. Having a work ethic does not mean work at all costs. That's called being a workaholic, and it is NOT healthy.
Likewise, it's also not cool to have excessive or last minute call ins. If such activities are a regular part of your work, though, that seems like it is a problem of HR and management, and they need to explore more effective staffing policies before they lose good, responsible nurses who get tired of picking up their (the poor management's) slack.
There's a continuum with complete loser irresponsible slacker on one end, and crazy martyr work is my life workaholic on the other. Each of us have to find where we healthily fit on that spectrum. Maybe you need to move a little closer to the slacker end, take a day off, gain perspective.
Conversely, if your management doesn't have or enforce decent policies for callins and sick days, it sounds like the burnout and resentment that you feel towards some of your coworkers is misplaced--it is your administration that is making you feel burned out! If that's the case, maybe you need to either be a part of getting appropriate policies implemented, or seeking out a new facility that will appreciate your hard work and responsibility. You sound like a good nurse, and it would be a waste of your talent and skills to stay at a place that doens't appreciate you and their other responsible nurses. You'll end up either jaded and grumpy, or burned out and leaving the profession, and either way that would be a waste of your skills and time, and a loss to the profession. I hope you find some means of feeling better about this entire situation!
What a great concept. If we use our sick time, we get an "occurence". Too many occurences and you get fired. No questions asked. Even if you have the sick time available. I have seen a nurse with 13 years @ our hospital get fired for this:(
I think most places have paid time off (PTO) rather than dividing sick time from vacation time. The issue is not sick time vs vacation time but calling out at the last minute. Calling it PTO does not change the fact that it is inappropriate because it puts patients and other staff at risk. The reason they say they are sick is because this is one of the only acceptable excuses to call out at the last minute. It has nothing to do with being "progressive"; it is rude, inconsiderate, and dishonest.
You further reinforce my point. People have to be dishonest because the hospitals are not as progressive as many other industries or companies out there. People should not have to be dishonest. At the company I worked for, I could call in and say I wasn't coming in to work. They wouldn't ask any questions. They were progressive, it lead me to not have to lie, lead the employees to job satisfaction, and therefore very low turnover rate. They also staffed extra people there to cover these types of calls, and everyone was one big happy family. This is progressive, and because everyone was so happy and enjoyed coming to work, people didn't need to take too many days off. Again, it is a cycle. You can have a good cycle, or a bad cycle. Many hospitals are in the bad-cycle mode. They need to get progressive and take note from other industries.
Yep this is so true. Because right out of my nurse manager's mouth, she said that when staffing is bad, more call outs. You could mentally make yourself sick by thinking about going into a day of kaos.
I'm getting tired of being unappreciated for never being late or calling in sick. I never miss work, and meanwhile my colleagues are taking sick time to go boating. I'm getting burnt out and maybe I need to start using sick time for my mental health.
In my experience focusing on others and what they do and what they get and how they work will always be a frustrating experience. Also, I don't expect any appreciation for showing up on time or not using my sick time. If there is one thing I've learned over the years it's that an individual nurse needs to know that the facility will forget about her really quickly when she's not there. You just don't matter to them that much. I won't play the martyr nurse. I have the ability to choose to come into work or not. If I really need a day off then I take it. If I choose to come in even though I'd rather not be there and some of my colleagues are playing hooky, I don't expect kudos. I made my choice, they made theirs. End of story...
What people do own their own time is no one's business but their own. If a co-worker calls off, it's not for me to know whether they're on their deathbed or playing Frisbee in the park. I assume that if an employee's absences become excessive, it will be individually dealt with.
Bare minimum staffing that does not allow for the reality of life outside of work is the problem.
Hey, you know what, it's their loss because they're the ones not getting paid!! :)
Not necessarily. I call in sick and I do get paid, I do not lose any time on my paycheck, it will be the same as if I didn't call in. As long as I give a least 2 hours notice, I get paid.
Originally Posted by jlsRN
I'm getting tired of being unappreciated for never being late or calling in sick. I never miss work, and meanwhile my colleagues are taking sick time to go boating. I'm getting burnt out and maybe I need to start using sick time for my mental health.
Originally Posted by fergus51
In my experience focusing on others and what they do and what they get and how they work will always be a frustrating experience. Also, I don't expect any appreciation for showing up on time or not using my sick time. If there is one thing I've learned over the years it's that an individual nurse needs to know that the facility will forget about her really quickly when she's not there. You just don't matter to them that much. I won't play the martyr nurse. I have the ability to choose to come into work or not. If I really need a day off then I take it. If I choose to come in even though I'd rather not be there and some of my colleagues are playing hooky, I don't expect kudos. I made my choice, they made theirs. End of story...
Fergus is right. It's great when people have a good work ethic, but I've also seen how underappreciated it is. In fact, I've seen management abuse those types of people and allow the slackers to skate away. Do your job in the best way that leaves you feeling fulfilled at the end of the day, don't worry about the Mikes of this world.
Sounds like Mike was at least trying to cover his shift. Sometime when you've done all you can to get a day off you really need and all else fails what are you going to do?
Originally posted by Tweety
I hate the people that claim sickness at work when they are just trying to get out of work or floating. Very irritating
No kidding!! They will complain about how awful they feel and expect everyone to help them out all day long because they don't feel well.
Had someone go down to ER this week fifteen minutes into their shift because they didn't feel well. Impossible to even try to replace them at that point. If this person had called in, it would have been possible to replace them. If someone is really sick, please call in, your only making it worse for those that have to work with you if you are unable to pull your weight or you decide to leave.
ZootRN
388 Posts
I really think it all goes back to having poor staffing to begin with. I do not like the idea of being personally responsible for adequate staffing, and that my sick call will put my coworkers in strain, and patients in danger, and I have to show up no matter what, or else something terrible will happen. If management thinks they need more nurses to cover possible sick calls, they should go ahead and hire more, and do not staff people at level when one call in ruins the day for the whole foor.