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.
this is such a sticky question. there are those who abuse, and everyone always works short. everyone feels that your unit is the one always floating and never receiving floats, so you know that your sick call won't be covered. it makes you feel guilty. but you have to do the best you can for you, because as other posters have stated- the hospital will never remember you killing yourself to be there no matter what. you will never get those days back. i have a situation right now where i requested 1 shift 3 months in advance and was told "no" that all the vacation time was already distributed and there were no more days available. i have tried in vain to find coverage. the plane tickets are paid for. something is going to have to give here...
this is such a sticky question. there are those who abuse, and everyone always works short. everyone feels that your unit is the one always floating and never receiving floats, so you know that your sick call won't be covered. it makes you feel guilty. but you have to do the best you can for you, because as other posters have stated- the hospital will never remember you killing yourself to be there no matter what. you will never get those days back. i have a situation right now where i requested 1 shift 3 months in advance and was told "no" that all the vacation time was already distributed and there were no more days available. i have tried in vain to find coverage. the plane tickets are paid for. something is going to have to give here...
This is such a shame... 3 months in advance that something can't be done. This leaves you no other choice but to call in. I will say that where I work they are very good about letting you have off. They will bend over backwords to "make it happen". Which is very good for morale. My nurse manager is wonderful. She will tell you that this job is just a 'thing'. The most important thing in your life is your well being and your family, hands down. She knows that if you need off for something and there isn't coverage that you have no other choice than to call in sick. She won't hold it against you. But there are rules and protocols, and the higher up's will fire you in a heart beat. :angryfire They don't care about you, and what is going on in your life. They just feel that you can be replaced. And they will make an example out of you.
If working myself up every time I thought someone was screwing me at work accomplished anything, I'd be all for it. I am a much happier person when I don't do that. If I have to work short because someone called in, then I have to work short. Nothing I can do to change that, might as well do my best and move on is how I see it.
O.K. I gotcha now. I don't get worked up about much of anything and am famous for going with the flow calmly. However, I do understand that sometimes it gets a bit much and people might get close to burnout and they should be supported. Not everyone can let it roll off their shoulders if they are tired and it's getting old. Not all the time can I do it myself, that's when I call in sick myself. :)
Hey I have my diagnosis for my sick call. We got an email from the Infection Control nurse that she is investigating a "cluster of cases of severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea circulating amongst staff" that she suspects is a Norwalk type virus! I suspect it might be the perfect cover for a mid-summer mental health day!!!!
Only in healthcare are people made to feel incredibly guilty for taking a day off - having to take a day off - for legitimate reasons, such as lack of childcare on short notice. Most of us do what we can to cover our shifts, but sometimes it's just not possible. And don't we already give up enought? Weekends, evenings/nights with our families, holidays... need I add call? Who wants to do this, but we do it... and yet, it's never enough. When we have no choice but to request a day off, we are made to feel that we are unreasonable, not a teamplayer, etc
Before I had kids, my attendance record was perfect - now I understand why that of my coworkers (who were parents) often was not. I am furious, because I'm currently in the same predicament - I need to take a day off because of lack of childcare, and my manager put the guilt trip on me. I tried to get coverage, but nobody is available. So I won't have a choice but to call in (but I won't pretend to be sick. Isn't lack of childcare - the truth - a good enough reason?!). So, fire me. I'm actually tempted to quit over this anyway
Wake up, hospitals! Just what are all these float pool nurses supposed to be for? (I concede that you can't expect a floater to cover in my specialty, dialysis. But for many departments someone should be available!). Also, why offer paid vacation when you don't allow nurses to take it? (A friend of mine, an ICU nurse on a weekend plan, is only allowed to take 2 weekends off per year! Although she has accrued far more vacation days, she can't take them. Better yet, the nurses in that unit aren't even allowed to cover each others' shifts, even if this won't result in OT!)
And just what's wrong with a mental health day (yes, I've taken one before, and I guess every nurse has - or should have ). When I worked in a office years ago (before I became a nurse), I never understood this. Alas, I was enlightened.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no slacker. In general, I will drag myself to work no matter how bad I feel. But I can't bring my toddlers to work!
In a nutshell, what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't judge each other so quickly. And our employers need to be more understanding and flexible!
). When I worked in a office years ago (before I became a nurse), I never understood this. Alas, I was enlightened.
cardsRN
142 Posts
this is such a sticky question. there are those who abuse, and everyone always works short. everyone feels that your unit is the one always floating and never receiving floats, so you know that your sick call won't be covered. it makes you feel guilty. but you have to do the best you can for you, because as other posters have stated- the hospital will never remember you killing yourself to be there no matter what. you will never get those days back. i have a situation right now where i requested 1 shift 3 months in advance and was told "no" that all the vacation time was already distributed and there were no more days available. i have tried in vain to find coverage. the plane tickets are paid for. something is going to have to give here...