let me start at the beginning. i work fri/sat/sun nights. my unit is not staffed well and the summer vacation time was alloted by seniority at the beginning of may. this amounted to 4 shifts off for the period of may-sept. for me. took 3 as a long weekend and one as a sat night 8/11 (tonight).
the thing is that in mid may, my mother booked a trip for me to bring my son out to meet the extended family in ohio at the end of august. the trip would involve me missing one friday night shift 8/31. at that time i requested the shift off and was told that there is no more vacation time to go around and i will have to find someone to cover it.
fast forward. i have asked everyone, tried to work out trades, asked my nurse manager for help. all to no avail.
fast forward again. i injured my back last weekend and am out on comp until at least 8/24 (the date of my next follow up appointment). if i am back to work by 8/31, what do i do?
do i:
1. call and have a frank discussion with my nurse manager about not coming in friday 8/31 even if i am back to regular duty.
2. just call in sick.
3. attempt to change the flight plan and make my family cancel the party she planned for that friday night (they are already very irritated with me about this situation)
i think my NM is fed up with me in specific and staffing issues in general so i am feeling very conflicted about this.
thank all of you who made it this far. i do not usually get many responses when i post questions here but hopefully someone can help.
wow thanks for all the responses you guys! the doc i saw this week said there is no way to tell how long i will need to be out of work. now i am on motrin, skelaxin and valium and am still having pain to the point that i cannot stand or sit for prolonged periods. today we were at a friends b-b-q and i had to go lay down for a spell.
so this is certainly not faking. but i start PT next week and have high hopes for that. according to the doc i saw it is just a strain and will heal given time and PT. caring for my toddler makes it very hard not to lift and aggravate the injury though...
it is just a strange and unfortunate convergence that the shift i need off for my family party is near the time of my comp leave. and btw for those who asked, i have not been out to ohio in about 2.5 years and my aunts/uncles/cousins have never met my son.
i am not in love with my job... my unit in particular is a very difficult one to work in and we have a very high attrition rate due mostly to horizontal violence issues and lack of management support.
however, i need the paycheck and health insurance.
i guess the heart of the question for me is whether it is politically smarter to have the talk with my NM or just call in.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
1) if you are out on comp, tonoc shouldnt count as vacation time, there fore you have one more day to use in the time period..
2) your mother shouldnt have made plans without consulting you to see if you could accomadate
3)your family shouldnt be upset with you for trying to act in an honorable fashion
good luck
i agree that your mother shouldn't have made plans without consulting you to make sure you could accomodate them. i don't buy plane tickets until i have my vacation guaranteed in writing. a few times, they've attempted to deny me the time off after i've bought the tickets, but i always have the signed vacation request in hand and they back down real fast.
nor should your family be upset with you for trying to act in an honorable fashion.
however, with a back injury and unable to sit or stand for long periods, a trip to ohio may not be in your future. i injured my back last july and was off until christmas day. i couldn't sit or stand for long periods and had to cancel our long-awaited trip to ireland in september because i couldn't travel. (it's 30 miles to the doctor's office, and by the time i got that far i was always in agony. even the drive to the airport would have wiped out my limited reserves!) besides, i don't see how you're going to travel with a toddler without lifting and carrying! you don't mention whether or not your husband is going with you -- i guess he could help out if he's going. but frankly, i don't see how you're going to be able to travel unless the pt works a whole lot faster than mine did!
i know it's a bummer to think about missing this family reunion, but i think working or not working is going to be a moot point. i hope your mother isn't too angry if you have to cancel your trip!
How is fibbing about a work obligation "doing the honorable thing"? The poster indicated that she works a weekend option-typically these positions agree to work Fri-Sun in exchange for getting paid for more hours. If a person is healthy enough to lug a toddler thru an airport, carry luggage, take a vacation-they certainly can work a scheduled shift. Like it or not, anything less is being dishonest. If they can live with themselves after carrying out this fiction, fine-just don't expect me to treat you like a professional colleague. I'm not a "do-gooder" but this is not how I expect an adult professional to act.
How is fibbing about a work obligation "doing the honorable thing"? The poster indicated that she works a weekend option-typically these positions agree to work Fri-Sun in exchange for getting paid for more hours. If a person is healthy enough to lug a toddler thru an airport, carry luggage, take a vacation-they certainly can work a scheduled shift. Like it or not, anything less is being dishonest. If they can live with themselves after carrying out this fiction, fine-just don't expect me to treat you like a professional colleague. I'm not a "do-gooder" but this is not how I expect an adult professional to act.
ummm... fyi my mother would be making the trip with me to do the "lugging" if, as ruby pointed out, my doc even clears me to travel. (hadn't even considered that part). i guess that i am optimistic that with the PT i will recover quickly.
the part i don't understand about your post is where you get the idea that i am faking injury. or how being out of work despite fulfilling the necessity of caring for my child makes me unprofessional.
it is fortunate for you that you have apparently never been in this or a similar situation. if you ever are i hope that you will be treated with compassion.
Honorable or not if she lies, what about all the promises of improved working conditions that places offer all of us. Do they follow through with it, "NO". As far as her mother scheduling the trip, I'm gonna bet it's because that was when the reunion was and she couldn't of scheduled it for a date that noone was going to be at the reunion. When you've done everything the right and honest way and you still don't get results, then other options have to be evaluated and implemented. Most employees try to be honest and upfront but sometimes if an employer can't give then you have to do what you have to do. Do whatever is going to make you feel the best with the choice you make. If being a patient advocate might get you into trouble and you truly believe in what you stand for, then I'm gonna bet most of us would deal with the consequences. If she truly does go to her reunion and has to deal with consequences, then be it, it was obviously something she felt passionate about.
morte, LPN, LVN
7,015 Posts
1) if you are out on comp, tonoc shouldnt count as vacation time, there fore you have one more day to use in the time period..
2) your mother shouldnt have made plans without consulting you to see if you could accomadate
3)your family shouldnt be upset with you for trying to act in an honorable fashion
good luck