Covid-19: Would you ever hire me if you saw I quit during this crisis?

[ScrubberDucky]

Sorry and thank you in advance for the long read.

My Story - At Home with Coronavirus

I have been out sick from work for several weeks due to the coronavirus. I am in my mid 20's, extremely healthy, no comorbidities. My symptoms progressed slowly but were severe for a time. There were nights I would wake up multiple times soaked in sweat, alternating between uncontrollable shivering and feeling freezing and like I was melting. Temps in the 103's and some time loss/hallucination. All of these experiences have been coming back to me as if I were blackout drunk for two weeks and the details are just slowly filling themselves in.

Now that I am capable of once again thinking logically, I know I should have gone to the ER, but I didn't and I got lucky. While all of my other symptoms are gone my exhaustion, cough, chest tightness, and shortness of breath remain. I know that there is likely damage to my lungs that needs to heal, and I know that I won't be able to make it through a shift in my current state, let alone breathing through a mask the entire time. However, I am now expected to return to work.

Return to Work?

The ever loosening restrictions coming from the upper echelons on returning to work have been drastically dwindled down to only being free of fever for 3 days and all other symptoms are "improving". I sought out advice from my PCP, who works for my healthcare system, and the response was the same. I burned through my paid vacation time early on in my absence and it is currently only costing my employer their part of my insurance copays while I am out.

I work in a large and currently very hard-hit city, and my hospital is almost entirely Covid-19 patients. We were not expecting it to ever get this bad here. I live with my elderly parents who are high risk. By the grace of God and my extreme self-isolation precautions, I did not spread it to them. I am worried about returning to work and bringing it home to them. They are retired and taking isolation very seriously, making me their biggest risk factor. I am (supposedly) immune now, but I know they would not survive if their symptoms were as bad as my own were, and IF I were to be reinfected somehow I'm not sure I would make it through again, especially with my lungs still healing.

Scared

For professional context, I am 13 months into my nursing career. I have been nominated for and received awards, received constant praise from my coworkers, and "exceeding expectations" performance reviews from my bosses. I am a darn good nurse, and burnout might be playing a part given I'm only a year into the job, but I'm not sure I can return to work. I'm scared to return to work, and given that no other options are available through my employer, I am thinking about quitting.

*** THE QUESTION***

To those of you in management or who were once in management. If I were to resign now would you even consider my resume let alone hire me after seeing that I left my job during this crisis? Would you bring me in for an interview, hear me out, and consider my circumstances?

I've given up so much, spent time and money I didn't have to get where I am. I don't want to become some unhireable pariah and have it all go to waste. Most of all I don't want to have to start over from scratch in a different profession or be forced to put my license at risk in some bottom of the barrel nursing home where my morals and ethics will be put at odds with my employment. Which is unfortunately extremely similar to where I currently stand, my family's health vs my career and future.

Thank you again for your time and consideration towards my dilemma.
Gratefully yours,
ScrubberDucky

[guest358111]

Yes, in my opinion I would hire you. No need to make it overly complicated. You became sick with COVID and due to extended recovery needs you had to leave your position. Put in the appropriate notice and work with HR and don’t burn your bridges if you truly feel you need to leave. You need to give yourself oxygen first. Then, when you are all recovered and able to get back into the swing of things, reapply. And just tell the truth if you are ever asked about it. You can’t help that you got sick, and you need to take care of yourself. And the truth is, this pandemic could last a long time. There will be a lot of job changes in many industries in the upcoming months. Best wishes.

[ladycody, BSN, RN]

I would look at you without consideration of your quitting yourcurrent job. Just got into a "discussion" about this today. Nurses don't commit to working in a pandemic environment when they go into nursing. Some love med surge, others are educators, some informatics...but very few sign on to risk their own lives or the lives of their families.

I had someone say "it's a national emergency and your qualified to potentially save lives!...like the draft! You HAVE to be OK with that."

The reality is : if you have a medical or psych condition that hinders your ability to go to war...you wouldn't be asked to serve. Nor would you be asked to serve if you were a single parent or care-taker for a disabled or dependent family member. You might be claustrophobic and unable to handle the PPE required for covid pts...or maybe a single mom with 2 little ones who has nobody else to provide for them.....or the caretaker of your 90 yo dad with COPD, DM, and Anemia. Who am I to judge?

But I won't lie...I've heard the shaming...that it's an "embarassment to the profession" when a nurse refuses to work with covid patients.

The embarassment to the profession for ME.... is listening to that sort of shaming. We all have stuff...and NOBODY signs a "willingness to give life or limb" clause to get their nursing license.

Short answer. I'd give you a fair shot. (And I was in mgt for years)

[angeloublue22, BSN, RN]

I have been a hiring manager and I can say it would not effect if you are hired or not. You are trying to be responsible and you seem to know your limits well. I'm sorry you even have to worry about this at all. I hope you recover fully soon. I'm not sure why hospitals, including mine, are not counting this as an on the job work injury and paying you without using your PTO. My hospital's protocol is if you have any of the symptoms you have to quarantine for 2 weeks and you you have to use your PTO unless you have proof of a positive result but it's hard to even get tested here and the test is not as accurate as we would like. But hey, they have signs hung up that say thank you to us for working so there's that.

[Fed Up And Done]

It's time for nurses to take control of our profession. Stop worrying about losing your job we all need to strike until things are fixed. Why are we without PPE right now. Does anyone care about the well being of staff, no. Anyone who is a veteran and a nurse knows biological warfare is one of the biggest threats we face. Why are the hospitals as well as the states not prepared for what we're going through right now. We should not have to depend on the feral government to take care of what is the hospital and states duty. Each and every nurse in this country deserves what they get because they don't stand up for themselves.

Think about this, you are being told to work without the proper equipment and you'll get nothing in return.

[signet, LPN]

Before you got sick. You were taking care of Covid19 patients. That makes you a HERO. If you were n the army. They would give you a purple heart. Stay home until you feel well enough to return to work. Find a Dr. Who will support you, not one paid by your employer. You will find a job after all this is over. There's still a nursing shortage. I was told by a wise person once,"You have to take care of yourself, before you can help others." Many nurses forget this and it leads to their downfall.

[zbb13]

I really feel for you. You need to stay home and recover. And you need an independent PCP, as others have advised. You truly are one of the amazing front line workers and you need to take as much time as you need. I do not see why this would harm your chances of obtaining a new job. Best of luck for a full recovery.

[guest1146168]

If you were in an epicenter and your reason is having to care for Corvid patients without the PPE you needed, I couldn't take issue with that.

[Montana RN]

Was off of work off and on being really sick. Never diagnosed as COVID positive, but I think I might have been. Let go by management due to being sick and even being sent home one shift due to a dry cough.

[waufah, BSN, RN]

I totally agree you need a second opinion on FMLA,Workers comp, unemployment benefits,etc. Based on your article it does appear that COVID-19 has taken a toll on your physical and mental health. If I was a hiring manager, I would look at your 13months experience,and if you disclose you left due to CoVID-19 and you are still coming back to work,however much of a break from nursing you take,I would hire you on my team. . As someone in research, I believe we still don't know the effects of COVID-19 on mental and physical health, it will take months and years for conclusive results.Take time off and take care of yourself and reflect on your career post COVID-19. So long as human exist,there will be demand for nurses!

[FedupRN]

I feel your pain in a way. My supervisor essentially cussed me out and threatened me so I just turned in my notice and I am scared about the lasting impact to my career too. And I have no idea how to explain my departure in an interview. I never like to “badmouth” my supervisors but I’ve never been spoken to like this before either

I feel like you have a very easy answer in an interview as to why you quit. I was trying to recover from the COVID and I was unable to recover during the timeframe that they requested. I think it’ll probably be OK. A lot of people’s hours were cut and that could be why they were looking for new employment.

good luck and feel better soon

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Hi ScrubberDucky,

As everyone else has suggested, I would try to go to an urgent care or find another PCP to write up FMLA. This will give you some leeway and some time to decide while you recover for up to 12 weeks (or whatever time you need to recover). At the very least, this protects your job. There is now evidence coming out that COVID patients do have residual lung damage. It is senseless for you to feel forced to go back to work when you cannot do your job because you physically do not feel well. If you choose to resign during the crisis, I would be honest with your employer when you go in for an interview. The fact is that most of us are working without PPE and re-using PPE. We are on the frontlines and not self-isolating ourselves like the rest of the world is. Meanwhile, we are at the highest risk due to constant exposure to COVID and again - not sufficient PPE for protection. I would be surprised if a future employer did not hire you simply because of physical incapability from an illness you more than likely acquired as a result of your job.

I wish you the best with your decision.