In a couple of weeks, my colleague will be out on vacation (and deservedly so). This means, however, my workload will basically double. Instead of overseeing 28 patients, I'll be responsible for 56.
I don't forsee this as going successfully. In my opinion, they're probably better off with no manager at all than having me there. Patients are going to need things I can't give and families are going to have questions I can't answer. There are going to be things that come up that my colleague is better suited to handle that will ultimately fall on me.
One example would be is that there is a Care Conference scheduled for a patient that my colleague would normally oversee. This patient has a new urostomy; I am anticipating the patient and/or family may have questions regarding this. However, this is not one of my areas of expertise and something someone else should address. In my opinion, this patient and family are better off having no nurse attend at all than having someone like myself there. I am tempted to not show up to work that day as a result.
In fact, I've thought about simply not coming in at all that week. I simply won't be successful in managing so many patients and strongly believe my coworkers, patients and family members will be better off if I am not there. This obviously means no manager, but it's better than having me there.
The trick, then, is how do I pursue not coming in that week? How do you excuse yourself from work, knowing fully well someone else is on vacation?
