Feeling Guilty After Calling in Sick...

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 30, 2013

Everyone gets sick. EVERYONE. The way to avoid feeling guilty (and I used to suffer from guilt also) is to realize that no one - not your patients and not your co-workers - wants your germs.

Personally I totally resent someone who comes to work and is visibly ill, whether it's dashing off to the bathroom to vomit (or worse) or someone who can't stop sneezing, coughing and otherwise spreading their germs.

The worst part is that if you come to work the next day or whenever, still feeling guilty and expecting recriminations, you probably will look guilty :yes: . That's when your co-workers might start being suspicious.

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · Dec 30, 2013

I rarely call in sick. The first time I did it, I felt guilty.

I've since thought of it and realized that going in to work sick is worse than calling in. I do, however, make sure I call in well before my shift starts.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 31, 2013

Everyone gets sick, and when you do get sick the adult thing to do is stay home rather than spreading your germs around. I'm sorry you work with so many burned out nurses who hate their jobs, but that shouldn't be a factor when determining whether or not to stay home.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

Get over yourself... and the system.

And the unrealistic expectations of perfection drilled into your head by the system.

If you are unable to perform your duties .. due to illness.. CALL IN SICK!

All4NursingRN · Dec 31, 2013

Guilty? Are you kidding me? Do you think your hospital feels guilty when they up your workload without upping your pay? Or do you think they feel guilty when you work short? Do you think administration feels guilty when you pull a double to save the unit from being short?

Trust me one time in my career I also used to feel guilty about call ins, I still do to some extent (well only because my fellow nurses will be working 1 man harder) but for all the thankless work we do, unseen by administration, guilt is the last emotion I feel when calling in.

DoeRN · Dec 31, 2013

I don't feel guilty when I call in sick. I don't want to spread my germs and get everyone else sick. Because usually I've gotten sick because someone else feels guilty, comes into work, and makes everyone else sick. It's better to have 1 person out instead of half the floor. Perfect example of where I was floated too yesterday. One nurse came in sick and gave her cold to several other nurses and techs. So she's better but they had 5 nurses and 1 tech call in because they were sick.

So if that one nurse would have called in sick there wouldn't have been such a shortage staffing wise. They were so short that a charge nurse from another floor and the AOD had to take an assignment. And everyone still had 6 patients and some people had 7 and oh this was a cardiac step down floor with titrating drips. I didn't leave until 1 1/2 hours after my shift ended. And left a couple other day nurses behind.

So I can't change the way you feel but if you're sick do yourself and your coworkers (and patients too) a favor and stay home.

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Salisburysteak, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2013

I don't feel guilty when I call in sick. I don't want to spread my germs and get everyone else sick. Because usually I've gotten sick because someone else feels guilty, comes into work, and makes everyone else sick. It's better to have 1 person out instead of half the floor. Perfect example of where I was floated too yesterday. One nurse came in sick and gave her cold to several other nurses and techs. So she's better but they had 5 nurses and 1 tech call in because they were sick.
So if that one nurse would have called in sick there wouldn't have been such a shortage staffing wise. They were so short that a charge nurse from another floor and the AOD had to take an assignment. And everyone still had 6 patients and some people had 7 and oh this was a cardiac step down floor with titrating drips. I didn't leave until 1 1/2 hours after my shift ended. And left a couple other day nurses behind.
So I can't change the way you feel but if you're sick do yourself and your coworkers (and patients too) a favor and stay home.
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I totally agree!

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Dec 31, 2013

I rarely get sick. Over the years, I've been a sub teacher and in my current job I interface with a lot of people. Consequently, I actually rarely get sick. My employer knows that when I do get sick, I legitimately am sick to the point where I am unable to do my job. Therefore they don't question it. They do wonder what it was that took me down though, mostly so that they don't get sick either...

Do I feel guilty about calling in sick? No, because when I do call in sick, I'm actually sick and I call in sufficiently ahead of time so that arrangements can be made. Other employees appear to be gaming the system, but because I so rarely call in, I'm not ever put into the same category as they are.

CrazierThanYou · Dec 31, 2013

From the time I started working at McDs as a 16 year old, I've ALWAYS felt guilty and very anxious about calling in. I recently called in for the first time since I started my current job, 16 months ago. I felt very anxious about it but then I told myself that everyone gets sick, everyone calls in sometimes.

I'm sure I'll be anxious next time too.

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jan 7, 2014

I very rarely get sick so with that said, I also rarely call in. I only called in once last year because I was sick, and yes, I felt guilty. I know it sucks when staff calls in sick and you can't find anyone else to cover, but you know what, everyone gets sick. It happens. So I moved on.

mom-wife-nurse · Jan 7, 2014

I never call in sick. I mean, I have gone months and months without calling in sick. One day last week, however, I was legitimately sick, with nausea and vomiting and a low grade fever. I felt like I had no other choice but to call in sick, but I spent the entire day feeling incredibly guilty for not making myself push on and go in to work, especially since I work within a small department where it is very keenly felt whenever someone calls in sick and generally leaves the department short handed.
Has anyone else dealt with this? I guess what I would like to know is how you can NOT feel guilty if you call in sick when you truly are sick. I think part of it is because so many nurses are burned out and hate their jobs and call in sick when they're not necessarily sick, which makes me feel that my boss thinks that I, too, am just playing sick to get a day off.
I always feel really weird after I go back after calling in sick, almost like everyone is thinking, "Liar, liar...how was your day off?", because they had to pick up the slack from me being off, even though they never actually say it and are very nice.
I am not this paranoid in other areas of my life, so why is this such an issue for me? Any thoughts?

This is SOOOOO me!!! I called in sick a couple weeks ago after nearly a YEAR on the job without calling off. I usually try to trade with someone but i just felt so crappy I couldn't even deal with it. I still feel guilty about it. :screwy: