I rarely call in sick. But last night I had to call in very last minute (about 45 minutes before my shift) and I feel so guilty. I work nights so I work up with what felt like heartburn and took a tums. I was getting ready to leave when I had an episode of diarrhea but didn't think it was a big deal because I felt better after. Then I got in my car and was driving to work. As I was driving the cramping in my stomach got worse and worse and I felt so nauseated. I knew I wasn't going to be able to care for patients that way....
SO I called my charge and let her know and I apologized PROFUSELY cause I felt so bad because it was so last minute!! I turned my car around and on my way home I had to pull over because of the pain and dry heaving. I spent my night on and off the toilet and in misery...but I still feel overwhelmingly guilty...I feel like everyone is so mad at me. Especially since the call in was so last minute and my fellow nurses had to work one man down...I feel terrible.
I should also mention that I am a new grad, I've been working for about 7 months on a postpartum/pediatrics unit. Also, since I have started working nights I have never been more sick, Ive had to call in one other time thanks to a fever and a bad cold. I hate having to call in, I always feel so guilty.
Should I feel this way? Is this normal to feel like that? Has anyone else experienced more sicknesses as they are working nights?
You can't work with diarrhea. You really were sick. I would be bit worried about the call off time problem. Maybe speak to the manager and let her/him know what happened. People have a way of talking/griping if they have to stay over due to a last minute call off. You want the manager to hear what really happened, not some gossip. Offer yourself up to work if someone else calls in last minute. Take care of yourself and get some sleep. It is your best defense against illness on the night shift. I went to late mass one Christmas evening, had to leave due to vomiting, and called out sick to work. I feel your pain! :
Some things you can carry on with. Diarrhea and vomiting is not one of them.
One time I started feeling horrible right before my shift. It was too late to call in without looking like a major jerk. I walked in and said to my boss, "I'm not feeling right. Do you have any Advil? I might just have a smidgen of a fever." She took my temp and it was 102. Oops. She sent my sick little self right home. So I didn't get credited with a late call in. This wasn't a unit with a mandatory staffing ratio, but I'm guessing they did try to get a PRN to come in. I was too sick to care by that time.
I think facilities ALWAYS try to make you feel guilty for being sick; that way you will just force yourself to work when you are ill and not bother them! It is not good for patients or staff. I think our current policy is "Don't come to work sick (contagious), but don't call out either. Just don't get sick ....ever!"
I'd rather work short than work with a nurse who is vomiting and has diarrhea.
Personally, I have never called in with little notice, but I have had to leave work 3 times during my years as a nurse due to being ill. 2 times I went straight to the ER and ended up in the hospital and the other time was because I started feeling sick during the shift and knew I was going to end up vomiting.
So after reporting off, I left work and sped home as fast as I could (30 miles away) and made it 2 blocks from my house before having to pull over and throw up! So close yet so far!!! 😠(and I did get an "incomplete shift" mark by my name, but I didn't care. I didn't have any other attendance issues).
Nurses aren't superheroes. We are human, we work in a high stress environment, and we are constantly exposed to sick people. So we get sick sometimes. You should never feel guilty for calling in due to illness.
I am glad you didn't try to tough it out, infected/exposed your coworkers and patients, and ended up going home mid shift. That would have been much worse!
It's unfortunate that it was a late call in, but that occasionally happens. Who can predict hours in advance that they will be projecting liquid from both ends? Yeah, it happens.
Don't be surprised if you get some type of reprimand for being a new grad with 3 call ins (one late) though. Usually they are looking at patterns and frequency with employees calling in, this might put you on the radar.
Feeling guilty is normal for a new grad. For more than just calling in. Everything is new. You are slower than others on the floor. You are still looking up things and questioning if you'll ever get it. Or if you really learned enough to safely take care of people on your own. So when you had to call in you already had a looming guilt.
Don't sweat it. If this is an isolated incident everything will be fine. When administration looks at an employee's record they are looking for trends not single incidents.
No prudent nurse wants to call in. We all want to be healthy and on top of every situation. Unfortunately reality doesn't always fit into our visions. At one point we all have to call in. That's why we get sick leave.
Don't make a habit of it. Don't stress about it any longer. You need to be confident, positive, and focused ready to handle whatever situation you may encounter thru your shift. Make them forget about the call in by being a extraordinarily great nurse.
Don't feel bad if you were truly ill, which it sounds like you were. Since I started working as a nurse in a hospital I have noticed my immune system taking a hit. I usually get a cold once a year, some time between late September and early November. I got horribly ill from the end of October to the beginning of November. I was sick probably a good 2 weeks. I probably had the flu. I had horrible congestion, a wet, productive cough that turned into this dry hacking cough that hung around a good week and a half after my initial illness was over, body aches, fatigue, and probably a fever though I never checked. the whole 9 yards (but I didn't call in). Once that was over about a month later, I got another cold. Not as bad as the first time but it still sucked.
I have been at my hospital job since September and I had to call in once in December. I had to be there at 6:30 AM and I called at 2:30-ish AM because I was shooting from both ends if you know what I mean.. I think it was food poisoning.
Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.
Feeling guilty for something like getting sick is indeed a useless emotion, and one that hospitals will use to manipulate nurses. Don't fall for it and don't do it to yourself.
You didn't wake up and decide Oh I'm going to make myself vomit and have diarrhea for the express purpose of calling off. No matter what you are told. So, no.
I will start out by saying that I call in sick perhaps once yearly. I seldom become sick...in addition, I enjoy earning full paychecks.
Anyhow, I never feel one morsel of guilt when calling into work. I'm assured my former managers never felt guilty when canceling my shifts, so I do not feel guilty when I call in sick. It is a two-way street with no hard feelings between both parties.
Thank you. I feel the same. I really can't stand this martyrdom in nursing. Management have no qualms in canceling you or floating you and if you got hit by a truck you'd be replaced tomorrow, just as soon as they could step over your cold, dead body. It's a job. Your health comes first. They'll get over it.
You can't care for anyone else if you can't care for yourself, right? Just think the patients were better off without you being there sick. I always feel guilty, but you can't be a martyr for your patients. Don't forget to take care of yourself too.
Thank you. I feel the same. I really can't stand this martyrdom in nursing. Management have no qualms in canceling you or floating you and if you got hit by a truck you'd be replaced tomorrow, just as soon as they could step over your cold, dead body. It's a job. Your health comes first. They'll get over it.
Specializes in peds, allergy-asthma, ob/gyn office.
Sometimes, you really don't know until the last minute. Having children also adds potential last-minute to the mix. I can't tell you how many times my kids went to bed fine, slept fine... but woke at 6 am with a fever or vomiting or whatever. There is no way you could have worked in that condition.. and you would have spread the germs around if you had tried to.
imenid37
1,804 Posts
You can't work with diarrhea. You really were sick. I would be bit worried about the call off time problem. Maybe speak to the manager and let her/him know what happened. People have a way of talking/griping if they have to stay over due to a last minute call off. You want the manager to hear what really happened, not some gossip. Offer yourself up to work if someone else calls in last minute. Take care of yourself and get some sleep. It is your best defense against illness on the night shift. I went to late mass one Christmas evening, had to leave due to vomiting, and called out sick to work. I feel your pain! :