Call-ins

Nurses General Nursing

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how often do you call in to say you won't be in to work? do you feel guilty or not? how many hours prior to your shift are you suppose to allow for before calling off?

originally posted by ryanrn

ohbet and eldernurse, perhaps you should try to re-focus that guilt to where if really belongs - in the administrations lap and off your shoulders. by any stretch of the imagination good leadership and managment should have the staffing necessary to keep their business running efficiently with the appropriated number of nurses available (or alternate means - agency). you have absolutely no reason to think this is your problem. your job is being done, they should do theirs.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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One time I called out sick and got a ticket for speeding, another time I called out sick to go skiing and I tore some ligaments behind my knee and suffered...alot!

One time I was HONEST and told my HN that I needed a day off (a week in advance) b/c Hubby had to go on a business trip and didn't want to leave my kids home alone, in another state mind you. After a week of asking people if they could work for me, I had no takers so I told the HN I had to take a personal day. She told me that "If I don't have the coverage, I can't grant you the time!" and got real snotty about it. The safety and wellbeing of my children came first in this case, but she didn't give a d@mn, as long as her precious staffing looked good that's all that mattered. Front office could have floated someone that night. So I called out anyway. Even when you're honest about it they screw you to the wall, so I screwed them back. I no longer am honest about being sick or needing a personal day...I just do what I have to do and keep on going. Guilty???? NOT EVER! As hard as we work (and they know it)I should feel guilty about calling out? Are you kidding? After 25 years of service, they should have a parking space reserved with my name on it! I do call out a good four hours before hand so thay can find someone to take my place....

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Specializes in ER.

Ummm nightowl- With your track record I wouldn't try too hard to replace you, or be willing to switch with you, on a week's notice. You made a committment to work, and it didn't say "unless I don't want to pay for a babysitter, or I don't have anything else to do" at the bottom. Everyone has a crisis once in awhile but noone goes into skiing withdrawals.

I usually call out once a year for one reason or another. But generally by the time I call out I am sick enough that going to work is a more attractive option than the illness (if I was given the choice)

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Originally posted by canoehead

Ummm nightowl- With your track record I wouldn't try too hard to replace you, or be willing to switch with you, on a week's notice. You made a committment to work, and it didn't say "unless I don't want to pay for a babysitter, or I don't have anything else to do" at the bottom. Everyone has a crisis once in awhile but noone goes into skiing withdrawals.

I usually call out once a year for one reason or another. But generally by the time I call out I am sick enough that going to work is a more attractive option than the illness (if I was given the choice)

yes, we have all made a commitment to work but there are times when something comes up and you need the time off. In nightowl's situation, she asked a week in advance and tried to get somebody to cover. Where I work we call the "pool" if somebody calls out or there is no coverage available. I think that a weeks notice is sufficient enough for somebody to get that time off. As long as this is a chronic thing and it didn't sound as if it was, I see no problem. I have also been a very loyal employee at my previous job in the O.R. I never called out sick in 2+yrs, stayed when there was nobody to relieve me(no choice nobody to scrub in), worked extra shifts when asked to etc........and then??? To make a long story short, I needed 2 days off the following week(actually in 5 days) and was denied. It wasn't for a vacation/pleasure but for an emergency regarding a close friend of mine. Well, hell yes I called out sick!!! Many knew that I requested the time off and most of my coworkers were right behind me. Several even called me aside and said, "when you need time off, don't bother asking for it, just call out".........I know that's not a good attitude but I can honestly see why people get that attitude. As for those who say, "I never call out, I go to work even if I'm dying", well "good for them"..........they are probably the ones who dilly-dally all shift saying that "they don't feel good etc"..........If you are sick, stay home!! I don't want to catch your cold and God knows are patients can't afford to get sick. My family will ALWAYS come first!! If there is some reason that I need to be home with them, then I will be. I am not talking about having a 2 yr old crying because mommy has to work(though it's heartbreaking), but there are times when a parent needs to make a choice. Let's face it, as long as the employee isn't a chronic call out, it shouldn't be a problem. BTW, don't most places have "on-call" personnel to cover these situations?

JUDE

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Oh by the way, those three call outs are in the last 25 years...once when I was 20, again when I was 24, and three years ago when hubby went on his business trip...my track record IS beyond excellent and I'm proud of it. Management only WISHES they had more like me. We have people who call out every week with their days off and have been doing that for years...and they're still there! If they're that sick all the time, they need to be in the hospital...LOL. I deserve my very own parking place...

And Jude you're right. People get that attitude b/c of managers who only see things their way, But when THEY need the time off they just go ahead and mark it on the time schedule with no questions asked. Mine and your families WILL always come first no matter what those pompous managers think. I will not hesitate to call out sick for a family member when they need me WITHOUT THE GUILT...and neither should anyone else.

Oh and forgot this one...Had to leave an hour early ONCE for another family emergency soon after the business trip ordeal...Called the super she said, "If it's ok with the nurse that's working with you, then go ahead." The other nurse didn't mind. 10 minutes later she calls back and says, "Oh, I forgot... any emergency which causes you to leave early has to go thru your HN first, so I can't let you go until you talk to her first." So now I'm supposed to call HN at home at 0500, get her "permission" first then call back the super and let her know the outcome. No one else has ever had to do that, and I wasn't about to start this wonderful tradition. She was the supervisor and had more pull than HN. I called home and told them they just would have to wait until I got home b/c I was not going to call her and lose my job. Everyone else who ever left early NEVER asked this woman if they could leave early and they were leaving early the next day without her permission. HN was angry b/c I scr**ed her when I called out so she was getting me back any way that she could by making up her own rules... with me. I went to the union, I wrote her up, she was disciplined and MOVED off the unit within two weeks afterwards...GOT HER LAST! LOL... Talk about horizontal violence...I don't play it...ever! Can you imagine? Some people just don't have any class.

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I feel horribly guilty. I am also the "working shifts herself" manager of a small unit and do the best I can to see that staff get the personal time they request off and need off for true emergencies. Usually, this means I cover the shift (and I can't get overtime) myself. If it seems that I am more willing to cover the shift of a dependable, hard working, nurse who is willing to be as flexible as he/she is able to help me meet the needs of the unit....then get a clue you other selfish slack a$$e$.

Sorry for the outburst... I have been doing so many extra shift.. I am stressing out.

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)Why is it that the employees who have the best attendance records seem to be the ones who catch the most crap when they do call-in? Never made any sense to me. :confused: I have an excellent work record for the 7 years I have been in my current job. (Except for last fall when my son and my hubby were in the hospital less than three days apart :eek: ). The kicker for me was in March of this year. My MIL had passed away and I was scheduled to work the next two days. I went up to the floor I work at (my MIL died at the facility I work at) and told them Mom had died and to take me off the schedule for the next two days that I was scheduled. (The funeral fell on my weekend off). A little bit later one of the nurses told me that I didn't have to worry about replacements they had my shifts covered. My response was: I am not worried about replacements, that is not my problem now. Nuff said. Actually, my patient care manager is very good about family coming first and I am grateful for that. I wish all managers were as considerate as mine.

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So much depends on how the manager handles things. But it really has to be a give and take. In an ideal worth there would be a group of nurses just waiting by the phone, anxious to work. But, I neither live nor work in that fantasyland. The best thing when something unexpected comes up is to negotiate an switch with a co-worker. It helps to have proven to be trustworthy in these matters (not one of those who makes the switch and then calls off or asks for a call off on the switched day, or worse yet conveniently forgets having made the switch.)

I had a boss who was impossible about requested days, demanded a doctor's note for even a single call in. Hey, once you know, you play the game and beat them at it. I've called in from 2000 miles away when I knew I wouldn't get the time off if I asked. You do what you have to do. You take the consequences, if there are any, and go on.

Oh, it's easier to "discipline" the people who seldom call in, they're obvious by exception. It's the one's who have a pattern to the call offs that never seem to get touched, it's harder work to track and document so many infractions of the rules. Go figure, never made any sense to me.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

I feel guilty every time. The intellectual me knows I shouldn't....but the soft side oftentimes wins out. :p

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When I schedule my days I try to commit to them but upon occasion when I am very tired I just call in. I don't feel guilty because I rather be home recovering than to go and end up making a med error of some kind. We have up to 5pm (7p-7a) but I usually give them more notice than that. I am very happy where I work and it is rare I call off. Sometimes you need a stress day.

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Where I work, it's also the standard 2 hours before the shift begins. Only, after 4 call offs you get a verbal warning, 5 another verbal, 6 a written and so forth...all of them with "counselling." I personally think this is a little odd. But after 12 months, it's "reset."

Indeed.

My hospital has the same policy as Indeeds. I think that if you have 7 sick calls in a rolling year, you get fired. I never come close to that because I feel guilty about calling in unless I am knocking on Heaven's door.

My husband works in nuclear power. He can take a day off every other week and not run out of PTO....

Also don't you hate it when the charge plays 20 questions when you call in sick.

Its like they must know what substance is shooting out of what orafice or they will come get you and make you work.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

howdy yall

from deep in the heat of texas

I think that is standard at most places. I always try to give 6 hours warning on when I call in

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