Judgmental rant about time off

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

I know that in the past I have sometimes participated in threads about time off, FMLA, mental health days, sick days, etc. I have been referred to as judgmental and insensitive, and I own that to an extent because I feel strongly that because I have chosen to work it has to be a priority, the organization that hired me is planning on my attendance. And now I'm back on my soapbox because I just lost my job because other people didn't come to work. I started a new NP role eight months ago, just came off orientation recently. I love this job. It's exactly what I was hoping I would get, and I was lucky enough to get it on my first interview out of school, thought I had it made.

Then I found out that because there have been too many callouts by the APRN staff, they are eliminating my position next month. This is all legal, has gone through the union, falls under "the changing needs of the organization." Of course no organization really acts with transparency so initially there were just rumors and speculation as to why and I was told it was because one MD thinks that APRNs should not be in acute care, but today it was confirmed to me by the head of the hospitalist medicine team that it was because of callouts. So yes, the person with FMLA and the right to their sick days did what was best for them, and now the rest of us are out of our jobs. 

Life's not fair, I get that. And it's my turn to be on the short end of the stick. I try to be an "everything happens for a reason" person, and I'm sure that things will work out. I've been laid off many times in my careers and it hasn't killed me yet. But next time there's a discussion about everyone's right to time off, excuse me in advance if I'm a little peeved. 

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Specializes in ER.

I agree. I've always been all about attendance and punctuality. It's very important in the healthcare field to show up to work. I'm sorry about your job loss.

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15 hours ago, JBMmom said:

Of course no organization really acts with transparency so initially there were just rumors and speculation as to why and I was told it was because one MD thinks that APRNs should not be in acute care, but today it was confirmed to me by the head of the hospitalist medicine team that it was because of callouts. So yes, the person with FMLA and the right to their sick days did what was best for them, and now the rest of us are out of our jobs. 

What?? ?

I would've said "get outta here with that."

This is yet another version of what corporations thrive on, which is making decisions for their own reasons then invoking the workerz to be pitted against one another.

I never fall for that any more, it's so easy to see right through it.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
5 hours ago, Emergent said:

It's very important in the healthcare field to show up to work. I'm sorry about your job loss.

Thanks, I appreciate your support. 

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
5 hours ago, JKL33 said:

This is yet another version of what corporations thrive on, which is making decisions for their own reasons then invoking the workerz to be pitted against one another.

I was surprised that anyone gave the actual reason. The thing about teaching hospitals is that they have an additional layer of "not our fault" protection/excuses because of the governing body for medical residents. The person that told me the decision was because of callouts totally passed the buck on who made the decision and how. My real problem is with how it was all communicated, I'm waiting to meet directly with the head of the group. I requested a meeting but there have been scheduling challenges- ha. 

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I feel the like call out culture has really taken hold this past year.  
I very rarely call in.  I think in the past 3 years I’ve called in for my bout with covid and this past April when I was running a fever.  
I also think I’m taking a mental health day thing has been taken too far.  There are people out there with actual megt illnesses that need to take days off for it, and that gets diminished by the people that just don’t want to work that day.  
 

It’s becoming a new world in the workforce these days.  And as you can attest to, this new attitude is coming back to bite people.  And as this economy starts to turn, the employer will once again be in charge.  I don’t know why humanity can’t find happy mediums on things.  We swing one way to the complete opposite constantly.

Look, I’m not 100% rah, rah for my job.  I go to my job, on time, I clock in, I work my hardest,  clock out, and go home to be with my family.  I don’t think about my job when I’m not there.  But when I am, I’m on time and I don’t call in.  
 

I don’t get why it’s so hard.  
 

And BTW, I loved having NPs in critical care.  It made my life so much easier as the NPs were more accessible than having 1 doc with 20 patients.  

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Big system-type places weren't happy until they were the employers of providers, bonus if it were more nurses and fewer physicians, because they are already well-practiced at keeping nurses in line (plus, we're cheaper). They wanted this level of control. It's soooo unfortunate (?), but being the boss of everything and everyone sometimes comes with a few measly obligations. Like FMLA.

If they're really canning you all because some nurse provider used FMLA, well, that's just them absolutely wanting to both have their cake and eat it. And throwing a toddler tantrum when they can't always shirk every single responsibility that comes with being the boss.

So I say one of two things: Either they're just doing the spite thing (ho-hum) or else this isn't the real reason.

 

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BTW, I do not defend abuse of sick time and have called in exceedingly few times during my years of employment.

But it's so easy to criticize that which is right at eye level (our coworkers). It's really tempting to do and an easy trap to fall into; to believe that if so-and-so wasn't such a smart *** or so-and-so didn't call in as often as they do or some other coworker wasn't so lazy or so dumb, things would be great.

The higher level shenanigans and bad behavior are things we can't easily change anyway, so that makes it even easier to just keep harboring various little bits of disgust with those at eye-level. It's the most observable thing to blame.

There's some unnamed hospital group that I heard about (which is a monopoly employer of providers), who took the covid relief money and pocketed it and cut a bunch of provider (APP) hours even though they all had contracts for certain numbers of hours and when people meekly protested, this place "supposedly" produced a new contract with variable hours and said "if you want to keep working here you need to sign."

THAT's the kind of shenanigans we're talking about (and MUCH worse). Not whether Susie might be milking FMLA or using it inappropriately.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
49 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

THAT's the kind of shenanigans we're talking about (and MUCH worse). Not whether Susie might be milking FMLA or using it inappropriately.

I genuinely understand that there are people have very appropriate and necessary FMLA plans, and there are definitely legitimate reasons for needing a sick day. I'm not that much of a jerk. But when people in the office saw the schedule and whenever a certain coworker was scheduled for four nights in a row (which we self-schedule), the comment would be "I wonder which night she'll call out". That's abuse of a system, and that's what I'm annoyed about. 

The other problem in our system is that medicine and nursing are under completely different rules. The MDs are responsible for finding their own coverage, can't call out, etc. We as APRNs work in the same group but we are union and have sick time, personal time, etc. So they get frustrated because they see any use of legitimate benefits that we have as "unfair". Then again, they're getting three times my salary so my pity is tempered. 

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JBMmom, I can only imagine the disappointment at losing a good job that you enjoyed through no fault of your own. I would be peeved and upset too.

As some of the others have pointed out, the reasoning sounds suspect and you may never get the full story of why the position was really eliminated.

Call out have increased in my department, and often when they happen, we no longer get a nurse replaced by the staffing office. We all work painfully short. I don't call out, but then again, I don't work full time and manage the burdens the full time staff deal with. I see this as a sign of stress and burnout on the unit. 

I am hoping you manage to land a new position soon. 

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1 hour ago, JBMmom said:

I genuinely understand that there are people have very appropriate and necessary FMLA plans, and there are definitely legitimate reasons for needing a sick day. I'm not that much of a jerk.

Oh, I know you aren't and I'm sorry for not stating as much in my reply. I'm just presenting a counter point to what a lot of nurses feel.

 

1 hour ago, JBMmom said:

The other problem in our system is that medicine and nursing are under completely different rules. The MDs are responsible for finding their own coverage, can't call out, etc. We as APRNs work in the same group but we are union and have sick time, personal time, etc. So they get frustrated because they see any use of legitimate benefits that we have as "unfair". Then again, they're getting three times my salary so my pity is tempered. 

Okay, but take this ^. I think you're looking at it wrong. And if the docs are sore about your "benefits" they're wrong too--and both of those views are what I'm talking about with the workers being at each other instead of asking why things are the way they are.

Why don't the docs work on the kind of contract you do? I'm not asking about policies and the like, I'm asking why are things the way they are?

Why have large healthcare corporations gone to such lengths to seek out APPs as opposed to physicians? Is it because they really think nurses can do the "provider" role better??

Why doesn't the hospital just hire the APPs with the same kind of contract they use for the physicians if it's such a burden to them to have to follow the laws that pertain to their current business relationship with the APPs? Simple solution don't you think? Just hire APPs on contracts like those of physicians.

We have always been hearing this nonsense about which of our peers are abusing what. Who hires all of these abusers, and why?

I have my answers to these questions.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I don't understand why call outs would affect a position. Are they doing away with all mid-levels? I work at a teaching hosp (surgical floor) and the APPs are the ones on the floor weekdays. Weeknights and weekends, the residents are on call. 

We don't have issues with the APPs, we have trouble with other RNs calling out. I am one of those with intermittent FMLA as I have 2 type 1 kids and if they have an issue, I need to be off. I use it rarely. 

We do have those that abuse their FMLA and it is frustrating. 

I'm sorry this happened to you. 

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