need help with a very difficult supervisor

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · May 17, 2011

I can rid you of your supervisor problem. All I need is a burlap sack and an alibi.

Altra, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

There are a couple of different concepts in play here.

1. The attendance policy can be whatever the organization says it is. Sick time is not a legally-mandated benefit. Know your policies.

2. If you work for an employer who offers sick time benefits, however, they are required to abide by their own policies. In other words -- if there are policies/structure in place to address unexpected time off -- including illness/injury which lasts longer than 1-3 days -- they cannot disicipline/penalize you if your situation meets the requirements of those policies, i.e., appropriate documentation from a medical provider that your condition was ____ for ___ dates..

3. A 10-day absence may well fall under some kind of short-term disability policy, rather than a more typical short-term absence of a day or two. Again -- look up your facility's policies! Contact human resources if you have trouble finding this information.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

I can rid you of your supervisor problem. All I need is a burlap sack and an alibi.

:hhmth: :hhmth::hhmth:..........TOO FUNNY!!!!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Hello everyone. I have worked in a hospital for over 3 years. I just have a question, and I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback on how I should handle a stressful situation with my supervisor.
Back in the winter, influenza was rampant in my community, and I took care of several patients with diagnosed influenza. I had received the flu shot, so I felt somewhat secure that I wouldn't catch it, but I still wore a mask while in the room. Unfortunately, in the middle of March, I caught a strain of influenza that hadn't been covered by the flu shot, and I became very sick within a few hours. Over the first 5 days, I had a constant fever of 104 to 105, and when it reached the higher end of the spectrum, I was hallucinating. I was so sick that I had to call in sick. There was no other option. I was tested for influenza, and it came back positive. The fever began to lower on the 6th day to around 102, but because the hospital has a policy that an employee cannot return to work until a fever is below 100, I had to keep calling sick for several more days. I ended up missing 10 days of work, but there is no way that I could have worked those days. I was too sick, and also, I consider it unethical to go to work with a communicable disease like influenza.
My doctor wrote a note that I was sick with influenza, and I gave it to my supervisor. When I was sick, I had also informed her of my illness, but she never returned my call or e-mail. I thought that the matter was resolved, but last week, I learned otherwise when she called to tell me that I was in trouble for having an "unacceptable" absenteeism rate. Because of the 10 days I missed in March when I had the flu, it drove my absenteeism rate up to 15% for the first quarter of the year. I tried to explain to my supervisor that I had been with diagnosed influenza and couldn't work, but it's like talking to a brick wall. She just replies that a doctor's note doesn't excuse an absence, and she keeps repeating how critical it is that I never miss a day of work. I am so frustrated that I am about to burst! I couldn't help catching influenza, and I'm worried greatly that I may lose my job over the time I had to miss while out sick.
I don't know what to do about this problem. I have asked my supervisor if she expects her nurses to come to work if they have influenza, and she skirts the question. I am now losing sleep about this because I can't lose my job. Other than this time that I missed with influenza, I only have had to call in sick one other day when I got a bad migraine. I work 40 hours a week, and it seems like I live my life at the hospital. I'm a very hard worker, and it frustrates me that she is punishing me for catching the flu.
Has anyone else ever experienced a problem like this one? How do your workplaces handle it when employees catch the flu? Does anyone have any ideas on how I can handle my boss? She's the type of person that can be very argumentative.
Thank you so, so much!!
Wishing all of you the best :heartbeat

I believe you but there is always more to the story. What is the policy in HR in reference to absenteeism . It usually isn't counting the hours but the incidences in x amount of months. Like 3 incidents in 6 months will result in discipline action whether each one is one day or ten. Many places also have a limit to the amount of days before they have you apply for a leave of absence.

It does sound like you super is P.O.'d but I would stop badgering her.......My advice is to ask her what if any punishment is comming and that you are sorry for calling out sick and that you realize the importance (critical nature) of comming to work. It sounds to me she got her chops busted somehow. Probably on a budget meeting where she had to account for the extra hours used to cover you........is she right in doing this? NO!!! A good boss would state that the numbers are skewed due to an illness.......but there is something more to this story.

I would tell her you hear her clearly and you understand how critical it is that you work your schedule....and get out of her way she's gunning for something.......she seems like the type that is right no matter what and especially becasue she IS theBOSS... :uhoh3: Get out of her way and maybe consider getting off her floor...

calitotx · May 17, 2011

I would make sure I know the policy and then go to HR and let them know the issue.

RNTOBE_1970 · May 17, 2011

I have worked places that dinged you per incident-calling out with the flu would have been one incident and not 10 days.

somedaypeds · May 17, 2011

In my opinion, 10 days off work for the flu seems excessive.

Freedom42 · May 17, 2011

In my opinion, 10 days off work for the flu seems excessive.

I'm guessing you've never had true influenza.

keepongoing · May 18, 2011

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback. I made an appointment to talk to someone in HR this week, and I will discuss this matter with them. When I wrote my post, I made a mistake in that I didn't miss 10 days of work. Instead, I meant to write that I was sick with an elevated fever for 10 days. I think that I missed around 7 days total. And, this strain of influenza was very wicked. It took almost everyone that had it at least 7 days to get over it.

I agree that I will just do whatever it takes to let this blow over. No matter what, you can't win with this boss.

Ultimately though, it has just made me wonder why there are no infection protocols for influenza when there are such strong protocols for MRSA, C. Diff, and other very dangerous bugs. If I had been able to drag myself to work when I had the high fever, I would have been very contagious. It just seems very dangerous to work around patients that may be immunocompromised. I realize influenza doesn't fall into the same class of superbugs as MRSA and the others I listed above, but it's still a very contagious and potentially dangerous bug.

There is a lot of pressure for staff to come to work when they're sick, and it's common to see another staff member coughing or sneezing with a bad cold. Ultimately, we all worry about our absenteeism rate. I suppose that this hits very close to home because I lost a very dear friend to pneumonia last year after she was admitted to the hospital for a simple problem. I had befriended this elderly lady at the nursing home where I volunteer, and over the course of 5 years, she became like a grandmother to me. Last spring, she broke her leg, and they admitted her for a few days to watch her. I ended up staying with her at night, and I was bothered by the fact that one of her CNAs had a bad cold. Every time she entered my dear friend's room, she was coughing and sneezing. Then, just a couple of days later, my dear friend started developing signs of a bad cold, and it then progressed into double pneumonia. She went downhill fast, and I held her hand as she took her last breaths. I will never know for sure if she contacted this virus from the CNA that was sick, but I can tell you that I will always remember what happened.

When I think back to when I was sick with the flu, I know that I had no choice but to call out sick. There is nothing I could have done differently. I don't remember when my fever was really high, but my family and doctor told me that I was hallucinating and "out of it." Obviously, I couldn't have done my job like this. I will just have to somehow deal with the wrath of my boss.

Thanks again, and stay well. Have a great remainder to your week!

Best always :heartbeat

Laurab14 · May 18, 2011

I am curious what the policy would be for such things as surgery or childbirth? At my place a sick day is a sick day...

Moogie · May 18, 2011

This is one of my pet peeves about nursing. I don't believe anyone who is involved with direct care should come to work with a communicable disease. Period. As the OP pointed out, even a cold can be devastating to someone who is immunocompromised.

I've worked in LTC and have seen people come to work with fevers, diarrhea during an outbreak of Norwalk virus, and upper respiratory infections. They've been pressured by the facility to come in when they're sick even though they may spread their crud to frail elderly persons for whom such infections can be fatal.

I know that it's tough to work short-staffed. And I know that some people do call in sick even if they aren't. But this is a patient safety issue. A nurse with the flu should not be at work, especially if he/she is exposing people who are already sick.

I'm sorry that you're going through this and yes, I think your supervisor is being unreasonable.