Sick call?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Jan 16, 2011

Only you can decide if you feel well enough to work.

The fact that you're trying to justify it ("I feel kind of wimpy," "I haven't called off in x amount of time," and "I don't think it'll leave them short") tells me that you probably don't need to. If you were truly ill enough, none of those factors would be a consideration. Just my honest :twocents: .

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 16, 2011

Undoubtedly, when one calls in sick it's a mix of emotions that had trigger to abandon you're responsibility to any given job. Let's say for the sake of argument that you were truly ill, that by itself is justify as an excuse to call in sick. However, there are times that one can be in a frame of mind that for whatever reason you don't feel like dealing with other people, that's enough excuse to take a personal day off since you're not in a frame of mind that others could benefit from you... that's just my honest opinion :cool:

ChevRN · Jan 16, 2011

I think all of us, or most of us, have taken a "mental health" day at one time or another. This doesn't only apply to nursing. At my facility we have a bank of sick/vacation time. Also per our policy, as I am sure anywhere else, if we exceed a given number of "call ins" in a given period of time, are subject to getting written up.

What's important, is that you consider available sick time, as well as not exceeding your allowed call ins per given month, months, etc. You can call in on a day you just don't feel like going to work and are not truely sick, but if you do that too much, there may be a day you're truely sick or an emergency arises and you need to call in, and that can be the one that leads to disciplinary action. I think many facilities have a "no fault" call in policy.

I'm not condemning taking mental health days, but you have to use good judgment and have to consider the "what ifs" for the near future.

BTW, this message is for anyone who reads this, as I've had the same dilema.

One2gofst · Jan 16, 2011

The original post is deleted but I just wanted to touch on an issue that was brought up in a couple of the following posts. IMO, one of the things that leads to issues with "sick days" is the fact that companies sometimes have vacation, sick days, personal days and floating holidays. Making everything PTO is a much better option, IMO.

For example, my first job out of school was a pretty good one, all things considered. I had a bank of sick days, vacation and floating holidays. None of these carried over to the next year and one did not receive compensation if he or she did not use the days. This presents a problem as all paid time off is, in fact, a part of your compensation. If someone never took any time off, they are effectively being compensated less than someone who uses every available hour, which is obviously counterproductive. I liked to go out and play poker on weeknights and I can say there were some days I was tired and called in "sick" as the system encouraged that, in order to maximize compensation within the system.

However, if everything is lumped into PTO, with compensation for usused days, everyone is compensated equally. If you are really sick, it isn't a problem, but if you are never sick you don't "lose days off", but rather get to use them for other TO or, more likely, get additional cash compensation at the end of the year or when you quit/retire, whatever the case may be.

Everyone needs to decide what is best for them in a given situation. However, employers can actually increase productivity and decrease waste by making working when you are able an attractive option.

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2011

Hey, edited the original post it gave way too much detail. But turned out I did get pretty sick later in the day. I ended up calling in- must have just been starting up when I first posted. anyway... that's all. hopefully better in a couple days. Thanks for your thoughts!!