A while back, I posted a thread about outrageous things hospitals expect you to do. I just remembered this, and I'm curious...what is the sickest yo have ever been, and the sup STILL insisted you show up?
I was fresh back from my honeymoon, and had worked about a week, and started to feel icky. I woke up one afternoon with a fever of 102. I worked nocs, so I called in and told the sup I was ill(I could barely talk). She said she did not care, I was the only ICU nurse scheduled, and I had to come in.
So I drive 45 miles, get to the unit, and we have NO patients. When that is the case, the ICU nurse is supposed to go to the floor and help (teeny hospital). I decided to take 5 minutes and put my head down before I headed out to the floor.
I remember waking up because I was cold, and I realized I was outside, being carried. The janitor, who I was friends with, had come through to mop, and had found me passed out behind the desk. The ER secretary had seen him come in the waiting room with me, and has sent him out the side door to carry me in the back, away from all the looky-loos. I was out again before we got into the ER. My fever was now 104.
The kicker? As the janitor carried me in, he heard the doc telling the sup that he needed an ICU bed. The janitor piped up and said that it would be a while for that bed. Doc, sup,AND patient all rounded on him with "Well, how do YOU know?" Janitor stepped in further, lifted me up a little higher, and said, "Because, HERE is your ICU nurse, THAT"S how I know!"
That got a reaction, he said.
Had I been conscious, I would have been hard pressed not to belt somebody, if I had heard that. And the sup had the gall to ask the doc if there was anything he could give me to fix it so I could stay and work! He took one look at my beet-red face and told her if I stayed, it would be in a bed, and that she had better call the relief nurse. She started wailing about there being no relief nurse, (because she had not scheduled one), and he told her she had better either get on the phone or suit up, her choice. I don't know what happened after that. I was only awake for that part of it, and I was so mad, I'm glad I passed back out. Probably saved me from getting fired.
Anything like this ever happen to you? I'd dearly love to hear it. 5 years ago, and that still makes me mad to think about.
I had the flu and a sprained ankle (what luck,huh) i work LTC i managed to get the first day off but was told that was it because i had nobody to take my place and the don refuses to work the floor EVER FOR ANY REASON. I went in limping and coughing not to mention feeling like i was hit by a mack truck only to find out i had no relief coming because she had something come up(message left with ward clerk and would not answer phone) anyway, as i was passing my fourth round of meds i had a coughing spell in the hallway that seemed to last for ten minutes when it passed i prepared the meds for the pt and entered the room where i found a very nice resident sitting there with cough drops and she said here take these you need them more than i do. i know it was not safe for me to work with the flu or the ankle but was made to feel as thou if i did not go in then nobody would be there. looking back i should have stood my ground and forced the don hand needless to say i lost all respect for my employer and quit shortly after.
I've called in 3 times this year. Once because I was puking my guts out, twice because I had the never ending miserable flu. When I returned to work, I was not so politely informed by someone other than my manager (who was sent to tell me by her, btw) that if I have more than 3 sick episodes in a year (seperate or all at once) I have to start having doctor's notes for each one.
Um, hospital policy states after FIVE sick calls there is a meeting with the manager and HR. After 3 days IN A ROW, you need a note. Duh. If i was sick for 3 days I'd go to the doctor, but not for the basic miserables that shouldn't be shared with cancer patients to begin with, let alone healthier hospital patients.
On another note, I'm 99% sure I have a new job. Just waiting on my background check (which is clean, but I can't be offered the job until they know that).
Hey glad I'm not the only one who that happened to. I was working on a med surg unit and was in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks with pancreatitis. Npo the whole time and sick as a dog(in bed on my home unit at my hospital). When my enzymes went down and my pancreas cooled off, my doc did a choleycystectomy. I was in my room the same evening of my surgery and our manager showed up at my bedside wanting to know if I would be back at work THE NEXT AM! I let my mom handle her since I was still sleeping off the anesthesia. When I found out, I don't know who was madder, me or mom. She turned in my resignation the same evening.
Wow! I am really surprised by all of this! At our hospital, if you appear sick, they will send you home quick! We frequently get reminders that if we come in sick, we are only increasing the chances of infecting our patients.
Thank you! I was reading all these stories, thinking "EGADS! Where the heck do you work -- and who for?!"
I actually called out sick 6 or 7 times during the 4 months I've worked at my hospital -- as a new grad, to boot. I'm VERY "committed" to my job, but I refuse to work 13 hours with acute bronchitis (I'm sure my patients want me hacking snot on them), a BAD asthma attack (I'm sure my patients want me wheezing while examining them), or a twisted ankle that I can barely walk on (though it would be fun to watch me hobble all over the unit and get everything done hours too late because I'm hobbling so slowly)! I think it's both unrealistic and inhumane to expect your ill employees to just suck it up and do their job! WTH?! We don't expect the same of our revenue sources (aka - patients). Why expect this of the people who ensure those revenue sources are well enough to leave fast enough to bring in new revenue sources?!
I recently had my "annual" eval and was certain the my attendance "problem" would be brought up, but it wasn't at all. I was very thankful for that.
was an aide in a lousy, crappy LTC and roughly 7 mo pregnant, became nauseated and within a short time was puking in a garbage can while superbad diarrhea hit, i was flushed and could barely see straight, this was no normal 'nausea and vomiting of pregnancy'
i paged the supervisor, who told me i could stay and feed patients and stay close to the bathroom, i told her no and other aides who were there told me to go talk to her. she was on an upstairs unit, where all the other aides knew me (and were always afraid i'd go into labor on them and they'd have to deliver the baby:chuckle), found out she was sending TWO aides home but insisting on keeping me. :angryfire
6 voices against one, i went home. ended up puking 15+ times that night, with diarrhea. should've gone in and gotten some fluids, but too stubborn.
sorry for run-on sentences and no caps, i'm at work and trying to write quick.
Last weekend I was really sick. I was on call until 11PM. Got called in at 10:57PM to work TCT. I asked the house supervisor if she had any idea how sick I was? She said "I know, but the other person on call wont answer their phone." So I drove the 40 miles to work, feeling worse the whole way (not to mention realllllly angry). Stopped at Walgreens for some Aleve...promptly ran to the restroom and threw up. Made it to my car, put my head on the steering wheel with the AC blasting on my face and blacked out. Somehow made it to work, got to the staff lounge and collapsed in the bathroom. Went to the nurses station, and the CN took one look at me and asked me what the hell I was doing at work. I told her the story, and she promptly called the house supervisor and said I was in no condition to work. House sup wanted to see me in her office.....went to the office and was told to "wait 30 minutes and see how you feel." CN was MAD!!! Took me back to the unit, put me in an empty room and said, "Dont even worry about anything....just go to sleep." Woke up an hour later, called the house sup and said, "Im going home, and you can take me off the schedule for tomorrow night too."
You need to be at work is directly related to how many staff is avaliabe to work that day LOL. No matter where you work, you are only as important as the need is. :)
I wasn't sick, but my brother was in critical condition. I was scheduled to work the 7p-3a shift in the ER and I got a phone call that afternoon that he was in the ER. I ran in, and CT showed a bifrontal bleed (he was ejected in a head-on). I called the house supe to tell her that I couldn't work, that he was being admitted to ICU. She actually asked me if I could come back to the ER after he was settled in ICU and finish out my shift. A coworker was standing there when she said this; Jackie whipped around and said "No, she can't, I'll stay and work the rest of her shift for her."
I have been told there was an emergency and had to come in. Sick calls were not being taken. So... I came in went to the DON's office, she said I looked fine, I projectile vomited on her desk (not on command but was vomitting about every 15 minutes so I knew it was coming) and told her next time to no imply I was a liar and went back home. They never questioned me again.
I remember a couple of years ago the hospital had an outbreak of norovirus which hit really hard on the tele floor (just thankful I wasn't working that floor). Most of the staff got sick on that floor along with the patients. The floor was named "the cruise ship" for how fast that virus spread.
I remember being told from the staff if they called in sick with diarrhea or vomiting they had to bring in samples with them I think for testing. I thought now thats pretty gross.
purpil29
18 Posts
I had the flu and a sprained ankle (what luck,huh) i work LTC i managed to get the first day off but was told that was it because i had nobody to take my place and the don refuses to work the floor EVER FOR ANY REASON. I went in limping and coughing not to mention feeling like i was hit by a mack truck only to find out i had no relief coming because she had something come up(message left with ward clerk and would not answer phone) anyway, as i was passing my fourth round of meds i had a coughing spell in the hallway that seemed to last for ten minutes when it passed i prepared the meds for the pt and entered the room where i found a very nice resident sitting there with cough drops and she said here take these you need them more than i do. i know it was not safe for me to work with the flu or the ankle but was made to feel as thou if i did not go in then nobody would be there. looking back i should have stood my ground and forced the don hand needless to say i lost all respect for my employer and quit shortly after.