Threatened with being fired for calling off for bowel prep

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

I'm sorry for your loss. The CNO's response sounds very harsh. Unfortunately, giving your CNO advance notice instead of calling in 4 hours before your shift backfired.

Since you've already checked your attendance policy, and you've (more than) followed the correct procedure for notifying them, it seems your CNO's threat doesn't align with policy. She is threatening to fire you for following policy.

However:

• It's possible that being pressured to work while preparing for a medical procedure, especially one related to your health risk, could be considered a violation of your rights. You would need to consult an employment attorney versed in your state's regulations.
• It's also possible that you could be fired in an at-will state with little recourse unless discrimination was involved.  Even though getting a colonoscopy is an essential preventive health measure in your case, it is elective and, as such, may not be enough to protect you under the various laws related to medical leaves.

Could you reschedule your colonoscopy for when you have two consecutive days off so you can prepare without needing to call in sick?

HR

It is within your rights to bring this situation to HR, especially if you feel the interaction with the CNO was hostile or violated your rights. It's their job to help resolve conflicts and ensure policies are applied fairly and consistently, which doesn't seem to be the case. You could explain the situation and ask for clarification on the company's attendance policy.

State your concerns calmly. When you talk to HR, it's important to keep your communication clear and factual. Explain the situation, tell them you followed the attendance policy, and let them know the CNO's comments made you feel threatened or uncomfortable. 

Document everything. Make sure you record all communication about this situation, whether emails, text messages, or notes from phone calls. This could be helpful if the issue escalates or you feel unfairly treated.

Be aware that HR might align with the CNO, who could resent you bypassing her. However, HR may also act impartially.

Work with Your Supervisor

Offer solutions. If you feel comfortable, you could try talking to your supervisor (or a different manager) to offer potential solutions, such as swapping shifts with a colleague or covering some hours before or after the prep time. This shows that you're trying to be flexible and need the day off for medical reasons. Sometimes, framing things more collaboratively can help soften the situation.

I hope this gives you some pros and cons about your situation and best wishes for your health.

Nurse Beth

[JKL33]

@robinasq

This is a situation where I, too, would have taken my chances and called this DON's bluff--mostly because I don't tolerate bullying and being manipulated this way.  The problem is, not everyone is going to fare well by instantly being out of work should the employer actually follow through on this threat; it's a chance many people can't take. Which by the way is what makes my blood boil, because it there's a very good chance of it being an empty threat. Firing this nurse isn't going to staff that place on the day in question or the next day or the next. But some employers are stupid which is why they continually have problems, so unfortunately the OP might actually get terminated for something like this.

I'm humbled and saddened almost daily by the things some of my patients put up with from employers and they do so because their realistic alternatives are worse.

It is not unreasonable to try to schedule the colonoscopy when one has 2 days off in a row.

If the OP doesn't need this job, s/he should call their bluff (in my opinion).

If they believe that they do indeed need to keep this job for now then they should try to reschedule the colonoscopy. They'll have more information to help make their decision when they call to see how long they would have to wait for an appointment that meets their needs.

[robinasq]

Nurse Beth, 

Big MISS!

We all know what it is like to schedule medical appointments these days, rescheduling means waiting months. That compromises the nurse's health. NO job is worth it, that place would replace you in a day without a thought.  

 

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I am going to be the minority here and disagree.

You scheduled a non emergency colonoscopy, and intended to do prep when you were expected to be at work.  I don't know anyone that would think that is acceptable.   If you were having severe symptoms or having an active GI bleed, then that would constitute needing this sooner rather than later, but you mention nothing about this.  

You could have easily taken a day or two off, or even better, waited until you had a couple days in a row off, and  pre planned weeks in advance and done this, but instead you call out sick a few days before for something that you probably knew about for a while.    

I agree with your manager, that this was an unnecessary shift call out!!  Don't call HR, take some responsibility and pre plan this like a majority of nurses do!  This is not urgent in my opinion and could have easily been preplanned in advance!   This would the equivalent of a nurse telling their manager two days before their shift that they cannot work because they have a dental cleaning scheduled for that day!  

- Annie

[Wuzzie]

Nurse Beth said:

Now the CNO is calling me and say we are two nurse short on the day that I have to do my bowel prep so she cannot accept the doctor note and at the end of the call, she said that if I call in, I will be terminate.

Politely demand this in writing. This will call her bluff without risking your employment. If what she is stating is against written policy she will not want you to have proof of it and will back down. If she persists you might want to contact your state's labor board. 

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

This is definitely a situation for HR. I'm disgusted that you were treated this way. We all deserve better.

[JKL33]

Quote

I agree with your manager, that this was an unnecessary shift call out!!  Don't call HR, take some responsibility and pre plan this like a majority of nurses do!  This is not urgent in my opinion and could have easily been preplanned in advance!   This would the equivalent of a nurse telling their manager two days before their shift that they cannot work because they have a dental cleaning scheduled for that day!

Don't really disagree regarding emergency/urgency.

What rubs me the wrong way is that  in an ideal world this would be easily scheduled well in advance, but things being what they are there end up being a few moving parts that can sometimes make it more difficult for some people/in some areas than you would think. I have a significant number of patients, for example, who don't have two days off per week, let alone two in a row. They WILL get disciplined in some way for saying they need two weekdays off in a row, period.  For another, the main system in my area has been overwhelmed recently and I've been hearing from a number of patients that they're being called to reschedule and when the date approaches they're called to reschedule again. This stuff happens. Or they've had a referral pending for months and suddenly they get called that it's finally their "turn" for their referral to be addressed.

My next thing is that at the end of the day this is just uncompassionate. The employer has no obligation to be compassionate towards their workers' needs--but if they choose not to be then employees are going to feel how they feel about that, and no one needs to feel sorry for the employer over the ways that employees react to the treatment they received.

This is obviously a personally stressful thing for this employee/patient, regardless if it is urgent or not.  This person has now been recommended for screening and they are trying to do their part to get it done in a timely manner. This issue, colon cancer, has already led to one experience for this employee that is widely acknowledged to be significantly traumatic (childhood loss of parent), so my guess is that understandably this is why it feels very urgent.  Even an answer such as "can we work on getting you two days off in the near future rather than having you call out X day; I'm already down two nurses...?" Would be better than, "K I know the policy says you could've called off only 4 hours in advance but who cares you're fired anyway if you do this, now that you told me about it."

Lastly, with employers whose first/only response is to react this ^ way, there's absolutely *nothing* saying that it's going to be cake getting them to grant whatever scheduling amendments are necessary, even in advance, no matter how reasonable the request. Just like patients who have specialty referral appointments scheduled out 9-12 *months* in advance but the employer can't guarantee they'll be able to grant those days off because reasons.

These types of people/employers are always chock full of excuses for why they can't just behave in a manner known as "decent."

I realize my post contains examples and ideas that may not all be in play here. I just think this is a bit of a nuanced situation, not your typical "don't wanna work today" situation.

 

 

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

You are at elevated risk for colon cancer d/t your family history; you may need annual colonoscopy for this (I have a dear friend whose whole family has annual 'scopes for this reason). You followed policy by giving them plenty of advance notice beyond requirements. The fact that they later found they  were already short that day is a management problem, not a you problem. 

And you want to know whether you should discuss this c HR?

Yes, and have your CNO's explanation of the policy in your bag to pull out PRN. And feel free to say that this will be the last time this happens. You don't have to add, “… because I am so out of here.” Find another job. Give the absolute minimum notice when you have a start date. Srsly. You don't want to work for these people anymore. 

As to the response comparing an invasive procedure requiring anesthesia and an unpleasant and exhausting all-day prep to a dental cleaning for purposes of this discussion .... Pfffft. 
 

[Marshall1]

This is why good employees leave jobs. Employees are always expected to follow the rules/policies/procedures (understandably) yet often times the C Suite folks don't think the same rules/policies/procedures apply to them.

As others have stated, you gave them notice, the fact the shift was short when the time came for you to be off is their problem not yours. Last time I checked most CNO's are nurses - she could get out there & cover the shift.