What is your opinion on "calling in sick" when not really sick?

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

I have pretty good attendance at work which I am glad.  I don't call in unless its an emergency.

I have noticed staff call in sick due to personal reasons, or say they shovelled the snow and now their back hurts. They call in sick from work, and then we work short if there are no replacements.

Thing is some staff say they just don't feel like coming to work, but they don't feel bad. Some say they are stressed which I understand, family complaints, managers on your tail etc... sometimes you are not sick and just need a day of healing mentally. Some staff do get burnt out. Some staff lets say had an argument one day and did not get over it so they need one day (sick) to recover but not actually sick.

But, do you feel bad if they work short? Myself in my experience when nurses book off and I am alone on the floor, I am fine you are not hurting me, you are hurting the Residents. Even when PSW's book off as well.

Have you ever called in when not really sick? I notice that its a habit for some staff.

[DowntheRiver]

I stopped feeling guilty calling out when employers refused to properly staff. Before I left my job, I was burnt out. We all were. 3 of us quit in the same week. 

At my last job (outpatient infusion), we were supposed to be 10 patients to 1 nurse. We were so short that we were typically averaging 15 patients to 1 nurse. This had been going on for six months with no end in sight. Keep in mind, we're handling and administering hazardous drugs. The group decided that their smaller outpatient facilities (where I worked) were not as important as their larger cancer centers to be staffed, and they would routinely get the PRNs.

We had so many qualified people apply but they wanted everyone to work FT 5 days/week. If they had just considered 4 days/week or hiring two PT people we would have been adequately staffed. People were regularly calling out from being burnt out so it made us short. Some people took advantage of the COVID job protections and called out for 2 weeks "pending test results." 

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Jedrnurse said:

It's very frustrating when a unit with good attendance gets punished by being designated as the staffing pool for other units.

That does remind me that one hospital I worked at had one singular unit, their pediatric trach/vent unit, that basically cut a deal with the hospital some how - they agreed that they would never have to be floated off of their unit, but in return they also agreed that they would never receive any float help at all. Everyone happily agreed to it and took call rotations to cover their own short staffing if it were to come up.

[BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN]

13 minutes ago, JadedCPN said:

That does remind me that one hospital I worked at had one singular unit, their pediatric trach/vent unit, that basically cut a deal with the hospital some how - they agreed that they would never have to be floated off of their unit, but in return they also agreed that they would never receive any float help at all. Everyone happily agreed to it and took call rotations to cover their own short staffing if it were to come up.

Oh, that is our unit, always floating everywhere and left on our own if we are short. We would LOVE such a deal.

1 hour ago, Davey Do said:

Haha! ?

[PsychNurse24, BSN, RN]

No, I have never taken a day off for mental health reasons. Being a psychiatric nurse, I believe mental health should be a priority for us.  Luckily, I have never felt that terrible that I couldn’t go into work. The guilt about leaving the floor short staffed always gets to me.  Depression and anxiety are real though, so if I had those issues and felt so depressed or anxious that I felt I couldn’t work well and would only make myself worse, I might call in sick.

[Newishnurse1995]

I think this new generation of nurses (including myself) value mental health. I do not feel any remorse. Your employer can easily replace you if you dropped dead today. Take care of yourself and your families! 

[Queen Tiye, RN]

I avoid calling in unless it’s an absolute emergency because I hate to leave my team short.  It sucks when there isn’t enough staff then literally everyone has a bad day.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

On 2/4/2021 at 12:58 PM, Newishnurse1995 said:

Your employer can easily replace you if you dropped dead today. Take care of yourself and your families! 

Perhaps, but they don't replace you when you call off and leave your team short staffed. 

[peach2218, CNA]

I work part time so I get 4 call-offs a year, I believe. I've been at my job for just over 7 months and I've used 1. It wasn't because I was deathly ill, but my school rescheduled my clinicals last minute and I couldn't find anyone to cover for me so I had no choice.

 

That being said, in the past I have definitely called off once or twice when I wasn't sick. I just needed a mental health day. I usually end up feeling guilty anyway so it isn't really worth it. I don't judge other people for taking them though, unless it's clear that they are abusing their call-offs constantly and leaving us short staffed on a regular basis. 

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

On 1/31/2021 at 5:34 PM, SilverBells said:

I highly dislike it when floor nurses call in sick because it means I may be pulled to the floor...and hence, have less time to write SBARs and complete assessments.  It may also mean someone else may

@SilverBellsNot trying to hi-jack the thread but something has been said on multiple threads and I just gotta ask. Every where I have ever worked The floor nurses are reponsible for creating/comunicating the SBARs for the patients they are caring for. This because they would be the nurse who discoverd the change of condition. I realize that this may just be in my little corner of the world. 

Hppy

[2BS Nurse, BSN]

I have no problem with the coworker who takes the occasional mental health day, especially because we are chronically short staffed and our 2 floats are used to staff unfilled positions. With that being said, I have been on a unit where a coworker scheduled an elective surgery (conveniently) over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and was out for 3 months. This was a chronic pattern for her. As soon as she came back I gave notice and moved on.

And yes... the supervisors or managers NEVER step up and help!

[spotangel, DNP, RN, NP]

I call out when I am sick and end up taking 2-3 days . When my kids were younger and sick I called out occasionally. I try and avoid Monday/ Friday our busiest days unless I can’t get out of bed.

   That being said we have 12 days in a year and I strongly encourage using them than losing them unless they roll over. Avoid creating patterns every time before a holiday weekend,  or once every month as attendance is black n white and  can create a disciplinary action from management.

  You never have to give your reason. Just call out in a timely manner and say you are calling in sick. It’s no one’s business why you are calling out! I work hard and never felt guilty calling out especially when stressed out. You can’t give when you are empty.

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

4 hours ago, spotangel said:

I call out when I am sick and end up taking 2-3 days . When my kids were younger and sick I called out occasionally. I try and avoid Monday/ Friday our busiest days unless I can’t get out of bed.

   That being said we have 12 days in a year and I strongly encourage using them than losing them unless they roll over. Avoid creating patterns every time before a holiday weekend,  or once every month as attendance is black n white and  can create a disciplinary action from management.

  You never have to give your reason. Just call out in a timely manner and say you are calling in sick. It’s no one’s business why you are calling out! I work hard and never felt guilty calling out especially when stressed out. You can’t give when you are empty.

12 days in a year is very generous, and you're right people should use them lest the employer begins to think you can do with fewer!

The hospitals around here permit 3 call ins per year, and that seems to be common in other areas as well. They also would wonder why they had so many employees on intermittent FMLA.