What do you say when calling out sick as a nurse?

I have great boundaries in my personal life, I have no idea why I won't enforce them in this situation. Nurses Career Support Nursing Q/A

Ever since my previous career and my strong work ethic, it would usually take a lot for me to call out sick. I worked at times I should have been home many times, I think to justify when I did call out, it was really serious/legit.

I also have worked in places that feel they have a right to probe and maybe bc I had/have weak boundaries when it comes to that sort of thing I would answer in detail when they'd ask "how sick?...what are the symptoms?" etc...Maybe they have no right to ask that and they "test" in that way.

I've never felt comfortable calling out and saying "I won't be in I'm not feeling well" or even "sick" esp if you don't sound that sick! That's why when I do, I do usually sound horrible.

Even personal days, I feel like I needed to say why I needed a personal day but that defies the definition doesn't it?! But when the supposed caring I.e. nosy coworkers ask if everything is okay when I come back, then I feel (and have actually been told by one) that I'm snubbing them if I say "everything's fine" even if I add "thanks for asking"

You can probably tell I'm that way from my length of posts and need to be clear.

Ok, I have read the above discussion, but still the question looms in my head..."If you have X number of sick days, why can't those sick days be used, as long as the call off is done as per policy? Why are we making nurses feel terrible about using their sick days that they have earned?" I feel like we are killing ourselves with this issue, insisting that nurses work when we don't feel good, regardless of the illness or condition. If you feel crappy, it's hard to work. This is one issue in nursing that has been around forever that I wish we could find a solution for. It would have to begin with better staffing by management, to be able to absorb call-ins. (OK, rant over, thanks for listening.):eek:

Certainly it's all up to your facility's policy.

In the real world, 2 call offs in the first 4 months of employment would lead to dismissal.

If you want the job, drag yourself in no matter what.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
studentnurse9806 said:
How often is too often? I have been at my current job for four months and called out two times. It's looking like I may have to call out again as I am not feeling well. Do you think I will get fired? A warning? Nothing? Other than this I am a great worker and always on time.

Different facilities have different policies, so it all depends upon yours. Two or three call outs in four months is a lot, though. If I were your manager I'd have to sit you down and ask you about why all the call outs.

I agree with BacktoBasics. You don't want to use up all of your call-off cards while you are still on probation. You don't know what you will need six months from now.

What else did you call off with? What was the problem?

My hospital actually has a sick line. It's a specific phone number you call when calling out sick, bereavement leave, kin care or jury duty. You state your name, unit, date, time, shift and reason for absence. If it's a personal sick call they tell you to state "my own illness" for the reason. That's it. You don't have to speak to anyone or explain yourself.

Specializes in Oncology.

I take the call ins now for all the inpatient units. We ask if it's because you're sick, you have a personal emergency, or a different family member is sick. We don't care for more details than that and I really don't need to hear a list of your symptoms. At my hospital you can't call in just because you feel like it, though. When I have people calling in saying "I'm not going to be in," I do need to ask for a little more than that just to know how to classify the call in.

I will nver forget the one night I tried to call out sick. I have never called out before and had like 155 hr of PTO. I call the night supervisor and tell her I need to call out I am not feeling well. She states " I dont believe you can do that". I was like excuse me?? I am doing it. Have a nice day and hung the phone up. LOL

Where do you work?!

Easy...

Everyone gets sick and you shall never feel guilty...

Health is more important than everything and if they try to make you feel guilty then it's their problem.

Vacation leave are also our right and you should never feel guilty .

And also taking breaks will make u a better employee as your mind will be refreshed something which is extremely important and to avoid burning out.

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