Why do I feel so guilt-ridden?

Nurses General Nursing

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I use about 2 sick days per year, this week alone I had to call in 3 times for vomiting and diarrhea. Like on the bathroom floor in a puddle of my own vomit, can't stand up because I am too dizzy from dehydration sickness, yet I feel guilty for calling in. I have had these symptoms for the past week and managed to work 4 days out of seven, but just could not go in for those other 3. I am racked with guilt, maybe because I was told if I showed for work they would hydrate me with IV fluid so that I could work. I have worked in other professions and have never been made to feel so guilty for being ill. What is it with nursing that makes management feel we are expendible, have no lives outside of work, live to serve administration? I am just so depressed and fed up, I feel trapped, like I am in a dead end profession where I get little respect from management and even less from the patients. Thanks for letting me vent.

I accomplished not using 12 more hours of sick time - it's combined time off, so time you use being sick is less time for vacation.

I agree though, it was kind of ridiculous. I did take adequate care of my two critically ill patients but it was frustrating and I probably made myself sicker. And spread some cold germs around.

So it's PTO or sick time there?

That is an interesting idea - how does it work for you guys? I have thought that would be a better idea than having a bank of sick time that you could never get to unless you called in enough --- however, I could see where it would suck to get your vacation cut short because you had been sick. Yet, that alone might cut down on people calling off when they just want the day off. So does it work out that you accrue PTO time faster since it is, essentially PTO and sick time, or do they wind up just shorting you the benefit (that is another downside I had considered)?

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I hate calling in sick to work - I always feel like they don't believe people (unless of course they can't talk and sound like you know what on the phone). I would much rather go into work and show them how sick I am and have them send me home. Hope you feel better!!

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I hate calling in sick to work - I always feel like they don't believe people (unless of course they can't talk and sound like you know what on the phone). I would much rather go into work and show them how sick I am and have them send me home. Hope you feel better!!

That might backfire, they might not send you home once you get there! LOL

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I hate calling in sick to work - I always feel like they don't believe people (unless of course they can't talk and sound like you know what on the phone). I would much rather go into work and show them how sick I am and have them send me home. Hope you feel better!!

Actually, depending on how badly they need people, they probably wouldn't send you home - if you can drive in, you can probably work (in the management line of thinking, anyway). If I were your co-worker, I would rather you not infect me in the process of proving to everyone how sick you are. Not saying that to be mean, but I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT when my coworkers come in sick and then I get sick from being in proximity to them. NICUs are fairly enclosed, so it is difficult for me to get away from the sick ones, especially if something is going around. Do your colleagues and your patients a favor and stay home when you are sick. If whoever you are calling in to does not believe that people who work in health care can get sick, it is *that* person who has a problem, do not let them make it yours.

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That might backfire, they might not send you home once you get there! LOL

:nurse:

That's what happens where I work-if you go to work sick-they won't send you home-they just say it's too late to find someone to cover................. so unless you injure yourself during your shift or have a cardiac event right in front them, you are scr....d or treated like your faking!.

I've even gone to the ER in the hospital where I work on my day off (after falling off a ladder and spraining my ankle) and the PA who saw me actually dc'd me saying that there was nothing wrong with me and I could work the next day....never mind that I couldn't walk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She refused to give me crutches - I was dc'd at 4 AM and had to hop on one foot outside to find a taxi to take me home.

I then stay up until 8 AM to go to my primary's office to be seen by him - my sprain was bad enough that I was off work for 4 months and over a year later it still hurts after my twelve hour shift. The primary said he wasn't surprised - (and he was a resident at my hospital) that was how employees were treated at my hospital-can you believe that?

But the best part-- was that this happened on a Monday nite and I work WE alternative and wasn't scheduled to work the next day anyway!!!!!!!!

.... and then when I was allowed to come back to work-they gave me a hard time because I could only start out at 6 hour shifts and they refused to allow me to work again until I could work at least 8 hour shifts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO the moral of the story is....if your call out is genuine, DON'T FEEL GUILTY!! :nono:

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I too feel bad when I call out sick. I have been at this particular job for 1.5 years and in the past 2 months I have called out twice for being really sick (once for one day and a whole week the second time I called out) I literally couldn't even stand up i was so dehydrated. Calling out sick is seen as "bad". I hear things like you can only call out 3 times a year or you will be reprimanded and it looks bad on your evaluation. I work in the OR and I have been called in during the night(we have no night staff from 11-7), not gotten any sleep or maybe an hour, and had to be back that morning. I have to stay at least half the day before asking if I can go home and that's if there is enough staff so that I can go home. And it's a wonder why we can't retain staff at our facility. I'm at the point now where I am going to be thinking of myself and my health or I too will be burnt out real quick.

Christine

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That might backfire, they might not send you home once you get there! LOL

Or better yet they might just put an IV in you and a bag of NS on a pole and send you in to your patients. :angryfire

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Don't feel guilty!

I remember several years ago we had a crackdown hospital-wide on call-ins. Everyone was called into the office given a verbal warning with a threat of suspension for "the next time"...Well, leave it to me to have strep throat during that time..I went to the ER the night before my scheduled shift and was treated. The next morning I had to work with a fever of 104..I was not allowed to call in..I was sicker than the patients I was assigned to that day!

Finally my supervisor decided I was too sick to be at work and sent me home..A little to late IMO after I had been around everyone that morning..

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why do you have to go to work to get rehydrated? Maybe you need to go to the ER. It is commendable that you consider your co-workers, but infection control is a big issue in hospitals and you did the right thing by staying home (sounds like you had no choice anyway, you are so sick). Hope you are better soon.

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About 10 years ago while I was working a Med/Surg floor, my oldest son got a horrible case of cellulitis (WBC's 24,000+). He was finally admitted to the hospital where I worked after spending the entire night in the ER trying to convince the Doc on call that his condition was serious. We had been sent home the first time we took him to the ER at about 9 pm, the doctor said to watch the area, didn't do any blood work, and basically told me to stop worrying.( :angryfire That is another rant, I know, I know) We came back less than 2 hours later because the area had grown considerably, finally had blood work done and then the doc beleived how serious it was. By that time, it was 6:30 in the morning and we were finally admitted to a room on my floor. I went to get an extra blanket,(so as not to be a burden to my coworkers), and my ADON walked up to me in the hall and said, "We will have to talk about you needing to be out" and walked away. No "how is your son?" I had not even called in yet. I was due to work that evening, but had not even thought about calling in at that point. That was the point that I realized no job was worth that kind of crap. I stayed there for about 6 more months, but I never felt any guilt for being out when I needed to after that. Only you can take care of yourself, all employers think about is having a warm body there. Stay out as long as you need to. Take care of yourself and know that there are other jobs out there.

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Specializes in Hospital, med-surg, hospice.

Don't feel guilty! Have you considered that if you had an infection or a virus you will be giving it to patients or co-workers! I had the same problem a month ago and my supervisor said "You need to come in", I told her I am sick and do not want to compromise others. Can you believe the nerve, the supervisors have no problem calling in or taking time off when they are ill or just want to take personal days....we cannot change a day once the schedule is posted so we are sometimes forced to call in sick:angryfire

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