Work ethic, what's your take on it all

brownbook · Jan 21, 2012

Yes it is management's problem. Yes employees in any and every occupation call in sick for frivolous reasons. Yes it is very appropriate for people with a strong work ethic to get annoyed even though it may not be their problem.

Many employment policies state if an employee calls in sick for x number of days in a pay period the management may ask for a doctor's excuse, thus asking Suzy why she is calling in sick again can be appropriate.

I fortunately never get sick. My work ethic problem is my husband who cannot understand why I don't don't agree with his whining when he occasionally asks me, "why don't you call in sick today!"

I am a non-assertive push over but that line I do not cross. I have never called in sick for a "mental health" day or any other frivolous excuse.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 21, 2012

like you, i've worked with people who call in sick weekly (or more often) with seemingly bogus complaints, and i've wondered why management tolerates it. and while it's true that some folks just lack a work ethic, here are some other things you might consider:

my colleague who had a drug/alcohol problem called in sick when she was too impaired to work safely. while it was annoying to work short staffed, it's worse to work with someone who is too impaired to be safe. sometimes they hide it so well you don't really know how bad off they are.

i've had colleagues who were involved in abusive relationships. one woman's husband would get liquored up and go after her with an axe handle. she'd lock herself in the basement until he passed out, and would often have to call in sick because she was afraid to leave her safe room . . . .

there was the colleague whose father had cancer and would have bad days necessitating that someone stay home with him, the colleague whose mother had a stroke and who would have to stay home if the caregiver didn't show up and the colleague whose mother had alzheimer's who called in when her siblings, father, children or caregiver didn't show up to take their shift with mom.

there was the colleague who bravely worked through breast cancer treatment and then colon cancer . . . she called in sick a lot. some of us knew what was going on, others didn't.

then there's the fact that management may have your colleague in some sort of disciplinary status. if your manager is doing her job, you wouldn't know about that. you're not supposed to.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jan 21, 2012

I don't make a habit of calling off, but if I'm sick I am not going to play the martyr and come in anyway. First of all, not resting enough makes it more likely that whatever is making me sick will hang around longer and possibly get worse, secondly, I don't want to spread my germs around and thirdly, if I'm feeling really bad, it interferes with my ability to do my job well. Self care is important, and I don't think that reflects poorly on my work ethic at all.

People like to deal in absolutes: you're either a work through it all type or you call out weekly. I think most people fall somewhere in between those extremes.

uRNmyway, ASN, RN · Nov 13, 2012

I was taught to call in sick if feverish and contagious, nothing else. Although once I had to call in because I got into a car accident on my way to work. I was not injured, luckily, but my car was very damaged. It was a half hour drive and there was no way I was going to make it in. I had to stay and wait for the police, fill out reports, etc. Plus I was understandably very shaken up and would probably have been pretty useless.

I think people need to use their judgment a bit more. But I will agree that when you feel management abuses you, you are a lot less likely to care about how much trouble you give them finding you a replacement.

Also, to the poster who spoke about agency nurses...I have been an agency nurse almost since my graduation. We actually ARE accountable. First off, we are accountable to the same nursing orders as hospital nurses. If we are accused of neglect, harm a patient, etc, we can lose our licence. If we call off too often, then whatever facility we are working at will stop hiring us. If facilities do not want us, that puts a black mark on our employee file, and then our agency is less willing to stick their necks out submitting us for jobs. In fact, I think we may be MORE accountable in some ways, because by not being employees of the facility, we are often under more scrutiny by the rest of the staff as well as by management. Jus' sayin'...

SaoirseRN · Nov 13, 2012

I have never called in sick for a "mental health" day or any other frivolous excuse.

A "mental health day" isn't necessarily a frivolous excuse. If something is going on and you can't switch your brain off, and know that your mind can't be on its game that day, you are doing your patients, coworkers, and yourself a favour. Going to work distracted, upset and unable to focus on your job is dangerous and in my mind, worth taking a sick day for.

I'm not saying this should happen all the time, and most times people are able to get into work mode even if something is going on outside of work. But there are times when we can't, and therefore should not be at work.

RNperdiem, RN · Nov 14, 2012

My non-frivolous exuse mental health day: My oldest child was just home from a hospital stay(including PICU) and still need nursing at home, my younger child spiked a fever of 103, and my husband took to his bed and drew the shades and sobbed that he was feeling very depressed(the hospital stay put a strain on all of us). This took place the day before I was scheduled to work.

I debated for a long time before calling in; missing work is a hard decision to make.

Mijourney · Nov 19, 2012

The bottom line is that it's managements' responsibility to take care of business. Staffing of a unit is their business. If employees want to call in for any reason, that falls on management. Yes, I am one of those nurses who comes in 99% of the time. But over time, I've learned to just do what I can with what I've been dealt and let management worry about the rest.