was i wrong to call in sick?

[holdensjane]

I work night shift on an oncology unit and was supposed to work last night. well when i woke up to go to work I found out I have lost my voice this was around 5. Nothing came out except squeals and whispers and sometimes nothing. i've been off orientation for about 3 weeks. I was contemplating whether or not i should go into work because i figure the lost voice was just temporary since i just woke up. but around 545 i decided to call in sick. our policy is two hours before shift so i should have called around 5, needless to say staffing was sort of irritated and i felt guilty but on the other hand my voice didn't disappear until fourty five minutes ago so what could i have done. i told them i would come in if they wanted me to but i just wanted them to be aware that I couldn't speak. did i do the right thing?

do nurses go to work with laryngitis? how do you get through the shift without speaking? how do you give report when NOTHING comes out? what if someone codes and you can't give report cause you can't speak? I'm nervous cause i work in four days and hopefully it will be gone by then, but if it doesn't then that means i still have to go to work and i don't know how I would get through the shift. advice would be much appreciated. did i do the right thing?

[imanedrn]

mom2michael said:

If you are sick, you are sick. I would much rather pick up the slack of a co-worker that calls in sick than for them to come in, spread their love and their germs and then I be sick for days on end.

We've all been sick, we've all been there and done that and I've worked sick and it's no fun for anyone involved.

So true! This is one of those damn if you do/don't situations. If you call in sick, and they can't replace you, then people get miffed at the extra-workload. But, if you go in sick, and get your co-workers or pts sick, then what?...

[chewyd]

A few years ago I had laryngitis-could hardly talk.My fellow nurses would call the M.D.'s for me with me there right beside them-this was on a 7pm-7 am shift.I communicated with my pts the best I could and wore a mask when needed.

Nowdays ,my policy is if I am sick - I call in.I tell my manager I am not coming to work if I am sick.Currently-we have the respiratory bug going around among the staff.I just cringe when I here them cough,have nasal congestion,can hardly talk-I feel we are just spreading it around further.We have staff members spraying the phone with lysol.

administration may try to limit our pt ;oad but we are only allowed 5 call ins a year!!!!:icon_roll

[PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN]

I would prefer a coworker who is sick to call in. I may have to work harder but I can handle it for a shift or two. Nurses are humans and humans get sick.

[danissa, LPN, LVN]

kaeky said:

update: well i went to the doc and he said that my laryngitis was an infection because I did not yet or scream to get it. Plus I have bronchitis. he said "you work oncology, i hope you're not going to work in your condition". thanks for the replies.

kaeky, now you have explained that you did have infection, then yes you were right to call in sick. That along with the bronchitis you have, I'm sure its best for your patient population that you stayed home. So, in hindsight yes, you did the right thing. It's a hard call to make though, if you wake and your voice has gone away to a whisper, it may be a transient thing, mine was short term, no infection, thats why I went to work.

Good Luck in the future, hope the Voice is back!!

[mystical_angel8]

its hard to say it depends on how you were feeling. if you could have done the job you should have gone as long as you werent wearing a fever. since you work on the oncology unit you could have just done good handwashing and wore a mask.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If you are sick, call in.

I don't want your germs, and I don't want to hear the bellyaching. I may be a caring nurse, but after 12 hours I am cared OUT. I'll never outlast the patients AND the nurses being sick.

[steelcityrn, RN]

regardless if you had a active infection or not, if your sick you should stay home. The heck with your co workers, too bad! Since when do people have to explain their illness to people, none of anyones business.