Nurses Talk About Why They Go to Work Sick (1493 hits)
Nurses often believe that they have no recourse to going to work sick. What can be done?
Today, at 4:00 pm, you wake up with a sore throat, fever, and malaise. You call your supervisor and say that you are sick and cannot work tonight. The response? "You will need a doctor's note, or you won't be paid."
Seriously?
Every shift, every day of the year, nurses and physicians are compelled, through fear, guilt, or intimidation, to go to work when they are sick (known as "presenteeism"). And although healthcare employers profess to decry presenteeism, their policies and responses when employees call in sick suggest otherwise.
