Hospital Forces Nurse To Work While Sick With Food Poisoning, Malicious Compliance Ensues

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
May 3, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

Perfect attendance awards in school are a very tricky beast. There were definitely years in school where I never missed a day, and I was encouraged by my family and teachers to be proud of that. However, I didn't have perfect attendance in 2nd grade because I was particularly special or gifted. I only had perfect attendance because I was lucky. I didn't get sick, and no external factors kept me from school for those days. I accomplished nothing substantial, and yet I got praised for it.

Concepts like "perfect attendance" don't just stop in elementary school. They roll over into adulthood, and bosses and employers often expect near-perfect employee attendance year-round. Sick days and PTO are given begrudgingly, and when employees try to take "too much" time off, they can get punished for it. This was the case for a nurse whose boss made her come in sick despite her having a horrid case of food poisoning. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/Malicious Compliance u/damishkers 18h Nurse required to work sick
    via u/damishkers
  • 02
    Smile - Just thought of this one. I'm an RN. Don't work in hospital anymore (because of things like this) but I used to. This was a few years ago, pre-COVID but its no better now.
    via u/damishkers
  • 03
    Font - Hospital policy is if you had 3 "incidents" of call offs in a 12 month period, you'd get a counseling (be written up.) So one time I was sick, took a day off, planned to be off the next day but they whined how short they were, begged me to come in, so I gave in and went miserable. That made me worse so I called off again the third day. What I didn't realize is that caused 2 "instances," if I'd stayed off and not came and helped the middle day it would have been counted as one. I was calle
    via u/damishkers
  • 04
    Font - A month or two later the whole family, 4 kids, husband and I got food poisoning from a restaurant. It was so bad we were all sleeping on the bathroom floors, one often on toilet, another puking in trash can. You get the horrid picture. I tried calling in and somehow talked to the director that night but was reminded of what would happen. So all night we were sick, I got NO sleep because when I wasn't puking, kids were. Puke everywhere. And come the morning, to work I went. I proceeded to
    via u/damishkers
  • 05
    Font - forbid she took over my patients until relief arrived, I couldn't leave until a relief nurse came to work. Took almost 2 hours. In the meantime, I had to do my job in between bathroom runs and throwing up in trash cans because I couldn't make it to bathroom. Being sent home rather than calling off meant I didn't get a counseling though. Ended up being off a couple days. Oh, and my husband worked nights same floor. They didn't bat an eye when he called in for that night after having experi
    via u/damishkers
  • 06
    Rectangle - Emotional_Fan_7011 ● 18h You would think of all places, a hospital would want sick staff to stay home. + Reply Vote
    via u/Emotional_Fan_7011
  • 07
    Font - Zebbusan. 18h Wife works at a hospital. They get 20 sick days a year whereas 10 is the legal minimum. I think their hospital gets it. + Vote
    via u/Zebbusan
  • 08
    Font - damishkers OP +2. 17h We got PTO which could be used as sick time or vacay. Appts fine if put in for before schedule came out. Once on schedule, call out meant incident unless you found someone to trade shifts with. + Vote
    via u/damishkers
  • 09
    Rectangle - Zebbusan. 16h So they write you up for the inconvenience you would be causing for callouts. Seems ripe for MCs like this one. Vote
    via u/Zebbusan
  • 10
    Font - wsStevenKnoNothing - 13h Found someone to trade shifts? Isn't that the manager's job though? If you can't work, aren't they the ones supposed to call around looking for cover? Why would it be on you? I mean, at my work if folk want to swap shifts they can talk to each other first then tell management but if they call in sick, its up to management to get replacement in, no the one whose sick Vote
    via u/StevenKnowsNothing
  • 11
    Font - damishkers OP +2 11h It is. Trading for nurses often looks like finding out your kid has award ceremony or dr appt or whatever in 3 weeks but schedule already out and it's a day your on. So you ask your friend to trade, usually work a weekend day for them and they'll be happy to work your Wednesday. You submit form that your trading. While I've heard of some places wanting you to find coverage for call offs, this place didn't. They were horrible but didn't stoop to that. Didn't matter if
    via u/damishkers
  • 12
    Font - Intelligent Orange28 This is America. Management decides it's everyone else's job to do theirs while they browse Facebook for 6 figures. 4 Vote + 13h
    via u/Intelligent_Orange28
  • 13
    Font - +2.8h That seems awful lol, at my current job if anyone's on vacation or for some other situation cant work, our coordinator usually talks to people and everyone usually accepts it (because you get 20% increased rate for each day you replace someone) Vote ActuallyHype
    via u/ActuallyHype
  • 14
    Font - SquidgeSquadge +2. 17h HA! I worked at a nursing home where if you had vomiting or the poops you had to be off for at least 48 hrs. Did they question and threaten everyone who called in sick with it? Yes. Every time. The worst I had I was told I would be written up for it when I got back as the person I was working with the day before was in and felt 'just fine' (nora virus was going around and we showered a guy who threw up everywhere the night before). I had been puking for 4 hours stra
    via u/SquidgeSquadge
  • 15
    Font - ConLawHero • 14h Nah my wife is a neurologist. She believed she had covid but rapid test was negative as was PCR. Urgent care doc believed she had covid. Definitely was sick (she's vaccinated and boosted so it was mild). That was Sunday. If it wasn't for the test Monday morning when she finally tested positive, they were going to make her come in. Again, she was absolutely sick, but they were only concerned about whether she had covid. This all happened when she was on call, so she was se
    via u/ConLawHero
  • 16
    Font - hellomydorling. 17h Hahahahshaha. Everywhere is so short that it's a crisis of someone calls in. My hospital had to cancel operating lists if someone calls in sometimes we run that tight. It's so awful when you're actually very sick and they make you feel very guilty about it. + Vote
    via u/hellomydorling
  • 17
    Font - Logical_Wedding_7037 12h ● I never feel guilty. They made their hospital beds. Can't wait until the C Suite gets to lie in them. Some day, people will get wise and not become nurses. Until that time, stay TF out of hospitals as an employer until they have NO ONE. Things will change only if we hold tight to boundaries. + Vote
    via u/Logical_Wedding_7037
  • 18
    Font - Olds784 • 15h You would buy it was the same when I worked at group homes. My husband was a line cook for years and called in because he couldn't stop vomiting. His boss said he had to come in. He spent the shift cooking while vomiting in a bucket next to the grill, that's just not ok. I work for a family large health system in MN. We now have guaranteed sick and safe time (a precent of the PTO we earn is Sick and Safe. Those hours can be use without consequences for illness, lack of child
    via u/Olds784
  • 19
    Organism - MistressPhoenix People with a brain and compassion wouldn't go in to work while contagious nearly as often if we had these. The fact that we don't is part of a systematic failure. +2 2h + Vote
    via u/MistressPhoenix
  • 20
    Font - UnPainAuChocolat 17h I've worked in the restaurant industry a long time. It's the same there. People get pressured to go work while sick. That's literally how OP's family got sick after eating at a restaurant. That restaurant should've gotten reported. They're either having people work sick, are using expired food, or have horrible sanitary standards. Or a mix of all of those. + Vote
    via u/UnPainAuChocolat
  • 21
    Font - Dallenforth. 18h Lol. Some of the hospitals a temped for during covids main period told covid positive nurses to double mask and continue to work. G Vote
    via u/Dallenforth
  • 22
    Font - NightMgr +3.16h Worked IT support for a NICU. Had pink eye. Boss demanded I come to work. Went in went to chief of staff for floor. One look he said "you're banned- go to employee health." They sent me home not to even ask about returning for 7 days. Chief of staff talked not with my boss, but the CIO. No more demands for anyone to come in sick. + Reply Vote
    via u/NightMgr
  • 23
    Rectangle - jamesonswife 13h Good for you, going to someone who could fix it. Pink eye can blind the new nuggets G + Vote
    via u/jamesonswife
  • 24
    Font - No1Especial +1.16h My hospital gives you "points" every time you call in or leave early. A certain number, and you're on 'attendance probation . Screw up then, you're on last warning and extended probation. Call off again and you're out the door. For FMLA (migraines, IBS, etc.) and your MD has to fill out a SIX PAGE form that's only good for a year. If the MD doesn't provide complete (what should be HIPAA protected) data, your intermittent leave is rejected. So a couple-four migraines a y
    via u/No1Especia
  • 25
    Font - damishkers OP +2.16h I ended up having to get FMLA about a year after this incident. My son was going through some health concerns and they weren't friendly in respecting my "can't work" days (I put down bc of appts) and scheduled me those days anyway and there were a couple days I just couldn't come in because he was having a bad day. Husband couldn't just handle it bc he was in same situation, working the same floor, so one of us was going down. They made it hell. I think I took off lik
    via u/damishkers
  • 26
    Font - BladeDoc +1 3h . HIPAA has specifically exempted all transfers of information for insurance purposes. The amount of protection it gives you is much smaller than people think. + Vote
    via u/BladeDoc
  • 27
    Font - Catacombs3 +4. 18h This makes me angry on your behalf. And the hospitals are all whining about how they can't get enough nurses. Reply Vote ... +
    via u/Catacombs3
  • 28
    Font - ElChumpaCama • 17h I worked as an ER nurse. I let my license expire. I will never go back to nursing. I sincerely and unironically say that I had a better time deployed in Afghanistan than working in American hospitals. + Vote
    via u/ElChumpaCama
  • 29
    Smile - damishkers OP +2.16h My husband says same about Iraq. + Vote
    via u/damishkers

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