Should nurses work when ill ?

[KICKSTART]

Im curious what you think ? There has been a nurse working all last week with a raging cold , coughing , sore throat , no voice etc. Is this right especially as we are compromised to start with ? Coincidence or not she put me on on saturday and now im coming down with the first signs of a cold and a sore throat , if its from her , its not fair !

[The Wife]

Absolutely not!  I remember one time my hubby had a doctor sneeze and cough all over him.  Not only did the doctor cause my hubby to get really sick, he also added more work and stress to my plate.  I was not impressed.

[Razman]

    If the patient goes into the clinic with a cold they would put a mask on them . The nurses should do the same!

[mikey07840]

No, they shouldn't, but they do. I was taking with one of the nurses about this. She explained at the nonprofit hospital system she works at, if nurses are out more than 3 occurances a year, they are punished in their yearly appraisal. This then reduces or eliminates the opportunity for a yearly raise.

[Jean]

with all of the swine flu going around, nobody should have public contact, if they dont have to, especially health care workers.

[The Wife]

No, they shouldn't, but they do. I was taking with one of the nurses about this. She explained at the nonprofit hospital system she works at, if nurses are out more than 3 occurances a year, they are punished in their yearly appraisal. This then reduces or eliminates the opportunity for a yearly raise.

There it is - money.  What about the cost they cause people living on disability, the same disability that doesn't give raises?  Or is it just about them and their comfort?  I have an idea.  For every person a nurse or doctor infects, they can pay for the cough medicine and homecare to help the caregiver. 

I

[KICKSTART]

It doesnt affect our nurses like that , they even get sick pay if they are off , so no excuse there !

[Chris]

As a nurse, they should be "lead by example" of health, but the money and management play a part in that also. The nurses could take steps to help control the spread though with mask, glove changes, washing hands, maybe even face more often. However, I'm sure management would step in on that to save money.

[BigSky]

Yes.


When they sick here they wear a mask.


I have more of a problem with fellow patients who are sick and refuse to wear a mask.

[twirl]

one tech was out Friday with the flu and she was back today and she looked and felt sick --

[RightSide]

Funny you should ask this.

Last Thursday, I had a long meeting with the head nurse of my dialysis center, to go over this and several other issues.

I told her that I have seen a few nurses and techs working while obviously quite sick with respiratory infections.

And that I will REFUSE to let such a person work on me. 
I will politely ask for a substitute.  If none is available, I will walk out.
I can afford to miss ONE session.

But I can't afford to get the flu and end up missing a bunch of sessions.

She agreed with my reasoning.

[RightSide]

In my dialysis center, one tech had definite flu symptoms (103 degree fever, chills, body aches, the shakes).  She wanted to call in sick, but the management told her she had to work because they were shorthanded.  So she came to work.  She was so sick that she had to have someone drive her back and forth to the dialysis center--but she worked anyway.

Another problem here in Massachusetts where I live, is that my hospital has created "time banks" which commingle vacation time and sick time into one pool.  That is, the more days a staff member calls in sick, the fewer vacation days she has left.

It's bad enough for Dilbert's company to work that way.  But it's genuinely stupid for a HOSPITAL to create such a disincentive for the staff to call in sick when they really are that sick.

Finally, while nurses and techs wear masks when handling dialysis catheters, they are not required to wear masks when handling fistulas.  So if a patient with a fistula has a cold or flu, the staff who work on him may well catch it.

With this flu scare we're having, the staff should always wear masks around sick patients.

[jbeany]

The nurses here at the hospital have to work sick or get fired - great choice!  They do wear masks.

[nursewratchet]

My nurses DON'T work sick.  If they have any flu symptoms, I make them see a Dr. for a "rule out flu" visit before they can return to work.  They do get sick pay.  Besides getting the patients sick, they will spread it to all of the employees, and me.  No way... 

[Chris]

On a side note, so should doctors not work when sick. It doesn't rest right with me when a doc comes in and coughs into their shoulder a few times. Go cough outside the room so I don't know or have a greater fear of getting sick. It's bad when you go to the doctor and seeing the doctor makes you sick from them.