I've had a bit of a cough for the last week or two that would bother me when I went to bed at night and when I woke up in the morning. I figured it was dry air or my allergies kicking in a little earlier in the year than usual and I ignored it until yesterday morning when I couldn't quit coughing all day. I went to the doctor and was given a prescription for Advair, Benzonatate, Z-Pak and was instructed to pick up some Claritin. I'm not exactly sure what the nurse practitioner diagnosed me with, either a sinus infection or bronchitis, but it is kicking my ass.
I medicated myself quite heavily last night with all the above mentioned meds, excluding the Claritin, and some NyQuil for good measure. I went to bed at 1930 and woke up coughing my head off around 0147. I got a drink of water and checked my temp and saw that it was 100.3. My alarm went off at 0600 and when I checked my temp upon rising it was 101.7.
My place of employment has an attendance policy that states a full time employee may not miss more than 3% of their scheduled work days (7.8 days) in a ROLLING calendar year. Thanks to a three day bout of bronchitis this time last year and Nathan's multiple ear infections I have missed more than my allotted days in my calendar year and have had my first warning. Three strikes and I'm out.
Needless to say, I wasn't going to let a 101.7 degree fever earn me a corrective action so I took my meds, ate breakfast, showered, dressed and drove to work. I've done smarter things in my days. I actually started feeling better about 1000 and was able to put in a whole day of work. I'm looking forward to going to bed in an hour or so though and seeing if another 11 hours of sleep can make me feel better.
I haven't been getting much sleep lately and put in close to 20 hours of overtime in the last two pay periods. It isn't a lot of overtime but with the lack of sleep, thanks to my wife keeping me up because she can't sleep, I think it has all caught up to me. I'm hoping to be healthy by the time the LMHM rolls around in 11 days.
Keep your fingers crossed. I am.
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8 comments:
I had a lot of similar symptoms last week. It completely kicked my tail. Get well.
I feel better this morning but I still have a bit of the cough. Nathan has it now so I'm going to try to get him in at the doctor's. He'll cough a few times and then cry so I know he has what I have.
Holly cow, that's a tough attendance policy. I would think working in the medical field, coming to work sick would not be encouraged, but that appears to be what they are doing with their policy.
Enforcement of the attendance policy is left to manager's discretion. My boss doesn't count absences if you work half the day. I didn't know that until I hit my limit and got my warning but it is nice to know.
I don't generally get sick and I normally wouldn't come to work with a fever but I felt that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know and understand the reason the attendance policy was implemented.
Reason: If you call in on Monday the day comes out of your PTO bank. If you call in on Tuesday morning too, that day comes out of your sick bank. If certain people called in sick in our department you knew they were going to be sick for two days.
Basically what it comes down to is that less than 5% of the people took advantage of the old policy and ruined it for the other 95% who didn't.
I suppose that's part of the reason why 2/3 of infections of hospital in patients are acquired in the hospital.
No, that's because people don't wash their hands.
I didn't work on the floor the other day when I was feeling unwell, I hid in my office and did busy work. I checked my temp throughout the day and it was only slightly elevated when I got to work and was normal by lunchtime.
I'm not being critical of you.
Washing hands is certainly important, but all the hand washing in the world isn't going to do much good for the stuff we breath. Not to mention that hand washing only goes so far. During my week in the clinic, I washed my hands for 30 seconds each time I coughed and before and after every patient, but I'd be kidding myself if I thought that I wasn't exposing them.
At UNC, you aren't supposed to come to work if you're sick for that reason precisely. The problem is that people all tend to get things like the flu at the same time, and when you are already short on staff, you can't have three medicine residents call in sick on the same day. That means that people inevitably have to come to work sick, and there's no question in my mind that that stuff gets passed on to the patients.
I agree with you.
I generally don't let a case of the sniffles stop me from getting to work but with a child who until February got ear infections at least once a month and a daycare that sends feverish children home, I ran through my sick days pretty fast and had to make a choice between taking care of myself and keeping gainful employment.
I would like to think that our attendance policy will be reviewed and altered to be slightly more lenient.
Sometimes, I really fear for my job because I have a small child and would someday like another. That will double the potential days missed for sick children and my wife works for the same health system. I don't see how I am going to avoid being terminated for violating the attendance policy within the next two to three years if the policy remains in effect. I always feel I have to choose between my job, my family and my own health.
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