http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2012/10/ru4paidsickdays/ Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:54:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2012/10/ru4paidsickdays/comment-page-1/#comment-32623 Susan Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:39:20 +0000 http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/?p=1895#comment-32623 I am a travel nurse. Healthcare travelers do not get paid sick days, so, if we don't work, we don't get paid. Also we are required to pay for the housing in which we reside while on an assignment, for the time we miss from work. What happens is we go to work sick, exposing not only the other staff, but also the patients and their families. Have any of you ever worn a mask for a twelve hour shift? I myself rarely get sick. I work nights, and try very hard to take care of myself, so I don't get sick. Recently, a co-worker came to work sick. I contracted it, and have been ill for a week. The hospital even called me to come in to work due to another sick call, when I was at the peak of the illness and would not take no for an answer. Does this make sense ? I went in. I bought air born for my coworkers while I when I went to work, waore a mask in the patient rooms, and cleaned my work area with disinfectant wipes at the end of the shift. But it really makes me mad that I am not allowed any sick time, and that facilities demand that I, the travel nurse help them because the perm staff call in sick, very frequently. It makes me very angry that healthcare staffing agencies are collecting large amounts of money for the work I do, but I only receive a very small fraction of that, and do not receive any benefits. Staff, and the general public think the travel nurse is cleaning up, but that is not true! I am a travel nurse. Healthcare travelers do not get paid sick days, so, if we don’t work, we don’t get paid. Also we are required to pay for the housing in which we reside while on an assignment, for the time we miss from work. What happens is we go to work sick, exposing not only the other staff, but also the patients and their families. Have any of you ever worn a mask for a twelve hour shift? I myself rarely get sick. I work nights, and try very hard to take care of myself, so I don’t get sick. Recently, a co-worker came to work sick. I contracted it, and have been ill for a week. The hospital even called me to come in to work due to another sick call, when I was at the peak of the illness and would not take no for an answer. Does this make sense ? I went in. I bought air born for my coworkers while I when I went to work, waore a mask in the patient rooms, and cleaned my work area with disinfectant wipes at the end of the shift. But it really makes me mad that I am not allowed any sick time, and that facilities demand that I, the travel nurse help them because the perm staff call in sick, very frequently. It makes me very angry that healthcare staffing agencies are collecting large amounts of money for the work I do, but I only receive a very small fraction of that, and do not receive any benefits. Staff, and the general public think the travel nurse is cleaning up, but that is not true!

]]>