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Am I wimping out??need advice!

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 11/5/2007 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
I got a call from my boss today on my day off. (Sorry but I also need to vent) I work at a hospital in a department that works around the clock. I have asked not to be placed on midnight or 12 hr midnight shifts. It messes with my system and after a 12 I end up very sick with my abd cramping and more often than not passing blood in my stool. (yuck!) and always very bad D. So today he called to tell me that he has me on a 12 hr idnights for the Christmas Holiday! Do you think that it is wrong of me to tell him that I can't do it. I also called my GI to see if I can get some kind of note to show him that I am not kidding. (have not heard back from GI no real big surprise there!!) I have found that the Holidays are hard enough to get through! Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this. I am not trying to get out of work by any means I work my fair share of weekend and normal shifts. I just want to get better and every time that I get stressed at work like working off shifts by myself I feel like I take about 10 steps backward in my health! Help!!!! sad He makes me feel like I just need to suck it up. But I don't think that I am asking too much. If I am let me know. All advice welcome!
Posted 11/5/2007 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know about the laws in your state, but your company may not have to offer you shorter shifts. They may offer shorter shifts if they care to, but I really don't think it's mandatory because you aren't physically able. It may also be grounds for dismissal if you can't work the shifts they need. Check the legality, but you don't want to make waves and end up out of a job.
Posted 11/6/2007 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
I guess I just need to suck it up. Thanks for the advice and thanks for reading. Just needed to vent and just want to help myself get better. I guess I just need to work around these bumps in the road. '
thanks again
Posted 11/6/2007 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
Could you maybe take a low dose of pred for that week to help you get through?
Posted 11/6/2007 1:12 AM (GMT 0)
I am so new to all of the CD stuff. I have had it for a long time, but only diagnosed in spring of 07. But I already have a bad stricture in the terminal ileum and a fistula at the time of diag. (was told i had irritable bowel and that everyone has it for many years, also i am very bad at speaking up so i just accepted that answer). I will check on the pred with my GI. Trust me I want to work all that I can! I hate feeling like a weak link.
Thanks again for the advice!
Posted 11/6/2007 2:55 AM (GMT 0)
April- sorry you are going through this. Here is my take on it. I used to work corrections which involved overnight shifts sometimes. It also involved occasional forced overtime b/c you cant not have someone working. So you could go in for an 8 1/2 hour shift and have to stay for two. This only happened rarely. I asked for the accomodations I knew I needed to do my job (not being place on outside details w/o a bathroom etc.) But at the same time, I refused to get a doctors note that said I could not work doubles or night shifts. My reason was I knew it was part of the job when I took it. If everyone is subject to forcing, I felt that if I couldn't be forced, I shouldn't work there. It was a personal choice. So if I was you, if your boss is stuck and you are all he has for this and everyone has to go through this rotation then I would do it. However, if not everyone has to do it and if you do it this once he may think you could do it all the time. So, maybe you should tell him that in an emergency you can stay but on a regular basis it just really complicates your health. But it sounds like part of the problem is the stress of it. Maybe you could find some ways to reduce the stress of working those shifts and cope better. Sorry this sucks!!!! By the way, one time I did say I was too sick to take a force. I shouldn't have come in in the first place and knew how short handed they were. At the end of one shift I heard that they were thinking of forcing someone. My supervisor knew how sick I was and just skipped over me.
Posted 11/6/2007 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
I used to be a database administrator, which required a lot of evening and weekend emergency hours - sometimes working all day, all night and all day again, unexpectedly.  I loved the work but eventually, my body just couldn't do it anymore.   I switched to being a development database admin, or data architect, which is an 8-5 type of job, and it's really helped my health and lowered my stress.

You may want to consider other types of nursing jobs that don't have night shifts, such as working in a doctor's office, or finding a new hospital job where you can make it clear up-front that you can't pull double shifts or work at night.  

Just a thought...sometimes, no matter how good the job or the money is, it's just not worth the stress, with this disease.

Good luck to you.

Posted 11/7/2007 2:49 PM (GMT 0)
When you get lemons , make lemonade. Unless your boss is doing this to you every holiday its only fair for you to work the shift so someone else gets a break. If not resentment sets in and the stress of that is worse. The main thing is to not feel dumped on and stress about it. I worked for a real Jack-$$ for years and he did this to me often. I started to look for the good side of it. I know there may not be a lot of good to find in it, but surely there is some perk to working the late shift. Also talk to your doc to see if he can help you get a handle on feeling better during the shift. Hope it goes well for you.
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