I feel bad for calling in sick because my department is horrifically understaffed and 1 person not showing up for work increases the workload of everyone else by about 50%. And since it's a hospital, it's not like we can just continue working like normal and let the company eat the profit loss; if our department is not working at 100% then innocent people's health suffers.
I mean, every reason you said is just reasons that management should have extreme ire directed towards them. You don't set the staff, but they DO, and they are CHOOSING to understaff you.
It is harm THEY are causing, not you.
It's still the same problem, though. Your workplace should be acutely aware humans become unwell. And plan sufficiently. I think that guilt is a relied on in any workplace, it's going to feel very much more dire in yours. I feel for you. In a perfect world, there would be enough staff that staying home sick, wouldn't matter. They could take previous years data and project how much coverage they need, and employ more (that's ignoring shortages, but that's another story to unpack). Or job share with someone, half the work, same amount of pay, holidays and sick days now don't matter, take them when you want. No workplaces need to be like this, even the shortage of available staff is a fixable thing, it just lowers profit and puts the balance and focus back on enjoyment of life. Money is the root of all evil.
that's ignoring shortages, but that's another story to unpack
Sadly that seems to be the trend these days. Healthcare is still trying to recover from staffing losses during the pandemic.
It is a problem that they are also throwing money at, which is not even really solving anything. A good friend of mine is a travel nurse, who gets paid quite a bit more than the other nurses she works with for her willingness to relocate to work a temporary contract. Ideally, her hospital would just keep her contract up until they reach the staffing they need, after which she would go elsewhere, but they can't keep people on staff and have to keep upping their ratio of travelers to compensate.
Unfair of the company to provide this service without adequate staff. If the people requiring the service suffer because of short staff, they are suffering because of management, not the workers.
I really hate how management uses their failures to turn the screws on their employees that they often don't pay enough.
