I am a doctor at an emergency ward. Back in January, a night of undercooled rain resulted in a world coated in ice, as if everything was covered in soaped glass. I had the day off after a long and gruelling work period, but my boss called to beg me for help. It should be noted that my boss didn’t have any background in healthcare but was considered qualified due to having worked as a manager in a car factory.
Boss: “[Doctor #1] and [Doctor #2] cannot come in, since the roads are too dangerous. [Doctor #3] slipped and hit her head; she suffered a mild concussion and cannot work. Could you please come in? Otherwise, we’ll only have [New, inexperienced doctor], and a neck surgeon and a cardiologist we could scrape together from other wards. We really need another emergency doctor.”
Me: “Right, this is an all-hands situation. I’m penguin-waddling in, but I want you to know that I’m not taking this as overtime pay but overtime vacation, and I will also use one of my already saved up overtime days after this.”
Boss: “Of course!”
Me: “That means I add two days on top of my already scheduled days off. I will therefore be away for five days straight after today. Is that clear?”
Boss: “Whatever you say! I’ll make it work!”
I waddled in and arrived to total chaos. Everyone and their mum needed triaging after slips and falls, and that was on top of the usual chest pains, burns, cuts, and weird things in unmentionable places.
At the first opportunity (several hours of work with minimal breaks), I entered my overtime vacation in the system and slumped into a chair in the break room next to my boss, a secretary, and a senior nurse. I reminded my boss of what we had agreed upon so he could verify it ASAP.
Boss: “Well, about that…”
Me: “What now?”
Boss: “Could you accept three days off and the rest as money?”
Me: “No.”
Boss: “What? Why? What will you do that is so important?”
Me: “Rest.”
Boss: “What? You’ll just do nothing?”
Me: “Not nothing. I will rest.”
Boss: “That’s it? Just lazing about—”
Me: “—Resting is an activity that is important for my health. I intend to eat, sleep, exercise, and play board games with my children. Watch a movie with my wife. Possibly even invite a friend over and play StarCraft.”
Boss: “But it is also important that you’re a team player—”
Nurse: “[Boss], do you seriously not think that coming in on a day off to save our collective butts is being a team player?”
Boss: “Well, it looks bad if people start expecting so much time off after just some work…”
Secretary: “[My Name] does make decisions that could mean life and death. Isn’t that more important than how this looks on the schedule?”
Boss: “Fine! If it’s so bloody important then—”
Me: “—It is. Five days.”
Boss: “God, you’re annoying!” *Storms off.*
Me: “Thanks, guys. I’m in your debt.”
Nurse: “Don’t think about it. We need to stick together!”
Secretary: “He promised. If you need five days and he agreed, you should have five days.”
Me: “I appreciate it.”
The boss had sent out a passive-aggressive e-mail when I returned.
E-mail: “It is important that we work as a team here and help each other out to fix scheduling problems. We have a duty to each other and especially the patients to never be understaffed.”
The reply from the most senior doctor:
Reply: “It is important that our leadership prevents understaffing by hiring enough staff and allowing enough time off to prevent burnout. The patients deserve healthcare from rested professionals.”
The boss recently resigned, citing how “unwilling to compromise”, “egoistic,” and “stubborn” we were regarding vacation, scheduled days off, and overtime as major reasons for quitting. He will instead run a grocery store. I pity his staff.
