The last thing you want when you’re at the doctor’s office is a doctor who may give you a sickness or disease. If you’re in surgery, you could be susceptible to any little bug, and your body could be weak as you heal. This is when a sickness can be very dangerous.
However, even knowing the dangers, studies show that most doctors will come to work even when they are so sick that they should stay home for the day. The study claims that as many as 80 percent will do this.
Why do they put patients like yourself at risk, especially when they are paid with a salary and would make the same amount of money that day whether they were at work or at home watching Netflix? There are a few reasons, the first being that some healthcare professionals think they have a duty to their patients and don’t want to let them down. They feel like they are making a sacrifice by coming in. They may also feel lazy or like they are shirking their duties to stay home.
Another reason doctors will come in even when they’re sick is if they don’t want to let their co-workers down. They know if the hospital is short staffed or won’t have enough people to do the work they were supposed to do. These doctors don’t want to make their colleagues take on extra work that they can’t handle.
While these reasons can be good, this is still a risk to patients, and anyone who has been harmed or given a sickness in Colorado must know his or her rights.
Source: New York Times, “Why Doctors Should Take Sick Days,” Tara Parker-Pope, accessed Dec. 02, 2015