Your Sick Days Are Not a Sacrifice

Nurses use PTO while being supported by Be Brave Nurse Recovery System™

Your Sick Days Are Not a Sacrifice

By Glennae Davis, RN

July 15th 2025

You were never meant to die for the job.And yet, too many nurses—especially Black women—are spiritually applauded and institutionally exploited for doing just that.

We save our sick days like they’re tithe.We hoard PTO like it’s inheritance.We push through flank pain, back pain, migraines, nausea, insomnia—convinced that showing up broken is better than not showing up at all.

I’ve met the nurse who hasn’t used a single day in four years.I’ve met the educator who bragged about 156 banked days—and then got diagnosed with a rare kidney condition brought on by chronic stress.I’ve sat in the ER myself, heart pounding with shame because I waited too long to stop.

Let me tell you what I know now:Your sick days are not a sacrifice. They are a strategy.

🧠 Chronic Stress is Systemic Abuse, Not a Personal Weakness

The healthcare system has groomed us to call self-neglect professionalism.To wear burnout like a badge.To confuse martyrdom with mastery.

And Black women? We feel it twice over.We are “the strong one” at work.The dependable one.The “let me know if you need anything” one—until it’s us who need something, and nobody shows up.

That’s not just a workload issue. That’s spiritual misalignment.

⚖️ Rest is a Form of Resistance

You are allowed to rest before you’re hospitalized.You are allowed to pause without apologizing.You are allowed to use your time before your body takes it.

And if your leadership, team, or hospital cannot function without you taking a single day off?

That’s not a reflection of your value.That’s a sign of their dysfunction.

🙏🏾 Steward Your Health Like It’s Holy

We often pray for God to heal us.But the truth is—He’s been speaking.Through the migraines.Through the back spasms.Through the fatigue that won’t lift.

But we override the message. We pop two Tylenol, sip coffee, and get back on the floor.

Let me be clear:Ignoring your body is ignoring the call of God.

Your body is not betraying you. It’s begging you to pay attention.

So the next time you feel the urge to “push through,” ask yourself:Is this faith?Or is it fear of disappointing a system that won’t remember your name if you collapse?

Use the day.Take the break.Come out of survival mode before survival mode comes for you.

I do the work that I do hoping to rewrite these stories—giving God the glory, not medicine.