Hospital denied nurse's 3-day PTO request made 6 months ago for her sister's wedding — her manager's 3-week cruise got approved instantly

Steep and rigid hierarchies can create inflexible chains of command and stifle employees' trust in management. One hospital nurse (u/Temporary_Royal_2260) experienced a pang of sadness when her management denied her a 3-day leave she had applied for six months in advance for her sister’s wedding. On the other side, the manager’s 3-week vacation leave was approved without any delays. In a July 20, 2026 Reddit post, the employee lamented that the very place she had dedicated her blood and sweat to ended up disappointing her so much.

Biased hierarchies 

The employee relayed that she’s the kind of worker who has dedicated endless overtime to the hospital. But when the time came for her to ask for a little acknowledgement, the management gave her a bitter pill to swallow. All she wanted was a 3-day leave to attend her sister’s wedding, where she was a maid-of-honor. While her request was turned down, her assistant manager was already packing bags for their 3-week cruise trip.

The woman was disheartened at this behavior she called “corporate gaslighting.” She explained, “They corporate-gaslight us into thinking we are ‘heroes who can't leave the floor, but treat us like disposable numbers the second we ask for a life outside the clock,” adding that she was already planning to quit the hospital job.

Reality of 'heroes'

The nurse's frustration reflects a larger problem in the healthcare workforce. A 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open examined 7,887 nurses who had left healthcare employment between 2018 and 2021 in New York and Illinois. Apart from planned retirement, burnout or emotional exhaustion was one of the most common reasons nurses left their current employers, cited by 26% of respondents, while 21% pointed to insufficient staffing. Among nurses who quit their healthcare jobs in "previous employment setting," the numbers were even higher: 29% cited burnout or emotional exhaustion, and 24% cited insufficient staffing.

'You are needed. Manager is not'

But when all is said and done, this biased leave policy proved that the hospital needed the employee more than the employee needed the hospital, as she described it in a comment. Readers empathized with the woman’s feelings and urged her to quit the job once the wedding got over. u/ultratorrent commented, “6 months advance rejection is clear enough to me. I'd have a new job lined up for after the wedding and quit without notice the day before leaving for it.” u/id-driven-fool said, “If you’re a nurse you could quit and find another job making more money within a week, it’s seriously the only way to make meaningful advances in your pay in this field.”

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