Question about Night Shift

Nursing Students CNA/MA

Published

So when you making your round and if the patient is alert do you have to tap on them or something like that and said I'm gonna change your brief now or do you just change it without telling them? I'm asking b/c tonight is the 1st time I'm gonna work noc shift. And I'm worry that if I'm come in to change the brief on the alert pt without telling them first they would get mad or yelling at me b/c it distracting their sleep. So please tell me how did you do your round for the alert pts? Did they screaming at you or anything like that?

Another question, do you eat meal on your break for noc shift?

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def let them know what you are going to do... you are liable to get decked if you dont!

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With alert residents especially, I'd just tap on the door as I came in and I'd say "*resident name*, I'm going to check your brief."

Most of them know the drill, trust me. :)

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And most of them will wake up readily when you come into the room for rounds. Take your cue from the other CNAs on who you need to be extra careful with, in terms of startling them.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I usually just touch their arm and quietly tell them I am just checking their brief.I even do this with the confused ones.They may not understand what you have said but it still reassures them.

Usually break time is when you eat.just follow the lead of the others or ask someone.

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Specializes in PACU, LTC, Med-Surg, Telemetry, Psych.

Always tell them what you are doing. Some of the 'combative' patient stuff is from this. Hell, if some joker started reaching for my crotch at 3 AM dead asleep, I would be combative too!

If they are totally not 'with it', tell them anyway. Even totally out of it patients can still hear.

Do not go in there putting on bright floodlights in patient's faces. Especcially if you just need to do q4 vitals. Be soft spoken and tell them it will just be a minute then they can sleep.

Let sleeping dogs lie to prevent 1:1 situations and violent or demented patients going off, but do not let there be oceans of urine in the bed, either as this can get confused folks awake and at it. Talk to the nurse. She does not want to have to call a doctor at 3 AM for ativan, either.

Make sure fresh water is on the table and there are no aforementioned pools of urine when either nurses do med pass. They may have just peed, but it is a perception issue if you sat down for a bit and the nurse saw you.

Check on independent patients when you get in just peek in (quietly) during the night to make sure no one is on the floor. Other than that, let them sleep.

Do not leave rivers of urine and brown stuff for the next shift. (very important) AM shift can get mad and has all the big bosses there to show them your laziness (even if the patient is on massive fluid pills and let it flow at 6 AM)

Make frequent checks on heavy wetters.

I do this, and I am fine.

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Thank you for the reply all.

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a few more questions please help...

* What do you do during the "downtime"?

* For the 'I & O' charting, can you give me example like often how many cc do you put down for the input? Because it seem like at night the pts sleep all the time and rarely drink water or any liquid at all, so in this case do we just put "0 cc" for the input, is that right?

* Usually who do the vital sign at your facility?

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Always tell them what you are doing. Some of the 'combative' patient stuff is from this. Hell, if some joker started reaching for my crotch at 3 AM dead asleep, I would be combative too!

:lol2:

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