[TIREDmidnightRN]

This computer thing makes spelling and grammar errors sometimes...hit the worng key..(see..that was an accident.would have missed it if I hadn't had to answer the door and then come back to the keyboard)...WRONG key....type too fast..it is just too easy to mess up with these things!

[Norbert Holz]

Often in report I hear the night shift telling days that patient or room so n so was bathed on thier shift. Ever overhear any day shift ever tell nights who was bathed?

[Brita01]

Originally posted by ARIOSRN
NURSING IS 24/7. THAT IS A FRAISE THAT I HAVE TRUELY LEARNED TO HATE. WHY?, BECAUSE IT IS AN EXCUSE THAT ONLY SEEMS VALID WHEN USED BY DAY SHIFT. NIGHTS WORKS JUST AS HARD WITH NO SUPPORT STAFF. DAY SHIFT HAS TECHS, NIGHT SHIFT DOES NOT. DAY SHIFT RN'S DO NOT DO BATHS, NIGHT SHIFT RN'S HAVE TO DO ONE TO MAKE THE TECHS JOB ON DAYS EISIER. WE GET WRITTEN UP FOR FORGETING A WEIGHT, THEY CAN DUMP A 10 HOUR OLD TRANSFUSION ORDER OFF ON US, AND THE ANSWER WE GET WHEN WE COMPLAIN TO MNGMT IS NURSING IS 24/7. I DON'T MIND PICKING UP THE SLACK WHEN IT IS BUSY, BUT IT NEEDS TO GO BOTH WAYS. IF SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE LEFT BOTH SHIFTS SHOULD BE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH DO WAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. AND MGMT NEEDS TO SUPPORT THAT. WE WORK JUST AS HARD ON NIGHTS AND DESERVE THE RESPECT DAY SHIFT AWARDS THEMSEVES.

ARIOSRN, I agree with what you said wholeheartedly, especially about those blood transfusion orders. And I don't care about your spelling, I care about what you're saying.

[mattsmom81]

I think that because a few lazy bad apples on night shift DO exist, the rest of us put up with the' lazy night shift' label.

Management LOVES to foster resentment between shifts....'divide and conquer' ya know??....remember that next time you feel like slamming the opposite shift.

When I did swing shift there was very little hostility between shifts because we all knew the pros and cons of the various shifts. We didn't have the turf wars and resentment I see today.

I did nights mostly, but liked to come in and work with the day crew once every few weeks. It's good for everyone when we walk in one another's duty shoes occasionally.

Can't stand dealing with all the suits that hang around on day shift....so if they can put up with THAT, I'll hang a unit of blood for them....no biggie.

[cheerfuldoer]

When I worked nights (which was most of the time), I worked my behind off! Now...there were other staff not working...but I worked!

[lostchild]

As a nurse who works both days and nights, I have to say that some days are more hectic and some things are left to the night shift . isnt this the ideal setting for TEAMWORK? As long as patients are properly cared for and all staff is treated with respect, nobody should be complaining. If anyone has a real problem---we all know the chain of command. Be Sweet.

[Bobbie Hall]

Well I work 12 hours, ICU, we do the baths, and check the MAR, go on road trips due to the increased congestion on days. The day shift is to rotate ETT tape, change lines IV site dressings, sure theey get admissions, but this is a 24 hour facility and admissions come at all times. Very seldom do the night shift leave procedures or anything for the incoming shift, because nights work as a team. Days will leave orders, not having the time to change their lines, or rotate lines. It is always something, but they will be sitting around talking when we arrive at 1830.

[Headhurt]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

I think that because a few lazy bad apples on night shift DO exist, the rest of us put up with the' lazy night shift' label.

You forget...some lazy apples don't just exist on nights!

I've worked nights since high school, taking one year and working days. I hated it...people milling around the desk, having your patient come and go for tests, PT, etc, etc. AND...I gained a bunch of weight on days because the dayshift partook of 3 meals and grazed in between. It wasn't til I went back to nights that I dropped all the weight because I was running all the time...and we might have time for one meal break, and if so...its usually sneak a bite in between calls. We get patients in at night who have to have surgery in the morning...so we will be running to get them ready.

I'm not saying that night shift is harder, but it is definitely challenging in its own unique way. Sure, we have nights when people might actually sleep...but I know that there are days when the nurses are left at the desk twiddling their thumbs and drinking coffee. We have a couple nurses who leave junk for us because "we have time to do it"...hanging blood, giving meds, etc.

The common idea is that because normal people sleep, everyone else must sleep as well. If only that were true. People tend to lose their marbles more on nights, and they also tend to crash more on nights. I guess our only consolation that we get paid more...but after a while, that offers no comfort.

[mamabear]

I've worked nights for about 90% per cent of my nursing career, exclusively in adult psych. At my previous job, we checked the MARs, checked orders, made sure everybody was up and dressed for breakfast, did vitals, tried our best to get patients to cooperate with labs, all the usual midnight stuff. We also got the bulk of the involuntary admissions. That was okay. Where I've been for the last 3+ years, we do all of the above plus set up and pass the morning meds, give report to the docs, take the patients out for smoke break, run the census, and have report taped by 0700! So what do days do? About 95% of the discharges (how taxing is that?) and, 3 mornings a week, they have staffing. The techs and social workers do all the groups, with the exception of Med Ed (which they're trying to palm off on evenings), they have a ward clerk 5 days a week to do orders: I'll be dipped if I know what else they do. I'm not trying to perpetuate the "war between the shifts". Maybe it's just unique to my current place of employment (I hope so), but we've got a bunch of prima donnas on days. One of them carries a spiral notebook to keep a list of anything nights or evenings do to make their work more difficult, and we're hard-pressed to get anybody from another unit to float on days. Please, no flames. Are there any other night people out there who have or have had similar experiences?

[grace90]

[quote=Brita01] ...deal with the patients who do NOT "sleep all night"... And I swear if something gets missed by us we WILL hear about it.... /QUOTE]

I can definitely relate. I know this is an old thread, but when I read it I felt like venting. I have worked night shift on a med/surg floor for 13 months. Day shift does have a good number of surgicals come back on their shift, and they get pre-surgical admissions, but they only usually have 3-4 patients, and 3-4 patient care assistants most days. 2nd shift gets the most surgicals back, and they keep very busy, with a little less staffing than 1st gets. On our night shift, many of our patients need assistance to the bathroom, which can take a lot of time if they are an ortho, many patients need pain meds, etc. We usually have a patient load of 6-7 plus covering 2-4 patients for an LPN. We only have 1 aide, even if we have 30 patients. This means the aide is spread pretty thin and we do a lot of personal care and call light answering ourselves. I personally have found that having 6-7 primary patients with 2-4 covers to be too much patient load to really be able to give my patients the care they need. Sometimes I miss pt. complications because I am spread so thin, which I hate- but I guess we are all only human. There are nights that I can barely sit down, let alone "sit around drinking coffee" like day shift seems to think. It's really discouraging to have run my butt off all night trying to care for a team of 9-11 patients, just to have day shift come in and complain about what I didn't get done.