I've realized that, on my floor, the day nurses get recognized by management and patients far more than night nurses. But, in my opinion, night nurses deserve as much, if not more recognition than the day shift. Here is my shout out to the night shift:
You take care of our patients during the late night hours. You sacrifice your own natural cicaradian rhythm to come to work. You sacrifice time with your family and friends to work while they sleep and sleep while they work.
Your patient's don't remember you well, because they are asleep while you care for them. You recognize the slightest changes in vital signs and assessments that might indicate a change in the patient's condition. You are especially vigilant because the sleeping patient cannot let you know when something is wrong. Your assessment skills are fine tuned, as it is not so easy to see changes while a patient sleeps in the dark.
You are subjected to angry doctors when you call them in the early morning hours to report a problem with a patient. You willingly accept his anger, because you are a great patient advocate. The doctor's angry words are worth it because you know you are doing the right thing for your patient.
You work together and help your fellow nurses, often doing extra work because there are fewer ancillary staff to help you. You often must perform the duties of RN, CNA, physical therapist, social worker, and child life specialist.
You care for larger patient loads. You are excellent at prioritizing and balancing your work. You are efficient and skilled, working quickly to ensure that your patients are not woken more often then is needed. You do the early morning lab draws and the dreaded daily weights.
Management does not recognize your accomplishments as frequently, because they are home sleeping while you are taking care of "their" units. You arrive after they have left and you are gone before they arrive in the morning. You keep the unit running smoothly while management is gone. You are the backbone of the workforce.
Though you are sometimes frustrated and exhausted, you continue to faithfully show up for the night shift, to care for the patients while they sleep, to perform your tasks with little recognition, to endure long hours with little help, take on many roles, put up with annoyed doctors, and give our patients the best possible care. You work the hours that no one wants. Patients and management are unaware of your interventions that prevent tragedies. You keep our hospitals running overnight. You make all the difference to our patients and our units. Without you, there would be no hospital, no patients, no jobs. You are the self-sacrificing angels-in-scrubs who are not recognized often enough.
From the bottom of my heart- thank you, night shift.
