Day Shift vs. Night Shift

[keaton90]

I was just wondering if day shift nurses have different task than night shift nurses.(ie. bathing, medication, etc....)

[showbizrn]

:redpinkhe

The NIGHT SHIFT and the DAY SHIFT have different duties and tasks.

DAY SHIFT:

Treatment plannning meetings, documentation updates, patient group meetings, general routine vital signs monitoring/weights/bed-making, daily medications, routine ADLs, patient-visitor observations, inter/multi-disciplinary communication, etc, etc...

NIGHT SHIFT:

Early AM./prn meds, 24-hour reviewing/checking orders, baths/showers of incontintent patients, daily weights ONLY, vital signs for first 3-days or prn, etc, etc...

...and the beat goes on.

[AmyBRN]

Where I am here's the run down of what happens on nights.

Baths and weight always on nights, except healthier kids whose parents will do it on day shift.

Meds: depends on the child with how many meds they get, but in the icu, after the med is order the med starts as soon as it comes from pharmacy and timed accordingly there after, ie, once a days can be given at night, q8's might have 2 doses during nights etc.

Lines: sedation and TPN/IL line changes are day shift, the others are whenever 72 hours are up, meaning all other lines might be changed on nights, including centrals, IV Fluids, hemodynamic gtts.

Rounds:We have 'qucikie' rounds, fellow and residents only, talk about "plan for night" what labs and x-rays to be done.

Labs:Children with lines have there labs drawn by nurses in the early morning. Other children who are "sticks" have them done by phlebotomy/residents usually at change of nursing shift (VERY annoying), this is because where I work (PICU) nurses aren't allowed to do venipuncture/IV starts etc. unless trained at another hospital previously.

MRI/CT: usually day shift, unless the patient is having issues.

OR: sometime a patient is scheduled at 7/8 am, so night shift gets everything together for those patients, and goes down with them.

Both shifts on my unit are busy but you take it as it comes.

[NVrst5d]

I started out doing 3-11 and found that 5 days a week were killing me so I started 7p-7a. Let me tell you-I work in a LTC facility and from 1a-4a the hardest thing I had to do was try to stay awake! From reading magazines to walking around and visiting the other nurses. Needless to say 3-11 is welcome back with open arms!:w00t: