define break...lol

lkulmann · Mar 25, 2013

A nursing break is like a "mom break".
You seize the opportunity for that break when the time is right, and if you are lucky you might get the full 30 minute break and a couple of shorter ones.
Your responsibility for your patient does not take a break( depending on who you trust to watch/babysit).
Sometimes real life needs override an idealized desire for uninterrupted breaks of a certain length.

Real life needs for the nurse supercede the real life needs of a healthcare facilities need to abuse and mistreat the staff. That's the reality of it. I find it disturbing when someone minimalizes a very basic labor issue. Laws are in place for breaks and there is new research that validates the adverse health issues related to workplace stress. Complacency kills. Its just not OK.

I guess my next topic will be workplace stress and bullying. That is a new'ish interesting trend too :/

Very not nice...

leslie :-D · Mar 25, 2013

A break is just that: My own time with no responsibility for anything at work.
We get 60 minutes (30 paid, 30 not) somewhere 1/3 to 2/3 of the way through the shift.
Slipping off the floor for 5 minutes to pee isn't a break and I won't ask for permission nor offer an apology for doing so as needed.

this is how i feel as well, but i didn't attain that attitude overnight.

i'd be so bogged down at work that i *couldn't* take a break.

one time i vented to my nm about it, to which she replied "whose fault is that"?

from that day on, i took my breaks regardless...

AND i also stayed late finishing work/charting.

after paying me (and others) overtime, mgmt put their foot down and ot was no longer an option.

do you think i did as some others did...punching out and then finish their work?

HELL no....no way, no how, not ever!!

there was no way i was going to work on my personal time.

i do feel that there are many that look at nurses as "martyrs" and i refused to be one of them.

my time is just as valuable as anyone else's...

and learned to respect myself enough to not be anyone's doormat.

if employers want us to get our work done, i will make sure that i am getting paid accordingly.

for me, it's the only way i could respect myself.

leslie

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2013

30 minutes out of 12 hours is awful.

I would love to get an entire 30 minutes in a 12 to 14 hour shift (i.e., the scheduled 12 hours plus the unintentional but unavoidable OT to complete all the charting etc.) Seriously, in more than a year I don't think I ever took 30 minutes for lunch/dinner - and on most days, nothing at all (unless you count bathroom trips or quick runs to the coffee pot and back).

To get 30 minutes - uninterrupted - would be heaven!

P.S. Of course, 30 minutes are deducted from our hours assuming it's our break (and if we had the nerve to request payment for the missed lunches, we would just be told that we need to improve our time management :sour: )

SleeepyRN · Mar 25, 2013

Real life needs for the nurse supercede the real life needs of a healthcare facilities need to abuse and mistreat the staff. That's the reality of it. I find it disturbing when someone minimalizes a very basic labor issue. Laws are in place for breaks and there is new research that validates the adverse health issues related to workplace stress. Complacency kills. Its just not OK.
I guess my next topic will be workplace stress and bullying. That is a new'ish interesting trend too :/
Very not nice...

If you write about stress and bullying, I'll look forward to reading it. Its a real problem in some places. It's definitely not new though. I did a lot of research on the topic and wrote a paper on horizontal violence in school. I know I've brought it up a lot in posts, but at my first nursing job, I experienced it. I eventually quit, but I did let my DON know what was happening before I left. She backed me up by saying that what was happening was unacceptable and she would talk to 2 of the people. She told me I should have and had the authority to send them home when the first incident occurred. I've heard that they have since been fired.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2013

We ge 30mins but it will usually be interupted. I HATE to be told "so and sos pump is beeping" than get another nurse to fix it! but so many are so freaking lazy they wont get off their fat butts if it is not her (usually)pt! of course i will go because if not i will come out to an angry pt about a beeping pump ir an occluded line or god knows what else. I have gone on a break to come out and have the covering nurse doing nothing tell me a pt asked for pain meds ( 20mins ago). ahhhhh i now tell the aides or other nurses to get me if any pt rings unless there is a trustworthy person working that shift . oh and some shifts are impossible to get a break. last one i worked was non stop 7pm to 430. i finally thought time for my break, I was so hungry and then my comfort measures only pt died. then it is 5am and vital and med time and drs making rounds. plenty of shifts like this. i finally get caught up only to get an admission , or pacu on the phone, or a pt sob or chest pain or this and that. never ends . oh well. some shifts we get down time others not.

proud nurse, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2013

I have been on orientation for the past 7 weeks. I haven't missed a single break, because I know they might be hard to come by once I'm off orientation.

When I worked in LTC, I was breaking all the time, lol. I was the noc shift charge nurse, even when I was charting at the nurses station I was enjoying a soda or eating the food I brought in. Or if I had to monitor a 1:1, we were chilling in the TV room watching Lifetime movie network.

I was always doing some form of work. If I actually wanted to take my hour break off the floor, all hell broke loose...so I had to make the best of it.

lkulmann · Mar 25, 2013

I have been on orientation for the past 7 weeks. I haven't missed a single break, because I know they might be hard to come by once I'm off orientation.
When I worked in LTC, I was breaking all the time, lol. I was the noc shift charge nurse, even when I was charting at the nurses station I was enjoying a soda or eating the food I brought in. Or if I had to monitor a 1:1, we were chilling in the TV room watching Lifetime movie network.
I was always doing some form of work. If I actually wanted to take my hour break off the floor, all hell broke loose...so I had to make the best of it.

"I haven't missed a single break, because I know they might be hard to come by once I'm off orientation."

This makes me scream...they warn you about no breaks in nursing school! So much for our educational 'leaders' trying to change the culture!

No matter how you sugar coat it, you are working through your break and I totally understand the rationalization in your mind because I've done it millions of times. Now though its just different. Now its deliberate. When I was a baby nurse we would pull each other up when someone was drowning. All one nurse would say is I getting killed out here and we'd all do 1 or 2 tasks, meds, dressings or whatever...DONE! But now, its evil. All I see is some nasty money counting bully saying 'I saved $500.00 this shift by not covering lunch breaks and look at those fools they don't even have clue....hmmmm I can't wait to get my bonus check this month COACH Bag here I come' or 'I think I'll have a day at the spa. My job is so stressful having to bully all day....pfffft...' that's what I see.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Mar 25, 2013

this is how i feel as well, but i didn't attain that attitude overnight.
i'd be so bogged down at work that i *couldn't* take a break.
one time i vented to my nm about it, to which she replied "whose fault is that"?
from that day on, i took my breaks regardless...
AND i also stayed late finishing work/charting.
after paying me (and others) overtime, mgmt put their foot down and ot was no longer an option.
do you think i did as some others did...punching out and then finish their work?
HELL no....no way, no how, not ever!!
there was no way i was going to work on my personal time.
i do feel that there are many that look at nurses as "martyrs" and i refused to be one of them.
my time is just as valuable as anyone else's...
and learned to respect myself enough to not be anyone's doormat.
if employers want us to get our work done, i will make sure that i am getting paid accordingly.
for me, it's the only way i could respect myself.
leslie

I have seen PCAs at one of my hospitals clock out and continue to work on the floor and finish up charting. I refuse to do that. It is illegal.

I do find that employers will abuse an employee only as much as an employee allows it.

lkulmann · Mar 25, 2013

I have seen PCAs at one of my hospitals clock out and continue to work on the floor and finish up charting. I refuse to do that. It is illegal.
I do find that employers will abuse an employee only as much as an employee allows it.

The reason NOT to clock out and go back to work is for liability reasons. What happens is the employee gets hurt? Idk, but I'm thinking no workman's compensation and etc...it could get ugly. Management needs to know that the staff can't get all the work done and they need to hire...like that is about to happen. But if that employee gets hurt ON the clock at least you get write that it was short staffed when filling the incident report....

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Mar 25, 2013

Breaks are required by law in some states. If you don't get one, it should be paid...lol. If you say that to your manager they tell you you have organizational issues....lmao! I'm like no you have organization issues in this hellhole building you call a healthcare organization...ugh

We can write our times in a book...such as if we are in charge that night (because we get paid a whopping extra $1/hr :rolleyes: ) or if we float, get put on call or whatever. If we do not get a break, we can write that in the book and we'll get compensated for that 30 minutes.

Music in My Heart · Mar 25, 2013

At times, I have clocked out for lunch and then hung out in the trauma room to help out with an interesting case, just out of personal and professional interest.

In that case, it's no different than being a volunteer, and something that I do purely to 'play' with the fun stuff.

VioletKaliLPN, LPN · Mar 25, 2013

Definition of break for *me* : Go and clock out, grab a drink and my protein bar, sit down and chart....and I end up grabbing PRN's, run to catch the resident who believes he can walk, thank goodness for pressure alarms, and let the pharmacy guy in who is FINALLY bringing our new admit's medications.

AND remember to clock in!

I work in SNF/LTC, for the record. That is my break.