Night shift -- can you just take it easy, please?

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm a day shift nurse. I usually handle 5 patients on days on a busy cardiac tele unit. On any given day shift, there are usually ten different tasks on 5 different patients, many more demanding family members with zillions of questions and demands, interns who sit around dreaming up new stat orders to write, never enough techs or techs who want to help, endless lines of little old ladies who need to visit the bathroom 10 times a day . . . managers who seem to rove around, checking out paperwork and whether you've fufilled each and every educational requirement scheduled.

...If I don't get to that ONE urine test, or that ONE timed blood draw ...can you just stop rolling your eyes for once and just HELP me make up the slack? Surely you've got at least a few free minutes at night to do this ...

I've worked nights, too. I know how it is . ..you get busy, too ...but you DON'T, I repeat, you DO NOT have to deal with what we do on days ...diets, tests, procedures,, and many more meds to give. It's likely I am NOT going to get it all done ...not w/ 5 demanding patients, NOT with discharges and admissions ...no way, no how. I am also NOT going to reach every doctor and solve every single problem all day long so YOU can have a "quiet" night and not have to call a doctor once in a while ....

Sorry -- know I'm going to be flamed for this ...but I just can't stand it anymore. Nurses need to work together and stop putting down their co-workers constantly for not completing every single freaking task in one shift.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Yeah, what's up with them not sleeping????? I am 3 weeks into night shift, and these ppl don't fricken sleep!

And sorry guys, but night shift is waaaaay easier for ME than days, and I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it. I can finally have a moment to process information without a doctor, family member, ancillary staff, or patient simply talking to me. It's physically less demanding at night, as well as mentally. I can hear myself think! It's soo awesome. I wish my day girls could have the same experience. Oh what a relief it is!

:lol2::lol2:....NO they're sleep all day because they are up all night! :uhoh3::lol2:

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

I like my unit. 90% of the time we get out work done on time and go home leaving the next shift with a fresh start. 10% we help each other out without complaint as it should be.

I did two admission data bases the night shift left for me to do and they started an IV I couldn't get at shift change.

I agree with the sentiments of the original poster sometimes it would be nice to have a friendlier attitude from the oncoming shift because you never know what the person has been through.

I did 13 years of nights and so far 7 years of days.

I work both days and nights currently. If any thing the permanent days/evenigns people are the ones who don't get the reality of nights for the most part. Some don't understand that the doctor on call is the cross covering intern who might not order or change any order until discussing it with "the primary team." which leads to some nurses thinking we are turfing more work onto them. Where I work at least, night shift gets more patients with less cnas if any. Both are busy and we seem to rarely have a quiet night. When I work days I am suprised sometimes at all the people around to help in an emergency.

Just to remind night shifters, think about the following very time consuming tasks we are required to do that you are not required to do, or are usually unnecessary on nights:

1. Provide a daily report to case managers and/or attend rounds.

2. Walk patients off the unit at discharge and/or when needing to be accompanied to test and RN to leave the floor to go with them.

3. Arrange for diets, re-enter diet orders, take away trays, fulfill diet requests, fill pitchers, grab coffee, grab condiments ...generally play waitress for THREE meals on your shift.

4. Receive calls from family members wanting updates, or just wanting to talk to a nurse -- sometimes as often as every 2 hours. Call them if requested. Connect them to doctors for updates. Generally fulfull every request they make concerning your patient. Daytime is when they do this ...nights they go home to sleep. Usually. (I realize SOME do spend the night and then they can be a pain to you -- but it's not as often).

5. Tests, tests, tests. Patients who return from tests ...needing frequent vitals, needing tele on, tele off, needing boots, transfers, etc, etc.

6. Orders non-stop. Most orders are put in on days ...docs don't like being called at night and we all know it. They do their orders early and you have to get most of not all of them done on your shift.

7. Admissons (yes, you do them on nights), but most discharges on are done on days. Discharges come with: med reconciliation/education, getting signatures, more education, taking out IV's, helping pts get dressed and ready to leave.

This does not include the occasional code, elopment, fall, or whatever crisis might happen on any given day. Doesn't inlude arguments, difficult patients, or having to explain and educate on each and every med given at 1000.

Need I go on? And let me ask you this ..what happens when your tech staff is short or unwilling to helop ...now we dayshift nurses get to add baths, filling water pitchers, and vitals/sugar checks to our lists . . .

How do you think we can get it all done??? It's not possible. It just isn't. I wish more night shift would realize this.

I have known many a day shift nurse who burns out and goes to nights because they can't stand families, docs, managers, and all the rest of the people we deal with on days ...many of those nurses seem to become some of the most demanding and uncompassionate nurses towards the day shift, from my experience.

Remember, please ..what is is like to work the day shift, before you criticize.

I'd LOVE to do nights if I could, but my body can't do it for some reason. And I really appreciate night shift people who do this, because I can't. But I wish they'd appreciate ME and all i do on days ...and try to take it a bit more easy on me at 1930 at change of shift.

1. No one does that at my hospital.

2.we have transport on days NONE at nights. we get plenty of admissions at night with STAT ct scans, mri, etc..... we have to take them and even LESS staff is on the floor.

3.Diets not arranged on days means a call to the CROSS COVERING surgery resident who will raise hell for paging him/her for a diet order at night. lol (it has happened)

4.for the most part accurate but at least the primary dr is there. it is a pain when they do this at night and the on call person is not going to come up to speak to the family and then it rolls onto me ............

I realize it because i work both at the same place. Days are more hectic but many people seem to think we operate at night with the same staff but a lot less to do. we have a lot less to do but the staff is bare minimum. if we have to change an incontinent patient, half the staff may very well be in that room, with no one by the desk to answer the phone, or go to a bed alarm etc.

I like my unit. 90% of the time we get out work done on time and go home leaving the next shift with a fresh start. 10% we help each other out without complaint as it should be.

I did two admission data bases the night shift left for me to do and they started an IV I couldn't get at shift change.

I agree with the sentiments of the original poster sometimes it would be nice to have a friendlier attitude from the oncoming shift because you never know what the person has been through.

I did 13 years of nights and so far 7 years of days.

I agree wholeheartedly with the bolded.

Specializes in med/surg.

Wow! Whining and complaining just is not going to get the job done....These are human beings we are taking care of...If you day shifters can not get the job, I personally dont mind picking up some of the things that didn't get done...Not to say that the important things you should have taken care of on your shift...Minute details or orders that day shift could get done usually gets caught at night....And no biggy!

You signed up for day shift....Complete day shift stuff that we should not have to complete at night.....Such as consults, calling the doctor because the patient hasn't pooped in a week, etc.....Help us out too, dayshifters!

Hospital is 24 hours/ 7 days a week! Work together people...Thats is how it is at my hospital! Thank you Baby Jesus!

Specializes in ED.

In a professional situation eye-rolling is just childish and unacceptable.

I like to point that out with a simple, gently delivered, objective observation "I see you're rolling your eyes at me. Is there something you want to say to me, because an eye-roll is too ambiguous for me and I think communication during report should be clear." A lot of PEOPLE in this world (and NEWSFLASH: this includes male nurses!!) are passive aggressive. I have zero tolerance for that because it does not serve our patients.

Habitual eye-rollers often don't even realize they are doing it. Anyone I've ever pointed it out to in nursing or in my previous profession has never rolled their eyes at me again. I don't have to like all my co-workers - I just have to respect them and work well with them, and that's what I expect in return.

I am a new nurse working nights and if I am unable to leave a perfect clean slate for the day shifter I will apologize because of course I KNOW I am adding to their burden, but tasks rolling into the next shift are just a fact of nursing life and many, many factors come into play that affect whether I can finish every little thing.

That's why I never judge the day shift reporting off to me - how the he11 do I know what kind of day they had? I would never presume. I mean - it's WORK - it isn't easy. Most definitely some of those factors are systemic so bickering between shifts just maintains the status quo with no energy put toward real change.

It's all just common courtesy- stuff our mamas, papas, grannies, grampies, and teachers should have taught us long ago!!! But in my experience I would say approx 30% of people, regardless of their job title, are just plain clueless, rude, inconsiderate and unprofessional. It is what it is.

Viva the wonderful 70% that aren't!!

Specializes in LTC.

Is there a patient ratio that changes between night/day?

I'm LTC, Day shift has 20-30 patients, and Night has 60. Between all of the bolus feedings that are in our unit, and the jittery rehab patients, I try to never leave night shift anything to do, even if I have to stay a little late.

There's some days where you just aren't going to get everything done though, and I think everyone should understand that, and be willing to pick up a little slack here and there.

It never ends. I have heard these comments for thirty plus years.

Each shift thinks the other is not pulling their weight. Can't we get along.

I get so tired of it.

Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Maybe we should make a thread dedicated to the ways we help each other as a way to spread good morale. Happiness can be as infectious as misery. Today at change of shift we had a baby who became critically ill and had to be transferred to a tertiary care ICU. I stayed to help stabilize and prepare for transfer, and ended up there an extra 3 1/2 hours. I felt really guilty about leaving a mess for the next shift, and rather than stay up thinking about it all night it was just better to stay there and give the oncoming nurse a hand because she still had three patients to care for. Everything went smoothly, she felt better to have help and I left with a clear conscience. Anyone else have a team work moment to share for today?

I have worked both night shift and days in my unit. Night shift is harder than days in certain ways; just the pure fact of having to work against your body's natural rhythms is difficult. Frequently you do have less support staff on hand and you feel the pressure of having to make good critical thinking nursing judgments so that you either don't call docs unnecessarily in the middle of the night, or worse, overstep your bounds or scope of practice by doing things you shouldn't in an attempt to avoid disturbing your on call docs. A lot of care is by necessity crammed in at the end of the shift-labs, baths, etc. vs. spread out through the night. If you have a patient (or several) who are really hard sticks, or huge code brown right after you've give baths, this can really throw a wrench into your plans to leave the day shift with a clean slate when they come on.

In ICU, patients cannot travel to tests without the nurse present. This was a huge, huge source of stress on days. While you're in CT with one patient, you are NOT there to take care of your other one. This puts you instantly behind and you can spend the rest of the day futilely trying to catch up. Days involves a lot of traveling around with your patients, something that nights rarely has to do. The docs, the constant new orders, family, etc., yes, in these ways day shift has it much harder.

Point being, each shift has their challenges. Which is why I think all nurses should have to work a week on their opposite shift. I believe this would be a big educational experience and would cut down on some of the "I have it worse" attitudes-walking a mile in someone else's shoes is always a good thing, imo.

I completely agree with OP! At my last job, I did half days, half nights every 6 weeks. Day shift was insanely busy and totally exhausting. Night shift was, well, easy as pie, even when the staffing wasn't great! And those night shift nurses were sooooo mean to the dayshift nurses when stuff didn't get done. I mean, seriously, I KNOW you are not doing anything important between the hours of 12am and 4am! I work that shift, too! I know how you all sit there at chat and gab and laugh so loud the patients complain!

Um, where are you working? Because I work (as an aide) with some night shift nurses who would LOVE to have the luxury of chatting and gabbing for 4 hours a night, instead of running their butts off all night...

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