Nursing is 24hrs is just an expression

[angelique777]

Nursing is 24 hrs is just an expression.............

I was always told that what one shift can not do the next shift does cause nursing is 24hrs

Yet I have learned that this is just a saying cause God forbid you should leave something on my unit for the next shift whether you missed it or whether you just did not have the time ..........no one wants to hear it......

I came here to talk ........really just needy a place to talk to other experienced nurses both day and nights to just talk about this concept .....with years of experience under your belt how often do you forget miss stuff or do not get to complete stuff on your tour and what kinda of stuff have you missed and what was the response..........just would like to know what some of the seasoned nurses have to say about it ........I used to love my job now I really detest it because dread the change of shift........is there no hope is every where you go like this in nursing .........

I never pay attention to what another shift does not get done .......I do not keep a mental log of times when meds are retimed or when IV can not be placed or when dressing changes not done or anything that has to be passed on to me...........I see my coworkers as part of a team and if they do not do something .....I do not see them as dumping.....cause I know how stressfull a tour can be and how demanding patients are and well you can not .translate what you do to anyone on a shift so why ask them to explain ...yet have learned that this is just me cause someone is keeping a log and and they are going to give you hell...........I am new just completed my first yr out and still lots to learn.......at nights I usually get a tough assignment or people who are not doing well..........I am very busy at night .......I help out my coworkers at night as well yet my most dreaded part of my shift is the shift change ...

It seems they come in hostile and ready to fire at you and if you miss anything or did not have time for something its like a big thing.........I have lost my taste for this job just from this interaction cause I have a great group of people who I work with on my shift and we are very supportive of each other........not this is not so true of the shift you give report too......sometimes treat you like you did nothing all night....not the same sentiment at all as how I used to percieve them......not in all the staff but many.......the other thing I noticed is that more gossiping occurs in that shift the are constantly ragging on you complaining about the night shift just complaining...................I do not have time to be thinking about gossiping to the night staff about the day staff..........if they are so busy in the day how they have time to spend it complaining so much.............please know I am sure it not like this in all day shift I am saying only at my place............at nights there are a lot of very strong nurses and I know the dayshift would not dream of talking to them or attacking them in the way some of them talk to me..........

Any way just was curious about your experiences

[tommycher]

I am sorry you dread giving report, I recall feeling that way as a new nurse, only because of my own fears of having missed something that a more seasoned nurse might question me on. But, being a day shift nurse, I have another point of view. We get along very well with night shift, only occassionally do we have a problem. Like the critical lab value called to the floor at 0545 that the nurse did not call to the doctor, and admits from 2100 that had NO admit work done, because, "they wanted to sleep", that is difficult for us to swallow. The biggest problem we have is that when we hit the floor at 0700, so do the doctors, x-ray techs, family members, etc. And the patients are trying to eat breakfast while we are trying to do assessments, IV restarts, meds (of which there are many more than at night), check the AM labs, and it never fails that the minute we walk into a pt's room, we hear our name called because we have a doctor at the desk, family member on the phone, pharmacy on the phone with plenty of questions about the med orders on the PM admit, etc. etc. etc. It is a VERY hectic time. So, when I heard a PM nurse yesterday morning telling the AM nurse in report, " You need to do this, You need to do that, You need to address this with the doctor, ....." I just knew I was glad I was not the one receiving that report! Being the nurse on the floor at the time when most of the docs are also present, we are the ones who have to answer to them why such and such was not done, why they were not called, why it took so long for the transfusion to be started, etc. Very stressful. So, please understand that if the day shift nurse seems to be giving you the grand inquisition, it is most likely not personal, just searching for answers to questions they will most likely have to answer within the next hour. Hang in there, before long you will be able to anticipate exactly what they need to know in shift report, aside from the basic details. This is why it is called, "Nursing Practice"! We are all still practicing!

[OC_An Khe]

If work is constantly not getting done by many nurses then staffing is inadequate and that needs to be addressed. If it is an individual that is constsntly being inefficient then management has to address that on an individual basis. If it is spotty and happens occassionally then it just part of being in a constantly changing work environment resulting in continuing reassesment of priorities.