Too busy for break?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to take my coffee break. I can't believe it. Most of the time I take my breaks no matter how busy it gets, but I was so busy that I forgot all about it. It did not help that my partner LPN was rather laid back, shall we say. I had 2 admissions around the same time, with one getting blood.

That is the first time it has happened to me. It's different when you're busy and you decide not to go on your break, or delay your break. But I was so distracted, it did not even occur to me to go.

Specializes in Emergency.

in any other state it was often too busy to get a break......but in California with the staffing laws, I have the option to take a break or decline. We have a nurse that is only considered a "break nurse".

This reason among others is why i'll be sad to leave Cali for my next assignment.

jen

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I would wager that most supervisors could handle an emergency situation, in the basic sense of initiating CPR and calling a code. Or at least recognizing a situation is going bad.

I would doubt that you could break your supervisor and truly fill in for her; it's no different for the supervisor when she breaks you.

Kind of off topic, but my biggest pet peeve is when staff nurses expect administrative nurses to be able to function at all levels. It's impossible; we can't know everyone's job inside and out INCLUDING our own.

Thank you !! If your supervisor has been away from the bedside for a number of years(10 for me), he/she may not be able to completely do your job, just as you probably couldn't do theirs. That doesn't make us defective, we just have a different scope of practice than you do- you're an expert clinician, we are managers/administrators. But we certainly can and should help out and be available to watch your patients so you can get a break.

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In the clinic situation that I work in, we had been receiving a one hour lunch break, which included lunch, and the two breaks for the 8 hour shift. We had combined 2 clinics and got new supervisors who decided that lunch time would be alloted 45 minutes, and a 15 minute break "only if the job demands it". I feel like the new admins want us to work more...We never get our "break". I know how it feels.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
in any other state it was often too busy to get a break......but in California with the staffing laws, I have the option to take a break or decline. We have a nurse that is only considered a "break nurse".

This reason among others is why i'll be sad to leave Cali for my next assignment.

jen

A "break nurse". Woot! I'm heading to Cali!

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what's a break?:confused:

geez, do i agree with this. am going back to 3-11's, and there are times i

1.) eat on the run, or 2.) just do without a break. (though i do make time to use the br!!) :p

suebird

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Specializes in NICU.

We almost always get nice breaks and lunches/dinners in my unit. But then there are those days where it all hits the fan and you just don't want to break your stride long enough to take a break. It happens to everyone.

Who else has had to pee sooooo badly, but held it because you were so busy, only to realize HOURS later that you forgot to ever go to the bathroom?

And I wonder why I got kidney stones!!!

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I would wager that most supervisors could handle an emergency situation, in the basic sense of initiating CPR and calling a code. Or at least recognizing a situation is going bad.

I would doubt that you could break your supervisor and truly fill in for her; it's no different for the supervisor when she breaks you.

Kind of off topic, but my biggest pet peeve is when staff nurses expect administrative nurses to be able to function at all levels. It's impossible; we can't know everyone's job inside and out INCLUDING our own.

By all means, I agree with you. I definitely can't expect them to completely fill in for me but there are a couple who come to the floor maybe once and then hide in a corner. Hey, as long as they're on the floor it counts right ?! Also camping out in the office for most of the 12 hours...anyhow, like I said, it's not all of them, just a couple. I am sure people find that everywhere though.

:)

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
We almost always get nice breaks and lunches/dinners in my unit. But then there are those days where it all hits the fan and you just don't want to break your stride long enough to take a break. It happens to everyone.

Who else has had to pee sooooo badly, but held it because you were so busy, only to realize HOURS later that you forgot to ever go to the bathroom?

And I wonder why I got kidney stones!!!

Hmmmmm.......now I'M wondering if that's contributed to my 3 episodes of kidney stones :uhoh21: I know I've developed 'nurses' bladder' from holding it for hours on end---for most of my life, I used to be unable to last 2 hours without peeing, and now there are days when I don't go to the bathroom all shift! Definitely NOT good for the ol' plumbing:rolleyes: And I hydrate myself pretty aggressively, usually drink at least 1 to 1 1/2 liters of fluid per shift.

Oh, so maybe THAT'S why I get up two or three times a night to go to the bathroom......DUH:uhoh3:

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I've heard that the two 15 minute paid breaks in a twelve hour shift are only if patient needs are met first. So, if you purposely understaff, give your nurses too many critical patients, then the break thing is not going to happen.

So that leave the 30 minute lunch (unpaid) that you are supposedly entitiled to.

Well, there's that little stipulation again "once patients needs are met". If you mark down "no lunch" on your time sheet too often, then you get dinged for it at evaluation time for not making effective use of your time.

Sometimes it is like administration wants to wring every bit of patient care out of you they can, chastize you for not being able to handle it all in an exemplary manner, then chastize you if you are able to juggle it all because you aren't working "efficiently".

Breaks? I wish!

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Hmmmmm.......now I'M wondering if that's contributed to my 3 episodes of kidney stones :uhoh21: I know I've developed 'nurses' bladder' from holding it for hours on end---for most of my life, I used to be unable to last 2 hours without peeing, and now there are days when I don't go to the bathroom all shift! Definitely NOT good for the ol' plumbing:rolleyes: And I hydrate myself pretty aggressively, usually drink at least 1 to 1 1/2 liters of fluid per shift.

Oh, so maybe THAT'S why I get up two or three times a night to go to the bathroom......DUH:uhoh3:

I feel you. I never seem to have time for bathroom breaks. Everytime I want to go empty my bladder, there's something I have to finish. I end up using the bathroom around 4 or 5 PM when I started my 12 hr shift at 7 am. :uhoh21:

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