Recently, at my current nursing job as a RN on a hospital medical/surgical ward, I began working the night shift as it worked better with the hustle bustle of my daily living and I enjoyed the extra difference in my paycheck. While my body may not necessarily love staying up all night long, I have enjoyed the switch, and respect my fellow night shift co-workers. Of course, as with any floor, there are a few that do the absolute minimum amount of cares for their patients, but overall, we are a hard-working group of angels
Unfortunately, though, at lunch today, one of my co-workers (who has been a nurse on the unit for 9 years), made some statements that made me want to scream. Since I have only been a nurse for 2 years, I didn't want to step on the toes of one of the "Senior" nurses, so I had to bite my tongue. However, what she said has been eating at me all night, so much so that I knew I couldn't sleep until I recorded my mind. Essentially, she insinuated that night shift nurses are lazy. She felt it was unfair how we do not conduct skin assessments (as it normally assigned to day or eve shift on my unit), how we don't have the patients bathed before the day shift, and how we goof off on the internet during our down time.
Now granted, I have no idea if this person has ever worked a night shift in her career, and if she has, I would be shocked concerning how poorly she talked about night shift staff. Yet my soul cannot let this stand without educating not only this person, but anyone else also who shares this skewed idea of the work night care workers do.
Thus, as provided below, I am defending night shift health care workers (in particular, nurses) by giving detailed accounts on how we work just as hard, if not harder, than day or evening staff:
(As a disclaimer, I have nothing against people who day or eve shifts, as I still continue to work these shifts as well)
Some may feel that we are lazy because our patients are not bathed or showered by the time day shift comes on. This is ABSOLUTELY ABSURD. The sole purpose of a night shift care worker is to, after assuring our client's safety and making sure their health/vital signs are stable, is to provide an environment for restful sleep. Anybody with a brain knows that sleep is probably the most important factor in improving someone's health and well-being. The majority of the population does not normally bathe themselves at 4 or 5 in the morning, unless you have an early morning job and/or long commute. So, to wake a sick client up (who often has been bombarded the last 16 or so hours by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, procedures, you name it, with barely a break in between) at 4 or 5AM to ask them if they would like to be bathed is ridiculous. The client NEEDS TO SLEEP. And as any night shift worker knows, from about 6AM to the end of your shift, with passing meds, giving insulin, transporting clients to procedures, and feeding/dressing clients, there is NO TIME to offer hygiene cares. In addition, many clients are in so much pain or have such difficulty breathing/getting short of breath that they will refuse offers of hygiene cares during their stay in the hospital, as this is too much effort for them (even with assistance from the caretaker). Is hygiene important? Of course. More important than controlling a client's pain and/or managing their breathing? HELL NO---any smart health care worker would tell you that. Now, granted, if a patient is awake the majority of the night because their hygiene is poor and affecting/prohibiting them from restful sleep, than yes, most definitely, let's get them cleaned up so they can rest easy. But to say that night shift workers "should have clients bathed by the time day shift comes on" is just illogical and not conducive to the patient's well-being.
"Night shift nurses should do skin assessments". This is just a tie-on to my previous point. No, night shift nurses should not be doing skin assessments, as it will disrupt the patient's sleep. Yes, if we have a total cares patient who cannot turn themselves, and thus we need to turn them every 2 hours, then if possible, we can sneak a peek at their skin. Otherwise, the patient NEEDS TO SLEEP. I know day/eve shifts are commonly much more hectic than a night shift, but those shifts' nurses have far more opportunities to view patient skin without waking them from restful therapy.
Night shift nurses ALWAYS work with less staff. We have more patients assigned to us, and often have much less assistance from pharmacists, physicians, nurse aides, etc. Guess what happens? When one of our patients starts to go south, and we have 4 or 5 other patients that are assigned to us as well, all Hell breaks loose. Not only do we have to use our critical thinking skills without much guidance or assistance from physicians to save this patient, we got to be looking out for our other ones, too. We will bust our ass for the rest of our shift trying to catch up on all the other patients' cares. It is total oblivion, I tell you. Now guess what happens when that same scenario happens to a day shift nurse? Your doctors, pharmacists, interns, residents, nurse aides, etc. are THERE TO HELP YOU OUT. Night shift does not have that luxury so, quite frankly, we often times probably work harder than a day shift nurse.
Now, on the flip side of this, if we have a lucky night when all the patients assigned to us are stable throughout the shift, then we may have more down time then a regular day or eve shift nurse. After we have completed all the tasks the night shift requires, and in the brief spurts of time our patients are stable and sleeping, we may find a quiet hobby to move the shift along. Surfing the internet, knitting, crossword puzzles, and reading are common activities we will utilize. Should this be constituted as "goofing off"? Quite frankly, in my opinion, NO. If our patients' needs are being met i.e. they are pain free, sleeping peacefully, vital signs normal, ward tasks completed, etc., then we are simply finding an appropriate activity to do until our patients need our assistance once again. Let's be honest: if day shift staff had more frequent moments of free time inbetween patient cares, they would be doing the EXACT SAME THING.
To conclude, if any night shift health care workers/nurses out there are sick and tired of being viewed as generally lazy, and you got something you want to say about it, then please respond to this thread with your thoughts and the other misconceptions you have heard about the work that we do! Let us educate those who dare to pass judgement without fully knowing what it is like to work a night shift and never receiving any respect for it! Let our voices be heard that we ARE NOT LAZY, and that we deserve tremendous RESPECT and APPRECIATION for the work that we do!!
Thanks to all for reading and God Bless! :redbeathe
wow it would be great if my nite nurses did some bed baths.
you said that days assesses skin. I think if you work a 12 hour shift you are most likely obligated by your hospital to do a full assessment on your shift. If not I would expest your pressure ulcer rate to be increased. If you think one shift is only responsible-then you are doing what you say the day shft is.
I have the same similar problem in my unit. Apparently the day shift nurses think that us night shift nurses should do ALL the baths ALL the time. Hmm...let's see...in my hospital, respiratory therapy leaves at 11pm..so I'm the RT on nights. I do all my own vent checks, breathing treatments, set-ups if need be, draw ABG's.....we also don't have a house keeper after 10pm. I think there are about 1o whole staff members in the entire hospital on 11-7pm shift.
I prefer to let the pt's sleep if they are alert and oriented on night shif. When lab comes to wake them up at 0430ish I ask if they 'd like to get freshened up. Most say no. If the pt is A&O x3 and tell me no, then that's that. If my pt is on a vent and sedated(we dont use propoful where I work, then I'll bathe them. NOt a problem. I work with some RN's who NEVER bathe their pts, no matter how slow it is on their shift. The just don't bother.
As someone who spent the past year trying to get off nights and finally succeeded, I feel your pain.
I always tell people "Daylight is bussiest, night shift is hardest". Thats coming from someone who has worked both shifts extensively and knows what is what on both.
Now, on my new unit, working mostly days, I don't care if the night shift spends their time on the computer or does baths or not. As long as I don't have to work it, we are good. I'll do that baths on day shift and be happy with being able to sleep during the night.
While working full time nights I: Gained weight, lost contact with a lot of friends, became depressed, spent money unwisely.
I'm a new person on daylight now that I get to have a reg. sleeping schedule. If someone can do nights and avoid the pitfalls I fell in, I love em and don't have a thing to say about them. Please, stay on my unit and fill those night shift spots so I never have to.
wow it would be great if my nite nurses did some bed baths.
you said that days assesses skin. I think if you work a 12 hour shift you are most likely obligated by your hospital to do a full assessment on your shift. If not I would expest your pressure ulcer rate to be increased. If you think one shift is only responsible-then you are doing what you say the day shft is.
No, of course I do not think day shift is the only one responsible. I do check my patients' skin at the beginning of my 12 hour and the end of my 12 hour. When they are sleeping in the middle, I still turn them every 2 hours, but I may not assess every part of their skin. I will though make sure pressure spots are being relieved by pillows, prevalon boots, what have you. I normally just do not have time to do a braden assessment template note inbetween all the business, and it is policy on my unit that day shift nurses do the skin notes. If the day shift nurse has already done the template for the day, I will just prose write what the patient's skin looked like on my shift.
I work night shifts - night shifts are hard as you work against normal body clock. Working nights we have 3 staff on duty - morning shifts work with 15 staff. They can do the bathing. I will on occassion shower or bathe someone - through need - but I will not shower or bathe someone as a part of regular care. I'm too busy tending to the needs of 53 patients as a whole.
I get on well with day staff - they're a great team. Management are a problem.
Let us educate those who dare to pass judgement without fully knowing what it is like to work a night shift and never receiving any respect for it! Let our voices be heard that we ARE NOT LAZY, and that we deserve tremendous RESPECT and APPRECIATION for the work that we do!! 
nyrn5125
162 Posts
wow it would be great if my nite nurses did some bed baths.
you said that days assesses skin. I think if you work a 12 hour shift you are most likely obligated by your hospital to do a full assessment on your shift. If not I would expest your pressure ulcer rate to be increased. If you think one shift is only responsible-then you are doing what you say the day shft is.