I read alot of threads on here that talk about not having time to take a bathroom break, not being able to take a lunch break, much less 15 minutes breaks every, what, 4 hours or so.
Why does this happen?
There are laws that protect you. I fully intend on saying, "um, no, I am going on my lunch break, if you don't like it, talk to the labor department, or whoever passed the laws that certainly do exist.
What do you think? Tell me why you allow yourself to be abused like that. I promise you it won't happen to me.
I'm only a nursing student, but this scares me more than a little. I do get lightheaded when I go more than about 6 hours without food. I'm also on a diuretic for hypertension, so I can't wait 12 hours to pee - I can wait a couple if something crazy is going on, but not a whole shift! I don't necessarily need 30 straight minutes to sit and eat, but 10-15 to shove something down in the middle of my shift might be nice. Please reassure me that no breaks whatsoever isn't the norm - I also don't want to have to job hop around town when I'm still new.
It is the reality, MMW37. Make up your mind right now that you will take care of yourself so you can be there for your patients later. Eat when you need to, use the restroom, take your breaks. If you don't, you will become resentful like so many here are. It's not easy but just stand up for yourself. Yesterday, I had to counsel a couple of aides. They knew I was in the right and did what I asked them to do. Did I have to work up my nerve to speak to them? Yes. But I did and it went well.
Specializes in Assisted Living, Med-Surg/CVA specialty.
By the way, I'm an LPN and going for my RN. I finish in December. I think it's funny I just had a "communication" question about a husband being frustrated about his dying wife and the correct answer involved the nurse saying something like "Have you been taking any time for yourself?"
I think it's funny we suggest patients families to take time for themselves but a lot of us don't get time for ourselves on the job.:trout:
But it is ok that you are being taken advantage of and that you are "giving" your time?
And don't be fooled.
You are not "giving your time" to your patients..... you are giving it to your facility.
Think of all the time that is given to hospitals. It adds up to millions per facility.
And we wonder why they aren't rushing to help us take our breaks.
Oh, and for the record......... I am just as guilty as anyone else.
I just can't figure out a solution at this time.
Oh, I get paid for my time. If I feel that I didn't truly have time to take a break (I still don't always leave the floor but there are nights I could if I wanted to) I write "No break" and I get my 30 mins paid to me.
Do you mean to say that a nurse should feel guilty for taking a break? A given break? Nurses are allowed and rightfully do take breaks every single day here in the good ole U.S.
Please clarify!
Let me clarify my feelings. And this is just the way I feel. Nurses are entitled to breaks. There are very few shifts I get thru without eating something more than a handful of crackers from the patient kitchen. But I personally feel better if I eat near my patients, near my other coworkers in case all you-know-what breaks loose. I just feel safer that way. I guess I've had too many patients fall, when they've been considered low risk, totally with it patients, and if I hadn't been sitting near their rooms during my break, I wouldnt' have known for god knows how long. I still remember one lady, totally 100% with-it, had been able to get up all day long on her own to the BSC, in the middle of the night woke up with an "urge" to pee and a little pee escaped on her way out of bed, she slipped and fell and hit her head. This lady had a central line, with heparin (and po coumadin) and a chest tube. If I hadn't heard the BSC rattle around, I don't know how long she would have laid there. Fortunately she was okay...but I think about that when I think of leaving the floor. And then I worry about the patients who wouldn't even consider using the call bell, cause they don't remember because they are confused. And at night time we are usually staffed lighter, so there are less people to keep an eye on patients. It just worries me at times, and I figure 3 nights a week I can eat a bowl of soup at my little nurses station, big deal. I may play on the internet, and I can do that without feeling guilty, because that's part of my break as far as I'm concerned. Working in the nursery, its hard to leave your coworkers alone. Especially if a baby starts really choking (which they like to do that first night, esp if they are a c/s), its so nice to have 2 people in there. I would love to be at a job where I could leave for 30 min and not worry that stuff could really go wrong. But I don't work that kind of job. I'm not being "noble", I just don't like feeling disconnected from the patients for that long. Shoot, even when I worked retail, I didn't get a real break alot of times because as a manager, I was constantly getting pulled back to the sales floor for returns, cash register problems, phone calls, etc. I guess maybe I'm just used to not having true long breaks, maybe.
To each his own. I said in a different post, I do get paid for my 30 mins if I feel that I never had time to take it. If the time was there, and I choose not to leave the floor, that's my problem. But if the time wasn't there, I get paid for it.
Hospitals need to staff a break relief nurse. In smaller units maybe the charge nurse or manager could relieve for meals and breaks.
In California our ratio law requires the ratio to be met at all times including meals and breaks.
I used to routinely eat at a bedside table outside a patient room.
Got up to answe the phone or a call light. Took way too many patients when others were on their breaks.
Now WE together put in for overtime if we are not relieved for our breaks. We also fill out an incident report that patients were placed at risk. It is all of us so it costs less to pay a relief nurse than to pay us all overtime every day.
Somehow they can find plenty of staff when JCAHO comes.
Why risk a nurse with a double assignment for 1/2 hour and fatigue caused accidents and errors?
What do you think the average person would think if they knew we went 12 hours or more without time to ourselves, sometimes not even to go to the bathroom?
Let me clarify my feelings. And this is just the way I feel. Nurses are entitled to breaks. There are very few shifts I get thru without eating something more than a handful of crackers from the patient kitchen. But I personally feel better if I eat near my patients, near my other coworkers in case all you-know-what breaks loose.
Okay and everyone entitled to their own way. When I worked in the hospital we always covered each other for meal breaks, always. Even when it was busy it was rare that we didn't take our breaks.
I've worked in quite a few hospitals and for the most part, we took our breaks. Day or night shift it was set up pretty early on, who is getting what time and so forth and who is covering for who.
I just see so many nurses not taking care of themselves, it stinks. YES the patients are important but if you don't take care of you, who is going to take care of them?
I remember when I shadowed in the ER at my hospital, there was a nurse who would come in during lunch hours for THAT PURPOSE of relieving other nurses for lunch.
I remember when I shadowed in the ER at my hospital, there was a nurse who would come in during lunch hours for THAT PURPOSE of relieving other nurses for lunch.
That sounds like a perfect solution. Then the other nurses don't get over burdened, and you know your patient is getting any needed attention. Too bad so many places probably wouldn't make the room in their budget for this!
Have you told this charming supervisor's boss about her refusal to relieve you?
You do have a choice, you are just afraid to stand up for yourselves. Not criticizing you, just have to try to get you to see the truth (as I see it from here). I know it's hard but there is no other way but to fight for yourselves and what you need. It's not going to be handed to you. You have to take it.
Yes, she's been reported over and over. Nothing we can do at the moment, if she refuses to relieve what are we supposed to do, tell her she can't perform whatever task she's doing and come anyway? We are not afraid to stand up for ourselves, believe me we are a mouthy bunch, but we only have so much power. We get some vindication when she refuses to sign our overtime requests and we bypass her to take it to the boss, who will sign it. We fight back by making sure we don't volunteer the time and get paid for it.
We get some vindication when she refuses to sign our overtime requests and we bypass her to take it to the boss, who will sign it.
Maybe you and your coworkers could accept her not paying the overtime for a few months and then sue the hospital. They probably wouldn't be too happy with her.
megananne7
274 Posts
Not every state: