BREAKS?????? You've gotta be kidding!

[Joe V]

One of the big adjustments that new nurses have to make to the real world of nursing is the reality that nurses do not get to take breaks. This is something they just don't tell you in nursing school.....among other things. Just for fun...what's the longest time you've gone without a bathroom break?

[Helluvanurse]

I take all my breaks unless in a code situation. I work in a hospital with a great Union. Perhaps time management is an issue for some?

[Helluvanurse]

Same here. We don't play the victim we just take a break. It's the law.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

kalevra said:

Your hard work is greatly appreciated. Many nurses cant get their breaks and lunches. Think of it as a right of passage, getting indoctrinated into our profession.

It's not a right of passage; it's an employer that doesn't care enough about its employees to ensure that legally entitled breaks are possible.

[ProgressiveActivist, BSN, RN]

There is nothing funny about a cartoon about couple of brainwashed nurses laughing at a nurse who wants a meal break.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

I work in California, and my first job breaks were a pipe dream. Now I get my guaranteed lunch every shift. I refuse to work anywhere as it should be the rule. We need to rise up and insist on these breaks. Especially in environments where working hypoglycemic and dehydrated can affect our ability to do a very important job.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

I find, a lot of times, all the nurses on the floor feel overwhelmed and would not want to "cover" another person's patients for a half hour. When you work a very busy floor, there is no such thing as a half hour without a call for something, or an "emergency" of some kind, or a question. Sometimes they think the question cannot wait or shouldn't wait because they want "service" and attention right then. I do think they feel like customers rather than patients, at times . That is what I think has gone wrong with the healthcare system, in a lot of ways. It's very difficult to do customer service in this profession when you have to prioritize needs AND try to get a break.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Quote

Sometimes they think the question cannot wait or shouldn't wait because they want "service" and attention right then.

This is how I handle situations like this (assuming I don't know the answer to their question): "Your nurse is at dinner right now, and I don't know the answer as we only have detailed information about our own patients. I will let her know that you need to speak with her as soon as she comes back. It should be in about x minutes." If it's something I can answer like "when can I have more pain meds?" or something like that that I can find the answer to, I'll find the answer. Easy peasy.

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

NursesRmofun said:

I find, a lot of times, all the nurses on the floor feel overwhelmed and would not want to "cover" another person's patients for a half hour. .

This. It's not EXACTLY that I don't want to cover someone else's patients as much as I plan carefully when to go to my break, it's not an exact science. Sometimes I've just discharged a patient and made sure everyone else is OK. I've got 3o minutes while housekeeping cleans the room to get lunch before my new admit arrives and I get a call from my buddy as I head down the stairs to get my lunch "Hey, can you cover my patients while I go on break". Sure. I'll be covering my own as well WHILE I eat lunch in the break room where I can to them if needed. Sometimes if you don't take the break when you can, you don't get one until four. I'd much rather watch my own patients during lunch and take a break when the getting is good than take twice the load for 30 minutes and miss my own narrow window at a break.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

They deduct 30 minutes from our 12.5 hour day for lunch. This means legally I get 30 minutes of uninterrupted break. I 100% of the time get in a lunch break. I work a busy med-surg unit, and often am in charge, so it's rare that it's not interrupted by a question, or even me having to get up and then return to lunch. Often there isn't any other breaks but the day I work a 12 plus hour shift and skip lunch is the day I consider resigning.

Pee breaks take a minute or two and I don't understand people that don't take bathroom breaks. I hydrate real well in the morning before I leave and drink coffee, so I have to pee. I drink frequently throughout the day to stay hydrated...it zaps you're energy to be dehydrated. Maybe I stay later at the end of the day, but this is how I roll.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Farawyn said:

Does pooping during a code count as a break?

Saw watcha did there.....

[%D#2]

SarahMaria said:

I can understand being busy, but not being able to use the restroom or take a break? That is an abusive working environment and something must be done.

Please tell my bosses this.. Cause when I say this.. They don't listen to me. LOL

[%D#2]

RNdynamic said:

Nothing personal, but that sort of mentality is extremely flawed. Not taking a break (or lunch) is not a rite of passage. EVERYONE is entitled to a break, not just senior nurses. It's also federal law. If any senior nurse thinks new nurses don't deserve breaks, then they are pure idiots.

It's a federal law that gets ignored. I don't ever take breaks cause I've been the only evening nurse in charge of the whole building for 8 months and no one to help me. and they "fix" my clocking so if anyone were to say, "hey why isn't this nurse able to take her break?" They can just paint me out to be this huge idiot who forgets to clock out. Sad but true.