Coworkers that SLEEP on the job....arrrggghh!!!

RNGrammie · Jan 17, 2009

we agree to disagree! if you can work your entire shift without a nap, then more power to you, sister. do you work nights? it's hard to stay awake when the floor is dead quiet, patients are sleeping, and there's nothing to do. so take a nap, i say.

i checked out your profile to see if you had your age listed.....how old are you? i'm 47 and i'm not sure if it really makes a difference or not, but "napping" or "sleeping" while on the clock is wrong!!! you are not paid to sleep or nap. you are paid wages to do a job. sleeping is probably not part of your job description. if you are scheduled for overnights, then you better be well rested to work those hours. if you're scheduled days, you better be well rested. doesn't matter what hours you're scheduled, you don't sleep while on the job. it totally amazes me that some posters thnk it's ok to do this!! :no:

rolland542 · Jan 17, 2009

Okay, here's the thing...it happened where I worked before, (nothing was done)
it's happening where I work now, (the bosses know and don't do anything) and there's really
NOTHING I can do about it, but I just need to VENT!!
It is SO annoying and infuriating to me that some of my coworkers get away with SLEEPING while sitting
upright in a nurse's station, *OR*, even better, they sneak off somewhere for a little nap.
SOME charge nurses make them clock out and go home, but most do not. Where I used to work,
ONE time caught sleeping was IMMEDIATE termination; but again-----they let it slide many times.
I walk the hallways, I slam down coffee, I go chat with people on other floors, I offer to turn/ change
with the aides, I go listen to a patient who is lonely and wants to talk my ear off in the wee hours of
the night, I clean the breakroom......WHATEVER I can to stay awake!
And NOW, OH. MY. GOSH.....when I didn't think it could get ANY worse, one of our new coworkers
is on her tiny iphone alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll night long, playing online ------and NO ONE DOES
ANYTHING!!!
I would LOVE to nap and play online all night, but umm....it's NOT ALLOWED! I would be so EMBARRASSED
to be so unprofessional! I keep telling myself "get OVER it, life aint fair"!! But like I said, just wanted to
VENT and see how many of you have these same coworkers................UGH!!!

You do realized that this is a professional violation on most nursing boards.

Here's a little suggestion - pull down one and only one disciplinary case which involves sleeping while on duty from any nursing board. Print it out and photocopy it. Leave it in at least three separate locations around the nurses desk, maybe even slip one into the bosses mail slot. Try and make sure you are not seen doing it - maybe even "find" one your self and go geeze I didn't know that was a nursing board violation. :saint: I am sure within a month - there will be a lot more work and a lot less sleep on your floor.

inland18mempire · Jan 17, 2009

i'm not saying anything any more. i'm just saying you do what you think you should do, i'll do what i think i should do, and others will do what they think they should do! hehe

CathyLew · Jan 17, 2009

"Some staff go home for their breaks, seems no different to me than having a quick nap and not being available"

We can't leave the facility on our breaks. Even the unpaid one. The facility is staffed and even staff on break may be on the Code team, or the Emergency Responce team. Or have the Narc keys. We have two units that are staffed with one RN and one LPN. They have break rooms on the unit. You call the supervisor to wait on the unit while you go to the cafeteeria to get your meal...to bring back on the unit to the break room to eat it. That way there is always an RN on the unit.

Sleeping on breaks is not an option. Even though it is a break, you are still on call. I can't imagine where a 15 minute nap would really refresh me. I think that would just make feeling tired worse, and set my body up in a pattern where it thinks it's ok to doze or nap.

When I was a patient in the hospital (appendectomy) I couldn't sleep at night. I was so aware of the hospital noises on my own floor.

nervousnurse, ASN · Jan 17, 2009

(OP here)....thank you to everyone who responded so far.....there is something I'd like to add----I think

it would be GREAT if naps were allowed, IF that is something that would help people to

feel better and get through the shift (I realize for some people, a nap does NOT help them!)

Wouldn't it be great if we had the CHOICE to:

1) if you have coworkers that agree, they'd watch your patients

2) you could clock out and sleep 30 minutes, and hour, maybe two....(I would be VERY refreshed and a

much SAFER nurse sometimes if I could take about an hour to sleep!)

there would be no harm in that! I do have empathy for people who HAVE to work nights for personal

reasons, and I'm sorry they are SO tired! I also worry about them driving home! It FRIGHTENS me

to think of these people on the road.........if a nap would make them safer, that would be GREAT!

My Dad was in a Magnet hospital this summer and I read something about them considering letting

nurses nap...........great idea! Not to mention allllllllllll the other people---RT, Xray, Lab, etc....as long

as their coworkers and supervisors agree and all patients are cared for.......that'd be great!!!:wink2:

Now, as far as my coworker who played on her iphone the ENTIRE 12 hours and didn't even make

rounds on her patients Q 2.....that's another story!! ARRGHHHH!!!!!!!!!! :banghead:

kcochrane · Jan 17, 2009

Day shift people get sleepy too. I've seen more than one person hit the desk and even fall out of their chair. So "switching to days" is not the catch all solution for sleep deprivation. Either way people have lives and responsibilities out side of their jobs that make getting enough sleep hard.
I didn't know it was wrong to take a brief nap while on break if one needs to. It beats scrwing up maybe fatally coz you're so tired you literally can't see straight or because of sleep deprivation induced hallucinations.

My comment about night shifters switching to days had to do with those people that really can't tolerate the night shift - and there are those that can't, no matter what they do. Those that use the night shift to get more hours out the day really need to stop and get some sleep.

I'm with you, a nap is fine if its on your break. Sometimes someone just needs a few minutes of ZZZ to recharge.

ChrisLady · Jan 17, 2009

That's wrong! Report them, why should you get stuck with no nap/break and possibly have to do their work if they're sleeping. Report them or request a transfer to another unit or hospital. :specs:

rolland542 · Jan 17, 2009

That's wrong! Report them, why should you get stuck with no nap/break and possibly have to do their work if they're sleeping. Report them or request a transfer to another unit or hospital.

My advice is:

a) if your facility, DON, and manager are aware of this and do not stop it, they should be reported individually and as a group

b) if your facility, DON and manager do not stop it, file a complaint with your BON. It is professional misconduct and if the nurses believe that it is fine, well they can explain it to a nurse investigator.

Princess_M83 · Jan 18, 2009

We agree to disagree! If you can work your entire shift without a nap, then more power to you, sister. Do you work nights? It's hard to stay awake when the floor is dead quiet, patients are sleeping, and there's nothing to do. So take a nap, I say.

I generally work days but even when I work the evening shift I manage to stay awake until I get home. I do get very tired but I am at work so I stay awake. I see nothing wrong with a nap on break but as I said, blatantly sleeping when you are responsible for patient care while not on a break is just unacceptable IMHO.

Princess_M83 · Jan 18, 2009

i'm not saying anything any more. i'm just saying you do what you think you should do, i'll do what i think i should do, and others will do what they think they should do! hehe

This is not something to laugh about. I certainly would not want a nurse who is supposed to be taking care of my critically ill family member sleeping when that patient needed them. It is just plain sad that you think this is something that is not only acceptable but that you think it is something to laugh at.

jane9 · Aug 24, 2011

Just so you know, it happens in the veterinary world as well. I'm busting my butt taking care of patients, while the assistant is sleeping at the reception desk. It is an insult, infruriating, and mind boggling that there are folks out there who think this is okay. If work interferes with their waking lifestyle, I say these folks should do the rest of us a favor and quit.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 24, 2011

The only RN in the building some nights (when I was a GN-- and worked many nights as charge when she was off) would doze off. It stunk. I really liked her, and didn't want to say anything ,but the CNAs on her wings (LTC) were upset- understandably....and I wasn't the nurse over there, so wasn't going to intervene when I didn't know those folks..so I finally said something to the ADON.....

The ADON came in one night around 3 am, and pulled the fire alarm. End of problem :)

I'm not advocating pulling the fire alarm- but having staff that's off sleeping is bad for you, too. I wouldn't work somewhere that was so strangely tolerant of paying people to do nothing. Was this a govt facility ????