i work night shift and there are just things i dont understand.....
1. report is started exactly at 6:30am, why is it necessary for the day shift to run in late, then decide to still put on makeup, get their coffee, start talking....i'm ready to go home, i'm sleepy..please be considerate
2. i've heard the rumors that "night shift nurses are lazy". i'm sorry that you feel that way but we have different responsibilities in our shift, and i feel we make sacrifices with our family...besides if its so much easier, why dont you try it?
3. it's nice to smile in the mornings and say hello. its very rare to see a day nurse come, smiling, and saying "good morning". Even though i'm tired and sleepy i still know how to be polite.
4. Dont ask me details about every single thing about the patient...example, "what date was this test done?", although you know the patient has been there for weeks. I gave you the results of the test, and technically i'm responsible for giving you report for the previous 24 hours, or even 12 hours...
sorry these are just things that have been piling up on me. I am in no way putting down one shift over the other, instead of giving examples of things i experience. I am always early to work and make sure I give myself extra time if needed. Yet, i have only been a nurse for 6 months and see that nurses either are burnt out or appear to hate their job.
I'm an old nurse and I've worked all three shifts. I don't tolerate chronic lateness from anyone. It is unprofessional and rude. I handle it formally and you know what? It stops.
Of course I am also the RN who purposely startled awake a nurse I found asleep in an empty hospital bed one night shift ....after I answered all the call lights and hung new IV bags on all her assigned patients...and after I'd taken a photo of Sleeping Beauty for management. She was soon a former co-worker. I don't tolerate sleepers either.
What doesn't work is complaining about it. if you have legitimate complaints, take action. That's why there is a management/HR structure.
I had an interesting experience 2 nights ago. I work days and one of my best buddies from nursing school works nights and got my group of patients. She asked me "What needs doing?" at around 1850 or so. I said, "Don't worry-go do your pt research...I'll be ok." She then insisted on helping. So the 2 of us worked together to tie up loose ends, visited pts, rooms, I reported off to her and I stayed and helped her till she was up and running....maybe 20 minutes. It was fun, without rancor, smooth, and perhaps the easiest and most graceful passoff of pts I've ever done. I wish every day could be like that!
Days has the horrible med pass at 9am, two meals, getting everyone up out of bed and washed for therapy, dealing with rounds, doctors, families, picc line dressings changes, wound measurements, wound vac changes, all labs, appointments, hemodialysis, consults ETC ETC ETC.
Yeah, I'm on days, and I deal with all that, except we have THREE meals because we work 12s, and most of my patients are feeders and incontinent.
If I were in my 20s, I would definitely opt for nights for a while, but with a teenager at home, no can do.
Give yourself a little more time in this profession and I guarantee that you'll experience personally what you are witnessing now as unhappy, burnt out nurses.
I've found for myself that the more I worry about the little things and co-workers mannerisms that I can't control, the faster I burn out on a specific unit/shift.
I've also put in enough time on all shifts to know one is not easier than another, each has their own challenges. It doesn't do any good to get upset about what you perceive as shift problems because it sounds like individual co-workers getting under your skin not the opposite shift as a whole.
Specializes in telemetry, ICU, CCU, CVCCU, Trauma.
We as staff nurses have to realize that nursing care is 24 hours. I've worked both shifts and they are each hard in their own right. Day shift has a lot of meds, doctors, family members (who most of the time are not so pleasant), and bosses; they are quite busy going for stat CTs, drawing stat labs, etc. Night shift is a "different kind of busy".....but NEVER as busy as a day shift unless their patient is crumping all night. On nights no matter how much sleep you get you still have to try to stay awake from 2-4 am. I think that night shift should come to days to see how it is and vice versa. Then you would have a new appreciation for each other. Needless to say, there are grumpy, mean, always late to work people on every shift.
This is why I'm glad my floor does rotating shifts for most people. We have 3 people who do straight nights, and 2 that do straight days. So we get none of the night shift/day shift nonsense :) But I agree with all of your pet peeves! If a doctor orders a BMP at 1800 and the day shift didn't get it done, whatever, I can handle that (unless they are doing funky things on tele). But if my patient with a new DVT in his arm got his heparin gtt d/c'd when he has only been getting coumadin for 1 day and the day nurse didn't get some sort of anticoagulation ordered? Not so happy lol. It's all about priorities and knowing when to let things slide. Personally, I like night shift better. It has its own set of frustration, but isn't pure chaos like the day shift. But man, that third shift is a killer...I can barely function. Then I do goofy things like staying up until noon after work and posting rambling messages on AN (like today). oops...
2. Done it. Did it. Know the difference. Seen it. Nights: Gaggles of RNs and Aides sitting at the station or the lounge while the call light blinks and blinks. RNs mad because they have so many "total cares" when they don't change them anyway. Instead of fighting off sleep, how about giving a bath and massage to one of those total cares, who doesn't know whether it's day, night or Christmas? And some oral care. Don't wait for your aide to do it. She won't. You're a nurse, so be one.
Days: PT, X-ray, MRI, MDs and consults writing new orders and you have to take them off. The bulk of admits and discharges. All the meals. All the family members. All the phone calls.
And you get more money for working nights.
3. Hello. What, are you kidding? When Press Ganey makes me say hello to everyone, I will. As it is, I do, and a third of the people don't look at me and keep walking.
4. Like they said, you do the same thing. Some nurses are like that, some are self-starters and only want the basics from you. I personally don't care much how the patient "slept all night." Because they're sure as heck not going to sleep all day.
Oh PS: recently a patient "slept all night" and "all day" for 3 shifts. On the 4th, someone figured out it was a COMA. Med reaction. Everyone was just happy she was sleeping and therefore an easy patient. Now she's an intubated ICU patient.
Remember, you chose nights. This is what it is. The day/night junk will always go on. Shifts blame each other, nurses blame each other, management blames everyone.
i think the op is just venting from a bad day at work and not commenting on the day shift vs. night shift aspect.
really? well, while her thread title does have the word "vent" in it, but it's actually also titled "day shift vs. night shift ."
i've worked both days and nights (all 12 hour shifts). each has their own unique challenges. each shift has legitimate gripes from time to time about the other shift, but it really shouldn't be a daily list of the same grievances. sounds like the nurse manager needs to go over some of this some with you all at a unit meeting. personally, i just couldn't do nights, but i know many nurses who would never ever want to do days.
Really? Well, while her thread title does have the word "vent" in it, but it's actually also titled "day shift vs. night shift ."
I've worked both days and nights (all 12 hour shifts). Each has their own unique challenges. Each shift has legitimate gripes from time to time about the other shift, but it really shouldn't be a daily list of the same grievances. Sounds like the nurse manager needs to go over some of this some with you all at a unit meeting. Personally, I just couldn't do nights, but I know many nurses who would never ever want to do days.
Really? Well, while her thread title does have the word "vent" in it, but it's actually also titled "day shift vs. night shift ."
She was speaking to the fact the OP's post isn't necessary related to day or night shift tasks, since her issues can be seen across the board no matter what shift you're on.
I also believe she just is having a bad day because she mentioned how she doesn't want to be bothered with people asking her dates.
To the OP: FYI- As a nurse you're not "technically" responsible to give information only from your shift (or the past 24 hours) but the major parts. Please tell me how you've come to the conclusion?
I started working nights but had to switch to days for my family. I understand day and night shift. I miss my coworkers from nights. But right now days is what's best for my family. I always try to stay around alittle bit to catch up with some of the night shift crew. And i make sure to explain to my day and night coworkers that each shift is different. There are certain things you don't see as much at nights so I try to help the best I can
BacktoBasics: If i have a patient that has been there lets say 2 weeks, has previously had an echo, stress test...etc and the results were normal, its irrelevant for the other nurse to want the "exact" date it was done.
Horseshoe: i probably should have worded the title a little different, but in my case this is my shift. I worked days when i was training, and I did choose nights because I am not a morning person and hated the chaos that goes on during day shift.
Overall, i believe its the environment and place I work at, that is my problem. Being tardy to report whether your days or nights is very unprofessional. I am always early and just expect the same in return. As for now, i'm gonna stick it out until i hit that "year mark" before i choose to go elsewhere. I know problems are everywhere you go, but although i'm a recent nurse, I have worked in the medical field for 10 years and can tell you that I have never felt strongly about a workplace. I should be happy with my job, not cringe every time its time to go back. Thanks to everyone who didn't take it personally!
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Quickbeam, BSN, RN
1,011 Posts
I'm an old nurse and I've worked all three shifts. I don't tolerate chronic lateness from anyone. It is unprofessional and rude. I handle it formally and you know what? It stops.
Of course I am also the RN who purposely startled awake a nurse I found asleep in an empty hospital bed one night shift ....after I answered all the call lights and hung new IV bags on all her assigned patients...and after I'd taken a photo of Sleeping Beauty for management. She was soon a former co-worker. I don't tolerate sleepers either.
What doesn't work is complaining about it. if you have legitimate complaints, take action. That's why there is a management/HR structure.