dayshifters please please please...

[fiveofpeep]

FOREWARNING: this is a rant. I understand not all dayshifters do this. I just need to get this off my chest so I dont call back and ream the nurse who woke me up.

Dayshifters,

Please as a common courtesy do not call someone past 0800 unless it is something you absolutely cannot do your job without knowing. If Im being called after 0800 I expect to have made some gross error or to have nearly killed my patient. I only leave my cell phone on as a courtesy to day shift so that they can reach me if they really desperately have to.

Do not call me to ask about something you could have figured out yourself by looking through the chart. Do not call if you are an administrator at my midnight just to chat.

The end result of your insensitive call times is a part of my soul dying a little and most importantly, I end up being so infuriated that I was woken up for something so benign that I cant even fall back asleep.

Nightshifters always take care whenever they place a call to a doctor, administrator, or staff nurse. We dont call unless we darn well have to. We try to exhaust all other options and think autonomously before we wake someone up.

How would you feel if we called you late at night and woke you up after a hard shift?

Thank you for listening. I know most of you dont do this but lately it's been happening a lot at work and I need to get it off my chest and maybe some people will think twice before they call and wake the hibernating bear.

Love,

The Nightshift

[JDZ344]

I once finished a night shift, and was in bed. The day shift rang me at 1300s (I sleep all day if I'm back in that night!) to ask me something so stupid that could have waited until I came back that night. I asked her if she like it if someone called her at 0100, and why did she think it was OK to disrupt MY sleep? Really annoyed me!

[favthing, APRN]

I work day shift and wouldn't think of calling midnight staff during the day! I've waited until 1400 or later to call midnight staff having had a question. If there were something drastic going on, I'd imagine that management would be involved, and they'd make the call earlier in the day prn.

For each shift, when the shift ends, the shift should end without having to worry about work. It seems like there's a lack of respect and a lack of professional boundaries going on where you work. Hope it gets better.

[catshowlady]

My ex taught me a way to fix this. Tell them you are sleeping and will call back later. Return the call exactly 12 hours later, yes at home. It will not take the offender long to figure it out.

:paw:

[Midwest4me]

thank you, fiveofpeep! such calls infuriate me. many valid points were made! calls from managers, staffing personnel and any other yahoo during any time of the day to a night-shifter is rude and uncaring. when i worked nights, i fought all day and all evening to get enough sleep to go in and do my 10 or 12-hour shifts. i was not nice to people calling me in the middle of my sleep day (and noon to 1400 is the middle of the sleep day) for night shifters!). if they had a problem with my attitude, oh well...too darn bad!!! i am on my time off when the person calls when he/she knows darn well i have to sleep during the day so i don't feel badly in the least for "going off" on the phone at the caller.

[OCNRN63, RN]

I always turned the ringer off on my phone when I worked nights.

[bagladyrn, RN]

One of my pet peeves as well!

My biggest problem is that I will answer the phone in my sleep and apparently sound as though I am wide awake, carry on the conversation and have NO memory of it! I'm told that I am very agreeable when asleep - I've even bought magazine subscriptions in my sleep! One boss I had used to get me to agree to extra shifts by calling me at noon!

Many of my acquaintances, and in particular my recruiter's assistant, have trouble not only with this concept but also with the idea of time zones - they are incapable of figuring out just what time it is where I am relative to their location.

[belgarion]

My ex taught me a way to fix this. Tell them you are sleeping and will call back later. Return the call exactly 12 hours later, yes at home. It will not take the offender long to figure it out.

:paw:

About 20+ years ago when my wife was the med aide at a small LTC on nights, the DON always seemed to wait until 1100 or noon to call her to ask a question that either could have easily waited or should have been asked before she left work. (The DON was an early arriver). To add insult to injury, the woman would always ask her, "Oh, were you asleep?"

I suggested she do the same thing. She started calling the DON at around 0200 or 0300 with questions about orders or notes left behind and would always start out with "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't think you would be asleep." Worked like a charm. The DON either started catching her before she went home or held off calling until late afternoon.

[Retired R.N.]

My solution to this problem was an answering machine. I NEVER returned the calls until I had finished sleeping. If that happened to be inconvenient for the person who called me while I was asleep, that was not MY problem. :-)

Retired R.N.

[mrsinquisitive]

Never had to make the call myself.... but if I ever have to, I will DEFINATELY think twice! Thanks for the heads up!

[JStyles1]

i dont work nights, but thats why i don't answer calls from work when i'm not working. if i want to come in and work extra, i'll let you know. if something is wrong, deal with it and tell me about it when i come in next.

[kcochrane]

My favorite is getting woke up after 2 hours by the charge nurse to ask if I had given a resident her Lantus insulin. She was told by the med nurse that I had not signed it. I did give it, but of course now I'm awake wondering how I forgot to sign??. That night I went in to sign the MAR late - wow, my initials were there, since I in fact did sign it. I told the charge nurse that next time they want to know if I gave something, please check the MAR.