Do you miss lunch or dinner breaks routinely?

nursejanedough · Mar 16, 2001

3/15/01. I was a floor nurse in a Nursing Home/LTC (Long Term Care). Breaks? LOL. (Laugh Out Loud). We were told by postings, and slips inside our paycheck envelope if we did not clock out for lunch/dinner, we would all be in big trouble. Most of the good nurses I knew would clock out, go back to work, and clock in 30 minutes later. We charted and did what we had to do on our lunch breaks, or take care of residents, because most of the nursing assistants had called in sick. This was not an occasional happening, it became almost every day. I would leave work every day, without breaks, lunch/dinner, etc. and would worry about the elderly folks because I knew they were not getting the care they needed. It was exhausting, mentally and physically. I was neglecting my own family. As a nurse, it was not giving up lunch or breaks, it was AFTER giving up lunch, breaks and staying overtime that sweet elderly people were still not getting the care they deserved. I gave up. Maybe the strong, good, "single" nurses will survive. Good luck.

Kylee3 · Mar 17, 2001

Being a "Baby-Boomer" nurse, many lunch and dinner breaks were missed. Three years ago I had decided to leave hospital nursing and now do home-care. Not only do I get to eat my lunch I also have the pleasure of providing my patients with the nursing care that they deserve!

Synergy814 · Mar 17, 2001

Luch? Dinner? Only recently have I rediscovered dinner. That is d/t a job change that is now full time days.

I am no longer required to do direct care. That allows me to get away from the "double back" shifts.

Lunch now consists of the few moments I get to shove something in my face to keep me going. Nothing more, Nothing less. Never to be documented. I have to, according to "labor laws," take a 1/2 hour lunch. Otherwise,according to "management" it falls upon me. Have you ever tried to tell "management".......geeze, "Im sorry, can you call back in 20 minutes? Im on my luch break???" Or better yet, the MD you have been trying for days to get ahold of?

Cletus · Mar 17, 2001

For a 3 year period I worked night shift

If you didn't pack a lunch to eat as you walked down the hall while taking care of pts you most likely were not going to eat. The hospital cafeteria is only open for two hours at night. If you were busy during that time you were out of luck.

PillowTalk · Mar 17, 2001

i work second shift and take a lunch from home with me...i work 3 days a week and i can not count the number of times i brought the same lunch to work all 3 days,pack it at home,take it too work get too busy to eat,bring it home and the same routine the next day

duckie · Mar 17, 2001

Out of the last five evenings I have worked, four of them were ten hour days with no breaks at all. I ate my Supper at my desk while charting. Now, keep in mind that eating on the hall is a no no, but I do it anyways. I figure, what are they gonna do, fire me. I'm willing to give up all breaks to care for the residents and that's not been easy in the past 2 months, as death has not been kind to my unit. I have had 8 deaths in 2 months with four currently on comfort measures. I have several residents on my unit that frequently need one on one due to increased confusion, which leads to falls in their case. I have never taken my full amount of breaks in one night and I have been there for over 5 years. I know there was a post on another area of this board that stated folks like us were "sucky" nurses but I at least go home every night knowing that I did all I could. My facility overlooks my eating on the hall and they do pay me for missed meals, so I guess it's not too bad. I love what I do and I can tell that many of the other posters do too. Can't see me going to any other area of nursing so I'll continue to eat on the run.

fergus51 · Mar 17, 2001

When I miss them you can bet I put that time down as overtime. I am not missing personal time and not getting paid for it.

snappy · Mar 17, 2001

you know it's pretty bad when you go to work and expect that you will not have a break or if you get to take a break it seems as though you are having a "lucky" day.

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snickers · Mar 17, 2001

We often miss breaks,if it is a coffee break that is missed.too bad,so sad, if it's a meal break then overtime is claimed at time and a half.

sj.

Tiara · Mar 17, 2001

I do not think that nurses who care about their patients - even to the point that they don't have time to eat - are "sucky" as someone supposedly said. However, I did this no eating, no break routine for about fifteen years. The problem is this: the powers that be at the hospitals hang guilt all over the nurses. Yes, you are there to take care of the patients. No, it is not your job to be responsible for the entire hospital. Yes, you are important to your patients. No, you are not so important that you can't be replaced! Hopefully, the hospital administrators will begin to realize what century we're living in, and that nurses are not sweatshop workers or indentured servants. Everyone should have the right to eat, take a break, and go to the bathroom. This is not the dark ages anymore!

Genista, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2001

Routinely missing lunch breaks is just one of many reasons why no one wants to be a nurse anymore. In what other profession would this type of employee abuse be tolerated? It harkens back to the Industrial Revolution! I work w/ nurses who are diabetic. They can't afford to miss lunch any more than that patient in the bed down the hall! Lucky for us (Calif.), we now have a new law that requires nurses to get their 30 min. lunch break...and if not, they are paid time & a half for their missed lunch, as well as 1 hour straight time pay for the inconvenience.We write it in on our time cards as "no rest period." My current employer has been pretty good about making sure we all get covered for our 30 min lunch breaks. But sometimes we do miss lunch...and yes, we charge for our time! It's "the law" now!