Do night shift nurses try there best

massrn116 · Feb 15, 2009

I must have been a better night nurse than I thought, there were many a patient of mine that felt they slept all night and I was still able to be quiet enough in a room to pick up a little. I am not talking scrubbing floors and at some point whether a patient sleeps or not you have to do some sort of assessment, whether it be at HS or around 6am meds, what's wrong with making a room neat?

massrn116 · Feb 15, 2009

Hey Equinox93, great nurse? I don't know. I do know I love nursing, my patients compliment me and thank me for taking care of them generally on a daily basis. A lot of what I do goes back to nursing school and a lot of what I do still works and makes the patient feel cared for.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Feb 15, 2009

Jessy RN, wished I worked there. It sounds ideal. Our unit has gone through a lot of changes and several managers and I think that can contribute greatly to the problem. I wish I could bring about change for the better but I work with some hard core nurses. Not to pat myself on the back but when I did nights I washed at least one of my ventilated patients, left the rooms neat and orderly, hung an extra IV bag when I knew the one hanging was going empty and would need changing at change of shift, picked up the work area, emptied over-flowing trash even though "it is not my job."

I think many factors play a role in our work unit. We are the only hospital in a 250+ mile radius. It's a small town. Our director instills good behaviour and promotes it. We have mandatory staff meetings once or twice a month, we don't let issues "pickle" and nip them in the bud quick.

Everyone appreciates each other. There's a huge banner at our unit entrance the reads "through these doors walk the world's greatest employees". We believe it.

Outside our locked unit, things maybe much different (and they are). Makes us appreciate what we have even more.

If you aren't a team player or shape up.........you are not welcomed there so solves things easily.

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Feb 15, 2009

Lets see......How 'bout a quick run-down over who all passes through a patients room during the day - Doc, Family, Speech therapist, Respiratory therapist, Social Worker, Dietician, Phlebotomist, Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, maybe a rad or nuc. tech or two, HOUSEKEEPING STAFF, maybe central supply, maybe even a pharm tech or two double checking on drips, the Nurse, and for those units lucky enough, maybe a CNA or monitor tech/ward clerk checking in on the patient for whatever reason.

Lets fast forward to the night shift. - No speech therapists from 11 - 7, that's for sure. Sw'r ain't gonna be there, that goes for double for the Dietician, Physical therapist, Occupational therapist. Any family spending the night is more likely to be stretched out on a cot or scrunched up in a chair with as much dark going on in the room as possibly allowed - that goes for the sound level and activity in the room as well. Much more rare to see central suppy, pharmacy tech, rad or nuc tech on nights - usually happens in the bigger trauma 1's and trauma II's. Night shift usually gets shorted the CNA, or the ward clerk doubles for the CNA. The one or two HOUSEKEEPING staff on nights are going from newly emptied room to newly emptied room to get beds ready for admissions during the night.

VERY rare for a patient to go out on an excursion at night. Less of an opportunity to play 'out with the old, in with the new' for odds and end lying around when the bed leaves the room like on days.

In answer to the questions - "Do night shift nurses try their best"? - Yeah....I think they do a pretty darn good job. I never begrudge a rumpled bed or bedside table that needs a little freshening up before the breakfast tray comes in. I just figure that this is part of my AM routine.

I've got bigger fish to fry than a wrinkle here and a water cup (or three) there.

Peace out.:icon_hug:

MultipNP, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Feb 15, 2009

I've worked both days and nights. From what I can tell, there are nurses who are excellent in that they do all their work, plus look for ways to improve the patient/work environment in their spare time. Then there are nurses who just don't do any more than they absolutely have to. It would be amazing how much better things would be if everyone worked as hard as each other!

On our unit, we have "side duties" on each shift -- like stocking IV trays, cleaning up the nurses' station/lounge, etc. Some nurses do their duties, and then some extra -- while others just sit and watch the hard workers pick up their slack (sad). When things are ridiculously busy, obviously some things just aren't as important as emergent patient care. Unfortunately, those are the time the nurses on the other shift tend to fuss about what wasn't done. I have found that both shifts tend to do this. Each shift has its difficulties and benefits.

leslie :-D · Feb 16, 2009

truthfully, i found the question a bit odd.

how does one answer such a general question?

even in the worst of environments, doesn't reflect the work ethic of a nurse.

some will give it 110% whereas others get by with minimal input.

really, it's going to depend on the standards one aspires to...

or not.

leslie

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2009

Question: Do night shift nurses try there best

Answer: Where is there?

Leslie's answer explains it best.

RN1982 · Feb 16, 2009

I've come in plenty of times when day shift has left my patients in dirty gowns, no oral care as evidenced by mucous caked to the patients' teeth and tongue, soiled linens. Lets not for get the rooms. We have carts in each room with dressings, stuff for blood draws and IVs. When I come in, I have to clean the syringe wrappers from the top of the cart, wipe the top down with disinfectant because there are little specks of blood or some random medication. I've also found vigileo monitors laying about the room. I hate tangled cords and I've found many of those left over by day shift. I take them and wrap each cord with a rubber band and keep the separated because I don't have time to untangle them when in a situation. I've also found IV bags such as pressors, with about 10cc left in the bag. It doesn't take but ten seconds to change it. Some people are just lazy. This goes for both shifts.

It goes both ways, if both shifts did their part, there would be less complaints. But I can't stand when day shifters act like the night shifters do nothing but sit on their butt.

jjensen · Feb 16, 2009

I work both days and nights and can say that I give my best no matter what. The only difference during the day is that there are less Dr.'s, PT, OT and family... The patients try to sleep, but with our assessments, Vitals and some meds they don't always sleep... Yes, there are perks to working nights, but I don't just sit there, I do take care of my patients and anyone else who needs it. The pace is slower in general, but there are thoes nights when I cannot catch up either... I just call it even being up all night and trying to sleep during the day...

PS.. I have seen day RN's who are worthless too... Maybe it is the person and not the shift???

Mahage, LPN · Feb 18, 2009

Hate to disagree with the majority. I currently work 12 hour days. What I have observed when I have picked up a night, (and I have worked all shifts), on my unit the night shift gets report, settles in about 8:30 eating the buffet they have brought in, they have tea at midnight, go on the computer for several hours and if I happen to be the one up actually taking care of my patients I think they deem me incompetent. Coming on shift at 7am, I have found rooms a mess, just this past Friday three half filled cups of water at one bedside, I guess it would take too much to dump them in between computer games. When I asked ahead of time if one of them could get my pre-op freshened up before her 7am OR call, the night shift nurse told me she "forgot." I feel I work with a lot of "L-A-B's" my term meaning lazy ass *******. Sorry, I just get disheartened when the patient or family tells me how poorly they were treated by the night staff. God forbid someone needs some sympathy when their loved one is dying and it is the night shifts "down time."

Wow, I think this is a whole lot of generalization about night shift. Maybe the way it is at your hospital but not at mine. Now given it could apply to some, but I have feeling the same could be said about some day shift workers. On the days I have had to work over to do my paperwork, because I couldn't take the time away from patient care on nights, I pass through the break room on my way out about 6:30 or 9 am and half the crew is eating breakfast. We are lucky to get to slow down for a lunch break by midnight. I often come in to a big mess, and it is so rare that the patients dinner tray has been removed, I can pretty much bet that it is still there since 1700. This is not to say that day shift doesn't work hard, I think that most of them do. There will always be LAB's on all shifts whose last priority is patient care.

Mahage

Almeida09 · Feb 19, 2009

The both shift are busy. It is important to do your best in any position and any shift. The only thing that changes it is how you handle it!

Sydangle2 · Mar 9, 2009

do you think night nurses try their best to maintain a happy and clean ward please post here what you think and why

Working the night shift- Absolutely- if not for the night shift many med errors would happen. We on the night shift catch many med errors by red lining/ counter signing the charts. We keep the 1st & 2nd shifts running smoothly. organized- If not for the night shift many things would be missed, omitted. & Mistakes med errors- lapses in scheduling tests would occur. Our night shift is made up... highly professional, experienced nurses; that actually care about hight quality care.

So I can't speak for all nurses- everywhere obviously. But in my experience Night Nurses contribute much. & I'm happy to say it's the same when I changed jobs- or even got pulled to another floor. JMHO