Do Nurses have time...

Nurses General Nursing

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I have some questions

Do Nurses have time to.....

-Go to the bathroom?

-Have a 2-3 meals in a shift? (can you keep a protein shake in the fridge and drink it quickly)

-Can Nurses carry a water bottle around?

I keep toothpaste and mouthwash in my locker

You have a locker??? I dream of the day when I get one.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I am lucky, being perdiem, I have a locker too. Glad for it.

Specializes in ICU, Research, Corrections.
i have some questions

do nurses have time to.....

-go to the bathroom?

sometimes, you have to make the time to go to the bathroom!

-have a 2-3 meals in a shift? (can you keep a protein shake in the fridge and drink it quickly)

no. most 12 hour shifts have a 30 minute break time, but you have to make time to go to lunch too and find someone to watch your patients. i always make it a point to take my 30 minutes.....but rarely do i leave work on time. if i skipped all breaks then i would leave work more on time. personally, i need 30 minutes of quite time away from phones, pagers, alarms, interruptions, and call lights for my own mental health.

-can nurses carry a water bottle around?

i think it is against jacho rules to have liquids around the work areas - you are supposed to have beverages in the break room. i will be damned if i will work 12 hours without having a bottle of water at my charting area! no way would i even work at a place that didn't allow handy drinking water.

:monkeydance:

Yes, please make/take the time to use the bathroom and to eat your meal. I work on a med-surg/telemetry floor. We get a 30 minute meal break during our shift. I'm fortunate I work on a floor where we all are trying to work together as a team.

We ask our staff not to wear perfume or fragranced lotions to work because of the sensitivity of some patients and other staff members. Unfortunately there are some who will wear them anyhow.

We are not suppose to chew gum, but rather use mints. Personally, after I eat I chew a piece of gum while on break and once I return to the floor I throw the gum in the trash. My breath is better and I'm not tempted to smack my gum or to blow bubbles.

Specializes in 6 years of ER fun, med/surg, blah, blah.

Oh, just hang yourself a banana bag & stick a foley cath in & you'll do JUST fine!:lol2: I work in the ED & after several days of not getting a lunch break, & when I finally get one I announce, "Gee, it must be my birthday!"

Nutrition bars are great to keep you going. I often keep one in my pocket at work.

Oh, just hang yourself a banana bag & stick a foley cath in & you'll do JUST fine!:lol2: I work in the ED & after several days of not getting a lunch break, & when I finally get one I announce, "Gee, it must be my birthday!"

Nutrition bars are great to keep you going. I often keep one in my pocket at work.

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

When I was doing my final consolidation I was on a post op surgical floor. I always found time to have breaks, and go to the washroom. My preceptor had spent a couple days explaining how she organizes her day, and I modified it a bit but it went very smoothly. I found that when I was in the doctor's office working, I never had time for anything though, or in a nursing home.

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
Do Nurses have time to.....

-Go to the bathroom?

Depends. 5-6 patients, I can snatch a pee break. 7 or over... er.. forget it!

-Have a 2-3 meals in a shift? (can you keep a protein shake in the fridge and drink it quickly)
did you say "2-3 meals in a shift" ????

>

>

*in a raspy, gasping breath* "No 2-3 break. Only 1" *deep breath* "if you could afford to!" *cough. Deep breath*

.. saga goes on...

I make time to pee. Sometimes I will go a whole shift without realizing that I haven't yet...then I get home and I think I can hardly stand it! I mean, I know we get busy and sometimes you just can't find the time, but it only takes me 2 minutes to pee. And I'm probably much more pleasant when I'm not worried that my bladder will burst!

I almost always get a dinner break too...maybe not always the half an hour I'm *supposed* to get, but I still get to eat something. And the pts probably apppreciate that, too, 'cause I'm sure I'm less crabby when I'm not starving!

You have a locker??? I dream of the day when I get one.

Yep . . . .rural nursing rocks! :monkeydance:

just kidding . . . . we found an old locker, two square lockers wide and 8 lockers long. Not everyone uses it but I leave my steth and name tag at work, keep pads/tampons in there, my toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash, IBUPROFEN!!!, etc.

Most of the time we eat meals on the floor in the doc's dictating room which is in the nurses' station. I also get up and take care of pts during this time but sometimes will go off the floor.

JACHO can go to heck . . . I refuse to NOT have my cup of coffee at my elbow when I chart.

steph

Specializes in all things maternity.

I stopped wearing fragrance to work when I went to work one evening and was assigned the care of a fresh c-section just out of recovery. She was doing great according to report but as soon as I assumed care, she began suffering of nausea and vomiting. After a few hours of me hovering over her trying to make her better, she finally confided that she thought my fragrance was making her ill but she didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying anything. I assured her that her well being was my top priority and immediately arranged to change assignments with another nurse. Sure enough by the time my shift ended she was feeling much better and I said goodbye from the door.

As for lockers, I guess I am really lucky to have 2 lockers...many of our staff does. I use one as my personal locker and one as my childbirth educator locker.

And lastly, I try to always take at least part of my break. Being diabetic, its too risky to try to work an entire shift with no meals and I will not risk the health of my kidneys for anybody so yes I pee everytime i feel the urge.

Vickie

I have some questions

Do Nurses have time to.....

-Go to the bathroom?

-Have a 2-3 meals in a shift? (can you keep a protein shake in the fridge and drink it quickly)

-Can Nurses carry a water bottle around?

Before going to MDS, I worked on the skilled unit et went to the BR about one time in a 12 hour shift and MAYBE took a break (lunch) one day in two weeks. Too busy. And I never took my 15 minute breaks. I guess it makes me a good office nurse though because I often help out on the unit when I know they are busy or get admissions because I know how frustrated they feel.

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