Do Other Professionals Skip Restroom Breaks And Meals?

[TheCommuter]

I sometimes believe that inpatient bedside nursing is intertwined in a bizarre professional culture where the skipping of bathroom breaks and lunch periods is not only common, but occasionally encouraged by our peers and the powers that be.

Can you name any other professionals who systematically place the needs of their clients above their own?

Countless nursing staff members who work in inpatient bedside settings such as hospitals and nursing homes frequently bypass the breaks to which they are legally entitled. According to a study that was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2005), nurses are regularly sacrificing their breaks and meal periods to provide patient care. Although many of us already knew that that this practice was going on for quite some time, it does not bode very well for our personal health or job satisfaction.

After all, who wants to work anywhere from eight to twelve hours in a physically demanding role without any breaks?

I can see why numerous nurses explore career options away from the bedside.

According to Fink (2010), while the research confirms what nurses have known for years-few nurses get full breaks; long shifts + heavy responsibility + lack of breaks = fatigue and increased potential for mistakes-part of the blame may lie with nurses themselves. Some nurses forgo their breaks, especially in facilities with toxic work environments, because their callous coworkers or unsympathetic supervisors will endlessly gripe about having to cover an additional patient load during the time away from the floor. Other nurses skip breaks because they feel they might fall further behind with their tasks if they sit down for an uninterrupted lunch or leave the unit to use the restroom.

And even though healthcare facilities must legally pay nonexempt employees who work through unpaid meal periods, the managerial staff at some of these workplaces may subtly discourage nurses from completing 'no lunch' paperwork by taking disciplinary action against workers who submit a large number of these forms.

It is clear that both bedside nurses and the powers that be share some blame for this problem. Facilities need to do their part by encouraging staff to take all legally entitled breaks while taking steps to ease the intense workload.

The workload of bedside nurses can be made more manageable through safe staffing ratios, more streamlined charting, less redundant paperwork, and supportive management. Nurses must do their part by taking all breaks to which they are entitled and willingly covering the patient load of coworkers who wish to leave the floor for a break. Some hospitals employ part-time relief nurses who are on the unit solely to cover for breaks.

In summary, we must take care of our bodies and minds by taking breaks. No reasonable person can work nonstop day after day, year after year without feeling some type of resentment and burnout. To optimally take care of patients, we need to take care of ourselves first.

work-cited.txt

[multi10]

To this day, I wolf down food because I learned to eat fast when I was a nurse. And "holding it" became a way of life over the years. Now I have to pay attention in order to eat slowly and savor.

But I miss those days in the ICU. The hurried pace and urgency saved lives. Also, when we were off, we made food for our comrades/colleagues and brought it to work to put in the "report room" so that, in a situation of low blood sugar, a nurse could run in and get a bite of something.

[plf2323]

So if you have time to take a pee break but not enough time to eat properly during a 12 hour shift that is OK? Reading many responses, that seems to be the mindset. Nurses are supposed to be professionals. We are not waitresses, coal miners or truck drivers. There is nothing wrong with those jobs or the people who do them. However, you do not have to go to go to college and pass boards to work in a coal mine. Yes, there are times physicians do not have time to eat or pee. But that is not a regular, everyday occurrence for MOST of them. Other professionals would not put up with not eating a meal for 12 hours and eating a protein bar on the go is not a meal. I have worked with so many nurses who have a mindset that if they leave the floor or take a break, somehow their patients are not going to be taken care of or that everything will fall apart if they are not there. Get over yourself!! I personally would not want to be taken care of by someone who has not sat down or eaten a meal in 10 hours. No thanks, I'll take the nurse who had a break and ate a meal. Unfortunately, the culture in nursing is that we can't take a break longer than 2 minutes, which is evidenced in the responses to this post. As long as that is the case, it will never change and that's why I left bedside nursing. I am worth more than that and the patients are worth more than that.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

From the OP:

Can you name any other professionals who systematically place the needs of their clients above their own?

I don't believe answering the question posed is "not supporting our own" or any such thing. I don't think comparing waitressing to nursing--in the context of the question!--devalues nursing.

Any job that caters to clients will be a lot like nursing when it comes to breaks. I worked retail during the holiday season one year, and it was full of holding your pee and scarfing down lunches and mandatory overtime for the closing clean up.

Posters to this thread are nurses who are answering the question based on their experiences in other jobs. C'mon! All of us are much too smart to really believe nurses are the only ones who suffer in workplaces that don't value employees' basic human needs.

[plf2323]

The difference between nursing and waitressing, retail, and many other jobs that cater to clients is that in nursing if you make a mistake b/c you are so tired and hungry, you can hurt or even kill someone. I don't think comparing nursing to waitressing devalues nursing. I just don't think it is a fair comparison. If a waitress screws up your order, you send it back or eat something you didn't order. If a nurse hangs the wrong med, most likely the patient won't even know and it could cause permanent harm.

And the original poster asked if nurses were the only "professionals" who skip breaks, not the only "job". Big difference.

My "a-ha" moment came in the mid-'90's when I was taking care of a lot of patients with AIDS. I was on hour 10 without a break or food. I was giving an IV push med to a young man who was actively dying of AIDS and my hand was shaking b/c I was so hungry. The patient's mom asked if I was nervous about something. I said "No, I haven't had a chance to eat." She said "They let you take care of patients in that condition?" Good point!! I had always thought of it as not being fair to ME, but she saw a nurse with a shaking hand taking care of her terminally ill son. She saw it as not being fair to HIM. She was right.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

That's my feeling exactly. If I'm not receiving my breaks, I can't do my job properly. Unfortunately, nursing culture seems to be: just suck it up. As if it's some sort of badge of honor that you get to run around all day with no relief. I've been there, done that in my previous line of work. The day that my breaks start disappearing is the day I leave bedside nursing. My health, our collective health as nurses should be a priority.

[fiveoffive]

When I am training a new nurse on our unit, I make sure I encourage them to plan their bathroom breaks, and to grab a drink of water on the way back. It can be a challenge to take care of yourself while meeting all of your patient's needs. Some nurses are kind and considerate of one another on this front and others are not. I am not sacrificing my health, because without it, I will not be able to work. We could use MUCH more assistance from our management team in regards to better ratios, but until that comes we need to help each other out.

[SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP]

Bathroom breaks will be easier when I am a nurse. There is nothing worse than being scrubbed in a 5-10 hour case hungry and needing to void, with no extra staff scheduled for breaks. If I knew a way to sneak out of a case for two minutes I would. Some days I ask for a foley and I'm half serious.

[Flatlander]

I personally would not want to be taken care of by someone who has not sat down or eaten a meal in 10 hours. No thanks, I'll take the nurse who had a break and ate a meal. Unfortunately, the culture in nursing is that we can't take a break longer than 2 minutes, which is evidenced in the responses to this post. As long as that is the case, it will never change and that's why I left bedside nursing. I am worth more than that and the patients are worth more than that.

Thanks for that clear-eyed view! But why should we have to leave bedside nursing? As a few have noted above, the problem is not without solutions. But nurses believe they have no power to change the status quo (when they admit there is a problem at all). That is another problem in itself. From what others have said, unions are not the only answer. An enlightened management, open to staff feedback and respectful of staff needs would go a long way. Unfortunately, hospitals have become a big business and the focus seems always to be on the bottom line. I think the strongest argument for change is the emphasis on safety. Medical mistakes cost big bucks and the evidence for correlation with staffing ratios is mounting.

[sistasoul]

I always wondered how people who work in the OR took bathroom breaks. I would never want to work as an OR nurse because I would get claustrophobic having to be in that same area for all of those hours.

[Salisburysteak, BSN, RN]

This article definitely explains the reason for all the cattiness, snarkiness, and crankiness among us nurses!

Seriously, as others have stated it is best to leave the floor for a few minutes to revive yourself; even if it is going to take something to the lab or whatnot.

As humans we need to put our needs ahead of others at times like to use the BR or even eating! It is like a car if it runs out of fuel, the car is going nowhere and stick in the same spot waiting to be refueled. I have worked in LTC and always made a point to take BR breaks and to eat. I tried the "I am not going to eat because I am behind thing" I will tell you it does not work and may put you farther behind because you cannot concentrate d/t being hungry and irritable. I became a better nurse and I am sure the residents appreciated having a nurse on all cylinders!

Just my

[Aurora77]

Well, they have been pretty bad environments. .... sadly, most hospital units are . In the last two facilities I worked the patient load of 7 or 8 , constant turnover, excessive charting demands and the phone I am expected to answer... even if I do get in the bathroom.... most certainly cuts into any break time I DESERVE.

I've done this for 30 years, there is no need for hyperbole... the truth speaks for itself. Yes, there have been many times , if I were to have left that bedside ... it would have been unsafe for the patient. GI bleeds, Levophed drips , and ALS patients come to mind.

Wow, I'm sorry you've had such a horrible work experience. I'm surprised you've made it 30 years in this career, you've must love the job. I would have been long gone. Maybe it's because nursing is a second career for me, but I'm not going to put up with that kind of nonsense. I'm impressed with anyone who can.

I didn't realize how lucky I am that I have great coworkers who can watch my patients for a few minutes. Honestly, if I were finding that nursing is as many of the posters here have described, I'd be gone. I love my job, but in the end, it is just a job, not something worth being miserable over. I hope everyone can find a better position down the road.

[beeker]

We have to bring our spec phone to break, so you never actually get a break. You are constantly called to go do something every 5 minutes. If I turn it off, I get written up. The come hunt me down and drag me away. I never get more than a few bites unless I eat while moving toward my next task. It is absurd. Perhaps if they staffed us properly so we didn't have 8 patients each we would get to pee or take a break. Nursing is not about patient care it is about making money. And I am not the one making the money. The insurance company, the hospital administration, the ceos, they are all profiting from my lack of judgement. Staying at the bedside in the environment I work in is poor judgement. I am ready to crack after the week I had so maybe just take my opinion with a grain of salt.