Dont want to get anyone in trouble

[dscott76]

Hey everyone, I am a Cna/nursing student and I currently work night shift on alzheimer's/dementia units. By me being part time I rotate on all the units in the facility I work. Everytime I work on this one particular unit the LPN who usually is the charge nurse is always sleep. I am talking bout head back, mouth wide open, snoring sleep. It really bothers me because the unit has fall risks, elopement risks, u name it , its here. She doesnt do anything to help. She doesnt seem like the type of person who would want to hear what I have to say about her sleeping. So what am I suppose to do. I dont think its fair for her to sleep while we have to do rounds every two hours, vital signs, and everything else during the shift while she sleeps. I dont want her to lose her job but at the same time I am tired of her being knocked out sleep everytime I work on this unit. Any suggestions.

[+one]

probably there's a little suggestion box in your facility where you can write anonymously,

one of the LTC that I have worked at has surveillance camera attached to almost every corner of the facility so the nurses especially the night nurses can't even use their cellphone because the camera also has a direct monitor to the Admins home.

[+one]

You can also inform the night supervisor :)

[neutrophil]

Hi, I am glad that you don't want to get anyone in trouble. Nurses should watch out for one another. Which I think does not happen enough. But nurses don't need to watch out for one another when there is gross neglect. Another words, not because their is not enough time, or because of an honest mistake. What you are talking about is gross neglect and something has to be done about it. It is your obligation. My suggestion is to get those other CNA's and approach this nurse and let him/her know that it is wrong and you will do something about it, don't do it on your own, you are part time, you don't know if others approve of this and don't want to make waves in the unit. Be careful for retribution. Another thing that you can do is take pictures. Show that DON, but this will be a problem. You are a nursing student, you are finding out how hard it is to get your license, you will find out a lot more of the difficulties. This nurse should know better. You are not the guilty one, so don't feel obligated to take this problem on your shoulders. Remember, we are our patients advocates. Good luck.

[Orange Tree]

That is so sucky! I work overnight, too....and I hate it when I find another employee sleeping. I also don't want to get anyone in trouble, but I don't want the person to think that I'm okay with their sleeping either. I've found it's effective to get within a few inches of their face and wake them up with a cheerful "Good morning!" ....or I just call them "Snoozy" for the rest of the shift.

Now, someone who sleeps all of the time must be pretty confident that their job is safe. It makes me wonder if management would even care...

[mamamerlee, LPN]

This is a dangerous situation, especially if it was not a one-time thing, but is on-going. I worked lots of night shift in my day, and I hated waking up the staff. I started calling the house supervisor when I worked on one particular floor. She was annoyed the first time I asked her to come wake up my staff, and didn't show up for nearly 30 min. The same people were still asleep. She woke them, and had to write them up. (These were the days prior to cellphones.)

If you have a camera in your phone, take 2 or 3 photos. Before you leave in the morning, go to the DON's office, and show the photos. You may want to mark down what time you first noted her sleeping, and approximately what time she awoke.

[bubblymom373]

Get in touch with your night supervisor or if you don't have one your DON. This is one of the reasons they are there, to deal with things like this.

[Nurse Joey]

Get really close to her and yell "Code blue! Code blue! Get the crash cart!" After she jumps up like a chicken with her head cut off, then realizes there is no code explain to her that had this been a real problem she would be unprepared to handle it. My concern isn't about whether people get in trouble, but patient safety.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

While it's nice that you don't want to get someone else in trouble, I agree with the other posters who also feel it's a danger to patient safety. You need to let the DON or someone else in charge know about this somehow, even if you do it anonymously.

Or if you are feeling benevolent, you could wake the nurse and tell her that you heard stories that management is cracking down on workers who fall asleep on the job, and you don't want her to get into trouble so you're letting her know. Then if she does it again, report it and she can't say she wasn't warned.

If this is happening (or does happen) during your clinicals, bring it to the attention of your CI and let her/him approach management about it.

[Sparrowhawk]

She's sort of abandoning her residents to sleep....you may not want to get her in trouble, but eventually someone will find out anyway so it's best to report her now and save the patients harm....this is the situation where being nice isn't much of an option...though I do understand not wanting to get anyone in trouble..I hate getting people in trouble

[eldragon]

Recently, at the facility I work at, a nightshift LPN was apparently sleeping and an aid found her. The LPN became upset with the AID, and sent her home, saying "she's not following orders." Well, someone told me this and I asked another nightshift nurse if the nurse in question HAD been sleeping, and she said yes. So I asked her to write a statement to that effect, to give to the unit supervisor, who was off that day.

Long story short : the CNA was fired for other reasons they dug up and the sleeping nurse is still working there.

So depending on the facililty you work at and how desperate they are for nurses to work there, it's not as easy as it sounds to get a nurse in trouble.

It was appalling, but it happened.

That's why an annonymous tip might be a better solution.

[tewdles, RN]

why is she sleeping??? because she can....

wake her up, enlist her help, talk to her, ask her questions...

One of two things will happen...she will change her ways and become part of the team or she will get angry and misbehave because you are interrupting her sleep. If the former happens you have improved the team...if the latter happens report the behavior and move on.