Excited about night shift in LTC

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I have done days and evenings in LTC but rarely nights. I just go a part time night position and I have to say that I'm excited. I'm not a night person so I will definitely plan to get much rest during the day. The pros I see with nights is not having to deal with family members and so much chaos that goes on, on other shifts.

I feel as though I will be more of a nurse again instead of a pill pusher. I know nights have the downside too such as less resources and ofcourse going against nature and staying awake all night.

Any way, just wanted to share my excitement. Any advice would be helpful as well.

[Jaimie.RN]

I work nights too and you're still a pill pusher plus the elderly are cranky and there's a lot of sundowning. They mostly sleep and you have to wake them to push your pills. They also pass off the nastiest dressing changes on nights where I work, and good luck getting help if you need it, plus there's never any deliveries for the meds or supplies you need at night and they will stick you with more and more patients on nights (like 2x as many as days) because nights are "easier" when they're not. The med pass on nights is just as heavy as days and I do all the patients that 2 nurses do in the day. I spend 8 of teh 12 hours of my night passing pills. another 2 charting and filling out forms, another 1 doing bedsore dressings and then 30 minutes for lunch and the other 30 doing report with nurses who don't care if I get out of there on time or not. Not to be negative, but it's still just pill pushing for me, I've found.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

We don't schedule treatments of any kind on the night shift. People are supposed to sleep at night so we don't schedule meds then either unless it's a q 4 or q 6 hour antibiotic. Maybe the residents where Jaimie works are cranky because she keeps waking them up to push pills on them.To the OP, any shift is what you make it. Congratulations on your new job.

[Jaimie.RN]

If I didn't have to, I wouldn't! I ask for time changes on these things but day shift keeps changing them back, and since the nurses on day shift are all the ones who have been there 20 years and are buddy buddy with the adon, my complaints fall on deaf ears.

[akita_mommy]

I love night shift :) I know Alot more about my residents than the day/evening shift ever will because I actually have the time to go through charts and get to know the patients well given they are awake. I think if it wasn't for night shift nurses at my facility, the day nurses wouldn't know half of what is actually going on with the residents. But yet we will always be treated like NOTHING because we are the "bored night shift who does nothing." ha yeah right. Good luck and get lots of rest during the day. The sleep changes get better after a little while!

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

Thanks for the replies!!!

[IowaKaren]

If I didn't have to, I wouldn't! I ask for time changes on these things but day shift keeps changing them back, and since the nurses on day shift are all the ones who have been there 20 years and are buddy buddy with the adon, my complaints fall on deaf ears.

Just wait until your facility is cited for preforming daytime duties and giving daytime med's while the residents are suppose to sleep. My state does require that if they take med's in the noc, they are careplanned to receive because they want it that way, (eg. pain med's ATC). We will give med's if the resident has an antibiotic scheduled in the noc, or if a resident is going to an appointment far away and need to leave before 6 AM, if it is appropriate for them to have depending on what kind of appt. they go to. No one is woken up for a treatment, especially a painful tx. They only tx we may do is something temporary until healed like redness to the buttocks/coccys or something along that line that just needs a butt cream which can be applied after pericares, that is certainly appropriate. I know during the daytime, they feel it's not fair but I don't see any of them requesting to change shifts so,...

[Debilpn23]

Hi CCM

I would love to work for you. You sound like such an awesome person and your facility sounds awesome.

[Debilpn23]

NurseLoveJoy

Congratulations on your new job, I've been doing nights in an Alzheimer's unit for almost 5 years. Most of the time I love it,

I do not feel like a pill pusher, I know my residents well.

[SitcomNurse, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN]

"jan 14 by jaimie.rn jan 14 by jaimie.rn a member since oct '11 - from 'indiana'. posts: 72 likes: 90

awards:

if i didn't have to, i wouldn't! i ask for time changes on these things but day shift keeps changing them back, and since the nurses on day shift are all the ones who have been there 20 years and are buddy buddy with the adon, my complaints fall on deaf ears. "

come work with us, where we respet the population we serve, and have patients rights to not be awakened for meds, and even q4h is while awake.

our don comes in on the night shift to see htings for herself!

[Vinniesguy]

The DON of a facility I worked at turned up once halfway through the night to see how busy they were as things kept getting handed on to the day shift. She found all the staff except one aide who came from an agency asleep!

[cnatoBe]

I know this is an old post. But I too am beginning a night job at an LTC facility as a cna and gotta ask , do you like nights vs days?