falling asleep during nightshift

Nurses General Nursing

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    • 19
      only terrible nurse aides sleep on nightshift
    • 20
      we all get tired

39 members have participated

of course you shouldn't do it

but come on. we are not perfect. If you have had a hard time sleeping, I can not blame you for dozing off. all i can say is don't make a habit out of it.

I can remember once i fell asleep for 30 minutes on the nightshift on my first nurse aide job i ever had. I know i slept, because i had a dream. Funny enough my dream was about work. I dreamed i was sitting in the chair that i fell asleep in and my co-worker was like "come on we gotta make rounds" and i just could not get out that chair. It was like i was paralyzed. No, it did not actually happen, because when i woke up it was no where near time for us to make rounds.

Im probably gonna get alot for this, but im the type of co-workers that understand your tired and if you need me to poke you on the head for rounds or when your light goes off then i will. I actually have a co-worker like that and she is a really good nurse aide. The most i will ever do is curl up and close my eyes to meditate, but i won't actually fall asleep. I won't to know everyone else's take on this. Is it really that bad?

Specializes in NICU.
it is ok if you co-workers are ok with waking you if you fall asleep by acident. its how we work here if someone falls asleep there is always someone to wake them up.

we are not irresponsible stop acting like we are

You STILL haven't answered my question of WHAT IF YOU ALL FALL ASLEEP AT ONCE.

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im not gonna say im not i am

many people will hate on my co-worker closing her eyes during work, but i think as long as someones awake during hours its completely fine. i agree with you 100%

im not saying its the best thing in the world, but im not gonna criminalize myself or anyone else for it. You should always try your best to stay awake and alert during work hours, but come. when you think about it nodding off is just as natural as falling out, but less extreme. your certainly not going to attack anyone for falling out

The bottom line is your facility's policy. Most read " being asleep or giving the appearance of sleep" .. is grounds for immediate dismissal. I was charge for many years.. looked the other way in many circumstances. I don't give a rat's patooti what shift it was, or what your situation was... don't sleep on my watch.

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I have worked NOC shift before and definitely got sleepy

What does NOC stand for? I've tried night owl, and had nothing for the c. I give up.

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What does NOC stand for? I've tried night owl, and had nothing for the c. I give up.

Nocturnal. Old abbreviation.

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Specializes in Dialysis.
You STILL haven't answered my question of WHAT IF YOU ALL FALL ASLEEP AT ONCE.

Oh, but they wouldn't. OP has stated that they're not irresponsible. Smh

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Specializes in Dialysis.
maybe an elite team preforming a study knows better then a nursing home? maybe all nursing homes should think like this in order to have more alert cnas and thus a safer nursing home

i wonder

This article was written by a group of nurse scholars in Manitoba, Canada, based on critical care units and emergency departments, which are very different than long term care. The Canadian health care system is much different than the US based system. There is much more healthcare litigation in the US, and this is one reason why sleeping on the job is a big no-no. Justify and defend any way that makes you feel better. But as you have found, most of us have not, and will not give you a free pass.

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Specializes in NICU.

If she is on her break ,sure ,why not,the rest of staff snoozes during break nightime/daytime,whenever,....real work is tiring.

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Absolutely NOT. It's 100% unacceptable to sleep during ANY shift at ANY job. But especially as a nurse, i would think this would fall under gross negligence.

I worked an assigment as an overnight CCU nurse and they would rotate and take a nap in an empty room. It absolutely drove me up the wall. Only exception being that you're using your 30 minute lunch break to take a nap instead of eat.

In my first nursing job my night shift preceptor would literally go sleep in the break room half the shift. She taught me nothing, just let me take care of the patients while she snoozed. Some people shouldn't work nights. If you have to be awake all day to take care of your kids or another obligation, it's still not a justification for someone to sleep during their shift. We're not being paid to sleep, were being paid to take care of sick people.

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Specializes in Practice educator.

No you can't sleep on shift. We sleep on our breaks but even that is a bit controversial according to the 9-5 management. We used to have an older nurse on our ward who would doze at the desk but we just let her as there was plenty of us around and if need be we'd just prod her. I think outside of qwerky little things like that I think its disciplinary.

Once again though, I don't understand this culture of fear created by all this talk of being fired for things that should be a disciplinary, I don't think I'd enjoy nursing in the US.

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Yeahhhhh, big mixed feelings on this. I worked night shift as a CNA for 3 years. I did fall asleep once while in a dark computer cubicle charting - it happens!

BUT: it was only once. After that, if I didn't sleep well the day before, I'd try to take my off-the-clock 30 min break early, so I could take a power nap. I'd let my team-mates know what I was doing and where I was going, in case I slept though my alarm (I never did, but still). I was very conscious that I was most "at-risk" for dozing while charting, so I made sure I turned on lights around me, stood if necessary, and knew the nurses who would not mind if I put one earbud in for some up-tempo music.

I sympathize: it's so difficult to train your body to be ok with night shift, and we're only human. But when it comes down to it, you CANNOT do your job while asleep. I used to get mad when morning shift complained we got paid more for doing "less work". My argument is, sure, we get less activities done, but come work some shifts and see how much work you FEEL you did! I took my night shift job seriously, and when I was at work, I WORKED.

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Oh, and when I caught co-workers snoozing, I'd nudge them awake and ask them if they wanted to take their 30, or their "optional 15-minute break", to nap. Maybe that was kind of a jab, but like others responding in this forum, I felt it was really important not to contribute to a workplace culture that encouraged this. If you're falling asleep, tell your co-workers, go off the floor, and power nap....then take steps to ensure it does not become a habit. I can sympathize with how difficult 12 hour night shifts can be (both in long-term and acute), but the fact of the matter is, being unconscious when you're on the clock is negligence.

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We get a 30 minute break to. During our pedicure time we do get to sit down. I'm talking about nodding off while sitting down. Should you be blamed for that? I mean if you haven't slept well in weeks can you really help it.

You must find a way to sleep off duty and be totally alert and "present" while on duty.

I do believe that it is fine to nap during break times. We used to each take an hour - 2 15 minute breaks and our 1/2 hour meal break - and sleep. We, of course, did not all sleep at the same time. We did sleep in 1 spot, where other staff could grab us if an emergency arose. We were not allowed to leave the building on Nights. (Arguably, we should have been paid for our unpaid meal break because we were not allowed to leave, but that's another topic.)

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