Fell asleep at private case

forgivenfaith119 · Jan 10, 2015

Do you have malpractice insurance? If not, I would seek the advice of an attorney.

I realize mistakes do happen but it is best you seek legal advice ASAP because I have seen nurses reported to the board for falling asleep during the shift.

Good luck!

forgivenfaith119 · Jan 10, 2015

Also if it was me, I would no longer befriend any of your patients or family members on FB in the future. Things can just get messy that way!

caliotter3 · Jan 10, 2015

She has every right to report you to the Board but most likely will be satisfied with you being pulled from the case with slick talk from the agency. Now the agency may fire you. Hard for us to speculate, because many of us have seen the scenario play out in different ways with different circumstances. There are, in fact, many nurses who are rewarded for sleeping on the job with year after year of continued employment at the same agency and no correction to their behavior. Your best bet at this point is to seek the advice of an attorney so that you are ready should the worst happen. Do not beat yourself up over this. It happens often to night shift nurses, sometimes people get away with it, sometimes people pay the price. You need to rectify your situation. You will get nowhere telling the Board that you fell asleep because you have a day shift job as well as a night shift job. Too many hours of work in a row are a violation of labor law. You really need to take all of this to an attorney. Best wishes.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jan 10, 2015

I was a brand new nurse & orienting on a case doing private duty. It was nights & I had never worked night shift before. There was nothing to do for this client until right before shift change & I didn't bring anything to do. So I got bored, tired & fell asleep.

The woman orienting me told our director & she talked to me. As to whether she told the BON, I don't know. I know my license is in good standing. But I learned a lot from that night. I didn't fall asleep on a case after that.

I echo what everyone else had said. Talk to your malpractice carrier or an attorney.

globalRN · Jan 10, 2015

Why would you take on an overnight job when you have been working every day and are tired?

As professionals, we need to take professional responsibility for our patient care.

If that sounds unsympathetic.....yes, you have a duty to the patient and you did not ensure that you were safe to perform that duty.

Live and learn and lets hope your licence is OK

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

While I have never fallen asleep on a case, I will admit I was pretty close once . I worked a 12 hr shift 7pm-7am, had an 1.5hr drive to the PDN case my agency begged me to work that day.. Worked from 9:00am-5pm, and then had another 1.5 hr drive home. I was so tired towards the end of my shift when my pt was napping. I had to get up and move around.. I did dishes, laundry, whatever it took. I will NEVER do that again. I wasn't even use to working nights yet.. I was an idiot and risked my life (and others on the road) driving home being that tired. It happens. We feel guilty or overestimate our abilities. Call your malpractice insurer or talk with a lawyer who specializes in issues with nursing. Good luck.

Alnitak7 · Jan 11, 2015

I was kept on a private duty case one time for two days and was told it was okay to doze off at night. The only requirement was that I had to wake up if the patient needed help so I had to sleep with ears open. I use coffee and chocolate together and find this helps me stay awake.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jan 11, 2015

If you work live-in or 24 hours you must be given 8 hours of sleep time. In the case of working 24hrs on a single case you must be permitted to sleep. I've worked 3x24 hours direct care private duty. I was paid for 16 hours and permitted sleep for 8 hours. This is not the same as the OP where the agency or BoN may consider it patient abandonment.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

She has every right to report you to the Board but most likely will be satisfied with you being pulled from the case with slick talk from the agency. Now the agency may fire you. Hard for us to speculate, because many of us have seen the scenario play out in different ways with different circumstances. There are, in fact, many nurses who are rewarded for sleeping on the job with year after year of continued employment at the same agency and no correction to their behavior. Your best bet at this point is to seek the advice of an attorney so that you are ready should the worst happen. Do not beat yourself up over this. It happens often to night shift nurses, sometimes people get away with it, sometimes people pay the price. You need to rectify your situation. You will get nowhere telling the Board that you fell asleep because you have a day shift job as well as a night shift job. Too many hours of work in a row are a violation of labor law. You really need to take all of this to an attorney. Best wishes.

This.

I hope you have malpractice insurance. :blink:

Libby1987 · Jan 11, 2015

Did you not tell your supervisor about this before the mother did?

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

Unfortunately, sleeping on the job can be construed as patient abandonment.

Call your malpractice carrier and/or be prepared to seek the advice of an attorney versed in nursing issues, especially if the mother or your agency decides to escalate this matter to the BON.

Best of luck whatever happens.