For all you night owls

fyure · Jan 7, 2009

Hi Gardenparty!

Happy New Year!

Am just curious from what state are you?

Is there any vacancy there?

achot chavi · Jan 7, 2009

Rounds, Monitoring patients, paperwork, Unit Prep for the morning, Dressings, Vitals, Blood Sugars, Helping those who cant sleep, ....

gardenpartyy · Jan 8, 2009

Hi Gardenparty!
Happy New Year!
Am just curious from what state are you?
Is there any vacancy there?

im from TN

there are no vacancies in my nursing home for nurses anymore

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Jan 8, 2009

Rounds, Monitoring patients, paperwork, Unit Prep for the morning, Dressings, Vitals, Blood Sugars, Helping those who cant sleep, ....

We really shouldn't be doing dressing changes on the night shift unless the dressing has fallen off or is saturated. People need to SLEEP at night not be woken up needlessly.

achot chavi · Jan 8, 2009

We really shouldn't be doing dressing changes on the night shift unless the dressing has fallen off or is saturated. People need to SLEEP at night not be woken up needlessly.

To each their own, as the OP wrote- every facility operates in its own way and has its own rules and regs, I was answering in a general way- BUT if a pt got their dsg dirty with loose BM, I would expect the nurse to the dsg. As you ourself wrte you would expect a nurse to change a dsg that fell off. So I'm not sure how your post helps the OP.

BTW We have some dsgs that need to be done q8h, At 6am the first G-tube feedings get done and we ask that dsgs be changed at the tube site at that time.

BTW the way you write "We" reminds me of how nurses used to ask the pt: "How do WE feel today" etc,

To the OP, what you DONT do is get to SLEEP on the night shift-

You will need to learn to sleep during the day- use blinders, close your drapes - invest in good ones that really block the sun, try to get a rhythm going,so your body can adjust. If you drive home after a night shift make sure you are alert enough- there is another good post about that if you search you will find it.

All the Best!!!

gardenpartyy · Jan 8, 2009

thanks guys. i appreciate the responses. i'm somewhat nocturnal i usually dont go to bed until 5am anyways so i dont forsee myself having trouble with staying awake.

one again, thanks for the help guys =)

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Jan 9, 2009

I have never once said 'we' to a patient so please don't be so accusatory. Perhaps I should have said "Most nurses shouldn't be waking people up to change dressings" ...or maybe "all y'all shouldn't be doing......

yikes

achot chavi · Jan 9, 2009

I have never once said 'we' to a patient so please don't be so accusatory. Perhaps I should have said "Most nurses shouldn't be waking people up to change dressings" ...or maybe "all y'all shouldn't be doing......
yikes

Where do you read an accusatory tone in my post?

KullyLPN · Jan 12, 2009

I have been a nurse for 2 1/2 yrs. in a LTC facility been at the facility for 7 yrs. I worked 7-3 for 2 yrs just recently switched to 11-7 d/t family issues. My issue isn't the staying awake it's trying to get to bed in the morning. With the time change the only sunlight I see is on my ride home from work I work on a 32 resident floor with 2 CNA's. My night usually goes like this go over 24 hour report with the CNA's, CNA assignment, Accu check machine calibration, VS, 12 AM med pass (3 res.), initiate my 8 hours of 24 hour report, Treatments (15 res.), straighten up the med room, clean & organize med/tx cart, 3 AM resident rounds, charting on what i can, apply TEDS (5 res.), apply ACE wraps (1 res.), 6 AM med pass fluctuates depending on weekly meds (Fosamax, Actonel, etc.) usually b/n 10-15 res. Accu checks 2-5 res. depending on what day it is, Q 3 hour checks on all res. during cold weather, Change bubblers/clean filters on concentrators/Change NC wkly on Saturdays, wkly BP's on Fridays, set up cart for 7-3 nurse, finish charting, do bath book, behavior book, order supplies for floor, and in between all of that assisting any res. or CNA who needs anything throughout the night. My advice is to set up some sort of schedule and try to follow it. Easier said than done some nights believe me I was one of those people when working 7-3 thought what does 11-7 do. I found out quickly that u really have 2 work a shift before u can have an opinion of it. For me organization is a big priority. Good Luck on your new shift.:)

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Jan 12, 2009

We (oops...there's that word AC doesn't like!) all work hard no matter what shift we work. Not to be fresh or obtuse, but why do you do q 3 hour checks only during cold weather? Do you not have heat in the building?

KullyLPN · Jan 12, 2009

We (oops...there's that word AC doesn't like!) all work hard no matter what shift we work. Not to be fresh or obtuse, but why do you do q 3 hour checks only during cold weather? Do you not have heat in the building?

I would think that a facility couldn't get away with not having heat especially in the winter. I work at a 1000 bed facility with at least 1 maintenance staff member on 11-7. It was put in place by the facility as an extra measure to monitor the residents for elopement. I know I don't want to see any of the residents elope and wander out in the cold or during inclement weather especially res. with Dementia/Alzheimer's. The floor does have a keypad to enter/exit the bldg but I think a situation had occured in the past which put this into place. I follow the policy of my facility. I also in my post admitted that I was wrong for prejudging the work on each shift. Unfortunately the 11-7 staff on the floor I worked on when I was 7-3 shift didn't "work hard". I think that is why using "we" in a statement is confusing because what your supposed to do and what actually gets done can vary depending on the individual nurse. I hope this cleared up the confusion.