define break...lol

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Anyone?

Specializes in Med Surg, Specialty.
At times, I have clocked out for lunch and then hung out in the trauma room to help out with an interesting case, just out of personal and professional interest.

In that case, it's no different than being a volunteer, and something that I do purely to 'play' with the fun stuff.

I caution you against doing this -- any patient care you do while on the clock is potentially hazardous. The patient could be hostile and attack you, you could get a needle stick, you could slip on blood, etc. Never assume your work will have your back -- if you are off the clock when you are injured they can contest giving you worker's comp/treatment.

Not something I would risk.

this is how i feel as well, but i didn't attain that attitude overnight.

i'd be so bogged down at work that i *couldn't* take a break.

one time i vented to my nm about it, to which she replied "whose fault is that"?

from that day on, i took my breaks regardless...

AND i also stayed late finishing work/charting.

after paying me (and others) overtime, mgmt put their foot down and ot was no longer an option.

do you think i did as some others did...punching out and then finish their work?

HELL no....no way, no how, not ever!!

there was no way i was going to work on my personal time.

i do feel that there are many that look at nurses as "martyrs" and i refused to be one of them.

my time is just as valuable as anyone else's...

and learned to respect myself enough to not be anyone's doormat.

if employers want us to get our work done, i will make sure that i am getting paid accordingly.

for me, it's the only way i could respect myself.

leslie

We had a post taped to our nurses station that read, if you're not clocking out on time at end of shift, you're clocking in/out PRIVILEGE will be taken away and we will clock out for you." So nurses were forced to clock out on time and either chart and risk everything that comes with that, or go home and not finish charting and risk all the consequences of THAT! As a new grad, I'm so concerned about this in my next job. Like Ive said, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Besides my PEDs internship in an office I've had, I only have 2 months experience in LTC as a new grad, and am already jaded and depressed about the prospects of my nursing career. I LOVE the actual nursing. I even enjoy the documentation and computer work part of it. But I'm scared I made a terrible mistake becoming a nurse (again, even though I love it) because of how easy it seems to get fired or written up. Sigh... I don't know what to do.

One Christmas day I decided to 'treat' myself to an actual break off the floor and in the cafeteria. I just got my food sat down at a table and they overhead page 'code blue cafeteria'. No rest even on break. 'sigh' lol

We had a post taped to our nurses station that read, if you're not clocking out on time at end of shift, you're clocking in/out PRIVILEGE will be taken away and we will clock out for you." So nurses were forced to clock out on time and either chart and risk everything that comes with that, or go home and not finish charting and risk all the consequences of THAT! As a new grad, I'm so concerned about this in my next job. Like Ive said, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Take a pic and send that to the Dept of Labor ANONYMOUSLY...that is sooooo illegal...put the name of the nurse manager the floor the facility TYPED...or even better send it to newspapers and etc...

Specializes in I/DD.

I am very thankful for the culture at my workplace. We are expected to make time in the day for lunch, and it is the charge nurse's responsibility to be available to help if your day is busy and you are running behind. Throughout my hospital ALL nurses are expected to answer alarms of all kinds- IV pumps, tele, vent alarms. Whoever gets there first wins, because it is a patient safety concern. What if that IV beeping is someone's pressors or sedation running out? The "not my patient not my problem" excuse isn't acceptable on the floor or the ICU. I have never had a problem with my patients basic needs being met while I'm on break, for which I feel very fortunate.

I don't take a formal break every day. If we're slow and I have down time I don't see the need. If I'm really busy usually I feel like I have to take one, and believe it or not it isn't that hard to clear a half hour so I can leave the floor. If my patient is unstable I will often choose not to take a break just because I am possessive of my patients and want to be there if something goes awry. But I have only charged the hospital for a missed lunch 3-4 different times. If missing my lunch is avoidable then it's not the hospitals problem, and the fact is that paying for unnecessary OT eventually backfires in the form of lost benefits (they just had to majorly reform our tuition reimbursement benefits which is a bummer...).

Oh, and one of my favorite things when I worked on the floor and had the needy patient who has NO CLUE that I have 5 patients that require a lot of care was the look on their face when, at 3:30/4 they are providing me with an endless laundry list of things to do and I have to interrupt them, tell them I haven't eaten lunch yet, and kindly ask if I can wait to do these things after I eat? It is usually priceless, and generally the patient takes care to utilize the husband next to them for things like finding a tv channel or fluffing a pillow in the future. It makes my life easier.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
We had a post taped to our nurses station that read, if you're not clocking out on time at end of shift, you're clocking in/out PRIVILEGE will be taken away and we will clock out for you." So nurses were forced to clock out on time and either chart and risk everything that comes with that, or go home and not finish charting and risk all the consequences of THAT! As a new grad, I'm so concerned about this in my next job. Like Ive said, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

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Are you freakin' kidding me? Sounds like someone needs to call the Department of Labor. No way do I work for free.

this is how i feel as well, but i didn't attain that attitude overnight.

i'd be so bogged down at work that i *couldn't* take a break.

one time i vented to my nm about it, to which she replied "whose fault is that"?

from that day on, i took my breaks regardless...

AND i also stayed late finishing work/charting.

after paying me (and others) overtime, mgmt put their foot down and ot was no longer an option.

do you think i did as some others did...punching out and then finish their work?

HELL no....no way, no how, not ever!!

there was no way i was going to work on my personal time.

i do feel that there are many that look at nurses as "martyrs" and i refused to be one of them.

my time is just as valuable as anyone else's...

and learned to respect myself enough to not be anyone's doormat.

if employers want us to get our work done, i will make sure that i am getting paid accordingly.

for me, it's the only way i could respect myself.

leslie

My thoughts exactly!!!

Specializes in being a Credible Source.
I caution you against doing this -- any patient care you do while on the clock is potentially hazardous. The patient could be hostile and attack you, you could get a needle stick, you could slip on blood, etc. Never assume your work will have your back -- if you are off the clock when you are injured they can contest giving you worker's comp/treatment.

Not something I would risk.

Could be... I've generally lived my life by taking appropriate risks and have gotten to the point I have by doing same. Had I played it safe, I'd probably still be working my original med-surg job far from home.

Point well-taken, though.

Could be... I've generally lived my life by taking appropriate risks and have gotten to the point I have by doing same. Had I played it safe, I'd probably still be working my original med-surg job far from home.

Point well-taken, though.

Keyword~~'appropriate'

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