Does any other night shifters feel like days has no idea how nights works?

[thomask]

does anyone else on night feel like days thinks we do nothing? Often when I give report I end up feeling like I've done nothing all night when I didn't even have time to eat my lunch. No I don't know what time the pt is going down to IR. IR isn't here at night. umm. No I didn't get the admission questionaire done. The pt looked pretty tired after that 10 hour surgery. UHh.. I have no idea if the docs want such and such. they don't like to be woken up unless its an emergency and i don't think such and such would be considered an emergency. and so on and so forth. I realize that these things are all important. I get that. But I just can't call a doc or a dept that isn't here whenever I want. I have to figure out if it can wait. and if they are breathing okay rhythm looks good and they aren't about to code. it can probably wait.

Nevermind the fact that i have had 3 transfers in and out, I had to call the pharmacy 3 time to get a med. i had to enter orders for all those new pts(no secretary) and check the chart and call pharmacy a fourth time because they sent the med I called about earlier to the floor the pt used to be on.( only one pharmacist on noc vs 4 on days) then I have to call that floor and ask them to send it to me. I had to call for the IV pumps.i had to draw 30 ml of blood from a pt that only wanted to give me 2. the pt down the hall won't stop pooping and thought itd be a good idea to pull out the ng tube and I am pretty sure thats not chocolate on my shoe. I had to get all your paperwork ready and make sure all my ducks were in a row before the drs come in 30 mins mins before the end of my shift and write another ten orders that I have to get done before I leave, and I will probably have to call pharmacy again becaus the nurse on the other floor where they sent the med sent it to a dept that wont open til 8. so yeah, I couldn't get to that. sorry. Oh and i did it all in the dark!

I always feel horrible when this happens. I am doing the best I can. But does anyone else feel like day shift thinks we can do everything they can at night??? these people they use all day long are not there at night. No one puts in my orders for me no one lifts pts for me and dr don't just stroll by all the time so I can ask them things.

why do I leave without feeling like I have done nothing when I haven't had time to pee in 7 hours??? I have more pts at nite too!! geez!! I guess you don;t know til you work nights

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

I got snotted at this morning because we were transferring a pt out, scheduled for an hour after shift change, the EMTs weren't even there yet (but had called to say they were on their way), and I hadn't called report in to the receiving hospital. Erm, I'm not calling report when the kid hasn't left, isn't going to be leaving in the immediate future, and I have no idea what might happen in the interim.

it's a shame some nurses arn't understanding. i am sorry you got snotted out. if i was the day shift nurse i would of been happy to take care of what you couldn't. out motto on our floor at the hospital i work at is " we have all day , don't worry about it" and nights say " we have all night , don't worry we have plenty of time" . i don't understand how people can be so rude. i get so tired of all the bickering... give yourself a hug for me.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

Here is the rub: when I go to the floor during the daytime just to check my schedule, put in for some vacation request and I'm there just doing whatever and I look down the hall. It's around 1000, early in the day shift and I see no body coming in and out of rooms, no blessed soul working. I wonder to myself, what's going on!? I work myself some nights to the bone with no breaks and most of the time spend it in the hall charting and here it is days and where are they!!!???

And another complaint, when I get to the floor to give report at night, the day people are all scurrying around finishing this and tidying up that; I'm waiting around to get report...waiting around for them to finish their act and please go home!!! And the the morning comes and guess who's late arriving to work? Yep, those day creatures who think we enjoy being at work so much, to have them arrive late and complaining of being tired is a pure joy!! Not!!!!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i worked the night shift for many years and i am very much aware that some day shift people had a very skewed idea of what the night shift did. it is due to a negative attitude and a lack of practicing teamwork. what i used to do was make a big point of going to all the day shift people, who, by the way, were also my coworkers, and make a point of interacting with them. i would ask them if i was leaving my shift with things in order for them. was there something i could be doing to help them get their shift going easier or better? was there something i was doing they didn't like? was there something they felt i should be doing? what kind of problems did they have that maybe i on the night shift could help them out with? and, i listened and did my best to accommodate them. we are all a team and unless we feel we are treated as team members then the lines of division start to get drawn. i also did the same with the people on the evening shift. the communication has to start somewhere and it might as well be with each of us. a good eye opener is also for one shift worker to work another shift here and there to experience what goes on. back in the very old days nurses were required as part of their jobs to work all three shifts in a rotation. they had a very good knowledge of what each shift duties were. it's too bad that this practice hasn't continued. it was a requirement when i worked at a military facility. it might make for better staff interaction.

[Suninmyheart]

Daytonite - I WAS going to give you a big fat "THANK YOU" until you got to the part about bringing back rotating shifts! Chuckle Chuckle. No, seriously - I LOVE your approach to bridging the gap between shifts. I too am a graduate of communication 101.

I am very new, not even off orientation yet (orienting on days still, soon to go to nights) however I think this is about needing to trust that your colleagues are doing as much as they can - period. There is always the slacker but for the most part we can't keep approaching shift changes with an air of distrust and always trying to judge whether they really had time or not. I hear my day shift coworkers complaining about night shift and it seems so futile. I wonder what I will find when I get to night shift? It is so easy to assume - and assuming can be so destructive to communication. I am sure I will fall prey to complaining here and there and I certainly am not immune to contributing to the problem BUT I want to contribute to what works and be professional. Are my above ideals showing off my rose-colored glasses? or is it possible to make this work?......

I also feel kinda thin-skinned with being new. The other day I came in to a nurse telling me I had left her with a mess. In trying to talk about it I realized she was basing her impression on some things that were assumed and not true at all. I couldn't get though to her and I could see she just wanted to blame and such no matter what so I just walked away. grrrrrrr.

[YellowFinchFan]

My favorite is when they say they couldn't get reach of Dr. So-n-so and would we mind doing it? Let me get this straight, you couldn't get ahold of him during office hours, so now you are setting me up to call them at home in the middle of the night or call their partner on-call who has no idea what's going on with this particular patient? And you think I'm going to have time to sit down and make phone calls before 0100? Or, my 2nd favorite is that they, with their four patients a piece and two aids to help, were unable to ambulate a post-op bariatric patient, teehee, and would we mind doing it? Okay, let's see, by the time I've gotten to all 6-7 patients of mine to ensure they're breathing and gotten vital signs entered (because, you see, we have no aids), it's around 10 o'clock....not the time most people are up for a workout. I apologize for my vent, it's just the last two shifts I've worked, I've had patients that I was told were "doing fine" in report, only to walk in the room to a trainwreck and me calling rapid response immediately.

I work days, your vent made me LOL - It sounds like you don't have any trouble the prior shift if you think they are not doing their job.

I try to get everything possible done - sometimes we can't - it's a 24 hr job as my mgr always says. We get along pretty good -days&nights- we appreciate ea other and are always glad when are 'relief' comes in.

The last part of your vent - about patients 'doing fine' about to code - that's happened to me too - cept it's nights to days - it happens and if you trust your coworker than you know sometimes this happens (and it wasn't neglect)

[fergus51]

It's a 24 hour job:)

I have heard a lot of people say nights is easier, slower, quieter, whatever. I always tell them if it sounds like such a great shift to work, they should sign up to do it. Few do. I'm looking forward to starting a day shift job in a few weeks and can't wait to feel normal on my days off!

[GeminiTwinRN, BSN]

ahhhh the joys of bickering about who did/didn't do what.

this whole thread could be turned around and written about either shift.

it's just the way it is.

i worked my first 6 months on the job doing NOC shift. i've worked the last 6 months doing day shift.

what i can say about each is that while NOC shift can be hectic at times, for the most part it really is (at least on my unit) an easier shift. like i said, IT CAN BE HECTIC, and IT IS, but in reality, the day shifters get the brunt of the crap. the families, the doctors, the procedures, the crazy busy nurses station/trying to find a place to chart, but mostly in particular the road trips. while on nights, i went to the ct scanner several times a month. on days.. i go to CT, MRI/MRA, Vascular Lab, Cath Lab, Endo, EEG, Neuro Diagnostics, etc.. on pretty much a daily basis. it plays havoc with your shift! if only we didn't have to travel with our monitored pts, i really think the shifts would be more equal.

on nights, i got out on time 97% of the time. on days.. i get out at 2030 a majority of the time.

if my life and child could handle it, i'd work NOCs just because i think it was less crazy. there are always going to be crazy nights, but more often than not, it was easier than days.

[Toquay]

Nursing is a team effort and the bottom line is the patient. Each shift has its own pros and cons, as does each department, for getting the job done. I secretly think management staffs us to keep us at each others throats so we can't stand together for the "right" things we need to do our jobs efficiently and safely all in results of what? Taking better care of the patient.

Toq

[hellerd2003, RN]

I worked nights at first, and then switched to days.

Both shifts have their pros and cons. I love being on days and being able to call a doc and not have them yell at me because they were sleeping. Nights get battered when they call with a patient on multiple drips, who is crashing, and they need an additional pressor! Nights also don't have a pharmacist in-unit. That stinks.

Days are busier in terms of orders and procedures. We have the majority of docs rounding, and radiology/ CT/ MRI/ interventional radiology is hopping. We also have admin on site, which can be both good and bad (I'll let YOU decide which one!).

In my facility, nights and days get along pretty well. We all tend to view nursing as a 24-hour job. This means that if you, on your shift, can't get to it, and you've actually TRIED your best, then guess what? If you can't do it, the next shift picks up the slack with no questions asked. I've picked up slack for night shift when they've been hit hard; night shift has picked up slack for me in the same scenario. This attitude helps to eliminate conflicts between shifts.

Just my two cents.

[BlearnRN]

I do work days. But I have worked nights. I know it can be busy. However I don't think it is the problem of busy but who you give report to. There just seems to be people that think all the pt care should be done by the shift before them and g*d forbid they might have to do work themselves. Its just some people you give report to, you have to "justify" why such and such was not done. If it was busy, you have to rehash it so they know you were busy and not sitting around. It is so stupid to have to justify it, but some people need to hear it.

[elthia]

How about "NO, the patient didn't pee last night and NO, I didn't call the doctor; he's a healthy fella with a minor surgery, and no renal issues; how many times a night do YOU get up to pee??"

Sigh.

That drives me CRAZY...why oh why oh why should I have to wake an pt on 24 hour obs for ACS III with great renal function, no IVF running and force him to pee.

Now if his BUN/Cr was elevated, that's different, but ACS III, negative cardiac enzymes, great renal function, no IVF, no events overnight...let the poor man sleep.

[elthia]

The only comment I hate hearing was from a dayshifter who came in early for no reason.

"well, all night shift does is sit at the nurses station until 0530 and then they scatter because they know the dayshift charge nurse is coming in"

No...the night shift was frantically trying to finish 24 hour chart checks before the docs showed up and took all the charts away...and then we were off to do daily wts, I/O's, chemsticks, 0600 med pass, before giving report at 0630.