shift wars, GRR

[clemmm78]

This is a Vent, nothing I can do to fix it, so I'm letting steam off here so I don't say something that might land me hot water. Grrr.

You know how it is in a lot of places, each shift thinks that they are the hardest done by. Often, nights is the poor stepchild of the shifts, stuff gets left for them to do because "we have more time." There's also the misconception that there isn't a lot of work to do.

Add to that some nurses who are very judgemental and feel that you should do things their way, even if they aren't there. Then, add to the mix, the "*I* wouldn't have done it *that* way" when you give report.

Next time, I'm just going to say, "listen, YOU were not there. *I* was. I made a nursing judgement well within the parameters of my job. I chose to follow the course I chose because it was the CORRECT one to do at the time given the circumstances that presented. I don't give a flying fig if the patient never acts that way on days or evenings, HE DOES ON NIGHTS."

Ok, I think I feel better now.

The whole post probably doesn't make much sense, but it was surprisingly cathartic.

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

Would'nt it be nice if we would just grow up and respect each other??

Well said! But sadly it probably will never happen.

[bethin]

EXACTLY!!! I work afternoons. We get well over 50% of admissions (which is a lot... each nurse usually has at least one per shift), but have lower staffing than day shift. We have two large medpasses like days. We have a relatively equal number of txs to do. But, if day shift doesn't get something done, then they pass it off to us. However, afternoons can't pass things off to nocs because they will blow a gasket. I don't get it.

Oh well, I suppose the OT will pay off eventually.

I have noticed that evenings and nights get alot (if not most) of the admits. I did alot of days during the week over summer, and I rarely saw an admit from 7-3. After that, the floodgates would open. But it makes sense: no doctor is in their office at 8p or midnight so they go to the ER. And where I work, you can get admitted for a cold - last weekend we admitted a whole family with colds.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

EXACTLY!!! I work afternoons. We get well over 50% of admissions (which is a lot... each nurse usually has at least one per shift), but have lower staffing than day shift. We have two large medpasses like days. We have a relatively equal number of txs to do. But, if day shift doesn't get something done, then they pass it off to us. However, afternoons can't pass things off to nocs because they will blow a gasket. I don't get it.

Oh well, I suppose the OT will pay off eventually.

LOL, reading your post and the one before yours, about not being able to leave anything for nights, makes me want to work at YOUR facility Here, nights starts at 11pm, and believe me, it's not considered a new day, NOR does "blowing a gasket" help us any. We know full well that the boluses not given, the blood not given, the meds left unclarified or on hold fall to us to do, no exceptions. There is never an excuse for NOT giving the piles of meds and treatments that didn't get done on days or eves, no matter how short-handed we are.

I'm not saying that nights is harder, blah blah blah, just that it would be nice if days and eves recognized that when THEY dump on US, there isn't a "next shift" to dump onto. Leaving it for days = not doing your job around here

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I have noticed that evenings and nights get alot (if not most) of the admits. I did alot of days during the week over summer, and I rarely saw an admit from 7-3. After that, the floodgates would open. But it makes sense: no doctor is in their office at 8p or midnight so they go to the ER. And where I work, you can get admitted for a cold - last weekend we admitted a whole family with colds.

Amen! People who have been stacked in the ED starting in the late afternoon will end up being admits from midnight to four a.m. Puking gives you a bed, even if there's no dehydration. Abdominal pain of any type? Better get a room ready.

Sometimes it's so bad that the few poor souls that are working the shift alternate admits with a "whose turn is it for the next one?" being called out from the station!

[bethin]

Off topic, but we've had people come into the ER with complaints of diarrhea. Asked how many times they've had it they answer once. They get a bed.

[burn out]

Where I work there are only 2 shifts and no difference is made between the two' each shift is expected to do half of the work. When I worked night shift we made sure we did at least half of the baths but most of the time did at least 75% of them because you never know what is going to happen on the next shift. If ther was an order for an off unit procedure we were written up if we didn't have it done when day shift came on. Now that I am on day shift I find that no baths are being given on nights and they never take a patient for a ct scan or off unit procedure. Yesterday while I was playing catch up for what night shift did not do my co worker is having to

manage a patient that just coded on med=surg and the orientee working with me got thrown to the wolves. I have come to realize that there are people on days and nights that are going to leave things undone and I consider them as being lazy and lose all respect for them as a nurse.

[TheOneWithGlasses]

At our facility one of the big things is that day shift doesn't really understand how dramatically the residents' behavior changes in the evenings--the whole sundowners thing. So evening shift is continually writing behavior reports and the day shift's attitude is *shrug* "Well they're fine for us" and it seems pretty clear they think we've gotta be exaggerating. One day we were short-staffed and a CNA from days stayed over and was absolutely flabbergasted at how the residents were acting. She kept saying, "Wow, they act so different at night" and I was like "THANK. YOU. Now tell everyone what you've seen here tonight" lol.

[Noahm]

Where I work we all have to do our share of days, evenings and night shifts. Everyone has to change between all 3 shifts all the time. You might spend a week doing days and evenings, then you do nights the next week for 4 nights then you are back on days and evenings.

Everyone has to do one week of nights per month. It sucks but we don't have any shift wars. Everyone understands every shift.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

What about all those patients falling and pulling out lines at night...as if they had nothing better to do than to drive us nuts! This night time warden is used all this crazyness and stands watch at the squeeky wheel -- hovering over the patient most confused or least likely to survive the night.