Getting a meal break

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How do other floors in hospitals ensure staff get their meal break? I work on a busy Mother Baby unit and don't want to hold anyone else's phone and watch their 4 couplets and mine too for someone to take their meal break. Meal time assignments seem impossible to make because admissions and discharges are constant on our floor. I also want to eat with my co-workers I enjoy being with-not someone I am assigned to eat with. Our Unit Practice Council is trying very hard to come up with a workable solution to getting an uninterrupted meal break. Any ideas out there?? Thanks!

Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Oh, we don't have specifically assigned meal times. I've been a nurse for almost 11 years and was a CNA for 5...every place I've worked we've just coordinated w/ our partner. Yeah I can't see how assigned times would work, since the nature of our work is unpredictable.

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Suck it up and take someone else's assignment for 30 minutes...otherwise no one eats!

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I work med-surg and we generally cover each other. Of course, most of us try to be mindful to have everything done to keep the covering RN from having to do much more than maybe give pain meds or take report on or lay eyes on a surgery pt. I will often help a nurse catch up so she will take a lunch break. The nurses I work with HATE asking for help so sometimes I have to just say, "I'm going to do this, you are going to break for lunch!" We ALL deserve a lunch break during a 12 hour shift!

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Specializes in Pedi.
How do other floors in hospitals ensure staff get their meal break? I work on a busy Mother Baby unit and don't want to hold anyone else's phone and watch their 4 couplets and mine too for someone to take their meal break. Meal time assignments seem impossible to make because admissions and discharges are constant on our floor. I also want to eat with my co-workers I enjoy being with-not someone I am assigned to eat with. Our Unit Practice Council is trying very hard to come up with a workable solution to getting an uninterrupted meal break. Any ideas out there?? Thanks!

Not all floors or hospitals DO ensure this. I worked in the hospital for 5 years and can count on one hand the number of times I got a full meal break.

If you want someone to cover YOU for your meal break, you need to cover theirs. It's a two-way street. Not always getting the same break as your work friends isn't really a big deal. If you want to have a meal with them, go out after work.

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Specializes in Med Surg.
I also want to eat with my co-workers I enjoy being with-not someone I am assigned to eat with.

Then you need a very different job.

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Specializes in Acute Care - Adult, Med Surg, Neuro.

I have nothing valuable to say, except what is this "meal break" that you speak of?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

I work as an aide at two hospitals. At one job, I always get breaks. I have a coworker cover for me. At my other job, I don't think people realize what it means to even get a lunch break. I even had a charge nurse get mad when I didn't answer my phone. Never mind that I hadn't sat down to eat in over 8 hours, I've given all of my other coworkers breaks (and some of them take FIFTY minutes for lunch), and I told them I would be at my lunch break. The charge nurse had the nerve to tell me that I needed to be available. Uh...no. Legally, I am entitled to thirty minutes UNINTERRUPTED lunch break. I wanted to remind her of the law, but some people are dense like that.

I get really ****** off when I am called for trivial things or things that the nurse who isn't on break can do. I rip and run for 8, 12 hours...I should be allowed to have thirty minutes of peace.

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Work in Northern California. We have a free charge and a break nurse specially there to give breaks to nurses. The charge nurse and break nurse work together to break everyone.

This is due to the fact that we have ratio laws and if I'm at my 1:2 ratio then I can't watch other patients.

If we are 1:1 then we help watch one more patient. I always get my breaks and they are never interrupted. when we cover each other if anything comes up it's done by the nurse covering. For example in the morning if we take an early break at 0900 then the break person gives our morning meds for us, etc

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Work in cardiac OR. The main OR has people scheduled to come in from 11-19 who provide lunch breaks to day shift and dinner breaks to evening shift. We're pretty much on our own, so most times we end up either having one person who floats and is responsible for all 9 lunches (yeah, that'll get done in a timely manner), our boss (surg tech, not RN) who will assist with scrub lunches, or we just eat after our case (which may mean at home after our shift). I'm in the be glad you get a break, suck it up and cover someone else's patients since they're covering yours so you get a break, and work is not a social club so take your break when you get it camp.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I'd just as soon eat alone, myself..

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Makes NO difference what unit you are on.. or what YOU are willing to do to cover a coworker's assignment.. in order to achieve the simple goal of a LEGALLY mandated break.

Management MUST assure you get the LEGALLY mandated break.

Council, smouncil.. waste of time ..go to your administration to figure out how to get your LEGALLY mandated break. OR your state labor relations board.

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

Break nurse. Get ratios throughout this stupid country and stop covering other nurses during your lunch breaks doubling your responsibility! Give me a break.

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