Looking down on those who take lunch breaks???

[mismissy69]

I just wanted to see if any of you other Nurses look down on those who take lunch breaks. I am working at a new facility and when I go to take my lunch break I notice I get smart little looks and comments. Now I make sure that all my patients are comfortable and not in need of anything before I go so that no one has to do my work. Now you guys know that as nurses sometimes you just need to take a moment to yourself especially when you are stressed and I feel that I should not have to explain, feel guilty or be belittled because im taking my lunch break which # 1 I am not payed for & # 2 is required by law. I just want to know how you others feel about this subject and has anyone of you encountered this same situation.

[Toquay]

I stared taking lunches when the hospital I worked for said they would no longer pay us to work through our lunch break. I work night in the ER. I try and time it when all my pt's are in a holding pattern waiting for results since we have to cover each other and that often means 6-8 pts for one nurse during that 30 minutes. Sometimes we are too busy for lunch and I will make sure my superviser approves the pay for working through (so far they have and I have been paid). I think the threat of not paying was due to nurses saying they worked through when they did indeed have time for a break. There are few nurses that were not taking lunches 100% of the time and then lagging at shift's end to get another 30 minutes. When my shift is done I am so outa there, Home sweet Home!!

Toq

[Deidre Shiobhan]

Well all of us deserve a break! Just make sure our work is settled and your colleague is around to monitor your patients while you are away. The only issue is when we are really tight and busy, we take shorter breaks. We give and take:doh:

[Ms Kylee]

Lunch, absolutely.... breaks.. unfortunately, no time. If I don't eat, I get a migraine, and then I start puking. Believe me, that's NOT pretty.

Yesterday, I didn't get my lunch till 1:30, but I still had half an hour before end of shift vitals were due, and I took it before all you know what broke loose again. Yesterday was an exceptionally bad day, and I really needed that half hour to myself to rest and recoup. Unfortunately, I was sick as a dog, and I couldn't destress.

[leslymill]

I cannot believe that in this day and age we, as nurses, should have to defend LUNCH!! I know there are some who abuse the "privilege"....however, in what other profession do you know of is there this kind of talk? Do you hear this amongst doctors, dentists, teachers, journalists, cops, firemen, lawyers, judges, social workers?????

But, just because we are at the bedside of sick vulnerable people, and MANAGEMENT refuses to honorably make sure that each of us has a much needed respite time each day, this type of nonsense occurs....

it isn't the nurse's fault that he or she needs food!! or needs a bathroom break!! WE ARE NOT SLAVES, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! If ever there was a classic sign of turning staff against one another, this is it! Managers need to make sure that people get a break....and if it means stepping in and monitoring a patient for 30 mins. then so be it!! Put the blame where the blame should fall....not on one another...but on a cultural environment that encourages martyrdom and self-sacrafice as a "sign" that you are a stellar employee....ugh.

BINGO

I have done a bit of Travel and agency work. There are really some harsh and unlawful nursing assignments out there. I took an ICU travel assignment. All ICU nurses were assigned 3 patients. A lot of us were travelers. NO....most of us where travelers. When in ICU we got our breaks. It became apparent after a few weeks they really wanted us to work out on the floor. One travel nurse refused saying we were contracted for the ICU. She had been pulled out there alreally and was refusing to go back. So I volunteered.

DUMB:trout:

I have never had to chase my license around for 12 hours like that before and never want to again. I had nine patients and 6 had higher nurse acuity than any of the ICU patients had had. My CNA was sooooo over worked. She was supposed to feed six of them and five where incontinent at the time. I was non-stop monitoring and having to push pills close to the late mark, and was really upset I couldn't even help her. Then the land mark worse thing happened. A family member confronts me like she has been looking for help for days and says, "Who is gonna feed my mother?" I was so defeated........I wanted to say "How about you?"

but I looked at the CNA and sighed. Regardless we got the work done and I realized I was hungry too. I wanted to rest and gather some calm composure to concentrate and organize how I was gonna chart and cover my...well. I went the the charge nurse... no.rephrase...the nurse that was supposed to be incharge and asked her where the lunch assignment was posted was I needed to go asap while I was caught up. She said LUNCH??? LUNCH??? Who is gonna take care of your your patients? She looked at me like I had no right to a personal life. Like it was an obsurd and unprofessional request..I said..."Oh I guess you then?" I gave her a quick run down on labor laws, gave her a quick report on a few things she may need to monitor and went to eat. I think she thought I was an alien. They all tried to make me full ultra guilty. I abandoned my patients. One thing I noticed about that facility was nothing was nurse friendly. Labs work, computers, everything was set up to make the nurse work harder than she should. No wonder they had to staff with travelers and no wonder five of us left before the contract was up.:balloons:

I bet they didn't get the message. They really really thought it was honorable and Nightengalish to be abused like that..and the abuse showed on their faces. We are professionals, not sweatshop workers.

[pebbles, BSN, RN]

If I haven't eaten in a few hours, you don't WANT me to be your nurse.... :roll

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

A few years ago, a disgruntled former employee reported to the labor board that my facility wasn't allowing time for lunches without interruption, so it became a rule that we had to hand off our phones and leave the floor for 30 min. I was still in my unlicensed, comparatively low-stress job, at that time, and it was still HARD. I'm not a martyr, by any stretch of imagination, but I take my responsibilities pretty seriously. I took my lunches, but I took my phone, because emergencies happen (in those days, pt OOB, nurse needs muscle for backup, that sort of thing, or stat transport.)

As a nurse, I flaunt the rules, eat at my desk. Cafeteria only open 2hrs on NOC, so it's tough to get everyone off the floor for a full 30--well, sometimes you spend 25 standing in line.

In 9 years, I've missed lunch completely 1 time. Taken lots of 10 min lunches, eaten lots of cold hamburgers, been halfway through meal and wondered whether I washed my hands.

Awhile back, I was out to dinner with visiting relatives. Finished my food way before anyone else. Oh, well, I'm a nurse. Have also gone out to eat with other nurses--it's almost embarassing. Server comes back to see if everything is okay, and everything is gone.

I have also, vary rarely, been ordered off the floor to smoke. That is, the CN comes up, pats my shoulder, and says, "Go have a cigarette."

I generally heed that advice. Once was right after my first code. I really needed that 10 minutes.

[wizap]

I'm a Charge Nurse working 12 hour night shifts in a frontier hospital. At night there are only 2 RN's working. If it is crazy, it is hard to cover for each other. I think meal breaks are important, they should be taken, for all the reasons stated above.

I think it is part of being a team that you "look out" for your other team members. You depend on one another, as do your patients... It is easy to be kind to your co-workers..."The Golden Rule" does apply also at the workplace!

[grace90, LPN, LVN]

If I haven't eaten in a few hours, you don't WANT me to be your nurse.... :roll

When I used to work 8's on an ortho floor, I often got snide remarks for taking breaks, so for the first year or so I skipped 'em and I shudder to think how my thinking could very well have been cloudy. There was a nurse I worked with who was a real break-skipping martyr, and I wasn't tough enough at the time to stand up to her.

Now that I am on 12's, I do not skip a break unless I really REALLY really have to. I tend to get hypoglycemic real quickly, and when that happens I just can't think straight and have to at least sit down and even eating a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter and a glass of water help. I'm not diabetic or anything, getting hypoglycemic is just something I've had a problem with since my teen years.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

it is every nurses right ti take their 30 min unpaid meal break everyday. it is also federal labor law that you are entitled to this time. you should never be made to feel guilty to take you break. management should provide adequate staffing to provide for staffs breaks. nurses are not providing for patients safety!

take your breaks, by failure to take meal breaks you are giving management 130 hours of free time over a years period of time. nurses need to stand up for their rights as employees. if you are allowing management to exploit us, why should they respect nurses.

federal law does not require meal breaks. each state has its own laws, and unfortunately some states allow health care workers to be taken advantage of by the wording of their laws (and some states haven't bothered to set requirements for breaks at all). however, i do agree with you that every nurse should demand their lunch breaks (heck, i demand my unpaid breaks, you better believe i'm going to get the lunch break!) or in the instances, and they should be extremely rare, that taking a break is impossible, nurses should be paid for their breaks - that is the law everywhere - no one is expected to work for free.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/meal.htm