Lunch????

[*ac*]

Before I went to nursing school I heard nurses talking about not getting lunch, or not even getting a drink of water for the better part of their shift. I thought they were just being martyrs and that this was a choice they made for themselves.

Well, it seems that the culture in my new job is pretty much, grab a bite when you can, but there is NO going off the floor for lunch. If you are eating, and something happens with one of your patients, you are expected to stop and respond.

Sometimes there is no opportunity for eating until after 3pm!

Is this common? Is it like this everywhere?

BTW, we get "charged" thirty minutes for lunch even though we do not clock out.

[Scrubby]

When i was a ward nurse i would make sure never to have lunch in the tea room. Other nurses would just annoy me during my lunch break, cut my lunch break short. I'd bring my lunch in and have it outside somewhere where i would not be disturbed.

Where i live if you don't get a break, you get paid for the time. You are entitled to a half hour lunch break. If it is interrupted during this half hour then you are entitled to another full half hour lunch break.

If i worked in an area where i could not have lunch or use the toilet i'd be contacting my HCF's occupational health and safety department.

[leslie :-D]

It sounds good in theory to say it's a choice, make sure you take your breaks, ect., but when you are so busy that you can't see the forest through the trees, and you are already going to be there until 8:30 pm regardless to chart, and you are so far behind you are in panic mode, it just doesn't happen. At least not where I work, not most days. It is just so constantly, unrelentingly busy. I have become so disillusioned over my 3.5 years nursing- I am a different person.

that is why it's even more important to take your break.

the burdens, workloads will always, always be there.

when we start trying to accommodate all the crazy demands, we are setting ourselves up for further failure.

we need that break to eat, to catch our breath, to regroup.

and after that (even before that), you do the best you can.

nothing more, nothing less.

just do your best.

i never go through my workday, hoping to fulfill all my responsibilities.

never.

i just do my best.

i will not let anyone bully me into producing more than i'm capable of.

and since i've started taking my breaks consistently?

no one bothers me.

because they know they've been pushing us over the edge, hoping we will continue in frenzied complacency.

and one day, they get "that look" that says it all-

working yourself into panic mode, does not benefit you or your pts.

one day, i expect all of us to wake up and realize we.do.have.choices.

and only you can make them.

leslie

[Agnes Anne]

I work 0615-1515, our 1/2 hr break is not paid and our "hours" reflect that at teh time clock. However, when I clock out I can select "no first meal" adn get paid for that 1/2 on the floor.

I work on a small wing... many days I cannot take a break. The acuity level is high and the other RN is running like crazy too... who will continue perfroming cares while I take a break??

Yesterday felt like a dream. I sat down adn ate lunch while chatting wiht a co-worker. Suddenly I realized how the acuity of patients as wells as the total number of patients had slowly increased over the last month while the number of available expereinced staff had decreased. We've been like frogs in a kettle!

As a newer nurse I assumed it was me.... somehow I was hitting a slump... what ever. No, yesterday was back to "normal". All my meds on the dot, dressings changed, extra touches included in my cares............. still busy but doable, and enjoyable.

sigh.

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

I've worked in 4 states and that is pretty normal for 12 hour shifts, a small break after 3 or 4 so you can make it through the rest of the shift. When I worked nights we just ate at the desk, no going off the floor for a break. I've only recently taken breaks since I am now M-F-no longer providing direct patient care.

[iHeartNICU]

Well, I've only been a RN since January but I don't think I have missed lunch once....that goes for my coworkers as well. We always make sure everyone has eaten something. Of course some of my lunches are 15 -20 minutes rather than the full 30 minutes but I take that time. My brain, my bladder, and my body all need that. I couldn't function without it and if I were ever in a job where there wasn't even time to eat, I think I would have to look for work elsewhere. We have to take care of ourselves first or our patients will suffer in the end.

[ReallyCleanRN]

Not having meal breaks is just wrong. It's contributing to the nursing shortage. If there are not enough staff for everyone to have a meal break, then the place is understaffed. Simple as that.

Why are you allowing your supervisors to earn big salaries and take their meals? They should be paid a little less, and more nurses hired. It does not show "character" to burn yourself out, and that is exactly what WILL happen when you do not take care of your body.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

You don't always get to choose if you can take a lunch or not. In LTC I NEVER got my lunch. If I did my patients didn't get their treatments/meds. Thats just how it was there. Where I work now in a physician office we still don't always get our lunch. More often than not we do, but some days it just isn't going to happen. You must always find time to at least hit the bathroom. Your bladder is not designed to go all day without voiding. I see women in their 30's with incontinence due to the fact they hold it in for so long.. guess what they are mostly nurses.

[Riseupandnurse]

I agree that we MUST go to the bathroom when necessary!! But actual meals; how do nurses do that? Sure, we could take them, but in many places there is nobody to watch your patients, so if they need something you have to get up and take care of them. And the time spent sitting around is always made up at the end by staying over even longer than you ordinarily do anyway (does anyone get out on time?) So all in all, I always found it much more frustrating to try to take a meal than to just skip it and chow down on something while charting. Nobody "made" us; it just wasn't worth it to do anything more.

[TRAMA1RN]

Thank you Press-Ganey again. Due to falling satisfaction all ER rooms must be filled all the time. This means no lunch no dinner. I beleive Press-Ganey to be run by bleeding heart liberals that care absolutely nothing about the nursing environment. I think if nurses were taken proper care of by their employors patients would in the end be happier.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Not having meal breaks is just wrong. It's contributing to the nursing shortage. If there are not enough staff for everyone to have a meal break, then the place is understaffed. Simple as that.

SIMPLE AS THAT. Don't take a job where you are not given breaks/lunch. If you have a job like that, stop being a martyr.

YOU are not the answer to your facility's staffing problem.

steph

[ShayRN]

I have, at times literally put my arm around and walked other nurses off the floor, almost kicking and screaming. I have heard all these excuses, I have too much to do, I am too far behind, I am getting out late as it is...This is what I tell them and let me tell you they have ALWAYS thanked me after...YOU NEED YOUR BREAK, I DON'T CARE HOW BUSY OR BEHIND YOU ARE!!! Take a break when your feeling overwhelmed and can't see the forest for the trees. A half hour isn't going to help you get caught up if your wheels are just spinning! However; what a difference that half hour off the floor makes. It gives you time to relax, unwind and catch your breath. Once you have a full belly and an empty bladder you will be better able to prioritize and focus on what is important.

[Calgon-take.me.away]

Lunch on my floor usually consists of raiding the patient cupboard and hoping to find a bag of Fritos.