My family can't believe nurses don't get breaks

aeauooo · May 7, 2008

What's a break?

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · May 7, 2008

they have a buddy system where your buddy rn takes your patients while you go on break. of course, you need to make sure all your patients are stabilized and are not going to create a ton of work for the rn taking them. you also need to have your phone in case something comes up.

the majority of my time as a floor nurse, i worked midnights. even if my patients were stable and i was positive they'd be fine, i wouldn't leave 14 (which probably included a handful who should be stepdown!) patients to one nurse. :dzed:

then again, on midnights we did tend to have downtime and since no non-scrubbed, suited individuals were around, i could have my dinner sitting at the nurses' station and eat it as i was doing chartchecks, checking labs, or whatever.

but many a night i didn't even have time to pee from when i clocked in at 1853 to when i clocked out at 0745 (the usual time i got out...it varied from 0730 to 0930!)

i never filed an exception to be paid for my lunchbreak, because i did have the downtime usually, and sometimes more downtime that, to me, made up for the lack of it on other nights.

jess

pinoy_guy · May 7, 2008

i'll just point out that i choose to work weekends - no extra staff. and since we're under a hiring freeze, right now, that *really* means we are short. we rarely have a tech (and if we do, it is for 25 beds) and many times we don't have a secretary.

same situation in my hospital. nurses do the jobs of nurse, secretary, and tech.

shifts are almost always short. the higher ups say they're having a hard time finding new people, and that they're finding it hard to get travellers...but this had been going on for some time that a lot of the nurses are really wondering.

that's usually the "official" version of the state of affairs. nurse do get breaks -- they just don't take them because they were not efficient enough to get their work done in the allotted time. so, they work during their breaks to make up for their inefficiency.
that may be true ocassionally -- but in most cases, the workload is so heavy that very few people can work fast enough (and still maintain quality) to be able to take a break. and yet, if a government agency or accrediting agency were to look at the policy, "yes, the nurses are scheduled for the appropriate amount of breaks -- they just don't always take them because they choose to work slowly."

har har.

that's what our higher ups say too.

they overload you with work, then turn around and label you as "inefficient."

as i had said in my other posts, these higher ups should be federally mandated to work as staff nurses 6 months of every year, so they don't implement these stupid self-serving policies.

when these higher ups have to stake their licenses and freedom on the line, they will stop abusing nurses.

allnurses Guide · May 7, 2008

I'm lucky... where I work right now, we TAKE our lunch breaks and we go down to the cafeteria for 30 minutes if we want to, or we can eat up on the floor. But, on my unit the nurses are SUPER about working as a team and covering each other's patients, so we alll feel confident that if we leave for our breaks, someone will cover our patients. Plus, we often (but not always) have a charge RN who does not have a patient load.

Now, the place where I worked before, nurses weren't quite as good about helping other nurse's patients out, and so uninterrupted breaks were harder to come by. However, there was a lot more down time there than where I work now, so like a previous poster, I didn't mind that I didn't get to leave the floor.

NursKris82 · May 7, 2008

I have been a LPN on my own for about 2 months now and I get a lunch about 40% of the times, never a full 30 mins. and no breaks ever. I work in a LTCF and I worked there as an aide also. There are so surprised that I don't get breaks and a full lunch and don't leave on time- as an aide we used to wait at the time clock for it to turn to punch out time, now I wonder how much I'm going to stay over tonight. I'm not complaining though, really! I love my job and I know I'm slower because I'm new and I love being a nurse. The other day I had breakfast before work at 0630 and that was the last time I saw food for 10 hours!! I had such a busy day that I didn't end up leaving until 1600. By the time I got home it was 1630 and I was starving. I felt good though because I got so much done. it's just different as a nurse- you are responsible for so much and sometimes you just get on a roll and don't want to break up that momentum. Anyway- it is hard to explain to others, even within the healthcare field, but it is so true!

NursKris82 · May 7, 2008

Don't take a job where you don't get breaks. During the interview process, ask. Then check out the floor you will work and see for sure.
steph

Of course they'll say everyone gets breaks, but it may or may not be true.

Laughs-a-lot, RN · May 7, 2008

Explain to them that it's not that you are not "permitted" a break and they will still dock you for this said "break". However, your options are finish my charting while scarfing down a cereal bar (I work nights, less people around). Or stop and take a break and be there longer to finish my charting after report.

allnurses Guide · May 7, 2008

Of course they'll say everyone gets breaks, but it may or may not be true.

That is why I said check out the floor you will be working on to make sure.

steph:D

JaneyW · May 7, 2008

Don't you just love when you are in Target and the cashier who is working a 4 hour shift closes down when there are huge lines because she just can't be late for her 10 minute break? If they only knew.

RNDreamer · May 7, 2008

Maybe it depends on where you work. I recently asked a (Nurse) friend of mine if she gets to take her breaks, and she said yes. If they are short staffed, she may only get 30 minutes. If they are well staffed, she gets an hour. She works on a step-down unit.

SillyStudent, ASN, RN · May 7, 2008

Where I work, day shift gets a lunch break and night shift doesn't. The charge nurse on days does not generally have a heavy assignment, so they cover for breaks. At night, all bets are off. Last night....I ate dinner at 0430 while answering my alarms. I was back on the job at 0440

I love my cat! · May 7, 2008

I explained how difficult it is to leave the floor for breaks or lunches when things happen or change with patients, and you can not just walk away for a break or a lunch without making sure you have coverage and have reported off, or how this is a predominant complaint in the nursing profession. I know I have gone well over 5+ hours without a break or any lunch. They just kept saying "It's a federal law, you HAVE to be allowed breaks." How can I help them understand why it just doesn't work that way?

We need to have breaks! I honestly feel that missed breaks and lunches are a huge contributer to burn-out and injuries on the job.

There are no Federal laws mandating short breaks or meal breaks. Your family has probably mixed up Federal laws with State labor laws. Breaks and meals are determined at the State level and each State has laws that are different.

What State are you in?