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

[newtress]

Hi all, I'm currently in nursing school and had mentioned a few times that on my clinical rotations I noticed that it was true that most of the nurses I was working with were not able to take scheduled breaks or lunches, including myself. There just isn't time to plan time. 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?

[MaryAnn_RN]

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.

Or when you have managed to get to the hospital cafeteria and the staff are serving soooooo slowly like you have all the time in the world

[rnmomtobe2010]

My friend who is an lpn cracks me up when she talks about her working conditions. The conditions are not all that bad but the look on her face when she talks about not having a break has me in this new world. She never complains becasue she says that is the way of the "nursing world" and she knew this could happen. Hang in there nurses!!!

[stumpy1]

I have worked for over 30 years as a nurse. I had to take a year off at one point because I felt I needed to do EVERYTHING for my patients. It is called burnout. Now as a charge nurse, I make staff take breaks by taking over their tasks so they can regroup/refresh. The only exceptions are when we have a patient's condition rapidly deteriorate...which are unpredictable. At that time, I offer support offering support to nurse caring for the patient as well as the patient.

If we do not care for ourselves, we will not have anyone left to care for the patients.:redbeathe

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

this is part of the reason i went to NP school. to have a scheduled day.

including a lunch break.

sad but true.

[rph3664]

Or when you have managed to get to the hospital cafeteria and the staff are serving soooooo slowly like you have all the time in the world

The people who work (a.k.a. volunteer) in our gift shop are like that. I know some women who work there (retired women who go to my church) and one of them said, "Our emphasis is on a relaxed atmosphere." I replied that there is a big difference between a relaxed atmosphere and wasting people's time.

She still likes me anyway.

[ilstu99]

Not only do we always have the opportunity to step away for breaks, we're reprimanded if we DON'T take them. Our DON and NM feel that stepping away from the unit for a bit really helps with focus and concentration, and to help avoid total burnout. I completely agree.

Unless I had no other option, I wouldn't work for a facility that didn't emphasize caring for their patients AND their staff.

[loriangel14, RN]

It is like that where I work too.The charge nurse and even coworkers will squawk if they discover you didn't take your breaks.

[bagladyrn, RN]

In my current contract (and I do a lot of similar facilities) I am the only nurse on the OB unit, night shift, no charge nurse, no house supervisor. Exactly how would I take a 30 minute break? If I have a labor patient I can't exactly tell them to "hold that thought" while I take my break. The M/S unit has 2 nurses, so there might be a possibility of one of them covering me for a few minutes - IF - they are not slammed. The CNA can usually watch the pts. for long enough for me to pee if I time it right.

I generally do eat, since being put on meds for diabetes, but it's usually something I can grab a bite of with one hand while charting.

On the other hand, I don't feel at all guilty or compelled to find busy work on those nights when the pregnant ladies decide to stay home.

[loricatus]

I have not read all the pages of responses, so I apologize if what I am going to say has already been said.

I believe that all nurses (as a collective whole) are responsible for not getting our breaks (not withstanding the occasional true emergency). We just allow our employers to break the law by our acceptance of not having adequate break coverage, being supernurses who do not want to reliquish the patient to another nurse, not complaining enough about the need to have a break or be paid for ALL time worked, allowing such a heavy patient load that it becomes impossible to complete all tasks if breaks were to be taken, etc.

Sorry, all human beings need a physical and mental break during any 12 hour stint of intense work. Maybe it is time to stop making excuses and put our foot down to get what the majority of the working world considers the norm.