12N Sleeping During Break

Nurses Safety

Published

:confused: I am a nurse manager in a HR dept. It has been reported to me that a nurse who was working 12N informed her CNAs that she was going to be in the facility break room for her 30 min lunch if they needed her. The ADON of the facility came in at 5AM (early for 12D shift) and saw the nurse with her head down on the break room table. Instead of approaching her she went to the nurse's station and in 10 min the nurse returned from the break room. Is this an acceptable practice since we deduct 30min for lunch or is this grounds for disciplinary action? The ADON was upset stating that she did not know how long she had been in there that night and then the DON started questioning "how long has she been sleeping on the job" - meaning the two months she has been employed. The DON has made statements that patients were neglected and that she should be discharged and reported to the nursing board. The nurse has told me that she saves her break until the later part of her shift so that she can get a burst of energy for the end of her shift job duties and the long drive home. The nurse feels that her break time is her personal time and she was still accessible to the staff and patients if the need arose ie instead of going to her car. The nurse had excellent references and has received numerous compliments from our day time staff. I feel I should recommend assigning her to straight day sfts to not lose a good employee but feel that others would want her to be discharged to set the example of no tolerance, but with her rebuttal of personal time I feel unsure of how to proceed. They have mentioned that it was an isolated incident that was poor professional judgement on her part, but to me it seems that she had thought out her actions and did not feel she was doing anything wrong so I wanted fellow night nurse's opinion of this or similar incidences. Thanks so much.
Specializes in Medical Surgical & Behavioral Health.
I know that when I am awakened suddenly from sleep, I start shaking and can't stop for awhile. How can I push an IV med, let alone draw it up while I'm shaking like that?

Granted I am just a student here, but the only time i wake up shaking is if I was trying to get a power nap in after I have been up 36 hours straight with my sick child and the hubby was in Iraq... If power naps on a 12 hr shift doesn't help then they aren't for you...that to me would be just common sense. One of the 1st things they teach us in school is that each person has thier own responses and no one persons response can be the norm.

Sorry I know you have the experience over me, but well I don't know if I agree

Christa - Student Nurse

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i worked 8 hour noc shifts for a year and a half. nights are soooo hard on the body. the entire staff, save about 3 people (meaning like the other 22 of us), slept on our breaks. some went to break at 2 am, some at 5:30 am. everyone went to the nursing lounges which normally would not be entered by anyone except other nurses or housekeeping staff. im sorry to say i believe this is the norm for night folks. i feel it is almost necessary. many of us had an hour or longer to drive home in the am on busy highways. if not for sleep breaks i wouldnt have lasted a week!

the main issue remains to be safety/pt. care, which i have the perfect argument for: how is a sleeping, onsite nurse (as long as it is not in any visible pt/family area) any worse than a day nurse who goes down the street to the bank or out to her car on her break? you are not accessible and yet this is okay for you to do....not fair.

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I don't see what the why anyone would have an issue with this. If it's her time she has a right to use it as she wants . Technically she has the right to leave the facility for 30 minutes. It's the responsibility of the facility to cover the floor so she can take her break. under most states labor laws employees are entitled to a 30 minute break every 6-8 hrs. If the facility is not providing this they are at fault not the employee.

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oh must add this one thing: i have noticed sleeping is generally seen as grounds for discipline among nurses.....because youre "unsafe, blah, blah, blah" but what about doctors who give us med orders, do emergency surgeries (csections, etc)....they have sleeping lounges for when they are on call...but arent considered unsafe when they jump up out of their sleep and have to immediately see a pt....whats up with that?

not dogging this practice for the md's just pointing out it should be universal understanding that your human body needs nighttime sleep and rest for normalcy.

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MsMonicaRN,

There certainly is a catch 22 in many areas of nursing.

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NO ONE and I mean NO ONE :angryfire tells me how to spend my unpaid break time. I'll admit it--I'm a napper. But ya know what? After 15 mins. I feel sooo much better, I feel that I can get anything done. Wouldn't you rather work with a rested nurse than a nurse that can barely hold her head up? I take my naps in the breakroom and I announce to the other nurses and aides where I'll be and what I'm doing. No one has said any disparaging remarks to me. The nursing supervisor has caught me napping and has said nothing to me about it. She probably wishes she could take a cat nap too!

Taking away naptime? Next are we going to have to sit in the naughty chair?

This nurse could leave the facility and run to the nearest liquor store, but she doesn't. I have a bigger problem with nurses running out every frigging hour to go smoke. I don't smoke, but I go out to take a non-smoking smoke break. It seems that it's ok if a nurse needs a cigarette break, even if she is really busy. I was actually told by administration that since I didn't smoke I don't get 2 15 min breaks. That's when I adopted my non-smoking smoke break. Still to this day, when I announce I'm going outside people tell me, "you don't smoke". Sure I do. It's just an invisible one.

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i totally agree with you!!! i have asked the same thing where i work, but i just get strange looks.

oh must add this one thing: i have noticed sleeping is generally seen as grounds for discipline among nurses.....because youre "unsafe, blah, blah, blah" but what about doctors who give us med orders, do emergency surgeries (csections, etc)....they have sleeping lounges for when they are on call...but arent considered unsafe when they jump up out of their sleep and have to immediately see a pt....whats up with that?

not dogging this practice for the md's just pointing out it should be universal understanding that your human body needs nighttime sleep and rest for normalcy.

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MsMonicaRN,

There certainly is a catch 22 in many areas of nursing.

No catch 22 about this at all. In most instances we are providing 1-3 hours of work free of charge, factor that in with what you get paid an hour.

Our unit has just constructed a sleep room with 4 beds for the on call residents. I don't begruge them that. But when are nurses are unable to take the breaks they don't get paid for or stay 1-2 hours of unpaid OT because of a patient emergency I get sooo steamed (we're supposed to be psychic and know that at 0555 our patient will code at 0655 and give an hour notice that we will be OT). :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

I consider it a safety issue when nurses don't get their breaks.

Can ya tell I worked my last two 12 hour shifts without a break?

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Specializes in cardiology, oncology, telephone triage.

when i worked nights everyone slept on break... that's just what we did. i never even questioned if anything was wrong with it. i guess it shows the difference in perception.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical & Behavioral Health.
May not be logical, but it is what the Board says here in NC. Our Board set the standard for the state. If you are caught sleeping, even on your break, and someone reports you, you will have to answer to them, have your name published on their dreaded disciplinary sheet for the whole world to see, and then face the real possibility of losing your license.

OK because this could potentially affect my job i went right to the source on this. I looked up in the Nurse practice Act and found nothing so I contacted the NC BON about this. This was thier reply today

"Ms. Guildemond,

Nursing law does not specifically address sleeping on the job so

therefore you could not find it. The basic violation in such a situation is

more related to patient negligence, safety, and/or abandonment.

If the nurse is provided "breaks" during work time then there would

also be an appropriate person assigned to be available to the patients

during this time. If it is approved break time then unless the employer

policy states the employee may not "nap" during the break it would not be

considered negligence or abandonment to sleep during this time.

Actually abandonment is leaving the patient without telling an appropriate

person you are leaving and assuring that they agree to be responsible for

the patient during your absence.

If the nurse "sneaks" away and sleeps without such notification it is

possible that this could result in Board action if reported based on

negligence related to providing patient care.

Linda C. Thompson, RN, MSN, MBA

Director-Education/Practice"

Just thought that would clear up all the North Carolina Stuff - Its really not a bad place to be

Christa - Nursing Student

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:confused: I am a nurse manager in a HR dept. It has been reported to me that a nurse who was working 12N informed her CNAs that she was going to be in the facility break room for her 30 min lunch if they needed her. The ADON of the facility came in at 5AM (early for 12D shift) and saw the nurse with her head down on the break room table. Instead of approaching her she went to the nurse's station and in 10 min the nurse returned from the break room. Is this an acceptable practice since we deduct 30min for lunch or is this grounds for disciplinary action? The ADON was upset stating that she did not know how long she had been in there that night and then the DON started questioning "how long has she been sleeping on the job" - meaning the two months she has been employed. The DON has made statements that patients were neglected and that she should be discharged and reported to the nursing board. The nurse has told me that she saves her break until the later part of her shift so that she can get a burst of energy for the end of her shift job duties and the long drive home. The nurse feels that her break time is her personal time and she was still accessible to the staff and patients if the need arose ie instead of going to her car. The nurse had excellent references and has received numerous compliments from our day time staff. I feel I should recommend assigning her to straight day sfts to not lose a good employee but feel that others would want her to be discharged to set the example of no tolerance, but with her rebuttal of personal time I feel unsure of how to proceed. They have mentioned that it was an isolated incident that was poor professional judgement on her part, but to me it seems that she had thought out her actions and did not feel she was doing anything wrong so I wanted fellow night nurse's opinion of this or similar incidences. Thanks so much.

Since it is her break time and she is available to the staff she should be able to rest her head if she wants. What is the difference is she lays her head donw, or another nurse leaves the building to smoke?

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Specializes in ER, ICU, MED-SURG, SUPERVISION.

I guess I'm just bad all around. I'm a smoker and occasional napper. I know/have known nurses that nap on days and night shifts and I agree with so many of you....what's the problem? No matter your schedule, sometimes you're just tired. I've never known anyone that "neglected/abandoned" patients to nap. Co-workers always knew where we were. Some folks ask someone to get them at a certain time, others set cell phone alarms and some have the magical built in alarm clocks. bethin YGG. The best thing that could have happened to smokers in my facility (unless it would be my quitting smoking) is making us go outside. Fortunately we have a lovely spot though it can be pretty cold in the winter. Until they forced us out of the building I just didn't realize how much stress you can lose in just a few minutes totally off the unit (ICU). Until then we all stayed on the unit the whole shift. When we started having to go outside to smoke there were a few who always had a smart remark as you were going outside. "I wish I smoked so I could go out.", etc. I told them then and it's appropriate now, so go. It will do you a world of good. The few that do have discovered this. We still have some who piss and moan about the smokers, but some of them are the same ones that read/surf the internet and ignore alarms/call lights and expect others to take care of it for them. Oh, well, other issues. Sleep tight all.

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