Night Nurses-Pts think we sleep?

toadie · Dec 23, 2004

i have worked nights as a nurses aid to put myself through nursing school. it always annoys me when day shift comes on and acts as though we have been asleep alnight. u mean qshift orders really happen at night too? u mean demented geriatrics dont sleep through the night? what do u mean u can get admits at 0300? sometimes i wish people would realize that no matter what shift u work we all do the same things and the same amount.

Blackcat99 · Dec 23, 2004

I work nights at LTC and we run all night. When certain residents put their call lights on every 5 minutes and then say "I'm sorry to have to wake you"

I don't disagree with them because I hope they will feel " guilty" and will stop putting the call light on every 5 minutes. I do feel sorry for them because they are lonely and want someone to talk to but unfortunately, we just don't have time to socialize.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Dec 23, 2004

LOL, well when I was working nights, my patients sure as heck knew I was up the full time! I would go through their schedules with them for the evening...reminding them of times I would have to take vs, or give them a pain med...

IN fact, they would get a little ticked...they would ask why they weren't alowed to sleep at night...and I would usually reply "as sorry as I am about this, I am finding out that hospitals are the LAST place to get some rest, they are open 24/7 and so is the staff...so I guess we better list this place with our travel agent as "1 out of 10 for sleeping...So lets get you well so you can home and get some sleep! :)"That would get laughs, and prompt some proactive teamwork going on too!!!!!

I have never had a patient ask me if I was sleeping or appologize for waking me...but they sure as heck would say "ohhhh don't call the doctor..he needs his sleep!" UHGGGGGGG!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Dec 23, 2004

i have worked nights as a nurses aid to put myself through nursing school. it always annoys me when day shift comes on and acts as though we have been asleep alnight. u mean qshift orders really happen at night too? u mean demented geriatrics dont sleep through the night? what do u mean u can get admits at 0300? sometimes i wish people would realize that no matter what shift u work we all do the same things and the same amount.

LOL, yeah...it isn't like grocery/convienient stores aren't open 24 hours a day and those folks don't sleep during their shifts

I am now a day nurse, and I treat my NOC nurses great! I arrive early so I can get report and get them on their way home! I know they have much on their plates...not to mention a much smaller staff! I also know management pushes much of the QA paperwork off on them because "they have the extra time" (yeah right)...so same amount of work, smaller staff + paperwork that isn't getting done during! (now that I have my paperwork job back next month..YEAH!!!!! I can now finally help lighten that load on them! YEAH!~).

But for some odd reason I do find most of the happiest and satisfied nurses I know work nights!!! Must be something good about it for some folks! (I am either day shift but not too early...or work me all night..nothing inbetween kinda gal...I am too grumpy early in the am unless I work all night..then I am just fine!).

mattsmom81 · Dec 23, 2004

I remember in 'the good old days' (my first medsurg nursing job) it was acceptable for us to alternate an hour naptime. We chose to do this for one another and this was our allotted 'breaktime.' Maybe because we were required to work swingshift (days alt with nights) it was understood we might need a nap, but this was tolerated by our manager.

We made it work fairly.We took turns one at a time and made patient rounds hourly, covered each other's rooms etc. There was no abuse and patients were well cared for.

Since I moved to Texas napping has not been possible for anyone who is conscientious. Too much to do, not enough staff, etc. BUT I have worked LTC agency shifts where aides would routinely hide and sleep. I don't know how they live with themselves personally.

Jo Dirt · Dec 23, 2004

I sleep on the job (7p-7a). I do private duty nursing in a little old lady's home and about 11:00 I lay on the couch with a movie on and it's naptime. I have a baby monitor near the couch so I can hear here when she whine's out for me to come change her diaper. She is a nice lady. Just plain country folk like I am, so I don't think she gives me such a hard time for catching a few winks.

She did have a problem when one of the day shift nurses was sleeping on the couch all day...they got rid of her (but not for sleeping. Sleeping was just a tiny part of the deal...anyway...)

Jo Dirt · Dec 23, 2004

i have worked nights as a nurses aid to put myself through nursing school. it always annoys me when day shift comes on and acts as though we have been asleep alnight. u mean qshift orders really happen at night too? u mean demented geriatrics dont sleep through the night? what do u mean u can get admits at 0300? sometimes i wish people would realize that no matter what shift u work we all do the same things and the same amount.

This reminds me of when I was working in LTC. At an inservice one of the night shift workers asked if they were ever going to offer shift differentials. The DON (an older lady who ruled with an iron fist) shot back, "No, and if we did I would offer it to the day shift, they work the hardest!"

Well excuuuuuse me! :uhoh3:

boulergirl, CNA · Dec 23, 2004

This reminds me of when I was working in LTC. At an inservice one of the night shift workers asked if they were ever going to offer shift differentials. The DON (an older lady who ruled with an iron fist) shot back, "No, and if we did I would offer it to the day shift, they work the hardest!"
Well excuuuuuse me!

At our facility 11-7 doesn't get shift differential, either. Mgmt's rationale is that we have less to do at night and the residents are asleep.

Never mind the fact that we're shortening our lifespans and threatening our health by repeatedly working against our body's natural clock, and furthering the damage by using caffeine/sugar/nicotine/fillintheblank to keep us from sleeping lest we lose our jobs.

talaxandra · Dec 23, 2004

One of my patiens just apologised for waking me up to take her to the toilet. I was so tempted to ask her how she thought I managed to get up and dressed in the less than one minute between her buzzing and my going in!

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Dec 23, 2004

One of my patiens just apologised for waking me up to take her to the toilet. I was so tempted to ask her how she thought I managed to get up and dressed in the less than one minute between her buzzing and my going in!

If you wear scrubs, she probably thought they were your pajamas.

:icon_lol:

talaxandra · Dec 23, 2004

If you wear scrubs, she probably thought they were your pajamas. :icon_lol:

Good idea, but nope - navy pants, white shirt and a red wool vest! And I work in acute care, so there's not a lot of sitting, let alone sleeping :chuckle

fiestynurse · Dec 23, 2004

I have always bowed down to all night nurses. They work inhuman hours and have very little back-up on their shift. Many times they are the only nurse on-duty. They are often percieved has having nothing to do, so are assigned all the busy work, such as, QA, stocking, copying of MARS, etc.

As a side note: There are a few bad apples that make the rest of the hard working night nurses look bad. One night I walked into an empty patient's room to find my co-worker playing poker with the security staff.

I have also found nurses sleeping in empty patient rooms, on the floor in the manager's office, and on the sofa in the nurse's lounge. I worked with a nurse that walked around with a blanket around her all shift because she was cold. She actually did look like she had just gotten out of bed. I told her to buy a sweater. One time I walked in on a sleeping nurse and scared the crap out of her. She leaped-up out of a dead sleep, wrenched her back, and filed a work comp claim.