Night shift lighting

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

I'm a little frustrated. I regular case I have...well it's best described as trying. Tonight mom tells me "I hope your ok sitting in the dark" I enquirer to find out that the only light the nurse is allowed to se at night is a plug in night light. I explain how this is unsafe how can I see to suction? Do an emergency trach change? Or even assess skin color? " you have a flashlight don't you?" Yea I didn't but I don't think it's safe to work with your moderately stable trach kid with only a flashlight. It's escalated to me saying that if they insisted on the super low lighting...I was only going to do it once. This is a deal breaker. Not only is it unsafe but how the heck am I supposed to stay awake. I'm all for low lighting low impact on night shift but I have limits.

So am I the crazy one here? I feel like the part time clown in the three ring circus because of course this was all punctuated with the line "well mrs x is ok with it". Me replying "well I'm not going to comment on mrs x's practice, but I feel it's not safe"

so only a minor question. I guess this falls into the category of vent. I'll work by flashlight on super stable g tube kids. Not on airway kids...who are sick... and are in the hospital every month.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Using a red or green light will allow you to see without disrupting your night vision.

[caliotter3]

With one exception, these "no lights" cases have not worked out for me. Not surprising that no lights is only one of the problems that accompany these cases. You can bet that if there was ever a problem that might have been mitigated, or even avoided, by having proper lighting, the family will not hesitate to pounce on blaming you for anything and everything that goes wrong.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I always had to have light. will they allow you to stay in another room of the house in earshot of the alarms? That would be a deal-breaker for me.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

No lights = unsafe working environment. No deal for me. Nurses need to speak up and decline unreasonable requests to control a situation especially if a complex, frequently hospitalized case

[AdobeRN]

I would request a different case if a solution is not easy come up with - just like a previous poster implied, the light issue is probably just one of a long list of unusual request/expectations the parent has for nursing staff.

I had a case once that was similiar - parents expected me to sit next to trached/vented kid in the dark - with only the TV on. I worked that one night shift and did not return.

[Kitiger, RN]

I would request a different case if a solution is not easy come up with - just like a previous poster implied, the light issue is probably just one of a long list of unusual request/expectations the parent has for nursing staff.

I had a case once that was similiar - parents expected me to sit next to trached/vented kid in the dark - with only the TV on. I worked that one night shift and did not return.

The parents would not allow lights, but the TV was on? That doesn't make sense. Which is more likely to keep a little one awake?

I would rather the TV be off.

If I can have enough light to do a good initial assessment, and if the pulse Oximeter is continuous, then I'm OK with limited light.

[caliotter3]

One of my "no lights" cases was one where the TV was on all night on one of those cartoon channels. Drove me batty, including the "Adult Swim" episodes. I never understood the parents' rationale there. Actually the light from the TV was quite a lot, even without the vent and pulse ox lights, and the TV made the bedroom hot. I would look over at the little patient's big eyes looking at the TV and me and it was kind of spooky.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

Yea. You all called it. It's a cluster of a case with lots of family issues. I went right into the office today and got the scheduler and clinical manager up to speed for this weekends issues. Making plans to depart in the near future, I've just hit my limit.

[Kitiger, RN]

Using a red or green light will allow you to see without disrupting your night vision.

How would you do that in this home? All I can think of is a Christmas tree light bulb in the night light, but that would be a dark green. I think red or green would bother me if I was trying to read, but I've never tried it.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

How would you do that in this home? All I can think of is a Christmas tree light bulb in the night light, but that would be a dark green. I think red or green would bother me if I was trying to read, but I've never tried it.

My bigger issue is determining cyanosis and pallor. I don't like relying on the pulse ox entirely. Your eyes are one of the most important nursing tools.

[JKL33]

Curious - do you all find that issues like this arise mostly as a control issue/poor coping?

This "no light" thing seems like a display of blatant/purposeful offense for the purpose of seeing who else one can make miserable. So I would tend to wonder if the lighting issue actually might not be the worst of the problems with this case...