Overtime

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Jun 5, 2018

The corporate masters.. will flog you for overtime. All about "time management". Do what you have to do to finish your shift.

If I went over.. I called supervision to document.

Best wishes.. it's a jungle out there.

TruvyNurse · Jun 5, 2018

Depends on the day. I typically get out on time. If I stay over its typically 10 minutes due to last minute charting or chatting with the incoming shift. However I've had all hell break loose and still left within an hour of my shift ending.

Sour Lemon · Jun 5, 2018

I typically leave anywhere between 15 minutes early and 15 minutes late. If I'm later than that, it's because I'm helping someone else catch up, I'm completing a VERY late admission as a curtesy to the next shift, or someone died.

Guest219794 · Jun 5, 2018

Frequently

BlueShoes12, BSN, RN · Jun 5, 2018

I almost always get out when I'm supposed to, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Last time I worked, right before I left, I noticed that my patient's heart rate was bradycardic on the telemetry monitor - which it hadn't been the last two nights I'd cared for them. I walked in to check on them and they were unresponsive and had agonal respirations, so I called a rapid response. One hour later, the patient had been intubated in the room, woken up briefly, stabilized and transferred to ICU.

_littlemissBSN, BSN, RN · Jun 6, 2018

Oh wow, now I feel embarrassed with my time management skills! I also forgot to share what got me behind on Sunday. I started with 7 patients (we usually get 8 max if we are NOT understaffed. I work in an acute rehab hospital). I had no discharges and I got an admission at 6pm. Assessment, interview, consent signing, and going to the dietary to pick up patient's dinner all took approximately 30-45 minutes. Then I had to tend to my other patients whose call light started going off, IV pump beeping, my confused patient started sundowning so I had to calm him down, and one was complaining of having SOB. Had to stay in that patient's room to monitor him for a while. The night shift nurses did not come in until 7:20 pm, endorsement ended 15-20 min later and I still had to take pictures of my newly admitted patient's surgery wound and change the dressing since it was soaked.

After that, the wife of my patient who was having SOB kept calling and I felt obligated to pick up that call even though my shift was technically over. I know that patient more than the night shift nurse since it was her Monday, so I should be the one to talk to her and explain what's going on. All the floor fiasco ended at around 8:30 or something. Then I had to chart on my newly admitted patient/upload photos and last round of restraints charting - I had 3 patients on restraints. I don't know, never had a hectic last hour such as this in a while. My day started slow and I thought I would finish my tasks on time even with the admission coming in at the last hour. Guess not.

I guess it's true that this never really gets easier. We just get more accustomed to it and have to go with the flow.

Chazzie_Made_It, ADN · Jun 6, 2018

After promising myself that I would never go home 1 hour + past my shift ever again on my first day as a nurse off of orientation a few months ago, it happened last night. Clocked out at exactly 9:25 pm - about 5 minutes earlier compared to when I went home at 9:30 pm on my first day lol.
I work 7-7:30 day shift. Fortunately I have already charted all my assessment for my other patients earlier in the day, or I would have stayed for 30 minutes more. Now I realize that I can never truly avoid going home late and there will always be a time when things go hectic at the last hour.
Just curious, how late do you guys have to work past your shift if you do and how often?

Goodness at your post sounds familiar. I have been getting out on time during my whole preceptorship, except one day. Well on my first day off of orientation I ended up leaving an hour late. I had to call a rapid response at 0400 and spent the last 2 hours of my shift monitoring and catching up on charting. Things happen, sometimes there is no way to get out on time.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Jun 6, 2018

Depends on the doctors, really. There have been many, many times in my career as an ICU nurse, that a doctor would come in towards the end of my shift and want to place a swan, perform a bedside bronch, etc, etc, and I would end up being late getting out.

Daisy4RN · Jun 6, 2018

I leave on time approx. 95% of the time. You are new and your time management will get better with every passing day. I would avoid those "extras" that you do not need to be doing, do your best and pass on to the next shift what needs to be done (nursing is 24/7). There will of course be times that you need to stay over, codes, oncoming shift late etc. But you admin will be scrutinizing your OT so you better have a good reason. And do not get in the habit of clocking out and then "finishing" your work, it will cause burnout and legal trouble for you. You can do this, good luck!

PiperLambie, MSN, APRN · Jun 7, 2018

I have been off of orientation since the start of May (nurse residency has ~13 week orientation period), and every day is a toss-up. One thing that we do on my unit (ED) is run the shifts 06:45-19:15 for days and 18:45-07:15 for nights, with a couple of mid-shifters thrown in through the day. The first 15 minutes are for the oncoming shift to huddle and get report, and the final 15 minutes are for the offgoing shift to try and finish up any charting. 18:00-19:00 is well known as "Power Hour", and there has been more than one time where an ambulance rolls in emergency traffic at about 18:25 with a possible stroke or cardiac arrest- bingo, staying late! I guess my point is to continue honing your time management skills, but accept that there will always be something to hold you back. An hour is a bit much though IMO, as nobody wants to be a slug, but sometimes you have to pass on a little thing here or there to the oncoming to get out on time. Just remember when you pass on that the time will come where they need to do the same, so be ready. Patients are important, but equally important is your downtime so that you can relax, recharge, and be ready for the next day.

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · Jun 7, 2018

In my 12 years, I can say that I have left within 15 minutes of the end of my shift 98% of the time, even when I've had admissions after 6.

I think one of the hardest things to learn is that you can't (and shouldn't) do everything as nursing is a 24 hour job, and that's ok. I do my best to get the next shift set up to have as easy and smooth of a transition as possible, but I do not feel obligated to stay for something that can be done on their shift. Likewise, when I come on, I encourage the next shift to leave and tell them I can finish whatever tasks need done - the only exception being obvious negligence/forgetfulness, such as a time sensitive lab that was due on their shift that they just forgot about, a medication they forgot to give, etc.