patient care tech.night shift

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Hi everyone,I am currently a cna and have almost a yr.of experience i've only worked in at one place which was a L.T.C/rehab center.However I just got hired a small hospital as a Patient care tech.Im going to do 3wks of on the job training bc i'll have to do ekg's and draw blood an i'll be working 7pm-7am.Well i'd like to hear from other pcts who work that shift bc im wondering exactly what i'll be filling my nights with.Im used to working 3pm-11pm and the majority of my residents were total care,so i was always very busy.But when I would work the 11pm-7am shift I was so bored there was hardly anything to do and I like to stay busy so Im just wondering will I be busy working 7pm-7am or bored?If your a pct working that shift what do you do every night and if you used to work in L.T.C but now you work in a hospital which do you like better,anyway sorry for the long post but any insight would be so helpful.thanks;);););)

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Never worked nights and never worked LTC except for clinicals.

But here's my 2 cents.

Hospital is very different than LTC. The fact that you have NA duties (vitals q4, i/os, toileting, etc) + phlebotomy and ekg duties will keep you busy. Especially depending on your patient load. I hope it won't be more than 8-10, because with that many responsibilites I'd consider that a full load.

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I agree with previous poster. You won't be bored working in a hospital, and you will definitely be doing more than you would have as a 11-7 CNA in LTC. In LTC, many patients sleep through the night and just call periodically to be helped to the BR, or you check them and change them a few times a night on rounds. At most, you do vitals once a shift. Particularily since you said most patients were total care, that says to me they would be checked on rounds and wouldn't call for the rest of the night.

In a hospital, lots more vitals, i/os, blood sugars, labs (most all scheduled labs are drawn on night shift), and probably much more time consuming documentation depending on where you work. In my experience, patients sleep much less in hospitals than they do in LTC, so more time is spent with patients awake during the night, helping them to bedpans or up to BR, trying to get comfortable with repositioning, dealing with pain issues, refilling ice packs, getting snacks, etc. Yeah, you may have a lull around 3-4am, but it won't be slow the whole night. And you may not have any lull.

All said, I doubt you'll have a problem getting bored on night shift. If you do, and you hate it, go back to LTC, or transfer to a PCT slot on day shift.

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I work nights as a PCA in a hospital and I NEVER have a free moment. Everyone is hooked up to an IV pole and they are all on meds that make them have to go to the bathroom constantly. With that plus baths, turns, vitals, drinks, snacks, call lights, warm blankets, etc, I am busy all night. The patients never seem to sleep for very long and when they finally fall asleep someone wakes them up (lol) and they need something else. You will not be bored.

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I worked 7p-7a at a hospital and you are always very busy. We had 15-20 patients a piece and they kept me running! Patients don't sleep. We had a lot of admissions, had to do all bed baths on night shift, patients needing help getting up to go to the bathroom all the time, patients wanting snacks, checking vitals at least q4, all labs were drawn during night shift, doctors start rounding during night shift, keeping ice packs cold & frozen, etc...

Trust me - you'll stay very busy!!

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Specializes in ER.

Ditto what the previous posters said. Patients in the hospital do not sleep at night (where I work nurses/techs have to round q2h at night anyway, so we're waking them up), and although you're pretty much just as busy as day shift, because it's night and are assumed to be less busy, you are given more patients. You won't be bored. :)

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Will be in the ED or on a tele floor???

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Thanx everyone for all your replys im not sure what floor i'll be on yet.But b/c of all your replys im more excited like I said I prefer to stay busy,keeps me awake and makes that long shift go by some much faster lol.:yeah:

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Ditto what the previous posters said. Patients in the hospital do not sleep at night (where I work nurses/techs have to round q2h at night anyway, so we're waking them up), and although you're pretty much just as busy as day shift, because it's night and are assumed to be less busy, you are given more patients. You won't be bored. :)

You have to wake the patient when you round q2?! Do people not realize that sleep is extremely valuable to healing?!? We round q1h during the day and q2h during the night, but if the patient is sleeping, we just leave a little card on the bedside table saying when we were there and when we will be back and reminding that they can press their call light at any time if they need anything. Let them sleep if you can!!

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You have to wake the patient when you round q2?! Do people not realize that sleep is extremely valuable to healing?!? We round q1h during the day and q2h during the night, but if the patient is sleeping, we just leave a little card on the bedside table saying when we were there and when we will be back and reminding that they can press their call light at any time if they need anything. Let them sleep if you can!!

I agree, if they are basically OK. If they are incontinent, need turning or vital signs, then I wake them. The hospital is not a hotel, I don't care if they get pissy, they are there to get better so they need to be monitered and treated.

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Specializes in ER.
You have to wake the patient when you round q2?! Do people not realize that sleep is extremely valuable to healing?!? We round q1h during the day and q2h during the night, but if the patient is sleeping, we just leave a little card on the bedside table saying when we were there and when we will be back and reminding that they can press their call light at any time if they need anything. Let them sleep if you can!!

They're post-op patients, so we do pretty frequent vitals, and we get admissions all times of the night.

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