cheerio08

Like it has already been said, this is an age old issue. I'm coming from an ER point of view, and in our hospital, we give one phone call to attempt report, either to the RN or the charge. If there is no one able to take report and the bed is ready, we fill out a paper report and the patient goes up. The nurse is free to call at any time to get report after the patient goes up. Never have I sent an unstable patient to the floor, and usually most of my inpatient orders have been started (can't speak for other nurses on this one). The biggest difference between the ER and floors is that there is such a vast difference in priorities. You are correct in saying it is a patient safety issue. However, in the ER, we don't get to choose how many patients we get and what acuity they are. If we are pushing people onto the floor, it is usually because we want to avoid running traumas/strokes/codes in the hallway… Which is, as you might imagine, a patient safety issue. In the ER, our focus becomes on patient flow… Either discharge or admit the current pt so we can get the diaphoretic chest pain out in the waiting room & in front of a doctor. I don't deny this problem stems from the ER but I also hope to shed some light on our perspective. All that being said: I do not feel that sending a patient with no report or attempt at report is adequate. I would definitely look into ways to improve this hand off process. Leadership usually responds to staff that not only broach a problem but also offer options to solve it. Maybe bedside report would work better for your organization or maybe some sort of paper SBAR and a quick "Do you have any questions" conversation (for the stable pt) would be better. Just thoughts on what I've seen work before.

I appreciate the advice. I've gotten worse not better, including some depression and a migraine that won't go away. Think I am going to talk to manager about switching up my schedule today. Otherwise I'm on the job search again, maybe in a different specialty... Trying to think positive :)

Just started a new job, around a month ago. Moved to a new area with my husband who got transferred for his job. Working night shift three nights a week and I am struggling. It has been a long time since I worked night shift and I have totally forgotten how miserable I feel on it- constantly tired, constantly grumpy, constantly hungry. With my husband's new schedule, we can go days without seeing each other; and days when we are together, I'm usually too miserable to get anything accomplished. I am also so introverted and it is hard for me to really make friends. I am not really meeting people outside of work since I tend to be awake at weird hours. I can barely survive going to church on my days off without sleeping in the middle of the service. In general, I'm feeling really unhappy. I almost feel like it would have been better to stay back home at a job where I was comfortable, working with good friends and on a "normal" schedule. How long should I struggle with this before I go to my manager? I am almost ready to quit this job and start again from scratch, but I'm sure that is my exhausted, over-emotional brain trying to make that decision. Have other people gone through similar experiences? Did you end up adjusting and making it work or switching shifts? I would benefit just knowing other people have had, and overcome, similar feelings...