nelcoy4

At my facility the ER nurses don't give floor nurses report. We (floor nurses) get a 20 minute notice that a patient is coming. The whole facility uses Epic, so as long as stuff is documented it is easy to read the chart. My issue is that there has been times when the unit clerk or charge RN forgets to tell me that I'm getting a patient sometimes. They will tell us when the patient arrives. Now I'm rushing reading the chart while I'm trying to get the patient settled. I wish we had a nurse to nurse notification/communication that a patient is coming.

At my hospital they have a form for the pt or POA to sign that is very detailed for alarm refusal. Also in the alarm refusal form it goes in depth about forfeiting rights to sue in a result of a fall (something like that, the form is very long and in small print). If I was a patient and saw that form I would say never mind turn the alarm on. Lol! After they sign the form we still have to document every shift about the alarm refusal on our fall flow sheets. Also the nurses and MD can import a video about it on patient's tvs. They can not watch whatever they want to watch on tv until this video is played. Once they watch the video, it is noted on the chart electronically that they watched the video. Kind of off topic, but there was a pt at my hospital that fell and he did not sue the hospital, but he sued the nurse only because she forgot to turn the bed alarm on. That scared me. I just follow the policies and teach the patients/families why they are in place. I make sure forms are signed and my documentation is detailed.

Like somebody already said, I get silent and take all emotion off my face. Many times they feel stupid when they realize how they sound and they are not going to get a reaction. Some apologized, some don't. I never argue back, sometimes I ask them do they want to speak to my manager/supervisor/charge nurse. (This is to only show that you are not scared of getting in trouble) If they are too aggressive or cursing harshly at me, then I tell them that is inappropriate and I will come back when they calm down.

His angry face could just be his facial expression, it may not be directed to you personally. When transporters/lab/environmental/supply workers look evil around me, I'm always mirror their facial expression (then smile) and then I say a corny joke about the shift being over soon. Then I tell them that I'm sorry if I'm making them behind with their work. I try never to come across that my work is more important then theirs. I have chatted with a lot of transporters and they told me that they are timed and some of the supervisors don't believe them when they say the patient was not ready. I work in a major hospital and there is only 2 of them on night shift, so they get in trouble if they fall behind schedule. There has been times when I offered to talk their manager when I held them up.

I've never heard of this. I would have to do incident reports everyday because a lot of my patients dump their meds in their hands. Then I'm searching everywhere for a pill. I give it to them just as long as it doesn't fall on the floor. Off topic- I don't feel like starting a new thread, but the real question is- How many nurses get a new pill if it falls on the floor?

Everybody said what I wanted to say, but I also just want to say I hate lawnmowers!!!!! Everybody on my block knows I work night shift and I don't expect my neighbors to be quiet because my schedule. BUT my neighbor across the street mows his lawn 3 times a week during the summer, then I hear a chain saw sound. My boyfriend doesn't bother me with his noise, but oh boy....I swear my neighbor has OCD tendencies with mowing his lawn. Sorry I had to vent... soft spot.

I work 7p-7a and I sleep from 10a-4/5p everyday. I keep my sleep schedule the same and I can't sleep at night. I run errands in the middle of the night, early morning, or evening times. It can be a little lonely being up in the middle of the night, but that's what the internet is for. As far as eating, I eat when I wake up, then around 1 am, and then early morning. Overtime my body adjusted and 5pm is like 5am to me. The hardest part is explaining this to my family and friends. They don't understand that when they call to chit chat at 1pm is like 1am to me. Also just because I'm home in the middle of the day that doesn't mean I can run their errands. In order to stop them from calling, I started calling them at 3am just to talk. They got the point after that. There are nurses on my floor that can flip and sleep at night, but when I do that I'm a zombie. They say that they stay awake when they get off from work and take a little nap in the afternoon, then go to bed at night. I only do that when I have to go to a daytime function (ex wedding). I hope this helps. I love night shift and can't imagine going back to days.

There is 3 nurses on my unit that have locs and I never heard a problem about it. Personally I think if the unit and region is culturally diverse then it won't be a problem.

I'm part time also, but I usually sign up for 36 hours. Whenever I sign up for 20 hours I always get calls. I never answer the phone and I don't feel guilty at all. When i first went to part time I had a lot of haters on my floor. At first they thought I was forced to go part time, then they wanted to know how I was able to live with my pay decrease and what do I do with all my free time. Then when I started picking up more hours, they thought I was having money problems.

My manager doesn't mind that we carry our cellphones on us. She just doesn't want us to take calls in pt's rooms and we have to keep it on silent. I don't talk on my phone at work, but my phone has come in handy a few times. I downloaded Goggle translate to help me communicate with non-english speaking pts (this helps when I can't find the translator phone). The drug app, calulator, stopwatch, setting alarms for pts that want their prn pain meds the exact time it's due, & finding music to calm down anxious pts.

I truly don't care about your kids. How can you do any work when you are either on your cell phone or the work line taking personal calls? To the externs if you see that I did something different then then you was taught in nursing school, think of a clever way to stop me without letting the pt know or tell me after the patient is within earshot. The best way to stop me is to ask "why did you do such/such that way?" or "we just learned that in school can I do such/such with you". Unless I'm late, don't give me report as soon as I walk on the unit, coat still on, and I haven't even looked to see who I have. Just because a patient has been on the unit for awhile, don't assume I have had him/her before. Then get mad because you have to really give me report and not just say "he/she had a good day." To the charge nurse: Don't give me 6 elderly pee obsessed female pts with a male CNA. Knowing that those ladies are going to always ask for me personally when they have to go to the bathroom. Then at the end of the shift they are going to say they don't feel comfortable with a male CNA. I'm running all shift while the CNA is sitting or hiding and I'm running like a chicken with her head cut off. To the charge nurse again. Yes I work well with challeging and needy pts, but sometimes I need a break.

I don't go to any meetings that are not immediately after my shift. I talked to my manager about it and she suggest that I can get the minutes of the meeting from somebody that attended and post them on the nurses' section on the hospital website. I can also get the minutes and talk to our staff about it.

One thing I had to learn to do is learn every RN's style of report on my unit and let them know my style. We do written report, but we also do a quick verbal to make sure the next shift RN understands. There is 1 RN on my units that loves a full, full report. When I was newer I thought she nit picked me, but now I just see it has nothing to do with me. That's just her style of report. So before I write out my report sheets I look to see who is following me and I plan how my report is going to be. One way to handle the nit picking RN is to joke with her. Right before you start report with her you tell her you made goal with yourself that the nit picking RN won't have any questions at the end of report. (Say it with a smile.) This is a nice way to bring it to her attention how she acts. Another way to handle her is to mimic her when she gives you report (tell her you are going to act like her with a smile on your face.) I will tell you this, I know more about my pts when I know the nit picking RN is following me. So in the long term, she has helped me become a better nurse. I just hate when she follows me after a crazy shift.

It's not just you. On my 1st day off, all I do is sit around and watch tv. My body aches after doing 3 12s in a row.

Thank you for posting about this. I usually ignore it or I say "Aw he/she is cute" then I keep it moving. I hate when call bells are going off and the RN is ignoring it because she is facetiming or skyping with her baby. That really aggravates me to no end.

Do you have a bladder scanner on your unit? If you do, then start checking her with it every 4 hours pre & post void.

I have been working permanent nights (7p-7a) for 5 years now and now I'm use to staying up all night. On a few occasions I take my hour break and go in the break room to take a nap. I set my alarm on my phone. Management at my job don't mind as long as we don't sleep at the nurses' station and we have coverage for our break. I never have a problem of getting someone to cover for me because I'm the nurse that always brings food and coffee for the staff. If I notice someone dosing off, I suggest they go on break or I give them some coffee. I talk to them about the ramifications of sleeping if it got out of hand. That usually works, because I never had to tell my boss about anybody sleeping. I would if I had to though. Now I will admit I play games on my iPhone or reading a book/magazine during downtime. I only do this when all my work is done and I'm just waiting for the call bell to ring, time to pass meds, or next rounds. It's either that or I'm staring at the walls.

I remember going through the same thing when I was a new nurse. I still go through it every now and then. One thing nursing has taught me was to learn my voice. I was real shy when I first got into nursing and looked real young. I also had to learn some time mangaement tricks. Also it is good to communicate a lot to pts so they don't feel forgotten. These are my techniques I use for passing meds. Keep in mind, I work 7p-7a, so things are a little calmer. In the beginning of my shift I get plastic clear bags. I labled them with the pt name, birth date, and room number. Then I put the meds (I don't take them out of the orig packet) I'm passing at this time in each pt's bag. I also put things I may need in the bag (ex IV flushes, applesause, alcohol pads, pill cup, spoon) If I'm missing something thenI go or send the NA to pharmacy with a list of all the meds I'm missing at that time. I also ask the other nurses as a courtesy if they are missing something. Before I pass the meds I make sure that the orders have not changed. I also print out the list of meds I have to pass for each pt and do my final check in the room. I go in the pts rooms before I give meds and tell them I about to hand out meds. Do they need anything med related (pain pills), do they have to use the bathroom, new water....stuff like that. I also tell them that I will do wound cares or change IVs after I'm done assing meds(unless it's real easy). Then I pass my meds and if they ask me anything while I'm passing my meds I tell them I will get somebody or they have to wait until I'm done. If they need to go to the bathroom I do take them, clean them up, or put on the bedpan. Sometimes I press the call bell or call the nurses station to tell the nursing assistant that the pt needs assistance bc I'm passing meds. The CNAs on my unit know Im real helpful, but the only time I ask them really to do stuff is when I'm passing meds or handling some serious RN stuff. I know this may seem like a lot, but it really saves me time in the long run. It goes so much faster when I'm organized like this. BTW 11pts sounds like a lot for day shift on a med/surg floor. Esp with JACO coming. Maybe you can transfer units.

I have nothing good to say about it. I had word finding issues, my extremities were tingling.

I told this one pt (known for loving the call bell and neuro intact) about hourly rounding in the beginning of my shift. She was on the bell like she was playing a video game right after I introduced myself to her. So I copies of the education the nurses received about houring rounding, highlighed what we do every hour, taped it on the her night stand, table, tv (bottom of it),and curtains. She still continued to call me like crazy, until she fell asleep. Then went into her room every hour, I woke her up and asked can I help her with anything. I got on her last nerve. At the end of the shift, I took the papers down. She c/o about not getting enough sleep to doc. I never had a problem with her after that. That night my theme was you bother me with petty stuff, I bother you.

I had wrote down on my personal report sheet every time a certain pt used the call bell. This pt called every 2 mins for the stupidest stuff and then c/o to drs and managemnt about the nurses. I was told not to document it because nursing homes was coming in to interview the pt. Our unit REALLY wanted this pt to go and nobody would accept the pt if the pt looked like a trouble maker. But when I asked the director of pt services about it, she said to doc it, to show the interventions the nurses does. I ended up not documenting all the call bell episodes, but kinda summed it up in the chart. I gave a copy of my repot sheet to my nurse manager.

^^^^^^ A pool nurse or a young new grad who happens to be a day/night rotater (sp)

My hospital tries to think of night shift when it come to short meetings. Staff meetings are usually 3pm and 6am. Some classes are held from 5pm-9pm. But if a class is from 8am-4pm, I just don't don't come, unless I'm off the night before and the night of. The last time I went to one I slept the whole time and almost go in an accident on the highway driving home. I'm not putting myself and other drivers at risk because of my job.

Manager says that the call bell is all of our responsibility, not just the nurse it is assign to. I guess since we don't have CNAs on our shift.

I want to thank everybody for their advice. I'm going to speak to my manger, now that I have cooled down. I will start to look busy, but I will help at times. Basically I will not be at the nursing station much during my downtime. It's such a shame that I thought everybody on my shift was kind of cool. Lesson learned that work is work and everybody isn't your friend just because they are real friendly to you.