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Discussion

Quick question for night-shift nurses

I've got a quick question for the night nurses!

I'm a newly-graduated RN and will be starting a new job soon on a cardiac floor. I am slightly anal retentive about making sure I am laying eyes on my patients at least once every hour, and did so while working as an extern on the cardiac floor.

The night shift will present an issue with being able to see the patient well enough to actually lay eyes on them well enough to do a quick visual assessment with the lights off. I recently saw a sort of LED flashlight that can be worn on the head...sort of like a headlamp.

Would I look like a complete dork if I wore one of those when going in to check on patients at night? Do you use one to check in on your patients, or have you ever seen anyone else use one?

Along the same line, are there any "best practices" you utilize when doing hourly rounding on the night shift since it's often difficult to plainly see your patient?

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    at my hospital, the patient's rooms have lights that can be dimmed progressively till they turn off. i usually turn these on when i enter the room, i turn them on to the lowest possible that allows me to satisfactorily visualize the pt. if you don't have anything like this at your facility, then i think that using an alternative like the one that you mentioned should be fine. a lot of times, just by opening the door, there is enough light from the hallway to be able to see the pt

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    I work as a tech on a cardiac floor and we are required to do the hourly checks. When working the night shift I have noticed that it is quite bright on the floor, even at 3 AM. I can see what's going on without having to turn on any lights.

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    During my peds clinical, my instructor didn't want us to wake the kids up when we first got there; she wanted us to keep the lights off and just use the light coming in from the hallway or use a pen light to provide a bit of light, just enough to make sure they looked ok. Worked well for us.

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    • Author

    Yeah...a pen light...DUH! I'm completely embarassed I didn't think of that.

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    I used to use a penlight, but they just kept breaking on me. To be honest with the door open a crack and the light from the station I really don't have any issues seeing my patients well enough to know they are safe. Plus the nice thing about tele patients is you can always see their heart rhythm! In fact many times I have known a patient is up and about because their HR is up, so I use that as an excuse to check on them as well.

    Best of luck!

    Tait

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    I just used a regular flashlight but pointed it up at the ceiling, so it wasn't directed at anyone.

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    Yeah...a pen light...DUH! I'm completely embarassed I didn't think of that.

    LOL, don't be embarassed. It's easy to overlook simpler solutions sometimes. My first clinical instructor gave us all CVS penlights that we could put behind our name badges (and they have the retractable thing so you can pull them out or whatever) as a little gift; I've had it two years now and it still works fine.

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    Come into my room and shine a flash light in my face and you might get hit :)

    Most places have some type of low lighting to use.

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    I used a mini mag key chain flashlight that I was able to ring into my badge, so I always had it. Also, someone mentioned even cracking open the patient door, bathroom door, was sufficient enough. The room should already have some sort of lighting on during the night to satisfy some sort of fall risk prevention assessment.

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    I have a stethoscope light that sort of looks like this: http://www.standris.com/img/stethlight_lg.gif

    It just snaps on to the bell/diaphragm like that and you pinch the two sides to light it up.

    ETA: I got mine as a little gift but I'm sure you can find these at medical supply stores.

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    I use a simple flashlight pointed away from the pt's face of course. It's worked for me for 37 years.:)

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    • Experts

    AZO49008:

    Your concern for your patients stands out most in your post. The fact that you want to be able to do an adequate assessment under any condition is a very impressive trait, indeed.

    I'm sure a motivated nurse such as yourself will eventually find the best methods to carry out your duties. Obviously, you're open for ideas. Having an open mind is not only a sign of good mental health, but is also an indication of a willingness to learn and grow.

    I say, "kudos to you."

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