3rd shifters, what are your duties?

[CJolin]

Sometimes I feel like I am a house keeper. Here is my list of things I do for the night. We have two cna's on duty for third shift, thats it. Oh, I also work in a CBRF assisted living. about 30 residents.

We have about 3 hrs of cleaning to do

clean bathrooms, toilets, sinks. showers, mop floors, clean windows, hand rails, etc.

Answer call lights for bathroom assists, there are about 8 residents that get up during the night.

Wash wheel chairs

2hr room checks. We just make sure they are still breathing.

Get up the partial assist patients starting around 5am. Helping them with peri care, and getting dressed. Most can brush their own hair and teeth and everything else.

make beds for the residedents we get up. Straighten up their rooms, suites.

help get breakfast ready, (make coffee, set up bowls of cereal.)

make sure med cart is stocked with supplies, and water. The med passer comes in around 7am.

thats about it. We have about a total of 2-3 hrs of down time, I usually find something to clean, or just sit around if there is nothing else to do.

So what does everyone else do on third shift?

Cari

[casi, ASN, RN]

I'm Memory Care unit Assisted Living

-I do about 30min if cleaning of public areas of unit

-Checks every 2 hours, toilet or change as needed

-AM cares on one person (scheduled) but sometimes more when ppl want to get up

-Blood Sugars and Nurse Set up Med passes

-Set table for Breakfast make sure kitchen sends up missing supplies

-Attend to emergencies and all that fun stuff (spent good chunk of last night packing a nose)

-Put away laundry (another aide does since I can't leave memory care)

I think thats all. It varies night to night. I get a lot of down time too. I usually bring a book or homework.

[casi, ASN, RN]

EEeep! i double posted.

Bad Casi.

yeah I get a little odd after the night shifts...

[jubilee09]

Im a CNA working private duty on 3rd shift. Here are my shift duties.

9pm change kangaroo bag and start new feeding

vent check

apply eye med

10pm apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

11pm apply eye med

start nebulizer treatment

vent check

12mid apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

restock med supply cart

1am apply eye med

vent check

change trach dressing

2am apply eye med

administer Reglan med through g-tube

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

3am apply eye med

vent check

make a list of supplies we need to order

4am apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

g-tube care

5am apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

finish up paper work

sterilize nebulizer sets and g-tube syringes

6am apply eye med

vent check

add 440cc H20 to feeding bag

get ready for report

Thats pretty much my entire night. In addition to what I listed, I offer my patient a urinal every 2 hours and respond to any high pressure, low pressure alarms on the vent. My duties are usually pretty consistent.

Hope this helped!

[casi, ASN, RN]

I keep hitting wrong buttons and posting wrong things. I really need to not try this whole post editing thing again. Sorry

[jem1013]

i work in ltc/snf and on 11-7 we have to make 3 sets of rounds (change and reposition incont. residents, toliet those on tolieting sched., check in on the rest). we pass water pitchers to all residents, clean wheelchairs and walkers, a few each night. clean out the fridge. and in the morning depending what unit your working get some residents up and preform am adls (on two units you get 2 residents up each, another you get 5 up). and of course answer the call lights and charting.

[LanaBanana]

This is a good topic. If I get the one I applied for it will be 7p-7a, but ICU, so I'm guessing there would be a lot more constant work there? Like repositioning and stuff?

[Cococure]

hey all,

I work on a mother/baby unit so I don't do repositoning, diapers etc so here goes:

1. do vistals on mommies

2. do peri care

3. answer call lights which is a lot cuz new mommies are needy

4. stock

5. prepare rooms for post delivery

6. accu checks

7. d/c saline locks & foleys

8. help to take care of babies ...feeding, diapers etc

9. and whatever else the nurses need

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

31 years ago when i was a nursing assistant in a nursing home while i was an rn student, we had to collect up all the bedpans and urinals during our night shift (there was a schedule of which rooms to do this with), scrub them, sterilize them in a large steam sterilizer we had, and then return them to the patients who needed them and place the clean ones n the cupboard. we also washed wheelchairs. we also had to make sure that large lumps of bm was washed out of the linens that went to the laundry. sometimes we got so short of patient gowns that to "save" on linen we would drape a wet patient gown over a chair in the patient's room so it would at least be dry by the next round. that, of course, is unheard of today and is bad practice. but, we're talking about 30 years ago when you did what you had to do. no gloves then, kids. we had to wash our hands. my hands were often red and sore. i used to use a product called aquacarehp (the formula now is much different than it was then) to help sooth the burning pain in my skin from all the handwashing.

[Shadelyn]

Nights in the ER are much like days, but here goes.

Transport patients to radiology and back.

Meet medics in the rooms and settle patients.

Take vitals when asked

Stock fresh linen and pull dirty linen bags from rooms

Answer call lights

Help patients to the bathroom or on/off bedpans

Search the hospital for carriers

Fill the blanket warmer

Clean rooms after discharges

Preform EKG's

Assist nurses with foleys, combative patients, or anything else

[FaithHope&Love]

I am new to my job but here's what I've been doing so far (7p-7a)

Getting residents ready/into bed, hs care, picking up their room as I go along

Showers (generally 1-2 at night and/or in the morning)

Checking the residents every 2 hrs....taking them to the restroom, making sure they are dry, changing their positions, etc

Answer call lights

Vital signs

Laundry....wash/dry/fold/put away (CNA's do the laundry where I work) I try to get all of the laundry done on my shift if I can...I know day shift is hectic

Help the nurse (if she needs it)...great learning experience

Clean the dining area, kitchenette, sitting (tv) room

Clean wheelchairs/walkers

Start getting residents up, dressed and ready to start their day

Charts

Give report and go home (or to school pending on the day)

I know there is more but that's what I can think of for now...

[cat2007]

Im a CNA working private duty on 3rd shift. Here are my shift duties.

9pm change kangaroo bag and start new feeding

vent check

apply eye med

10pm apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

11pm apply eye med

start nebulizer treatment

vent check

12mid apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

restock med supply cart

1am apply eye med

vent check

change trach dressing

2am apply eye med

administer Reglan med through g-tube

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

3am apply eye med

vent check

make a list of supplies we need to order

4am apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

g-tube care

5am apply eye med

chart heart beat and pulse ox stats

finish up paper work

sterilize nebulizer sets and g-tube syringes

6am apply eye med

vent check

add 440cc H20 to feeding bag

get ready for report

Thats pretty much my entire night. In addition to what I listed, I offer my patient a urinal every 2 hours and respond to any high pressure, low pressure alarms on the vent. My duties are usually pretty consistent.

Hope this helped!

You're night sounds interesting. I didn't think CNA's could give meds like Reglan and do trach care. Do you work alone or is there an RN/LPN with you?