Residents-how do they stay awake for 24-36 hrs straight?

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Feb 7, 2006

LOTS of coffee

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Feb 7, 2006

Well I guess she has never had kids....lol

No, I know that is hard to do. I had a job a couple years ago (when I was much younger!) where we worked 24 hr shifts, but got the next 48 hrs off and it was hard at first

I survived on coffee and strangly enough, you just kinda get used to being that tired, my body adjusted after a few weeks, hopefully hers will too.

This makes me glad I switched from pre-med to nursing honestly...lol

Good luck to her though, a new Dr life isn't easy at all.

PedsER-RN, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2006

i'm not a resident, but i've had instances where i have to stay up for 36+ hours. i'm not a big fan of coffee, as it makes me very wired. if i know i'm going to be up for a long time (such as going to work and then up for a while afterwards-i work nights), i try to sleep a few hours during the day of my first shift. i also chew gum (sugarless) frequently-that seems to keep me occupied. i also don't let myself get too comfortable. i'll usually keep the heat or a/c a little too cold, because if i get all warm and cozy, i'm out! other than that, i think it's something your body just has to get accustomed to. it's not something i'd recommend, and i'm not advocating working when you're having trouble staying awake, but sometimes long hours can't be avoided, and this is what helps me. :yawn:

KatieBell · Feb 7, 2006

SHe needs to actually find some time for a nap. THis may be difficult to do, but personally, I don't want any resident nurse or MD treating me on their 24th hour.

Most residents I work with who are on for 24 have a sleep room, and once organized they go in there and get a nap. Even a quick 30-40 miute nap can help more than tons of coffee.

As she gets used to her role she wil become more organized and have more time for a nap.

Keysnurse2008 · Feb 7, 2006

She has a sleep room,..but doesnt get to use it much.My understanding is that she and a senior level resident are on call together ...but she only calls the upper level resident if she cant handle a situation( I hate it when they get initiation by fire)...but that was her words. This is her really first month of "actual" residency where she is caring for patients...and I told her she would get accustomed. She doesnt want to "bother" her upper level resident...which makes me kinda worried.I hate it when anyone makes a newbie feel inferior for asking and learning.I think she will just grow accustomed to the resident lifestyle after a few months and get an organizational plan down where she can maybe nap.....but till then she is living off starbucks!!!!

Selke · Feb 7, 2006

I suspect they use drugs ... speed, whatever. Coffee doesn't work after awhile.

I never adjusted to working nights. I am dreading night call when I get into my midwifery clinicals. I'm going to tell the scheduler that I've already worked nights for a few years as a nurse, can she put me on days? Of course I doubt this tactic will work, but I know I am going to have serious trouble with staying up all night again at this point in my life. I already have insomnia and sleep issues ... this post brings up the thing I fear worse about my program!

Oh well.

Retired R.N. · Feb 7, 2006

Re: Residents-how do they stay awake for 24-36 hrs straight?

Some of them don't! When they walked in their sleep and mumbled rather incoherently an experienced night charge nurse that I knew in one L & D department had a most diplomatic solution. After calling the obstetrician in charge of the case, she would just say to the resident, "Oh Doctor, this is going to be a while yet before you will be needed. Why don't you just catch a quick nap in the doctor's lounge until we call you?" Then she and whoever else was working with her would proceed to deliver the baby and explain to the resident later that, "Things happened quickly all of a sudden, and when you didn't answer our call right away, we had to do what was necessary."

We were very fortunate in that a certain beloved family practitioner who had been doing deliveries for many years had a habit of always stopping by L & D for coffee while he was making his "midnight rounds," whether he had a patient there or not. More than once he volunteered his expertise to help us out, even to the point of taking over the actual delivery. We left him to deal with the obstetrician on the case and everyone seemed happy with the way the "problem" with the new residents was handled.

Cute_CNA, CNA · Feb 7, 2006

I don't think it is ethical, safe, or fair for residents to have to stay up that long. How on earth could they do their job? Why does that happen? Is that legal?

I'm surprised there haven't been more efforts by residents to stop this. If you ask me, that's abusing staff. Working with that little sleep under your belt is bad for you both physically and psychologically. I wouldn't be surprised if someone collapsed b/c they were so tired.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2006

Well, I know that they've been cutting down on the number of hours that residents can be on call per week, but I'm not sure if this includes a cap on the number of hours in a row they can work...

When our residents are on call, they come in at 7am one morning and usually go home at about 1 or 2pm the next day. They go through their normal day of rounding, etc. and then are there overnight, and in the morning they have to go through rounds again and then sign off to the next resident. We have a sleep room on the unit for them.

What most of them do is that they try to sleep whenever they can. If they have charting to do, sometimes they'll hold off on that until the next morning when they HAVE to be awake anyways, even if it means staying later. Know what I mean? The charting can wait - if they have a few hours where they have no lab results to check on, etc., they try to hit the sack and get in at least a nap or two during night shift. They say it's easier to do that and then have to stay a couple hours late after rounds catching up on charting, than to try and plow through it all and go home right after rounds without having had even a nap during the night. They also believe it's better to have some rest in case a critical situation comes up and they need to have their wits about them. If they save the charting for later on, after morning rounds and after signing off to the next night's resident - then at least when they're at their most tired, all they're doing is charting, not procedures.

True, this is NICU, and we're pretty nice to our residents. I mean, we're dead serious about being patient advocates and won't let them get away with being lazy or anything like that - but if it's a quiet night and we know the resident is asleep, we'll try and group our calls to report things like lab results, so they only have to get up once.

I can imagine that when a resident is covering many floors at the same time, this must really suck! What can I say, though? They chose to be doctors and taking night call is a part of that job.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Feb 7, 2006

i don't think it is ethical, safe, or fair for residents to have to stay up that long. how on earth could they do their job? why does that happen? is that legal?
i'm surprised there haven't been more efforts by residents to stop this. if you ask me, that's abusing staff. working with that little sleep under your belt is bad for you both physically and psychologically. i wouldn't be surprised if someone collapsed b/c they were so tired.

not only do i agree, but it alarms me to know that sleep-deprivation can kill in more ways than poor judgement at work. recently, all seven children of a family were killed here because a sleep-deprived truck driver hit their car, slamming it into a school bus.

http://tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=24936

ntsb discusses accident which killed seven children

lake butler, fla. (ap) -- an investigator with the national transportation safety board says that a truck driver who plowed into a car at a school bus stop last week killing seven children had been awake for 34 hours at the time of the crash, except for a short nap.

in some states (i'm not sure if florida is one but i think so), you're considered impaired if driving sleep-deprived. med schools need to seriously rethink these archaic, insane, dangerous work schedules.

http://mednews.stanford.edu/releases/2001/mayreleases/sleepless.html

05/24/01

media contact: michelle brandt at (650) 723-0272 or 723-6911 ([email protected])

study shows sleepy drivers just as dangerous as intoxicated drivers

stanford, calif. - americans hitting the highways for the memorial day weekend should be aware of a major road hazard: sleepy drivers. a new study by researchers at stanford university medical center indicates that sleep impacts reaction time and driving performance as much as alcohol, and that sleep-deprived drivers pose a major risk on the highways.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2006

Not only do I agree, but it alarms me to know that sleep-deprivation can kill in more ways than poor judgement at work. Recently, all seven children of a family were killed here because a sleep-deprived truck driver hit their car, slamming it into a school bus.

That was heartbreaking - I remember the other week when it was all over the news.

Truck drivers are a whole other bag of chips. I remember hearing that they are paid for how much they haul, so many of them try to do without sleep in order to get the most money. If they were paid on salary, maybe the roads would be a lot safer.