shift ends at 7, but you leave at 9? Why?

[RNDreamer]

hi, official nursing student here!:monkeydance:

Quick question:

I read ALOT of these threads and how nurse leave after their shifts. My question is, If you shift ends at 7P, and the night nurse come in at 7P..how is it that you are leaving at 8, 9, or 10 if you are supposed to be reporting to the next nurse...and if you are still with your patients, is the next nurse waiting that hour or 2 for you to finish and get report from you?

I hope you can understand my question, I'm not sure if it is clear enough ...thanks in advance

[jajski]

I want to know where all of you work that you are a)getting out every night on time b) are standing at the time clock waiting to leave.....

I've been a med surg nurse for the last 22 years .... I love it, it's my passion, I cannot imagine doing anything else. With staffing issues, high acuities, and a busy busy med/surg floor ... many times I've had to stay over to take care of business ...

[jjjoy, LPN]

I am sorry but it is poor time management skills that keep people late at work 99% of the time. I have been working as a nurse for about 20 years now and i can count on one hand the number tof times that I had to stay late for routine things.

Yes, we should all chart as we go along. No argument there. And many times, the person staying late could have managed their time better, and that may be especially true where you work. But I wouldn't go so far as to say 99% of the time across the board.

If your facility tends to understaff, then you've got to chose between cutting corners to get out on time or staying late. The other option in these cases is quitting that job. A lot have chosen to quit, thus, the nursing shortage.

[banditrn]

Because I work nites in LTC, I can't start my meds or treatments until the last hour I'm there. Often they will take me a little over an hour to do.

Frequently the nurse that follows me is late, and if it's a certain one, she'll sneak in and get the blood sugar supplies and start on those before I can catch her to give her report and count narcs. It means she's doing blood sugars way too early for the sliding scale insulins, but I'm tired of fighting with her about it. But I'm generally late when she works.

[TigerGalLE, BSN, RN]

JJJoy I agree with you. When you work on a super busy med/surg floor and your staffing isn't always as good as it should be. Yes sometimes I have to stay late. I usually am out by 7:45. It is either stay late and make sure the job is done, or cut corners and leave on time.