Do any of you have this problem? It seems at our facility we have some real second guessing problems between the shifts (we are 12 hours). Dayshift can't understand why we do things as we do and vice versa. We even had a traveler recently that commented that it was worse at our hospital than she was used to elsewhere. I try to stay out of it, but it is hard not to get frustrated when you 'inherit' patients with sloppy charts, care, etc. I could be more forgiving if they weren't so quick to criticize us! It's like a viscious cycle.
I know in theory things should run similarly on days and nights in a labor unit but they really don't. Especially with inductions and those in early labor.
Have any of you had this situations and climbed out of it?
My unit manager of all people had to work one night, she had no idea what to do. I loved it. The day and night shift issue will never end, but I do know one thing.:rotfl:
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
OK I am sorry but I just have to interject here: let me remind some people that night shift nurses WOULD be "rested" if
day shift people would quit expecting nightshifters to go to classes, meetings and training on DAY shift HOURS. and
if
day shifters and managers did NOT call them at home during times when THEY are trying to sleep......like noon; after all, that is like MIDNIGHT would be to some dayshift personnel.
and
IF
the rest of the world did not all live on dayshift hours forgetting we do need sleep---- if dogs did not bark outside my window all day and kids scream and play in the yard next door...and all the rest of noise and distraction that goes on in the dayshift world....
caffeine does not always cut it, either. sometimes I drink way too much JUST to get by a nightshift...and it nearly makes me sick....
and no, patients don't sleep all night, so we DO work at night just like we do on days.....
when you say we have all the same opportunity to rest like everyone else, remember all that. It's not always true...and I am sorry if that sounds like whining, but to me, it is telling it like it is.....
why do you think some institutions pay a shift differential for nights if it's so easy??? Answer is, it is not. It really disrupts lives.
Thank you for indulging me....have a good "night" rofl. :rotfl:
sorry just have to interject here: let me remind some people that night shift WOULD be "rested" if
day shift would quit expecting nightshifters to go to classes, meetings and training on DAY shift HOURS. and if
day shifters and managers did NOT call them at home during times when THEY are trying to sleep......like noon; after all, that is like MIDNIGHT to some dayshifters....
so---------------- when you say we are as well-rested, remember all that. It's not true all the time. I am not whining here, just telling it like it is.....
:imbar Agreed. I am suppose to "get off" at 0715. More often than not I leave around 0815. Drive for an hour home, feed the dog, fortunatley my children are grown, husband is at work, By this time it is at least 0930 or 1000.
Then there is the mandatory meeting at 1600. This means I "sleep" until 1430 then race like a demon to work. No wonder we are going insane one night at a time.
I think all hospitals have this problem. My current workplace's day shift has the older more experienced nurses and many of them have been able to perfect "that look" over the years:) When I get little snide comments or looks I just say "Wow. It must be terrible for you to have to get report from such a terrible nurse like me" and stare at them. Usually it results in a little sputtering since they don't know how to respond and then they're too embarassed to say anything else while I finish report. That was the single best thing I learned from my more experienced preceptor:)
hi all, i just wanted to say that i have worked both. i worked 11p-7a up until about 7 -8 mos. ago and i don't get it when night nurses say thier tired. they have the same opprutunity to go get thier 6-8 hrs. of sleep just like day or evening nurses. i have a husband, 2 kids, animals galore, and everything else that everyone says they have problems with. i only had an issue with tiredness the first week i ever did it.i never let it affect my quality of work. i chose to work that shift so no need to whine. let me also say i never got to sit down on that shift because it was sooooo busy, but then there were those nurses that slept for 1hr or more but did half@*! work. those kinda nurses that no longer take pride in thier work. i'm not trying to tick anybody off, but if your not happy on the night shift then move to days or evenings. your no more tired than i am.you can still buy a coca cola in the middle of the night, and your never too far away from a coffee pot in a health care setting.:) just like the day nurses do. and as far as the different shifts always bickering go, i think it's ridiculous. we as nurses have the same goal, to provide the best care possible for our pts, so what is with all the bickering and pettiness??????????
while this may be the case for you, it is not always possible to just move to days or evenings. i've worked on floors where you can get a day position after 6 months, or it may take 6 yrs (no joke). and i while commend you for 'adjusting' to nights after one week, there are many who may never adjust. i work with a nurse who is the queen of complainers. she is 'next' to go to days. all she ever does is complain about how she cannot adjust to nighs. she admits to being a lazy piece of $&!^, and says she would work so much better on days (i tend to doubt it). she has no kids (but is pregnant), so there is nothing actually stopping her from sleeping all day...that is except the fact that she can't sleep!! i went through this myself, when i was childless- i would try to 'nap' at 1 or 2 pm, and i would lay there stressing out about how i'm going to be awake for the next 18 hrs, and couldn't fall asleep. now that i am a mommy, i work nights out of convenience (sometimes days too, i am per-diem). and i am dog-tired!!! i don't have the luxury of napping before work (nor will my body let me), so i am up for 24+ hrs by the time my shift is over. i am not complaining- there's no point b/c no one will listen. one cna comes in every night and uses the 'i've been up all day' excuse. but guess what, so have i!!! it's a sacrifice i make for being able to see my child, and avoid daycare. i do my damnedest to not let it interfere w/ my work, but i'm still tired, nonetheless. i douse myself w/ caffeine, but it only works for so long, then i start peeing my brains out and my stomach hurts.
my co-worker, on the other hand, will be in for a rude awakening when she has her baby (as far as juggling the schedule), but that's her problem.
Ya know, as a former nite shifter now doing 12 hour days... I hate it, but I guess I tolerate it. Its tough having to get up at the *** crack of dawn to get to work for 7am. Being on a more "normal" schedule has been better for meshing with my fiance's schedule, but when you were used to doing nite shift for the past 5 years, eeugh!! I know nite shift can be darned busy, but the thing I hate about day shift is the noise factor... so many people around you can't even hear yourself think! And when you finally get a chance to try and sit down and chart, there are no seats to sit in for all the people around!
I definitely see this sometimes. I work 12 hour nights. Some of the nurses I work with seem like they are never busy, but I am sure always busy. I barely get all my charting done most nights and am rarely to be found at my desk. Patient's definitely don't sleep all night, especially newborns!
My beef is when I get a new delivery and don't get all the teaching done, some day shift nurses have a heart attack. I refuse to teach someone who is half asleep and then sign off on the teaching form, just so I can say it is done. I get the important paperwork done as quickly as I can and then go from there as to what other teaching I do.
The main reason I do this is because not all nurses go over all the teaching again at discharge. Many see that they have been taught and just take it as such. If I sign off that I went over it, I want to be sure that they actually heard something, participated in the learning, etc.
As for day vs. night, shift vs. shift, it will always be that way, sadly. I oriented on days and did my preceptorship in school on same unit I work on on days, so I know that I am just as busy on nights as I was on days. I wish some of those snotty day nurses with attitudes would work a few nights and see how they really are.
It doesn't even phase me when I get a report from someone and they are like, didn't get this done yet, etc. It is a 24 hour job, what doesn't get done on theirs can be done on mine and vice versa.
i wish some of those snotty day nurses with attitudes would work a few nights and see how they really are.
it doesn't even phase me when i get a report from someone and they are like, didn't get this done yet, etc. it is a 24 hour job, what doesn't get done on theirs can be done on mine and vice versa.
but for the most part, most of them did work nights. maybe not on that particular unit (or maybe a hundred years ago), but you would think they would have some empathy for the other shift (and i mean this for both shifts too).
btw, how can you possibly teach a new mother who just labored and delivered in the middle of the night? when was the last time she slept???
Having worked all shifts, I understand the problem well. When I managed a unit, I scheduled myself for a wide variety of hours on every shift. How if the world could I have evaluated staff if I'd never worked side by side with them? I also remembered the advice given to me by a very wise nurse manager, "Never ask anyone else to do something that you aren't willing to do, or haven't done yourself."
What I learned by rotating my own schedule was that every shift had it's unique challenges, ranging from dealing with hoards of doctors, to intrusive visitors, to lack of access to support staff. etc. The list could go on and on. I suggested to the staff that if we couldn't find a way to come to a truce between shifts, I would arrange for everyone to rotate for a week to every other shift. A few staff members actually tried it, and came back with a whole new understanding of their colleagues working the other shifts. What we eventually did was to sit down at a staff meeting and come up with a list of "tasks" that were best suited to each shift, such as cleaning and calibrating the bedside glucose machines, checking the crash cart, stocking, preparing charts for scheduled admits, etc. They were equally divided between all 3 shifts, and became daily responsibilities that the charge nurses assigned. If there was a valid reason why they didn't get done, that was passed along in report.
It wasn't a perfect system, but did help us to settle our differences. It also justified our need for a full-time unit secretary!
but for the most part, most of them did work nights. maybe not on that particular unit (or maybe a hundred years ago), but you would think they would have some empathy for the other shift (and i mean this for both shifts too).
btw, how can you possibly teach a new mother who just labored and delivered in the middle of the night? when was the last time she slept???
my point exactly on the teaching. some are sooo tired they can't even keep their eyes open. but, some day shift nurses make a huge deal if the teaching isn't done.
i have seen other new nurses like me all stressed about getting the teaching done. they ask me what i do and i simply tell them i don't do it and i don't care what anyone says. i go over what is vital and have them sign the paperwork that is required. if they are wide awake and say they are up to going through the teaching, i do it, if not, i don't. i am not going to do it and sign off on it just so i can look like i did a good job and got all my admit stuff done. it is silly. they haven't learned anything and once it is signed off, many nurses won't go through it when they are discharging them.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I have always used each moment in a room as a teaching one. For instance, when they ask for pain meds, I assess their progress caring for self and infant, and take the time to give them "pearls" then----just short blurbs of things they need to know. For example, we discuss infection s/s really quickly. Or we discuss the corificeat if it's in the room, and I see quickly if they know how to use it. Or I ask how it's going changing the diapers/doing cord care.
Sometimes, I have learned no one has gotten around to teaching anything, even when the couplet has been in the hospital all day long after delivering for me the night before. Sometimes, visitors really get in the way on dayshift. Each shift has it's barriers to teaching moments and effectiveness. I do know at times, we all get busy, so I just take that small block of time to get it done. Does not take long, broken down in pieces. I mean, how many times are we summoned to a room for one thing or another on a given shift? That is when I do a lot of teaching! Yes, teaching moments are most effective when broken down in blocks---not given lecture-style at the discharge.NO ONE is going to absorb much if a whole 1 or more hour session is dedicated to "teaching". It's done throughout the hospital stay, from the moment they are admitted, til they leave.
I find I can get a LOT of teaching done in the incidences I am in the room for other things, like medicating or breastfeeding help, or delivering a meal tray. Little by little, gets the job done. No one shift has proprietorship over "teaching" ; remind your dayshift friends of that (or nightshift, if the problem is with them). I also agre; not much teaching is going to get done when a person is exhausted, so obviously, you defer at these times. But almost anyone can absorb "pearls" here and there. What you don't get done, you don't get done, in this situation. That is what the next shift IS for. As long as you have done what you can, that is the best you CAN do!
paytonsnana
67 Posts
My unit manager of all people had to work one night, she had no idea what to do. I loved it. The day and night shift issue will never end, but I do know one thing.:rotfl:
JESUS TURNED WATER INTO WINE
BUT HE CANNOT TURN WHINNING INTO ANYTHING:)