12 and 1/2 hours with only 30 minutes for lunch

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  1. do you required to work 13 hours shifts with just 30 minutes break?

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HI I am in my second semester , we have clinicals in the hospital now, we have to work practically 13 hours every shift and be there at 6 15 am and leave at 7 15 or later

My instructor would not allowed us to take any brakes exception for 30 minutes for lunch. We not allowed to sit and do paperwork for more than 1 hour for entire day (we expected to stand in hallway and write on clipbord while being on lookout for bell lights)

My friends hiding in the bathroom every hour to get some rest, but it is kind of stinky there. I am not learning anything in clinicals, under huge stress and just tired. I am not joking I have really bad experience , do you have the same experience ?

Specializes in ED, psych.

Don't let this one experience dissuade you from floor nursing.

Yes, you'll have days like this. I've worked both ED, psych and ICU ... and you WILL have days when it all hits the fan. When 12+ hours fly by without so much as a few trips to the bathroom and a smoothie chugged because your patient(s) just tank.

But we are NOT martyrs. All 3 of my NM's make sure we get breaks ... because by the 7th hour you can feel yourself slow down. You need to refuel ... even on those crazy days, I'm relieved for a few moments ... to take a quick walk, run to the cafeteria, just get away for a few minutes.

I fully expect to have bad days because my patients will have bad days. But *my* bad days are usually better than their bad days by far, so I try to put that in perspective; at the end of my day, I still get to leave, while most of my patients do not.

Keep perspective. In your case, you're being given learning opportunities. Embrace it. Take what is given, become the kind of nurse you desire to be.

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Specializes in SRNA.
Nursing clinical instructors "realize" a lot more than you realize Staying busy in clinical is not about being "glorified CNAs," it is about maximizing your learning opportunities during your precious clinical hours, which are far too few in the first place. Nursing is all about being a self-directed learner. If your meds and assessments are done, your charting is done, and "no nurse needs my help" (which I find hard to imagine), you can still find something constructive and educational to do. (Yes, I'm a former nursing instructor who finds studying for exams a completely inappropriate use of clinical time.)

With a patient load of 3, I do not see how helpful it is for me to constantly ask the other 4 nurses if they need my help when one of my 3 patients may hit the call light and actually need my assistance. That is taking me away from my patients. Even with a patient load of 1-2...On the floor there are A LOT less turn over so if I ask one or two nurses if they need my help to pass meds, move a patient, help with teaching, and they say no thanks, I'm not going to keep nagging them. I'll wait until they approach me and ask.

In the ER that is not the case. I go from nurse to nurse, patient to patient and help with foley insertion, straight caths, EKGs, vitals, sending specimens to the lab etc. The turn over rate is high and so there are a lot more opportunities for me to help the nurses. I don't need to ask, I just do because so much needs to be done in such little time.

Also, like the OP stated, standing and waiting for call lights to go off is teaching nothing and a disservice to the student. I'm open to your opinion though so if all the student nursing duties are completed...what else should the student be doing if they are not to study for exams? Reading up on meds? That's studying for exams, reading about a patient's disease process? that's studying...

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I taught clinicals in the past but never worked my students for 12hrs. The purpose of clinicals is to LEARN and a student can't/won't learn anything if they are being overloaded with busywork or being taught a lesson of "this is nurse tiredness reality". I always stressed to my students to get interesting patients, be willing to work on your skills, and use me(the instructor) for help when something new arises; I didn't believe that intimidation my students was purposeful. You ll have your entire nursing future to have tired feet and be run into the dirt.

I don't see how it reeps any benefit but the decision is up to the instructor as I doubt it violates any policies except the policy on decency.

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This is basically how my day is even as an MA. I have zero time for any lunch and am lucky if I can use the bathroom once in an 8-9 hour time frame. In the last two months, I was able to eat lunch 1 time..We are required to take two 15 minute breaks but again, this is just not even possible. Healthcare is notoriously strenuous.

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If your meds and assessments are done, your charting is done, and "no nurse needs my help" (which I find hard to imagine), you can still find something constructive and educational to do. (Yes, I'm a former nursing instructor who finds studying for exams a completely inappropriate use of clinical time.)

You're right. That's why when there's downtime, rather then sending them to "help other nurses" so you can sit on your ass, you need to be making rounds on all your rooms with them going over the patient's care, what's planned for the rest of the day, checking in on their needs, going over any observations, you know, teach them how to be a nurse. They SHOULD NOT be functioning as a staff aide, at all. They're a nursing student, treat them as a student. Any time not in direct patient care, and not charting, should be spent instructing and explaining. Except for charting and breaks, almost their entire day should be spent actively in patient rooms or in a non-public area (like a meeting room) discussing the care of the patients assigned to the school. If there's downtime that you can send them to another nurse with, you're not doing your job and cheating those students who are paying thousands of dollars to be taught. If the school and the facility have an agreement that they can shadow and assist nurses on their own, then still, you need to be supervising. You're there for a reason

There does need to be some autonomy involved, true, but not at the actual care level that you need a license or a state / facility certification to do. You want them to know what they do, and they should do what's in their scope of what's legally allowed, but you have to keep that distinction that your nursing student is not one of the hospital's aides or nurses. The autonomy should be limited to ONLY the rooms that they're cleared to work independently in, and ONLY under your supervision. They're students, not RNs.

And if the primary instruction is supposed to be done by a staff nurse, you still need to be overseeing every little detail that you can. Nurses didn't sign up to be teachers. If your student is getting bad advice, or being taught incorrectly, you need to be on top of it and know to have them work with a different nurse. No matter WHO is responsible for teaching them, it needs to be 100% under YOUR supervision.

And you can be very sure that if you EVER send a student into one of my rooms to do my job as an aide for me, that we're going to be having a very long angry talk. I'm sure that as a very good nurse, that you understand the importance of communication between me and the nurse that I'm working under. I'm sure that you understand that something as simple as going to the bathroom can be something that we're watching very closely, and your student might have absolutely no idea that we're watching for something, since me or the nurse have never communicated it to them, since that room isn't supposed to be one that you or them are responsible for. You know that whole HIPAA thing. I'll always welcome the help, but never the replacement of me. The only time a student should be completely covering for me is when my room is actually assigned to the school and the nurse has gone over all of the important information with you and those students, and you're legally responsible for their care.

And on the OPs post about having to drop what they're doing every time a call light goes off. To me, that's just a bad instructor. I understand the concept that the call light is everyone's responsibility, but that's where it ends. The person working in dietary better not be walking my high risk patient to the bathroom, same with a student. Tell me, and I'll handle it. If it's something sterile or medical based, tell the nurse, and let the nurse handle it. Students are not employees and should not be treated like they are. Absolutely no care should be getting done outside of the instructors supervision.

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You're right. That's why when there's downtime, rather then sending them to "help other nurses" so you can sit on your ass, you need to be making rounds on all your rooms with them going over the patient's care, what's planned for the rest of the day, checking in on their needs, going over any observations, you know, teach them how to be a nurse. They SHOULD NOT be functioning as a staff aide, at all. They're a nursing student, treat them as a student. Any time not in direct patient care, and not charting, should be spent instructing and explaining. Except for charting and breaks, almost their entire day should be spent actively in patient rooms or in a non-public area (like a meeting room) discussing the care of the patients assigned to the school. If there's downtime that you can send them to another nurse with, you're not doing your job and cheating those students who are paying thousands of dollars to be taught. If the school and the facility have an agreement that they can shadow and assist nurses on their own, then still, you need to be supervising. You're there for a reason

There does need to be some autonomy involved, true, but not at the actual care level that you need a license or a state / facility certification to do. You want them to know what they do, and they should do what's in their scope of what's legally allowed, but you have to keep that distinction that your nursing student is not one of the hospital's aides or nurses. The autonomy should be limited to ONLY the rooms that they're cleared to work independently in, and ONLY under your supervision. They're students, not RNs.

And if the primary instruction is supposed to be done by a staff nurse, you still need to be overseeing every little detail that you can. Nurses didn't sign up to be teachers. If your student is getting bad advice, or being taught incorrectly, you need to be on top of it and know to have them work with a different nurse. No matter WHO is responsible for teaching them, it needs to be 100% under YOUR supervision.

And you can be very sure that if you EVER send a student into one of my rooms to do my job as an aide for me, that we're going to be having a very long angry talk. I'm sure that as a very good nurse, that you understand the importance of communication between me and the nurse that I'm working under. I'm sure that you understand that something as simple as going to the bathroom can be something that we're watching very closely, and your student might have absolutely no idea that we're watching for something, since me or the nurse have never communicated it to them, since that room isn't supposed to be one that you or them are responsible for. You know that whole HIPAA thing. I'll always welcome the help, but never the replacement of me. The only time a student should be completely covering for me is when my room is actually assigned to the school and the nurse has gone over all of the important information with you and those students, and you're legally responsible for their care.

And on the OPs post about having to drop what they're doing every time a call light goes off. To me, that's just a bad instructor. I understand the concept that the call light is everyone's responsibility, but that's where it ends. The person working in dietary better not be walking my high risk patient to the bathroom, same with a student. Tell me, and I'll handle it. If it's something sterile or medical based, tell the nurse, and let the nurse handle it. Students are not employees and should not be treated like they are. Absolutely no care should be getting done outside of the instructors supervision.

Thanks for the entirely gratuitous slam about me "sitting on (my) ass." As a clinical instructor, I have never "sat on my ass." I have been nearly constantly on my feet, keeping track of where all the students are and what they're doing, alerting them to interesting and worthwhile things going on on the unit which they can observe or participate in, supervising them passing meds or doing skills/procedures on their assigned clients, answering their questions, etc., etc., etc. You know, teaching. I have never expected (or allowed) staff nurses to take responsibility for any teaching of students under my supervision, and frequently argue against that practice on this site. I have always made sure my students got their meal breaks and any other breaks to which they were entitled (but I have v. low tolerance for goofing off in clinical). As for helping the nurses, every clinical group is a guest of the hospital, and, IMO, it's just basic courtesy to offer to help staff when the students have some "down" time, as well as the opportunity for an educational experience they might not otherwise get. While I've expected my students to provide total care, including beds and baths, to their assigned clients, I've never assigned or expected them to function as aides for the sake of functioning as aides, and, don't worry, no student of mine when I was teaching would ever be taking over your responsibilities as an aide. They would know better than to get anyone who was not one of their assigned clients up to the bathroom, ambulate them, provide them with food or drink, etc., without the knowledge and permission of the staff person responsible for that client.

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Thanks for the entirely gratuitous slam about me "sitting on (my) ass." As a clinical instructor, I have never "sat on my ass." I have been nearly constantly on my feet, keeping track of where all the students are and what they're doing, alerting them to interesting and worthwhile things going on on the unit which they can observe or participate in, supervising them passing meds or doing skills/procedures on their assigned clients, answering their questions, etc., etc., etc. You know, teaching. I have never expected (or allowed) staff nurses to take responsibility for any teaching of students under my supervision, and frequently argue against that practice on this site. I have always made sure my students got their meal breaks and any other breaks to which they were entitled (but I have v. low tolerance for goofing off in clinical). As for helping the nurses, every clinical group is a guest of the hospital, and, IMO, it's just basic courtesy to offer to help staff when the students have some "down" time, as well as the opportunity for an educational experience they might not otherwise get. While I've expected my students to provide total care, including beds and baths, to their assigned clients, I've never assigned or expected them to function as aides for the sake of functioning as aides, and, don't worry, no student of mine when I was teaching would ever be taking over your responsibilities as an aide. They would know better than to get anyone who was not one of their assigned clients up to the bathroom, ambulate them, provide them with food or drink, etc., without the knowledge and permission of the staff person responsible for that client.

So then you shouldn't be having a problem with your students having downtime, like the OP who's required to stand in the hall waiting for call lights. Hence the person making the comment about nursing students being treated like glorified aides.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
No one cares if you are tired or hungry or haven't peed in the last 12 hours. Sick people come first.[/Quote]

Speak for yourself... I certainly will eat and use the restroom in accordance with labor laws. I have no patience for anyone who would hold that against me or any other healthcare PROFESSIONAL. Frankly I don't care who my lunch breaks upset.

And anyway it's like the old O2 on an airplane advice: in order to be able to help others, we have to meet our own physical needs.

Signed a 15-year veteran, with 7 of those years in critical care. I am highly "cut out for the hospital environment." And guess what else? Patients and families love me. I'm not a ***** with sick people... only with foolishness.

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So then you shouldn't be having a problem with your students having downtime, like the OP who's required to stand in the hall waiting for call lights. Hence the person making the comment about nursing students being treated like glorified aides.

I believe I have already said (at least implied) that I would have a problem with nursing students "having downtime" in clinical. If they are done with all the meds and care their assigned clients need and none of the unit RNs need assistance with anything, I would expect them to be finding something else constructive and educational to do on the unit. I never had students "stand in the hall" for anything, including "waiting for call lights," but I also expect them to not be sitting around chatting, studying for their other classes or exams, or anything else that isn't directly related to making full use of their limited, precious clinical time. If they have needed help finding something to do, I would be happy to make some suggestions, but would prefer they be self-directed about maximizing their educational experience; and they would be smart to take the initiative and not wait until I had to step in and redirect them.

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Wow.....my 12 hour clinical days include an hr lunch and a 5-minute break if we need to rehydrate or eat a snack bar. NO NURSE works continuously for 13.5 hours without being able to SIT or take a 5 minute breather. How do they chart? By sitting.

Not where I worked (stand alone endoscopy center). We had no chairs, no stools. We worked and did our charting standing up. The only time I ever sat was during lunch (this was the rare place that insisted you take your entire 30 minutes). No breaks. But we usually worked 8-10 hours; rarely more than that.

I worked there for over six years but recently got physically worn out from that job and decided to just work PRN at an elective plastic surgery private practice OR. I work hard, don't get lunch breaks per se, but am able to sit while charting. The surgeons and other staff usually eat between cases if there is more than one, but it's not really that often these days that we have more than one case scheduled per day.

When I worked ICU, I didn't always take my lunch breaks. It just depended on patient status, but that was more of an internal struggle than any official policy. I did manage to shake off for a quick run to the cafeteria in the morning or for a late snack.

The reality of taking a full 30 minutes AND two 15 minute breaks is not something I can attest to in my 22 years as a hospital nurse in critical care and off site facilities in endoscopy and elective plastic surgery.

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Speak for yourself... I certainly will eat and use the restroom in accordance with labor laws. I have no patience for anyone who would hold that against me or any other healthcare PROFESSIONAL. Frankly I don't care who my lunch breaks upset.

And anyway it's like the old O2 on an airplane advice: in order to be able to help others, we have to meet our own physical needs.

Signed a 15-year veteran, with 7 of those years in critical care. I am highly "cut out for the hospital environment." And guess what else? Patients and families love me. I'm not a ***** with sick people... only with foolishness.

Plus the basic fact that working 12 hours straight without a break is just unsafe. That's how mistakes happen.

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I believe I have already said (at least implied) that I would have a problem with nursing students "having downtime" in clinical. If they are done with all the meds and care their assigned clients need and none of the unit RNs need assistance with anything, I would expect them to be finding something else constructive and educational to do on the unit. I never had students "stand in the hall" for anything, including "waiting for call lights," but I also expect them to not be sitting around chatting, studying for their other classes or exams, or anything else that isn't directly related to making full use of their limited, precious clinical time. If they have needed help finding something to do, I would be happy to make some suggestions, but would prefer they be self-directed about maximizing their educational experience; and they would be smart to take the initiative and not wait until I had to step in and redirect them.

And for the money that I'm paying for school, I'd expect you to be teaching me. There's ALWAYS something to teach your students. 24/7/365. They're not there to help the other nurses, they're there as students expecting to learn nursing. They're not a glorified aide. The other nurses are irrelevant. Their "something constructive" should be you as a group, reviewing your patients, reviewing your plans and treatments of the patients. If there's downtime as in "none of your patients need to be actively treated," then you should be on top of that teacher part of your job. If you're really filling your role as their instructor, there won't be any downtime, unless you give them a break. These are students, not hospital employees, teach them.

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