I noticed in this particular article it states, "Many hospitals have already made the link between sleep and performance with respect to doctors. As such, they have created sleep rooms for ER physicians, surgeons and specialists."
I'm just curious, but is it standard practice to not include the nurses? Or does anyone know of any othermore recent studies conducted on nurses?
NOTE: I'm not looking for a fight. I just want to get a feel for how things are in the industry. I apologize if this offends any of you, because I never can tell if it's safe to ask anything on the forum without being attacked. I'm just curious.
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
We try to schedule as few tasks and meds as possible from a safety/quality care perspective between midnight and 6 am. The goal is that the patients should be getting undisturbed sleep if at all possible.
Oh, how I wish this were the case!
Last night on various patients I hung IVPB antibiotics or fluids at midnight, 2am, 3:30am, and 5am. I had IV or PO meds at midnight, 2:30am, 4am, 5am, and 6am. One patient has straight caths scheduled at 3am (her normal at-home scheduled time). Tube feeding residuals and flushes at midnight and 4am on one patient, plus midnight and 6am blood glucose on that same patient. Vitals at midnight and 4am on all patients. There were also a couple scheduled breathing treatments between midnight and 6am (respiratory does those, but it's still a nighttime interruption). One patient had an EKG at 5am. And all but one patient had morning lab draws done between 4am and 6am.
And the preceding examples don't include all the treatments/medications/dressing changes scheduled from 7pm-midnight, plus the toileting, snacks, and beverage requests throughout the night.
And we wonder why people don't get any sleep in the hospital?
Depends where you work as I see some specialties benefiting and others it not being possible. My nights in the ICU can drag or be busy like many here have said not even having had time to pee. Mostly i just forget to pee at this point. There have been nights where my vented patients don't alarm and have 1 med for the whole night besides turns and assessment. This is when i could use a nap. If our crew is younger and "chill" we may play cards together. Otherwise you sit bored. Also depends how full the house is.
I know when I pick up on other floors it be nearly impossible to try to sleep let alone take an uninterrupted lunch break.
I have had aides use their break and meal time to nap for an hour out of an 8 hour shift, but never, ever the nurses. I have no problem with the aides doing this.
I work PACU on weekends and when I have no patients or anything else to do in the PACU, I have gone a couple of times to another procedural area which is closed, taken a bed, and had a 2 hour nap. It's not something that happens often
Last night on various patients I hung IVPB antibiotics or fluids at midnight, 2am, 3:30am, and 5am. I had IV or PO meds at midnight, 2:30am, 4am, 5am, and 6am. One patient has straight caths scheduled at 3am (her normal at-home scheduled time). Tube feeding residuals and flushes at midnight and 4am on one patient, plus midnight and 6am blood glucose on that same patient. Vitals at midnight and 4am on all patients. There were also a couple scheduled breathing treatments between midnight and 6am (respiratory does those, but it's still a nighttime interruption). One patient had an EKG at 5am. And all but one patient had morning lab draws done between 4am and 6am.
And the preceding examples don't include all the treatments/medications/dressing changes scheduled from 7pm-midnight, plus the toileting, snacks, and beverage requests throughout the night.
And we wonder why people don't get any sleep in the hospital?
Agreed AND would like everyone to read this who says "Night nurses don't have to do anything."
I'd take a nap every night I worked from 3-330 / 345 if possible. Woke up feeling like a million bucks. I'd get everything done for my two patients as early as possible. We are allowed a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks, so I'd eat at 1 in 15 minutes and then nap. I'd come back and do my baths and AM meds / labs.
I worked in another country and as part of night shift if it was doable we took an hour nap each. Obviously if all hell was breaking loose no-one got to the bathroom let alone a nap. At that time we worked internal rotation, meaning that all staff rotated between day and night shift. We worked seven nights on and seven off, by night five most of us were barely coherent due to lack of sleep. Those naps took the edge off and may have saved a life or two.
I use to (many moons ago) work in a place where all of the staff took turns for an approx 30-45 min break in a recliner in an empty break room that basically just had that recliner in it. I NEVER was able to sleep, but I rested a few times. As someone else said, I didn't feel sleepy at night during a shift. The thought of sleeping JUST 30 mins is not appealing- for me. Every place is different. At that place of employment, we also took a meal break very early in the shift because it was closer to a real mealtime instead of the middle of the night- like a lot of other places I have worked.
I work in part of the ER. We rotate after 1am on our night shift to take a break. We have three rooms available for staff to sleep in. We report off to other nurses and then reciprocate when they need to break. The Techs and RNs do this, and it is vital to do. Do not fall into the trap that you are too busy to take a break. If you are getting docked pay, you are entitled to that break. You can work out your shift knowing what time you will be off the floor. Even if we don't fall asleep, the rest is vital on longer stretches at work. I have done this as a Tech and in the nurse role. Remember we need to take care of ourselves in order to take care of our patients; without these breaks, we will head towards burnout and helpful to our patients in that condition.
At the place I work now, a lot of the night shift nurses eat while they are charting or during a short break, then use their 30 min break to take a nap. There's a sofa in our break room that can be used. The pillows and linens come from the clean supply room.
There are some nights that are crazy and we don't even stop to pee, but mostly we get our breaks.
I think this would be great for on call nurses, too. Especially night shift. You just go to work, clock in on call and go to bed. If you're needed to jump in, you're already there.
brillohead, ADN, RN
1,781 Posts
Oh, how I wish this were the case!
Last night on various patients I hung IVPB antibiotics or fluids at midnight, 2am, 3:30am, and 5am. I had IV or PO meds at midnight, 2:30am, 4am, 5am, and 6am. One patient has straight caths scheduled at 3am (her normal at-home scheduled time). Tube feeding residuals and flushes at midnight and 4am on one patient, plus midnight and 6am blood glucose on that same patient. Vitals at midnight and 4am on all patients. There were also a couple scheduled breathing treatments between midnight and 6am (respiratory does those, but it's still a nighttime interruption). One patient had an EKG at 5am. And all but one patient had morning lab draws done between 4am and 6am.
And the preceding examples don't include all the treatments/medications/dressing changes scheduled from 7pm-midnight, plus the toileting, snacks, and beverage requests throughout the night.
And we wonder why people don't get any sleep in the hospital?