Sleeping on the job..acceptable or not?

night owl · Jul 17, 2006

We had a CNA that would sleep every night, snoring louder than any pt. The supervisor who seek him out to ask him if he could do overtime never saying anything to him about the sleeping. Finally she wised up. Caught him sleeping again one night, woke him up and warned him. The second night she asked me to come witness him sleeping and her waking him up. She wrote him up and he was suspended for a week. We tried to tell her years prior to his sleeping, but nothing was ever done. I'm not sure what suddenly provoked her after all these years to finally do something about it. Jacho coming any day maybe and it'll look like they're doing something about certain problems? I don't know. Just before they came the last time a girl was fired for sleeping. It was her third warning, but any time between Jacho visits nothing was ever done. Just a thought.

KrysyRN, BSN · Jul 17, 2006

Has anyone noticed this trend or is it just me?

I noticed it when I worked in the hospital. I worked day shift and used to go in to empty patients rooms to set them up for the new admits. I would find multiple rooms that looked like Goldilocks had been sleeping in the beds. All of the linens rumpled, pillows strewn, etc. I don't remember who, probably the night shift unit secretary, let the cat out of the bag and reported that many of the night shift nurses slept at night when things quieted down, and they would dump their duties on the lone, hardworking, timid (would never complain or say no to a request) nurse. When the day shift that I was on found out about it, we complained to the unit manager. For as busy as we were on days, it really ticked us off. Many of the day shift nurses starting harassing and taunting the night shift for sleeping. When all was said and done, 3/4 of the night shift staff was found to be diverting the unit's narcotics or smoking marijuana outside. Within a period of approx two years, of that group of sleeping nurses, 2 lost their nursing licenses due to drug diversion with positive drug screens, and *gasp*, 2 died from cancer (one was in her late 30's, the other in her early 40's), and one died from complications of her liver disorder. The things that make you go hmmmmm.....

One of my nurse coworkers told me about a time she was caught sleeping on the job at night. She said she was awakened at the nurses station by the DON. Apparently, one of the unit nurses found my coworker asleep at the desk. That nurse called the nightshift assistant DON to come and witness my coworker sleeping. My coworker was suspended from work for TWO weeks and forbidden from working on that unit again! She had to be transferred to another unit, and she said no other unit manager wanted to take her because they thought was was too big of a liability. Another unit did take her on, and she was put on a loooong probation.

CaseManager1947 · Jul 17, 2006

I am not a "legal eagle, and don't have copy of our policies at home, but sleeping on the job, to me, falls under the realm of patient abandonment. If you Nurse, or CMA are snoozin'. then the patients' are losin'. Make your opinions known to those whom can affect change in your department. And, if no change is forthcoming , make a decision of your own about the work environment in which you would prefer to be in, 'Member, we all support each other here-- otherwise this would not be such a safe place to bring up stuff.

Courage my internet friend.

Morghan

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

My point is - staff wouldn't even think of sleeping on the day shift, so why would they do it at nite? I think that if you can't conduct your time to get the needed sleep during the day, you need to find something else to do.
Patients are just as sick and need care at nite so why should part of the staff work their tails off for the ones that want to sleep?
I have never fallen asleep on the job but it is hard to work nights and I admire the staff who do or who have no choice. I know people who cant sleep during the day. There have been studies which show that even a20 min powernap on a nite duty will revive you. So I guess what I am saying is on night duty on your break you should be allowed to nap if you want,

oneLoneNurse · Jul 17, 2006

I disagree. It is important that we have dedicated, professionals working the night shift. If a bit of shut eye allows our unit to keep good people then I am all for it. The unit I work on our techs are allowed to sleep during their breaks. Us nurses are allowed to sleep as well. Noone that I know of abuses this privilege.

I think that most day nurses would not exchange their shift for night shift even if they were allowed to sleep during their breaks.

My point is - staff wouldn't even think of sleeping on the day shift, so why would they do it at nite? I think that if you can't conduct your time to get the needed sleep during the day, you need to find something else to do.
Patients are just as sick and need care at nite so why should part of the staff work their tails off for the ones that want to sleep?

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

neNurse]I disagree. It is important that we have dedicated, professionals working the night shift. If a bit of shut eye allows our unit to keep good people then I am all for it. The unit I work on our techs are allowed to sleep during their breaks. Us nurses are allowed to sleep as well. Noone that I know of abuses this privilege.
I think that most day nurses would not exchange their shift for night shift even if they were allowed to sleep during their breaks.

I agree

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

If I or any of my coworkers even close their eyes for a minute, we're immediately terminated, so I have Zero Tolerance on this issue.

It's hard to get off our unit for a break at all, even a smoke break, even to get coffee or food and bring it back to eat on the unit!

People come to work to WORK. Period. Not sleep. Even taking a break in the next room, a nurse is still available in an emergency.

If even one person is allowed a nap, it ruins the morale and the quality of care for the entire unit.

PS I'm in Central Florida.

nursemary9, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

Hi

I work in a large Chicago Hospital/Trauma center. It's a Teaching Hospital. We are extremely busy all the time!! I work the night shift & have been doing nites for almost 30 yrs.

Sleeping is not allowed here on any shift!! We can be IMMEDIATELY terminated.

Anyplace I have ever worked has not allowed sleeping.

I might add, that I did work with a CNA 30 yrs ago who used to sleep all the time. Everytime the Superv. came around, she was awake & bright eyed!!

I would even call the Superv. from an empty room & she STILL would wake up just before the Super. got there!@!

We never could figure out how she did t hat! Everyone knew she slept, but she never got caught by the right person!

It used to get me so upset!!

Oh well.

Mary Ann

Belinda-wales, RN · Jul 17, 2006

I work night shift and no materhow much sleep you get in the day you still feel tired durning the shift.

Personally I do not sleep during my break but if a co worker wants to sleep during an UNPAID BREAK then that is there right if employers what to dictate what we do during our break time then they should pay us for it a least.

Night duty effects different people in different ways and if a person needs a twenty min power nap so be it makes them no less a professional come on guys even a cabage has got a heart........

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

I work night shift and no materhow much sleep you get in the day you still feel tired durning the shift.
Personally I do not sleep during my break but if a co worker wants to sleep during an UNPAID BREAK then that is there right if employers what to dictate what we do during our break time then they should pay us for it a least.
Night duty effects different people in different ways and if a person needs a twenty min power nap so be it makes them no less a professional come on guys even a cabage has got a heart........

I see a couple of problems with this.

First, as someone said earlier, sleeping on the job would be frowned on for other shifts. Powernapping on night shift only would be a slap in the face to those of us who work different shifts and couldn't dream (pun intended) of getting a nap during their shifts.

Second, it reinforces the erroneous notion that night shifters don't do any real work. :madface:

Third, if allowed, it tends to get out of hand. What if you have an emergency and half the crew has to be roused before they can respond to it? :trout: :wakeneo:

Cabbages do have hearts, it's true. But they aren't getting paid for shutting down at night. I know full well what havoc night shift wreaks on the body. I've worked night shift for years now.

I still get tired, just like everyone else. I still have sleepless days, just like everyone else.

But guess what? If I'm THAT tired, it's unfair of me to impose that attitude and that condition on my patients and my coworkers. If I was THAT tired ALL THE TIME, I would need to change shifts.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jul 17, 2006

I never slept when I worked nights long ago, but many others did during their break.

I have no problem with it. Working nights is very difficult and your body does react to it. It is not just an issue of how much you sleep, but of circadian rythm, exposure to light, and all those things.

If people sleep only on their break, and that enables them to function better, then I think it should be allowed. Of course, when the break is over the sleeping should end.

Nights ARE different than days, and I think you cannot really compare the shifts very well.

I, personally, am very glad I do not have to work the night shift.

skelley5 · Jul 17, 2006

I don't know if it's "acceptable" for CNAs, but I do know a respiratory therapist that was terminated on the spot for sleeping on the job. Someone had paged him several times w/o any answer. Well, when everyone went looking for him, they found him in the break room asleep w/ his pager beeping on his side. He didn't put up much of a fight, guess he knew he was in the wrong.