Sleeping on the job..acceptable or not?

[travelnurse63]

I have been a nurse for 18 years, a traveling nurse for the past 5 years. I have worked in many states,recently in Florida. My question is when did it become acceptable to SLEEP on the job? I agree that you should be able to sleep on your breaks but come on..3-4 hours a night!

The hospital that I work weekends in Miami the CNA's on 7p-7a shift get vitals @ midnight then sleep until the 4am rush. Most of the staff is asleep just leaving a few nurses on the floor to answer call lights and do all the work.When I do find the CNA to get them up to do their job so I can do mine they get mad...and the other nurses act weird about me waking them up!!It seems to be everywhere..hospitals,private duty,and nursing homes...

Has anyone noticed this trend or is it just me?

[millkay]

Not to keep the antagonizing going on and on and on, but I am with those who believe it is wrong to sleep at work. I'm a night-shifter, too. That having been said, I once took a phenergan before leaving for work, by accident of course. My husband got my 'am' meds ready for me and grabbed the phenergan thinking I probably would need it: pregnancy-related nausea. When I got to work I could not hold my head up to save my life. I started falling asleep standing up in a patient's room and couldn't figure out why. After a little while I fell asleep at the desk and no one bothered me at all! I wish they had-- it was embarrassing when the house sup woke me up and asked if anything was wrong. Boy was I awake then!! But I wasn't fired, although I fully expected to be written up. As an adult I understand my responsibility at work and patient safety is the top priority.

When I was a CNA, we had to keep busy most of the shift. Don't be caught standing around when you could be cleaning something, organizing something, etc... We definitely were required to earn our pay. Our nurses would've thrown us out the door for sleeping. So with my work ethic I found it lowered my morale to go into the break-room and find a nurse snoring. I seemed to be ok with everyone else so I blew it off and ate my lunch while she snored and drooled. Granted it wasn't against the law but it definitely was annoying. When you go home go to bed! get some sleep! or while you're here drink some coffee!!

Just another control-freak in the house....

[Pedi-ER-RN, RN]

When I traveled, it was customary to see the staff nurses on the night shift come in talking about what time they were going to bed down and they would actually do it..for hours!!! Leaving just a couple of nurses on the floor to take care of all the pts. I've seen it all over the country. Seems to be a trend. I've never slept while on the clock and never plan to!! I just don't think it is right, you are supposed to sleep prior to comming to work. I have seen "acceptable" exceptions, ie someone up all day with sick child/family member, etc... everyone cut them some slack and let them get a power nap, but most of the staff want alot more than a power nap, they want 2-3hrs

[Hawaii2LasVegas]

Wow!

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

but most of the staff want alot more than a power nap, they want 2-3hrs

I think that is the heart of the problem. I saw many people SAY they were just going to sleep on their break (which I couldn't care less about) but really they were settling in for a deep sleep. It is unprofessional and dumps work on the ones who managed to get their appropriate sleep.

On this topic...as a night nurse, I probably had a thousand patients say to me "sorry to wake you..." when they put on their call light. I never was happy with the perception that we all sleep on nights.

[rhenmag9]

duh?

:uhoh3:sleeping while in duty?' think its a no-no...better go home and sleep rather than neglect your work....

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

You wouldnt want to go work in the UK, everywhere I have worked you get a good long break and nearly everybody goes into a side room for a sleep-I have never ever had a problem waking anybody in an emergency and nobody had died because of a nurse sleeping on her break on night duty and that is from 17 years continous nursing experience.

I have never slept on my break-because normally I was in charge and it didnt seem appropriate. I have never nodded off on night duty I just feel horrible and ill.

When I was a midwife you just wouldnt and couldnt have a big break especially if you were with a labouring woman-but that was the only time in nursing I found I didnt feel tired at night.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

However I have had emergencies on day duty when staff have nipped off the ward to smoke on their breaks and cant get a message to them to come back!

Most pts sleep during the night in the Uk because unless they were dying NO tests would be done after 5pm. Of course a busy surgical or medical admissions unit is diffferent. In the UK surigal and medical pts are nursed seperatly on different floors

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

For your 30 minute break you can do what you want-you are off the floor-just make sure you put an alrm on.

I have been in healthcare 18 years and have NEVER slept while working

I guess i would be afraid I wouldn't completely wake up again............

[Gabie Baby]

Wow Gabie baby,

I just checked my email and saw what you wrote and had to jump right over to ALLNURSES to set you straight.

I worked that unit for 8 years. Got great evaluations and pateint care excellence awards. Was asked to precept the new nurses often. I was well respected and treated well. I was proud of the care we gave there.

This nurse was just one little piece of the problems that started there and escalated. The hard working expeirienced nurses started getting their advanced practice degrees and leaving the hospital. That left larger numbers of lazy nurses relative to us hard workers. Then they started hiring large amounts of new grads, and due to the shortage, allowed them duties and assignmets that they were not trained or ready for. The rapid response nurse was not in the count, and depending who it was, many times they were found doing nothing while those on the unit busted their asses with no help. Alarms would go unanswered. Those of us who answered alarms and pointed them out, started getting attitude and eye rolls. The hard working competant nurses remaining on the unit lost respect and power and were essentially scoffed at. Unsafe practices started to become the norm. These issues (including the sleeper)were repeatedly brought first to the night charge, then, when nothing was done, to the nurse manager. I and some of my peers (and the day shift nurses who knew what was going on because they came on to these messes daily) were very honest and upfront. I wrote detailed emails to my manager and charges. All that happened was that my charge nurse started screwing me in schedule and assignment. All of a sudden i never got a requested day off (never had a problem with my schedule in 8 years prior to this) , and now started to always have the worst assignments. This was not paranoia as many others noticed this.

When things stayed the same, a group of us followed the chain of command and went to our manager's director. I had copies of all my emails and she got to see first hand the way things had progressed. She assured us she would fix things. However, the unit had become very divided and alot of hateful things were being done and said. The hard working nurses had staff that hated us and management as well. It was an impossible situation. I quit that place a couple months after we went to upper management. It was a very heartbreaking time for me.

The good news is, that now 5 months after i have quit, my manager and night charge were pushed out by the director who begged me to give her time to fix the problems. I wish i would have been more patient. Now they are training new nurses better, listening to preceptors who point out problems, and the sleeper is about to be fired i'm told. I have been asked to come back. Despite all that happened I now think i did make a difference.

But don't tell me about it being my fault for not complaiing to the right people. That idiot remark was ridiculous. I put my neck on the line to help that place. I can't stand to hear people express such know- it- all rude sentiment without knowing the full story, or being in the shoes of someone else.

Next time, be so kind as to tell the whole story in the first place.

Also, I still say you did not complain to the right people. If you had, they'd have rectified the trouble and not forced you out. Before you quit, did you talk openly to your bosses and ask why you were suddenly having schedule trouble, etc.?

Sorry for the "idiot" remark. It wasn't meant the way you took it, though. I was just so frustrated, so tired of the way good staff are treated, so tired of nurses being afraid to speak up.

Also, why not go back and see if you can get your job back, with all back pay and seniority, as you are the one who brought about change in the first place?

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I think Dorimar showed that she did go to the right people and up the chain of command. She did speak out and it earned her nothing but problems so she chose to leave as she couldn't deal with it anymore.

She has stated they want her back, and they should be wooing her. They should make it worth her while.

I feel G is being unduly critical in light of the full story.

No offense to G, but who else should she have gone to, and how long should she have stayed when they were treating her like cr*p?

I love it when nurses speak out and hate it when they just take it or just move on without fighting, but it seems like Dorimar did everything you could hope for, and did it in a civil and appropriate manner.

[SharkLPN]

My facility has a No Tolerance policy for sleeping on the job, but our supervisors have a heart about it. You have to be caught sleeping during their rounds repeatedly before they tell you to pack your bags and don't return.

I work 7p-7a, and yes, I have nodded off at the nurses station on occasion during slower nights, right next to my wide-awake and chatting co-workers. They've done it too - we understand that sometimes you're just dog tired and a 20 minute siesta will restore you (especially on those rare slow nights - a few hours of downtime really can make you more tired than a hectic, busy shift!). There are never pillows, blankies, and hiding in patient rooms or the break/locker rooms for us, and no one yet has taken advantage of the opportunity and made a habit of sleeping all the time. If we notice someone's eyes drooping, we let 'em doze for awhile, then nudge them awake after 30 minutes. We're human, and staying awake for 12+ hours all night can exhaust you sometimes.

As for calling it patient abandonment? Even if I'm fast asleep, I'm right there, available in case of a crisis, and not outside every hour for 20 minutes on my neverending smoke break, out of hearing range from the paging system speakers, like some of my fellow employees. That to me is abandonment.

[jen42]

I used to work nights. I rarely could sleep for just a little bit, and not wake up feeling worse. However, some nurses who were having a slow night would put their heads down for a bit, with their beepers on loud volume right next to their heads, so they'd know if somebody called. It rarely lasted longer than 30-45 minutes, and nobody minded. The culture was such that it was totally acceptable to wake up a nurse to help you with something, or if their beeper was going off and they didn't hear it. Working nights isn't natural for our bodies, and I say if a coworker wants to take a quick nap, and will not be adding to anybody's workload by doing so, she can go right ahead. It doesn't harm anything, and nobody's around to see it except the other nurses, and perhaps a resident or two, who is mostly likely snoring in the corner.