Sleeping on the job

fergus51 · Oct 4, 2003

I am always surprised when some places think they have the right to tell staff what they can and can not do with their own break time. I would never work in a place that doesn't recognize the difference between my time and hospital time:)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2003

If one is off the clock and doesn't abuse the time frame, then that's their business if they sleep.

Personally, I use my break time to eat. A 30 minute nap does me no good.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2003

We sometimes do the put all the breaks together for 50 minutes and sleep thing but our 1/2 hour is our time not the hospitals if we work through it the hospital HAS to pay overtime - not just time in leiu or any other money shifting it is OVERTIME!! So management makes sure we get at least our half hour. That does not mean we can do with one less on the shift either.

ainz · Oct 4, 2003

Personally, I don"t think it is a good idea> most breaks are paid and in our hospital sleeping on the job is grounds for immediate termination it is very unprofessional and i can't think of other professions or industries that allow it. It is a set up for bad things to happen and looks bad as well.

kimmicoobug · Oct 4, 2003

I sometimes cover in OB when shortstaffed. The nurses on this unit combine their two fifteens and their half and sleep. Don't see a problem with this. Me, personally, this would just make me more sleepy throughout the remainder of the shift

CougRN · Oct 4, 2003

Originally posted by ainz
Personally, I don"t think it is a good idea> most breaks are paid and in our hospital sleeping on the job is grounds for immediate termination it is very unprofessional and i can't think of other professions or industries that allow it. It is a set up for bad things to happen and looks bad as well.

Let's see, how about docs? Residents, interns, and attendings sleep at our hospital all of the time. Even if they are only on for a 12 hour shift.

In reference to the poster that stated hospitals in the puget sound area do that I know that Bay area hospitals encourage you to sleep on your breaks. They take hour long breaks to sleep.

Personally when I worked 11pm-7am in nursing school as a tech I couldn't do it. A lot of the nurses did but it's just not long enough and I was always groggy afterwards. But if it works for you then by all means sleep. It's not unprofessional to need sleep, basic human need, IMO.

wildwood · Oct 4, 2003

It is never acceptable to sleep on duty! How can a professional even consider the thought that it is okay? Doesn't it tell you something that others are "looking out" for doctors, etc.? I'd hate to be a patient in that hospital!

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Oct 4, 2003

I guess it's just different hospital culture and what you're used to. I work the night shift, and on my unit we have a short 15 minute break at about 11pm to eat something and then we have 2 break times: first break which is 12am to 3am and then we switch over and the rest go from 3am to 6am. We put down mattresses in the various empty rooms and sleep. It's accepted practice and even the nurses in charge do it. We are allowed to keep the mattresses stored in the changing room. We are entitled to 1 and a half hours break and we get twice that much but as long as the work gets done nobody minds. We do 7x12 hour nights in a row and I think it would be too hard without the sleep. Our patient ratio is 1:1 so it's easy to cover for each other. Of course if there's an emergency nobody goes on a break until the patient is stabilised but we've been doing this for years and I've never known a problem. My unit is strict about getting breaks...you never miss a break and you are expected to have good time management skills to accomodate for breaks. It's the law in England that you must take breaks so it's strictly enforced. I don't think this is quite what they had in mind but I know we're just lucky!

Farkinott, RN · Oct 4, 2003

Personally when working nights and everything is quiet and ok I don't mind if my colleague goes for a sleep. I don't sleep myself though as I would be afraid of the consequences of anything happening whilst I was "out to it". I know that if I went to sleep I would be no good for fast thinking if the heat was on. If you do "cover" for a sleeping colleague though you need to mean it! ie: "What goes on tour, stays on tour"

wildwood · Oct 5, 2003

I guess you're right about it being a different culture and situation. I work in the OR, and we are either working or home on call. We only get two 10 minute breaks, morning and afternoon, and 30 minutes for lunch. So that is different than getting a long break. You barely have time to eat or go to the bathroom, much less take a nap!