Sleeping on the job.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi everyone,

I'm actually posting this on behalf of my girlfriend who is a aide who was newly off her probationary 90-day period. She had just come off a week of 12 hour shifts and had one final shift to finish off when she dozed off while watching a sleeping patient. Her performance evaluation which had just occured was exemplary and her manager had recommended her for a high tier raise and then this incident occured. She was written up and is worried that the HR will terminate her immediately. It sounds like the manager is willing to give her another chance but she is terrified that HR will just terminate her.

Will HR normally terminate on a first write up under these circumstances? Or will the managers input and her prior performance also be taken into account?

Thanks so much!

Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.
Well, yeah, curling up hiding in a patient's room is no good. But many of our techs are required to stay up all night, while most of the patients are sleeping peacefully and are medically stable...yet our facility policy states that the lounge tv must be off, lights off, NO books, no computers, no cellphones, no magazines, no newspaper, no card games. Sooo...what else are people supposed to do in the middle of the night besides nod off? Knit booties and blankies? (IMO they should be able to keep the tv picture on with no sound and read whatever they want)

I remember some nights when I used to work up on the floors where we would bang into the sleeping aide's chair as we opened the door to a patient's darkened room. It's an old trick where the sitter would purposely place the chair they're using directly behind the closed door. That way, if you enter, you'll run smack into the back of their chair, in effect, waking them up. That way, they can always claim that they weren't sleeping as they literally have to stand up and remove the chair for you to get into the room.

But, in regards to alertness, you're absolutely right. Even guards in the military are rotated ever few hours because it is known that monotony degrades alertness. However, providing distractions can be a double edged sword. On the one hand, it can alleviate the dullness of watching a sleeping charge; but on the other, it itself can be so absorbing that one's attention is diverted from one's duty. Somewhere down the line, I'm sure that this issue itself remains worthy of reams of nursing research.

A hair off topic.....

Did ya'll hear the story this morning of the ATC (air traffic controller) who was alone @ midnight.....fell asleep on the job leaving 2 commerical aircraft circling the airport trying to find a way to wake him up?!?!?! (I would hate to be him when he has to face HIS boss!)

Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.
A hair off topic.....

Did ya'll hear the story this morning of the ATC (air traffic controller) who was alone @ midnight.....fell asleep on the job leaving 2 commerical aircraft circling the airport trying to find a way to wake him up?!?!?! (I would hate to be him when he has to face HIS boss!)

No kidding; but I bet he's going to come up with an excuse, eg like he's diabetic, ate too many donuts and then fell into a HHNK Coma, LOL...

Hello everyone. Just wanted to give a quick update. After working one shift on Wednesday my girlfriend showed up on her regular shift on Thursday and was asked by her manager to accompany her to hr where she was summarily terminated. She did fall asleep while on shift and we expected that this may ultimately be an outcome, but I'm not sure why if the hospital thought she was a liability they would allow her to work a full shift and then do this to her. Additionally they opted to report the incident to the board of nursing which seems drastic for a first offense. Is this normal procedure? Does anyone know how this may ultimately affect her ability to find another job or even to renew her cna license?

The conduct and behavior of both her manager and hr at the hospital were unprofessional to say the least. If she was to be terminated then fine, that should have been it. In the last few months there had been a half dozen or so instances of thefts against staff members, my girlfriend being one of victims. Being that she was in the float pool and working so many overtime shifts she was on the same floor as half of the thefts when they occurred they then proceeded to question her about the thefts as well. They kept her in a confined room for 4 hours by security, hr and her manager while interrogating her and not mirandizing or offering her any legal counsel or allowing her to leave after just being terminated. She denied any wrong doing and asked to leave repeatedly but was not allowed to. She is on both anti depressants as well anti anxiety medication and was not allowed to leave until she wrote a statement that they wanted about the accusations. Under the stress she broke down. I have half a mind to file a lawsuit against this hospital because no employee should ever be treated in this fashion. What they did to her amounted to a witch hunt for which she was not prepared to face given the circumstances of having just been terminated. Her manager who had just written such a glowing recommendation about her job performance had the nerve to say that she was sorry she ever trusted my girlfriend and hired her in the first place.

I am sympathetic to any of you who have ever worked under similar management and have a greater respect for the good nurses and health aides out there than ever before. People deserve some compassion in life, not to be treated like this. For those of you who were supportive thank you. To those of you who were not, I pray that you never err and find yourself in similar shoes.

Specializes in Family Medicine, Tele/Cardiac, Camp.

Oh Swon. I'm sorry your girlfriend had to face such a humiliating way of being terminated and then questioned. Although the decision to terminate ultimately does lie with the employer and/or HR, everyone deserves their dignity.

I suggest, if you have any more questions about the potential future of her career, that you (or she, when she's feeling better) contact her state board. As a CNA she's licensed, right? I would call the licensing board and direct your questions there.

When your girlfriend feels better, she may also opt to contact the hospital and ask for an "exit interview" in which she may decide to ask more specific reasons as to why she was terminated. Maybe it wasn't just the sleeping they were worried about. If she does, it certainly couldn't hurt to have legal counsel present...or at least a friend or witness to sit quietly and act as support.

Goodluck.

Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.

Termination? Correct action.

Holding her against her will AFTER she was terminated? False Imprisonment. She should have called the police.

Miranda Warning? Not applicable because the hospital is not a law enforcement organ of the state.

My advice, sue them for false imprisonment. They definitely overstepped their legal bounds here. Also, anything that she signed under duress is not going to stand up in court. As for her manager? You have to remember that a nurse manager is consider entry level management. There are many higher tiers above her pay grade. The delay in firing her was probably because upper management needed a day or two to discuss their planned actions. As far as the Nurse Manager, she was likely told to say or act in certain ways in order to keep her own job.

Good luck.

Everybody falls asleep, one time or another. We are human.

It depends on the evilness of the superior that finds you with your eyes closed.

point being... Reagan Airport.. the ONLY air traffic controller on nights .. fell asleep. jets landing themselves!

He probably got less of a reprimand.:crying2:

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