Sleeping on lunch break

VegRN · Feb 19, 2011

I would have to agree with the poster that said you may have a coworker that developed a resentment against you. Since you are agency staff, sometimes people assume you make more money and automatically hold you to a higher standard than core staff. How else would the nursing supervisor know you were in the chapel napping unless she was tipped off by someone else?

I really appreciate that you chose the chapel though. I work nights and am not someone that wants to or even can nap at night. I really dislike it when I finally get to take my lunch break, I enter the breakroom and there are people with all the lights off sleeping in the breakroom. Where else am I supposed to eat?? And of course there are sometimes multiple people that mash all of their breaks together into a full one hour nap which makes it hard on the non sleepers.

CaregiverGrace · Feb 20, 2011

I would have to agree with the poster that said you may have a coworker that developed a resentment against you. Since you are agency staff, sometimes people assume you make more money and automatically hold you to a higher standard than core staff. How else would the nursing supervisor know you were in the chapel napping unless she was tipped off by someone else?
I really appreciate that you chose the chapel though. I work nights and am not someone that wants to or even can nap at night. I really dislike it when I finally get to take my lunch break, I enter the breakroom and there are people with all the lights off sleeping in the breakroom. Where else am I supposed to eat?? And of course there are sometimes multiple people that mash all of their breaks together into a full one hour nap which makes it hard on the non sleepers.

These are a few of the many reasons why napping on a nursing job is a bad idea, and I agree with the hospitals that ban it while on their premises. Unless you have a medical issue that is considered a disability, you should not be sleeping while at work. The few people that might benefit from it as a power-nap are far outweighed by the lazy bones that think since they work a night shift they can sleep. They have no more right to sleep on that shift than a nurse working the morning shift and I have never seen a nurse or a cna sleep during the morning shift.

OCNRN63, RN · Feb 20, 2011

Interesting that the OP was allowed to complete her shift. If what she did was so bad, you'd think she would have been asked to leave immediately.

MunoRN, RN · Feb 20, 2011

These are a few of the many reasons why napping on a nursing job is a bad idea, and I agree with the hospitals that ban it while on their premises. Unless you have a medical issue that is considered a disability, you should not be sleeping while at work. The few people that might benefit from it as a power-nap are far outweighed by the lazy bones that think since they work a night shift they can sleep. They have no more right to sleep on that shift than a nurse working the morning shift and I have never seen a nurse or a cna sleep during the morning shift.

That is one of the more impressively ignorant statements I have heard regarding night shift napping during breaks, particularly when the post only 2 posts before this went over the positive effects of short naps on counteracting fatigue and in-alertness that can lead to errors very well. (Please go back and read post 23)

The research does not support your claim that only those with a "medical disability" benefit from power naps during night shift.

I personally don't nap during my shift (night), although I wish I could since anything that would help reduce the effects of a night shift sleep schedule (or lack thereof) would be welcome.

"Lazy bones", really? Do you work nights?

mykrosphere · Feb 20, 2011

agreeing with some of the other posters, if you are not paid for your lunch/ break, then you should be able to do whatever you want to do !(within reason, obviously drinking or whatever is not right when you have to return to work)

some people lead busy lives with kids and other issues.

i guess sometimes 30 minutes of napping can be a relief!

CaregiverGrace · Feb 20, 2011

That is one of the more impressively ignorant statements I have heard regarding night shift napping during breaks, particularly when the post only 2 posts before this went over the positive effects of short naps on counteracting fatigue and in-alertness that can lead to errors very well. (Please go back and read post 23)
The research does not support your claim that only those with a "medical disability" benefit from power naps during night shift.
I personally don't nap during my shift (night), although I wish I could since anything that would help reduce the effects of a night shift sleep schedule (or lack thereof) would be welcome.
"Lazy bones", really? Do you work nights?

1. What I meant my "medical disability" is one which required a nap during the course of a shift at work. I am not saying that "power naps" may or may not be beneficial to some employees, that's beside the point.

2. The night shift schedule is a choice. If you cannot stay awake during the night-shift schedule for whatever reason, then you should not be taking that shift.

surferbettycrocker · Feb 20, 2011

doctors nap on night shift- hell i seen some of em straight up SLEEP on night shift . should that be a no no or is that just for nurses.

off topic why are nurses so self righteous some times? "you should NOT sleep at work. they are PAYING you its ILLEGAL how DARE you" etc but doctors do it. and they dont even hide it!

and they are the ones calling the orders once the stuff hits the fan. so they have to be SOMEWHAT alert no? :coollook: :mad:

CaregiverGrace · Feb 20, 2011

doctors nap on night shift- hell i seen some of em straight up SLEEP on night shift . should that be a no no or is that just for nurses.
off topic why are nurses so self righteous some times? "you should NOT sleep at work. they are PAYING you its ILLEGAL how DARE you" etc but doctors do it. and they dont even hide it!
and they are the ones calling the orders once the stuff hits the fan. so they have to be SOMEWHAT alert no?

Apples and oranges. Doctors for one are not paid to monitor patients, the way that Nurses are. Secondly if you're referring to being "on-call" at night, that's not at all comparable.

allnurses Guide · Feb 20, 2011

1. What I meant my "medical disability" is one which required a nap during the course of a shift at work. I am not saying that "power naps" may or may not be beneficial to some employees, that's beside the point.
2. The night shift schedule is a choice. If you cannot stay awake during the night-shift schedule for whatever reason, then you should not be taking that shift.

I didn't see anything in the post about not being able to stay awake. And I've never worked anywhere that said you can't take a catnap, "power nap" or simply just rest with your eyes closed and practice your breath control relaxation techniques such as yoga - how would anyone know you were sleeping for sure?. As was already mentioned, short naps increase alertness. If I doze off for 5 minutes I am feeling much more alert, not less alert. If residents (doctor type) could never grab 10 or 20 minutes of sleep they could possibly end up hallucinating. Well maybe that's a stretch but . .they work long hours on call.

To the OP - were you sleeping so deeply she had trouble waking you? I've rested many times on breaks - but I've always been one to wake at the slightest sound, so grogginess has never been an issue for me.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2011

Evidenced Based Practice dictates that we re-learn what has been driven into our skulls by prior headmistresses, house supervisors, lead nurses and managers.....not to mention what is preached by Human Resources the world over.
http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Article/Trends-in-Trauma-and-Cardiovascular-Nursing-Valley-Forge-PA-April-7-10.aspx
Another article;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2645/
Napping
Even though napping during breaks or meal periods is often prohibited, both laboratory and field studies suggest that naps (15 minutes to 3 hours) are quite effective in increasing alertness during extended work periods or at night.134–139 Since few operational settings allow for long naps (e.g., 3 hours), most naps studied in operational settings are short. For example, 20-minute single naps during the first night shift improved the speed of responses on a vigilance task at the end of the shift,134 and 26-minute in-seat naps have been shown to increase physiological alertness and psychomotor performance of airline pilots.140 When pilots were allowed a nap during night flights, their performance improved by 34 percent, and physiologic alertness improved 54 percent compared to the no-nap condition.140
The alerting effects of naps are varied, with most studies suggesting that improvements in subjective alertness and performance are sustained for up to an hour or more postnap.138, 139, 141 Longer naps tend to produce longer periods of alertness and improved performance.142 Although some studies report sleep inertia, or a period of decreased alertness and performance immediately following a nap,138, 139, 141 this effect was not seen in Driskell’s meta-analysis.142

If this OP gets paid for a lunch break, it is her own time and she can do with it as she wishes. The law does not consider it a true break if the worker cannot do as she wishes on this breaktime. Period. Amen.

If she has any degree whatsoever of responsibility for patients, she is not truly getting a break and should not sign out for lunch. She should be paid for lunch time.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2011

I was working night shift (12 hr) as an agency nursing half way through my 4-week contract. Around 4:45am in the morning, I told the other nurse I was working with that I was going on break. After that I walked into the chapel in the hospital and rested my head with my eyes closed. I had my phone alarm set from exactly 20 min. After 10 minutes after I got to the chapel, the nursing supervisor told me that they have a no sleeping policy and after my shift I would not be welcomed back. I then preceded to tell her I was on lunch break and she informed that it did not matter.
Is this legal? Could I have said I was praying or meditating? I was in the in between state of relaxing and de-stressing, although it would have appeared to an outsider of sleeping!
Any insight would be helpful

Maybe your sleeping in the chapel was offensive to her? Yes, I think you should have told her you were praying and meditating. Why not?

Have you appealed to anyone? Has this ever happened before at that hospital with that set of staff and same sup?

I agree that you might have done something offensive prior to this event for her to fire you on the spot like that. but how interesting that you WERE welcome to finish your shift. Too bad you didn't tell her you were now too upset to think straight and would have to leave right then and there. Let HER finish your shift.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2011

I didn't see anything in the post about not being able to stay awake. And I've never worked anywhere that said you can't take a catnap, "power nap" or simply just rest with your eyes clothes and practice your breath control relaxation techniques such as yoga - how would anyone know you were sleeping for sure?. As was already mentioned, short naps increase alertness. If I dose off for 5 minutes I am feeling much more alert, not less alert. If residents (doctor type) could never grab 10 or 20 minutes of sleep they could possibly end up hallucinating. Well maybe that's a stretch but . .they work looong hours on call.
To the OP - were you sleeping so deeply she had trouble waking you? I've rested many times on breaks - but I've always been one to wake at the slightest sound, so grogginess has never been an issue for me.

I think you meant "eyes closed (not clothes) and doze off (not dose off)". Right? Me, too, I'm wide awake at the first sound, first shake of my shoulder.