Just out of curiosity, how many of you, when on nights, sleep on your break? Is it part of your unit culture to take turns sleeping for 2 or 3 hours?
The reason why I ask is because I know that it is typical of many units for the staff to sleep. However, these are usually medical/surgical units where the patient acuity isn't as high. Although I have seen it done in an adult CCU, I haven't heard much about it when it comes to NICU.
So my question is, do you do it ? Is sleeping typical or are your babies so critical that you wouldn't risk it? I have made a promise to myself that I will not sleep because I don't feel right about it and I figure if anything went wrong, I would never forgive myself.
I work with a lot of people who nap on their break time, but they take one hour just like the rest of us. It always surprises me that people complain about sleepers. It doesn't matter what they do on their break as long as they come back on time. And I am not going to play martyr and only take 10 minutes break for a 12 hour shift. Unless my kid is literally coding, I take a break. I'm entitled to it and yes, someone is going to have to cover my assignment while I'm gone just like I'll cover theirs when they're gone.
For those who sleep: is there a way to reach you easily? The reason I have a problem with it on my unit is that most people go to the locker room, which is on a different floor and there's no phone in there. If things get bad enough that I would need to get the person, I can't leave the bedside to go up there and get them! And while I'm not positive that it's against the rules, that's the impression I've gotten, so I'm hesitant to involve anyone else to go get them and risk the charge nurse finding out, and then be accused of tattling. Some people leave their cell numbers, which is very appreciated, and those are not the people who irk me. It's the ones who a) take more than their allotted time and b) don't provide me with a way to reach them if things go totally pear-shaped.
Then again, I'm so neurotic that I leave my cell number when I take my 15 minutes to go get coffee, like what am I going to do? I can't exactly come back any faster than I already do! So I may not be in any position to look sideways at what anyone else does.
Is there no one else on such a large unit that can go and get them? There has rarely been a time I've worked in a large unit that absolutely no one could step off the unit for 3 minutes to grab someone from the break room. Or offer them your cell phone when they go on break so you can call if they don't have their own cell at work. I don't want to read too much into things, but it sometimes sounds like you take an unhealthy amount of responsibility in your job. You don't need to leave your cell phone if you're going for 15 minutes. You deserve an uninterupted break like every other nurse. I don't leave my cell number when I go to the cafeteria and there is no way to call down there. I don't feel bad about it. That's my time and it's what keeps me healthy and able to go back and function properly. People who don't take breaks concern me as much as people who take too many.
I worked on a unit where we would sleep on our UNPAID lunch hour, in the break room.. where you could hear the code bell go off in an emergency. Then they changed it that we were not allowed to sleep on our UNPAID lunch hour, so the nurses would go to their car to sleep. At least when they were in the break room they were easily accessible. There were also times, rarely... if a coworker was not feeling well, others would cover her assignment so she could take a longer nap... this was not often, and only if the unit was not too busy. I feel what you do on tour time is your business... A quick nap can help you get home alive on a long commute!!! Corporate america is also looking into how power naps increases workers producivity!!
On my unit many of the nurses sleep on their break. Our break is about an hour and the nurses push chairs together in the breakroom to make little beds. What's the difference if you are sleeping in the lounge or leave the hospital to get coffee or a snack? At least if you are in the breakroom the unit can call you if something is going on w/ your pts and they need you back in the unit.
At our hospital, we are allowed to sleep on our unpaid breaks, but no one really does. However, I think it is perfectly acceptable. According to our contract, we are entitled to a break completely free of duty. You can even leave the hospital if you want to--on your unpaid break. We have a code light in our break room, and generally the etiquette is that if it goes off, you'd go back into the unit and check in. If everything is covered, then you go back to your break. If extra hands are needed, you would help out. However, that doesn't obligate anyone to be available through their break. When we leave, we give our roommates enough information to be able to take care of the patients while we're gone, and then I'm trusting them to do that. They are licensed and trained to do so. :) On the other hand, if a patient is really heading a bad direction, we would typically find another nurse to help cover the room for a short break or wait on our breaks until things are under control. Breaks are important for your mental and physical health, and will increase a nurse's ability to handle stressful situations.
p.s. We even have a couple sleep rooms that are available for nurse naps during unpaid breaks. And no, there is not a code light in there, and we would never dream of asking someone to take their cell phone. On a rare occasion, we might send a nurse to lie down for a bit and cover their assignment if they are starting to feel sick and think it's something that would get better shortly--such as a bad headache. But that's rare and on charge nurse discretion. Better to cover their assignment for an hour and have them come back feeling good than have them need to go home because they just can't work.
Lots of nurses in my unit sleep on the couches in the break room during their hour break. The break room is in the middle of the unit and the sleepers take their walkie-talkies with them. Frankly, I think it's a great idea; the nurses are accessible and lunch breaks (unpaid) are strongly encouraged to be taken away from patient care in order to return refreshed.
That said, I don't do it because an hour wouldn't do it for me--I'd want to crawl in for the night and I'm pretty sure *that* wouldn't be encouraged .
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fergus51
6,620 Posts
I work with a lot of people who nap on their break time, but they take one hour just like the rest of us. It always surprises me that people complain about sleepers. It doesn't matter what they do on their break as long as they come back on time. And I am not going to play martyr and only take 10 minutes break for a 12 hour shift. Unless my kid is literally coding, I take a break. I'm entitled to it and yes, someone is going to have to cover my assignment while I'm gone just like I'll cover theirs when they're gone.