Slow nursing jobs? So I can go back to school.

guest769224 · Feb 12, 2017

You must not have seen nurses in a busy level 3 or 4 NICU, I wish we had down time like that. And there is ALWAYS something that needs done.

Yes I worked in a level 3 and 4 both. So there is downtime even in high acuity units.

benegesserit · Feb 12, 2017

When I decided to apply to a Masters program, I was working in a small rural ER. There were many nights when we had *nothing*, or nearly so. I could work on outdates, stocking, or other busywork for hours, and still have plenty of downtime. Professional development was explicitly stated in policy as an acceptable downtime activity.

Of course, there were also nights when we were slammed the whole time. I looked at the slow nights as a chance to get ahead, rather than a chance to finish things at the last minute, since I couldn't count on having that time.

I've also worked LTC nights, and often had a lot of downtime, but that varies a lot by facility.

lindseylpn · Feb 13, 2017

Slower paced jobs are out there. I work in a residential group home, I have 2 patients (3 max) and I partner with an unlicensed caregiver. I work 13 hour nights and my shift usually consists of about 2 hours of continuous work at the beginning and end of my shift where I give meds, do treatments and start/end tube feedings. We do rounds every 2 hours throughout the night and I have a few meds/treatments due between 2a-3a. I usually spend around 1.5-2 hrs doing paperwork a shift, we chart every 4 hours. Some nights are busier of course but, this is a typical shift for me. In our downtime we're allowed to occupy our time however with a few exceptions. We usually watch Tv or movies, read, play a game, do a puzzle book, or even browse allnurses. I've seen several people bring in study materials and work on school work when they can. The downside though for this type of job may be a pay cut or lack of benefits. For example, I think my facility pays quite well but, we rarely get raises and I'm not offered health insurance. Good luck with your journey.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2017

I can't believe how hateful people are being. I work a very high acuity ICU, tertiary referral center, all that jazz - and some nights I barely sit down, but some nights all of us are hanging out together just talking and having fun because everyone's patients are just coasting. This past week, out of three nights, I only had one super busy night where I clocked out "no lunch" and I'd say I had at least three to four hours of downtime the other two nights.

I still turned both of my patients like I'm supposed to, got all of their medicines done on time, answered all of their call bells immediately (no CNAs here), helped AT LEAST three or four coworkers clean up poop and do baths, helped one of my coworkers restring her CRRT three separate times (officially checking her off on restringing alone - yay!), and ran all of the protocols for the traveler working on my section, who is not allowed to run our protocols - and I STILL had multiple hours of downtime to study.

The attitude here is not warranted. If your jobs (the ones complaining about this thread) suck so bad you never have downtime, there are other jobs out there. Or maybe it's your time management that's a problem. Assuming the rest of us are lazy or don't get our work done is ridiculous. I would not be happy at a job where I never had downtime. I have never had a job where I was busy all shift every shift, and I don't intend to find a job like that now.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2017

The attitude here is not warranted. If your jobs (the ones complaining about this thread) suck so bad you never have downtime, there are other jobs out there. Or maybe it's your time management that's a problem.

My endo facility is like Lucy and Ethel's chocolate factory. They spit these patients out like the chocolates on the roller. It's nothing to have 55 patients in a day with only 3 nurses in recovery. We are pushed to get each and every patient completely recovered and walking out the door within 30 minutes. There really is no time management technique that would enable us to have any down time. Lately they have not been hiring aides, so in addition to this insanity, we are now expected to wash down the empty beds, re-make them, and push them back to pre-op. I hurt my back doing this and had to take six weeks off.

It used to be fun, but it's gotten too stressful and physically debilitating, so I do think I'm going to resign and just work my OR job prn. Life's too short!

When I worked ICU, we sometimes had down time in night shift, but rarely during days. But the slow nights were impossible to predict, so the OP might not have time to study on a night she was really counting on having that time.

It sounds like PDN might be the OP's best bet.

ETA: Now that I think about it, we did have slower day shifts on the weekends. There weren't as many procedures and tests scheduled for the patients, so we didn't have to travel as much. Less activity altogether meant that these shifts tended to be less frantic. Maybe the OP can find a Baylor program job somewhere.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2017

Assuming the rest of us are lazy or don't get our work done is ridiculous. I would not be happy at a job where I never had downtime. I have never had a job where I was busy all shift every shift, and I don't intend to find a job like that now.

Has anyone actually said that?