The NOC shift doesn't wake up ANYONE in the morning...is this normal?

caliotter3 · Oct 1, 2010

Wake up times are individual or according to the facility. If your facility does not routinely get anyone up before seven in the morning, good for them. They get breakfast in bed!

Blueroses91 · Oct 1, 2010

I work night shift. We don't get anyone up or dressed unless that resident is already awake and confused or if a resident wants to wake and get dressed. Dayshift arrives at work at 6:30am. Most of them complain about my shift and how we don't ever get anyone up, but why should we? We already wake these people up every 2hrs. I'm surprised they get any sleep. Why should we go around last rounds and wake everybody up and get them dressed? Especially when many dayshifters spend 30mins talking and drinking coffee. Yes, I know not everybody does this.

Of course if they ask for help getting someone up or to get someone dress I'm happy to do that. But no, I'm not going to get them up before then. These people need as much sleep as they can get.

yousoldtheworld · Oct 1, 2010

Our facility does not have third shift get any residents ready in the morning. Most of the residents eat breakfast in bed, because the majority of them go out to workshop or school early in the morning. They do have thirds get a few people up into their chairs to eat, but they don't bathe or dress them until after breakfast.

LaterAlligator · Oct 1, 2010

I'm about to start a new job working noc for the first time (previously had worked eves) and I don't think I'll be routinely getting anyone up. Keep in mind that noc shifts vary in time - one facility I interviewed at was 23:00-07:30, and the one I took the job at is 22:00-06:00. I know a lot of older people naturally wake up earlier, but like previous posters said, if we're waking them every 2 hours to change and reposition, they probably want to sleep in. I know I would! :)

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Oct 1, 2010

I've been around long enough to remember the old days, when noc-shifters were expected to have at least a quarter of the residents up, bathed, and dressed by 0600. Thankfully, through culture change, the Eden Alternative, and other resident-centered programs, this is no longer the norm; people are treated as individuals and less like objects on an assembly line.

I also believe resident-centered approaches to LTC will continue to evolve as Baby Boomers start to populate nursing homes and assisted living communities. For one thing, we simply won't put up with staff members walking in at 5 AM on a cold winter's morning, pulling off our warm blankets and forcing us OOB only to be parked at a dining room table for 2+ hours waiting for breakfast. For another, it's just good business: LTC facilities are the residents' HOME---the attitude should be that they don't live in our facility, we work in their home......and if the resident likes to lounge around the house in her bathrobe and eat a leisurely brunch in front of The Young and the Restless, why should she be subjected to early reveille and brought into a chilly dining room hours before she wants to be awake?

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Oct 1, 2010

Our third shift is supposed to do one person off each assignment (totaling a whopping 2 residents per aide and they're supposed to be dressed and left in bed), but they never do. So when we get there at 7am the 4 of us have 30 minutes to get 30 people up. It's grueling. Obviously we don't have time to wash + dress + make the bed everybody so after breakfast we have to scramble to finish doing that plus get every single person toileted/changed again, lay several people (more than half) back down according to their repositioning schedules, pass out snacks and waters, get everybody back up again, do another potty round, vitals, and let's not forget showers. All of that stuff, except the waters, has to be done by 11am.

Our third shifters always say they didn't have time to do anything. But there are newspapers and crossword puzzles in the linen room and you can see that their facebooks have been updated in the middle of the night! There are a couple girls who do a fabulous job- all 4 people are dressed, sometimes extra people too, and the rooms aren't a disaster. Somehow they always "have time" to do their job. And if they've been doing crossword puzzles half the night, I wouldn't know because they have the decency to hide them somewhere before they leave!

That's why I get really annoyed when people are like, "boo hoo, 3rd shift is so hard; everybody thinks the residents are sleeping but in reality some of them are awake waaaah." I can't think of anything our 11-7 crew has to do that the other shifts don't. But I can think of a ton of things we have to do that they don't. If their shift is anything like the last 2 hours of 3-11 then it's a walk in the park.

yousoldtheworld · Oct 2, 2010

Having worked all 3 shifts before, the thing I find really annoying is ANY shift saying "THE OTHER SHIFTS ARE EASY WE HAVE IT SO HARD BLAH BLAH BLAH." Day shift has to run around like crazy at the beginning of the shifts. Second shift has to run around like crazy the 2nd half of the shift. Third shift is all over the place, depending on your residents and how your facility handles it and whatever tasks you're assigned.

I will say that 3rd shift CAN be hard. It is definitely more relaxed than the other two shifts and there is no excuse for not getting your work done regularly, but I know that when I worked 3rds, there were nights when I didn't have one moment to sit down or to have a lunch break. I also had a large list of cleaning tasks to do, which sounds easier than it is when you work at a facility with near constant call lights all night long.

Of course, I'm not saying that is always the case and some people are just LAZY.

It sounds like a lot of the problem at your facility is timing. I will never understand why places will have breakfast start at 7:30 when they don't have day shift get there until 7. Have breakfast at 8, or have the staff hours be 6-2 instead.

Also, at any facility I worked at, if 3rd shift was to get residents up, they were not to leave until the assigned residents were up. It's ridiculous if this is not happening, and it's something the nurses/management should be taking care of. I used to have to get up eight residents before I left in the morning. It was hard to get them all done in time, especially at the end of a busy night (it was a very very call light happy facility), but I had to do them. (Actually, we had to get up more residents than day shift did).

In short, being a CNA is hard, regardless of shift. Shift animosity makes for a worse workplace. I kind of wish every aide had to work at least one day of each shift per year or something just to keep things in perspective.

Ev1987 · Oct 2, 2010

I work the night shift, and I am assigned regularly to get a few people up in the morning. Usually because they have dialysis or a doctor's appointment. Basically, if someone is going out before 8am, I have to get them ready.

ctmed · Oct 2, 2010

This "Eden Alternative" that VivaLasViejas refers to, I have only seen in books and some CNA further reading websites. I guess the south is still behind on some things. But anyways...

Of the 20 or so LTCs that agency assigned me to and the 1 place I worked directly to, I think only 2 left folks in bed. Most, you had to get at least some folks up. Of course, it is pretty standard that if someone is all confused and not staying in bed, they are pretty much gotten up to eliminate trouble.

One place, which was a union facility, had a contract that made us have to get up at least 3 "hard" get ups. We also had to feed breakfast in that place as the schedule was 12 to 8.

Another place, one of these "garbage" LTCs that I refuse to work made us get ALL the residents up by 5:30 AM. If they were short staffed, you would have to start at 3 AM in the morning throwing grumpy folks out in the hallway to wait till 6 when the dining room opened! I found out State wrote them up a few times for that from talking to the regulars, but I still thought I was being forced to take part in cruelty.

I have worked all shifts. I agree 1st has a bit much on them as there are showers, get ups, 2 meals, and families and administration lurking about. But you know what? I am am going to be a combative old dude that is going to need 4 point restraints and ativan if some CNA throws me out of bed at 4 AM!

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Oct 2, 2010

I will say that 3rd shift CAN be hard. It is definitely more relaxed than the other two shifts and there is no excuse for not getting your work done regularly, but I know that when I worked 3rds, there were nights when I didn't have one moment to sit down or to have a lunch break. I also had a large list of cleaning tasks to do, which sounds easier than it is when you work at a facility with near constant call lights all night long.
Of course, I'm not saying that is always the case and some people are just LAZY.
It sounds like a lot of the problem at your facility is timing. I will never understand why places will have breakfast start at 7:30 when they don't have day shift get there until 7. Have breakfast at 8, or have the staff hours be 6-2 instead.
Also, at any facility I worked at, if 3rd shift was to get residents up, they were not to leave until the assigned residents were up. It's ridiculous if this is not happening, and it's something the nurses/management should be taking care of. I used to have to get up eight residents before I left in the morning. It was hard to get them all done in time, especially at the end of a busy night (it was a very very call light happy facility), but I had to do them. (Actually, we had to get up more residents than day shift did).
In short, being a CNA is hard, regardless of shift. Shift animosity makes for a worse workplace. I kind of wish every aide had to work at least one day of each shift per year or something just to keep things in perspective.

In this case it's pure laziness. On this particular unit only 4 residents actually know what a call light IS. The other unit that I used to work on all the time is call light obsessed, and those CNAs always have people dressed. And at my facility they don't do any chores that the other shifts don't have to do, except changeover on the first of every month. I know some places have night shift running around cleaning wheelchairs and stuff like that; our doesn't do that.

I don't even think 3rd shift should be getting people OOB! Just wash and dress your TWO residents during your last round and let them sleep, and 7-3 can pop them up when it's time. And I agree, if it's not done then you should have to stay. I used to work 2nd shift and when 3rd came in, if someone needed a change or a boost in the bed, they'd say, "No one is leaving until she's changed!" They were always mean and snotty about everything. I dreaded having to change shifts because they would find something to pick about no matter what. And then I moved to first shift, and the ones that aren't mean and snotty are the ones that don't do anything. I'm not saying third shift sucks all over the place, but personally I've had so many problems with them, and I get aggravated.

mommyof2nc · Oct 4, 2010

At my facility, 3rd shift has to get up 4 residents each if we have all of our CNAs there, 3 if we're short one CNA or 2 if we're short two CNAs. We have a bunch of restorative care residents that have to be up early because the restorative care people come and get them early for breakfasts, so it's usually just those residents that get up that early.