What is your ER policy for lunch breaks?

BecomingNursey · Aug 10, 2015

Bahahahahaha. Lunch break? In the ER? That's funny. Lol I wish. Thankfully we are allowed to have snacks and drinks at the nurses station though.

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2015

I'm sure your facility has a policy. It's illegal to skip a lunch break without being compensated for it, although the laws in each state vary. So it's not the absence of a policy concerning lunch breaks at your facility, it's the fact that no one is following it.

I'm in California, and the labor laws here stipulate that in a 12 hour shift, workers are entitled to two 30 min unpaid breaks, but the second can be waived if the workday does not exceed 12 hours and the first was not waived. All the places I've worked that does 12 hours has us sign a waiver, so I've never been anywhere that does 2 30-minute breaks. However, CA law also stipulates we are to have 10-min of paid break for each 4 hours worked. Although workers can waive these paid breaks if they choose, it's not illegal to not take these paid breaks unless management is forcing workers not to take them.

At my ER (or any other place I've worked that does 12s for that matter), we have two paid fifteen minute breaks and one unpaid 30 minute break. We simply give report to one of the other nurses to either side of our booths to cover us while we go on break, and we do the same for them when they go on their break. The fact that this is considered "rude" at your unit just shows you don't have a culture that supports taking breaks. Management and charge nurses also enforce that everyone has taken their breaks because they sometimes walk around asking everyone if they had taken their break yet and either find coverage or volunteer to cover while we go in our breaks. Of course, management and the charge nurses don't have to do this very often, because we're pretty good about taking our breaks and covering other people. Of course some days we don't get to take a break at all because of how busy it is, but those are the exception, not the norm.

The only way you'll start getting your breaks is if management starts enforcing the policy I'm sure is written somewhere, and if all of you and your co-workers start adopting a culture where asking to cover people and expecting to cover others isn't considered "rude."

NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN · Aug 10, 2015

My hospital's policy is to compensate for not getting a lunch, therefore its ok to not let your nurses eat: EVER.

Nalon1 RN/EMT-P, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2015

Similar to above, we are supposed to have 2 15 min paid breaks and 1 30 min unpaid "lunch". Day shift gets their lunch breaks, but the 2 15 min paid breaks, that is hit and miss. They usually get their lunch coverage by mid shift staff coming in, sometimes the manager covers for them.

Night shift rarely gets lunch. About the time our "lunch" starts is when the mid shift people start leaving, so we are on our own to cover each other. It is not that it is "rude" to ask to cover each other, it is just a major pain sometimes to get caught up so your person covering is not swamped with your 4-5 as well as their 4-5. By the time we slow down around 5 am, it is not worth taking lunch at that time. I just clock out no lunch on the shifts I don't get one. My 2 15 min paid breaks, well, I get 5 minutes here and there throughout the day to go to the bathroom, so I guess that is what would count for those.

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2015

Just so everyone knows, Federal Labor Law states that if you are required to perform your job duties during a scheduled unpaid meal break, you MUST be compensated for it.

I worked night shift in Gero Psych. One aide, one nurse. No one to relieve the sole nurse, so we had to work through our meal break (answer phones, stay in the Nurses station, deal with patients).

I always put "no lunch" on my time card. Pissant little administrator stuck his finger in my face during a staff meeting and told me I would NOT do that anymore. I pulled out the regulation that I had requested from the Labor Board and handed it to him. Said very quietly, "Yes, I will, unless you want me to take this farther up the ladder with the Labor Board."

Never said another word to me. I got paid for my working meal breaks.

Guest219794 · Aug 10, 2015

ER #1- Actually cares that you take your lunch, and requires you to sign out for lunch. If you don't, you need to explain why. And, a reasonable explanation is always accepted.

ER#2- no mechanism in place for lunches, people rarely take them. Some (me) put in for no lunch and get paid. Some donate a a couple of free weeks to the hospital and don't put in for no lunch.

Clear violation of state and federal labor laws. They don't care.

ScrappytheCoco · Aug 10, 2015

Some places I have worked the charge nurse/manager/educator will cover lunches. I was a swing shifter which meant I came in at 11p or 1p and my whole job was to cover lunches/breaks and float. Other places(especially on night shift) you just hunker down near the monitor bank and take ten minutes to eat something. I have never worked anywhere (3 ERs previously and now 5-6 different ones as a per diem agency nurse) that didn't allow us to have water/covered drinks at the station. Yikes!

abundantjoy07, RN · Aug 11, 2015

We don't get lunch breaks. It's just not something that happens. Because of our high acuity and high census we are constantly busy. It's hard to ask another drowning nurse to help watch your patients for 10 minutes much less 30 minutes. Lunch typically consists of standing in the break room eating in 3-5 minute intervals during that time you are never free of patient care. It sucks being a pregnant diabetic...there is no mercy. And for 12 hours it's unfair to expect us to work without eating. But then too we are chronically short staffed so we don't have coverage for times such a break. Honestly when it's bad and I'm upset because I haven't had time to just sit for 10 minutes I usually just walk away. However that's never a good idea because inevitably there's someone calling for something or a new patient coming in....

I love the ER but what I wouldn't give to be entitled to my 30 minute break. It would be nice to have a time allocated where you could just relax. 12 hours again is a very long time...

abundantjoy07, RN · Aug 11, 2015

ER #1 sounds wonderful. :up:

guest464345 · Aug 11, 2015

I worked in an ED (busy, urban, level I) where we almost always took lunches - the hospital automatically deducted 30 minutes from your punch times, and I'd be damned if I was going to donate 90 min/week for the hospital's profit. Three nurses in a pod, 4 patients/nurse, and we would each cover for a coworker....unless someone is coding at that moment, surprisingly, it was possible to do probably 85% of the time. Naturally we'd each do our best to settle our patients a little before leaving.

I also worked on a med-surg unit where, toward the beginning of the shift, we would each scout out a "buddy" for lunch, and we'd write our buddy pairings on the white board. Each pair of buddies would pick their times and cover each other. Again, with the expectation you wouldn't take off for lunch when all your meds are unpassed and you have a brand new admission en route....we had one nurse who was notorious for long lunches and leaving tasks undone, but everyone else was great.

Both places, when I was leaving for lunch, I would settle my folks and give a bare-bones report. When I was covering for my coworker, I'd quickly walk by each room, make sure the person was alive, introduce myself, and explain their nurse was on lunch for 30 minutes but I'd be happy to help with any immediate needs. Most of the time folks would ask for whatever they wanted right away, then lay off the call light.

I had only this 30-minute break at both jobs, and that was bad enough! I couldn't go 12-13 hours just scarfing hidden snacks. I think the better solution is to have a float or someone who is dedicated to lunch coverage, instead of doubling workloads, but that seems to be a "luxury" few hospitals pay for. Though I don't really understand why a meal break is considered a "luxury" item when nurses are involved.

pediEDRN · Aug 12, 2015

I have worked in different ERs that handled it differently... Where I currently worked and at the most recent ER before that, EVERYONE gets lunch with extremely rare exceptions. They aren't on an exact schedule, but they DO happen. The Charge Nurse is responsible for ensuring that he/she or another nurse relieves every nurse so they get a meal break. The first ER I worked in it was up to you to find someone to cover you - and it rarely worked out. We did have an exception log so that you wouldn't have missed lunches docked from pay.