When is your shift over

[joe007]

Hello. I am an ER nurse going on 7 months and am still a newbie, obviously.

I wanted to know when you think your shift is over.

What sparks this question is what I have been told by various nurses. Some nurses have said you just have to walk out when your allotted time is over. Other nurses seem to linger charting and doing other various tasks once their shift is over.

I work from 11p-7a x 5 nights/week. I have been on days due to an injury and just switched back to nights. I was in psych all night long with 8 pts. and finished giving report at 715 am (due to the new nurse getting there late and conveying drama to various people in our crisis psych unit). I decided to get out of our crisis psych unit and go to the main nurses station to document a few more things before I left for the day. It was 722 am and a woman who is known to me (she is always ringing the bell), sees me standing at the nurses station and starts saying "excuse me, excuse me." Now about 2 minutes previous, the nurse for that section had been summoned to this pt's bedside for something and he was sitting at the nurses station and could hear the pt. saying "excuse me, excuse me." Since I'm new, I think he thought I would just drop everything, AKA stop documenting to answer this lady's "excuse me, excuse me." I continued to chart expecting him to answer this lady as he had just been with her 2 minutes ago, she is in his section, and he could hear her. Now, it just so happens that the manager of our dept. was nearby and saw all of this going on. I think it made me look bad, though she didn't say anything to me. I kinda feel bad about not turning around and anticipating that the nurse whose section it is would step up sooner than he did.

What are your thoughts on when your day is over. How do you get out of the unit and not get sucked into something that really isn't your responsibility? Do you think I should have expected my coworker to step up?

[caliotter3]

I found myself in the same situation, the coworkers were happy to allow me to address the patient's needs. One even continued with her breakfast when the patient (in this case resident) was standing right in front of her (not me). I learned to go elsewhere to get myself out of the line of fire.

[HikingEDRN, BSN, RN]

I usually concentrate on getting tasks completed on my patients prior to the next shift taking over so the next nurse doesn't have a long list of things to do. As soon as I give report I go straight to the break room. Luckily, there is a computer in there and I finish charting where no one can find me :)

[SJGH1982]

My shift is over when my feet touch the pavement outside the sliding glass doors of our ER - and even then - I would NEVER see a patient that was truly sick or injured and not do anything. A nurse thing I guess.

[Jasel, BSN, RN]

When I clock out and I'm on the way to my car. If I had been in that situation I would have just answered the pt. Especially knowing a manager was watching that exchange. Things like that do not look good. It most likely made no difference to the manager whether your shift was over or not and it shouldn't. Being on the clock is being on the clock, and showing common courtesy even when someone else isn't is just professionalism.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I would have said, "Hey Joe, Mrs X is here, and asking for you."

If he didn't immediately get up, then say "what can I help you with?" and do anything emergent "Joe, I'm going to start CPR now," or easy and quick like getting water. If the patient needs pain meds/assessment tell them "your nurse will be right there," then delegate it right to back to Joe. "Mrs X says her daughter needs pain medication in room 2...she's yours, right?"

I would take that as my cue to move to a lower traffic area as well, you need to protect your own stress level.

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

I agree about being over when you are off the unit. Last week I punched out, had my stuff over my shoulder and was walking past a non acute pt's room towards the exit when I turned and saw them in grand mal seizure. I dropped my stuff and got to work! Ended up leaving late, but eventually my feet found the pavement like SJGH1982 and I got out.

[margaret1439]

I agree with most of what other people posted... If you are punched in then you are working. Although if I am charting trying to get out then I will usually pass it on to the nurse now taking care of the pt. But if I see someone needing help (like wandering around the hospital lost or falling out of a car) then I'll help even if I'm clocked out.

[Inori, BSN, RN]

Good luck AND when needing to stay after to finish documentations please find yourself an empty office hide and type. sitting at nurses station is just asking for work and try to get out of there on time and unfrotulately state laws say that your licnese is active even if you're in the building. So yea other RN on duty leaves area whatever and you the off duty is in the zone something happens who do you think has to respond? you.