for those who work 12 hour shifts, how long is your lunch break?

mdfog10 · Jan 22, 2015

total of 75 minutes of break time for 12 hour shift, with dedicated RN break relief

chicookie, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2015

30 minutes unpaid. We have to clock in and out. We try and make sure our coworkers get 30 mins but sometimes we just can't. *shrugs* it happens

ArrowRN, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2015

30 minutes unpaid. Here lately though I have not been able to take a lunch break due to being incredibly busy. I don't like it but there's not much to be done about it when you've got multiple traumas rolling in and not a lot of extra help.

My question to those who say its "too busy" is why would an employer hire more people if theythink current staffing is handling things just fine and there is no solid evidence more staff is needed? This too busy for breaks makes things counter productive. Its akin to places where they up patient ratios if staff doing fine with 6 patients then they up it to 7 and think everything fine but people take short cuts and miss meals just to get by I for one wont see any evidence for lowering ratios, i might even up it to 8 if it saves money. A hospital is a business afterall. And what happens if you balk at the manager that youre missing meals...nothing they will site company policies , not so? Or will they allow you to be paid for the missed meal? I think not.

CountryMomma, ASN, RN · Jan 25, 2015

They'll say you have poor time management skills and fire you for a newer nurse who won't argue and will take the criticism to heart, convinced they're a poor nurse with no hopes of finding a better job elsewhere.

Welcome to corporate Healthcare.

LilRedRN1973 · Jan 25, 2015

I work 12 hour nights shifts in a prison infirmary. We pretty much take what we want for lunch as that is our "slow" time. When I worked in the ICU at a local hospital, I was lucky to get 15-20 minutes while worrying about whether my patient was going to extubate themselves as I was shoving a sandwich down my throat.

grammy57 · Jan 29, 2015

30 minutes unpaid and mandatory

catiewithasea · Feb 4, 2015

So sad, and yet so true. This is part of the reason why I left inpatient nursing after only 6 months on the floor. As a new nurse, I believed my inability to get a lunch break on time (sometimes it was 1500 before I could eat), or even at all (twice I went with no break at all), was because I was a lousy new nurse, and boy, should I be glad I was able to get a job at all! I'm currently not working as a nurse, but hope to someday work at a place where lunch breaks are actual things...

JWG223 · Feb 4, 2015

1 hr? 30 minutes? 90 minutes?

I don't know. I've never taken one officially. It may not be technically correct but I can eat at the desk and keep an eye on things or take my food to the break room as is correct and things will have to watch themselves. I can stop eating real fast vs. How telepathic I am. So...no breaks here.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 4, 2015

My question to those who say its "too busy" is why would an employer hire more people if theythink current staffing is handling things just fine and there is no solid evidence more staff is needed? This too busy for breaks makes things counter productive. Its akin to places where they up patient ratios if staff doing fine with 6 patients then they up it to 7 and think everything fine but people take short cuts and miss meals just to get by I for one wont see any evidence for lowering ratios, i might even up it to 8 if it saves money. A hospital is a business afterall. And what happens if you balk at the manager that youre missing meals...nothing they will site company policies , not so? Or will they allow you to be paid for the missed meal? I think not.

If you miss a meal break (the 30 minute unpaid one), it should be reported in writing to your manager. My facility has a specific form that is used for documenting missed meals and we get paid for that time. Now, I document when I miss the 30 minute break as I frequently am able to eat while working. I go to the break room every 10 minutes or as often as possible, grab a bite, go back to my patients, repeat until food gone.

So while I have eaten, I have not gotten a break. And I feel I should be paid for that time.

anon456, BSN, RN · Feb 4, 2015

Technically 30 minutes unpaid.

In reality, the time it takes for me to heat up my food, bring it back to the nursing station, and eat while charting.

Holistic12, BSN · Feb 18, 2015

What lunch break? Most days I work, I am unable to get away for a break. We are supposed to get 30 minutes unpaid though.