you can talk to the patients who are still awake ang get to them. Befriend everyone, in that sense your helping them for a while not to think of their illnesses.

what to do on nights?
Look, I've worked every shift out there and I remember working am's and when I would get to work as tired as I might of been, I felt so sorry for the night nurses because they looked twice as tired and I don't blame them one bit. But now that I'm going back to a night perdiem shift, I do expect more money for working those godforsaken hrs and I do look forward to not having so much responsibility during those hrs of the night. I believe that any nurse who bum raps the night nurses should take on another perspective and think about what it's really like to work that shift f/t or even p/t. There's nothing crazier to me (my own view) than expecting another human being to take on the world of patient care to the inth fold at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. Most people are in the midst of dream world at that time or getting up to pee in the middle of their night. So any nurses out there who don't think that night nurse should be respected just as much as their am nursing peers is ridiculous. I know how much responsibility there is on the am's, and yes, it's alot, but I chose that shift so I could benefit having a normal sleep/wake cycle and have the evenings to myself like the rest of the world. So when I choose the night shift (as of now) I am choosing it for hrs that aren't so demanding and more pay to spend more time with my family.

What to do on night shift
Girls, it's a joke, they're pulling our combined legs, that or they work nights in a Long Term Care Facility. Personally, I work the "right hand' side of the country and nights are busy. I'm sure it's the same way in "La-La Land".

night shift workers
Hey to the day nurse that was putting down night shift workers, DON'T put down all night shift workers. Just like we shouldn't put down day shift workers. Nurses need to ban together and work TOGETHER!!! Come on there is always nurses that are gonna bitch about the other shifts. I know that EVERY shift has some downtime and it's just nurses human nature to say that they have been busy. I have worked night shift for 11 years and there were nights we ran all night long and nights we did absolutely nothing. I also know that most of the bullshit work is done on night shift because the day shift is too busy, or in my opinion too lazy!! We are the ones that change the IV sites, do the tubing changes, stock gloves etc... all usually at 3am...why you say, because the day shift who is ALWAYS better staffed and has far less patients to carry chooses not to do it. SO, QUIT RAGGING ON THE NIGHT SHIFT!!!!!!!! And feel free to come work with me, I'll keep you busy!!!!!!!

keeping active
i find myself wanting to stay on my feet for the greater part of the shift (currently 8's) on slower nights to stay awake and i end up getting a lot of things done. aside from the obvious (i.e. pampering the patients, stocking, stamping progress notes/flow sheets, etc.), i walk around the unit, looking at it through a patient's or visitor's eyes. i find myself doing a lot of little things like straightening out pamphlets/waiting rooms/patient rooms/bulletin boards/hallways/equipment and utility rooms, as well as cleaning of course if time allows. less clutter is better for everyone. for me, the more organized the area is around me, the more organized i am mentally. this is especially helpful for those quieter nights when that unforeseen emergency walks through the door. yes, its difficult to think on your feet when you are "half asleep"...

Working night shift in the ICU is just as busy as working days. We just dont have the doctors constantly like days. My night shifts are almost always constantly busy and I bath my patients on nights. On the rare night when I have time., I carry my palm pilot with me. I have games downloaded, CEU classes from epocrates, a tabers medical dictionary downloaded. Dont you just hate it when someone who has never worked nights talks about how little we do on nights.

What do do on the night shift?
I've got nothing "smart" and probably nothing that hasn't already been
mentioned here, but I'm writing to say that as a "night" shifter for many years and as a "day" shifter (when I choose to enter the real-life work world again) there's plenty of work to do on both shifts. That is to say the
"focus" is just different on both shifts, so both shifts tend to lean toward each's own perspective. The thing is, we DO NEED TO WORK TOGETHER
and complement each others shifts, rather than working against each other
and tearing things down and never getting anywhere. Ideally, where one shift leaves off, the next shift could step in and finish things up (whether that be stocking supplies, linens, etc... or finish up with a.m. bathes, surgical check lists, consents on charts, charts copied if a pt is being transferred, etc...) and who cares what shift nurse initiates the task at hand, as long as the continum is maintained and followed through?
It's "NURSE WEEK" this week and I applaud all my fellow nurse coworkers for continuing to work in this field, and for any attempt we each make to WORK TOGETHER, LEARN from each other and GROW together so we're all winners. Then, perhaps we'll be able to truly provide the CARE and HELP to someone who may really need that from us. Then, we've all done our job! HAPPY NURSE WEEK ALL!

Re: What to do on a night shift.

During my night shift when i often final myself doing nothing draw (puton) nursing care plans, so that i can easily inplement on patients the following morning. I draw up my teaching plan on any health education topic, go through patients file to identify any missed procedure or treatment undone.
Keep the immediate enviornment clean by sweeping, dusting and keeping hospital beds in order. there is always something to do help my colleagues get finished on time and presently i am working with the Holy Trinity Foundation hospital Ekona Town Buea. I did my intership course at the Bamenda provincial hospital. P.M.I. Nkwen and Ndop Districts hospital.

Re: Self educate


--You chek the caller ID on your day off to see if anyone from the hospital is trying to call and ask you to come in to work.

--You notice that you are using more 4 letter words than you did before you started nursing and know some that even a sailor dosn't know.

-- Your lunch break does not exist and you can't remember when the last time you actually sat down except to chart.

-- You can actually read a doctors handwriting and are starting to write just like them.

I have worked both night and day shift. Let's face it folks... both shifts are uniquely busy. We have to remember that we need to work together and do what is best for the patient. Hey, for all you night shift nurses I know that the idea of patients sleeping at night is a myth, and it rarely happens.

Night Shift
I am not sure what kind of units the nurses work on that have nothing to do on night shifts. I suppose if you have patients that are more stable and sleep for the duration of the shift then it might be quiet. That would be a good opportunity to do some personal advancement, education etc. However I work both days and nights in a PICU and the only difference is the amount of auditory and visual stimulation. Day shifts are louder and have more people wandering around (families, residents etc), night shifts can be very busy and you have more independent decisions to make without having a MD right there. The majority of the time we don't get to sit and take our breaks, so if there is a slow night it feels like a reward. Now having said that payback is a *****.

I can't imagine being that bored, I would feel as though my education and skills would be wasted. As far as the shift differential, studies say that night nurses actually don't live as long....how is that for compensation?

what to do on night shift
Well, I find it helpful to do some sort of cross stitching or work on up coming holiday gifts. Although, I only find myself with an hour or two to do so.
As for not living longer, I believe that and have heard the same. I have recently transferred to days and find myself feeling much better.

night shift nurses
I work on a 39 bed medical/surgical/neurology/orthopedic floor.The nights I am team leader, I have to do all the assessments for the floor, plus I have to sign off charts for the lpn's that are working, and have my own team of patients. That doesnt begin to count the non nursing duties that we have. I still try to do what I can for the next shift. Talk about busy!!!!!!

What to do on night shift
WHAT TO DO??? I work 7p-7a in a 102-bed skilled care center, and I NEVER am at a loss for things to do! We have admissions to finish, treatments to do, meds to pass, skin assessments, the inevitable charting, transfer and discharge paperwork to prepare for the next day, not to metion the sudden temperature spikes, the critically (and often terminally)ill patients, and don't forget the occasional code. We nurses assist the CNT's whenever needed with rounds, turns, and answering call lights. There are STAT blood draws, IV's that need started ( or restarted), confused and sometimes combative patients to pacify and orient, and there's ALWAYS some family members around to complicate things! My question is not what to do with my time, but WHEN DO I GET TO PEE!!!!!

What do I do at night? I worked on a post surgical unit and we had "pods" so I would normally break out a book.