Nurses eating on shift...

[PatsyAndEddy]

Just back from hospital visiting a friend who had her tonsils out today. She had to fast from 10 pm last night and didn't get taken for her op until 2pm, that's a long time without food for anyone!

She missed dinner on the ward but they got her a sandwich but she's really sore and hungry!

On the ward her bed is right next to the nurses station. She said they were sitting munching on a large bag of kettle chips in front of her between the three of them. She commented on how she thought that was a but mean, they snapped back saying 'well we have to eat' at which point my friend reminded them that's what they're breaks were for.

I don't think she's flavour of the month in the ward! She can be a bit of a grump at the best of times but starving, sore and groggy I think she reached her limit!

We're the nurses being unreasonable, eating on shift?

I did neo, I think I've mentioned that twice already.

Shit I got there at 6, she hasn't eaten a sandwich, there's been one left for her as she'd missed dinner. She didn't eat that, it was sweating away. I took some in for her, along with other stuff, which she was attempting to eat when I left at 8.

I wouldn't go private for all the money in the world.

You know what they do if you have a cardiac arrest in most private hospitals? Call 999.

Try it married - go in for a day. it starts at around 7am then it's full on washing, dressing, sitting up, medication, x-rays, drs rounds, obs, until around 12pm - visiting time at the hospital i worked at. no time for breaks - that's when we ate and had a drink - after v physical, demanding work in hot temperatures. yes, we looked scruffy, grubby, unprofessional - because we hadn't had a break or even a sip of water since we'd been up since 5am to get to work for 7am. i honestly don't think people understand this. i no longer work in this sector. but i have huge respect for people that do.

Quite clearly not tiredmama

Is starving no longer an appropriate turn off phrase when describing hunger beyond your average 'I'm ready for dinner' hunger?

I know vinegar hence the tongue in cheek cat comment.
Christ its frightening how soon private patients get transferred because they don't have any facilities to cope if things don't go smoothly.
If you are in a private hospital and any complications occur they have NO facilities to cope with that or treat you.
Don't get me started on the "quality" of medical staff employed when Dr Godsgift isn't around

Totally unreasonable and childish !!

However, no wonder people complain about hospital stays when the people caring for them don't eat, don't drink, don't go to the loo, pass out, get kidney stones......

I have spent my whole life in and out of hospitals for long periods of time. I have no complaints at all (well apart from the food which is universally disgusting) most of the nurses I have seen take a break, even a short loo trip (or a fag break) and the only people who can stop the rot of crap working conditions are the very people who are enabling "them" to get away with it by carrying on doing it - IMO of course

I have recently come out of hospital and was on a very busy, demanding ward.

On the weekend shift, there was one Staff Nurse and several HCA - not one of them had a break during their shift that day. When I was discharged late afternoon, I gave the staff a Thank You card and a box of chocolates, the Staff Nurse said to me "everyone will love them, nobody has eaten all day".

The nurse was worried about the lady in the bed next to me who was drinking enough (she could tell from the stats I gather?). The patient had the cheek to say "I don't drink tap water, can't you get me something else". Like the staff didn't have enough to do.

I have every respect for nurses, they are on the front line and get all the stick - only for the unpleasant patients to get all reverential and polite when a Doctor appears.

Quite frankly, if they do get a mythical 5 minutes where there isn't any work, I'm happy for them to catch their breath!

YABU - Your friend sounds very entitled and rude.

I work in an office. With spreadsheets. (When not on maternity leave.) So it is fairly easy to evaluate my performance over the day.

Occassionally I have skipped lunch due to being busy. The next day I sometimes find a silly error in my sheet that I don't normally make when not hungry.

On the grounds that a nurse making a silly error could cause someone to die we should all be feeding them!

Look, it's not reasonable to eat at the nurse's desk. Or not having a break in 12 hours for eating or going to the loo.
You are right, it is outrageous.
They don't eat, the patient suffers, they suffer. They are not responsable for this sad state of affairs. Because if they do go on a break, there is no one else there. And we need them there.
Complain about the lack of staff, not about a handful of crisps.

• WASN'T drinking enough...

Nurses do get their breaks, it would be illegal and unions would be going mad if the didn't, however sisters, charge nurses tend not to.

hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah

Oh God I cant breath I'm laughing so much.

I once took verbal hand over of a patient who was being transferred from another hospital while I was on the loo!!!

Seriously, the Matron followed me to the staff loos and handed over though the door, lucky I don't have a shy bladder.

In her defence, I did say carry on as she was rushing to another ward to be the check a controlled drug for a patient in pain.

One of my friends ended up being admitted to the renal ward due to chronic cystitis having collapsed on the ward on a hot summer day. Having done her 2 regular 12 and a half hour shifts and then came in to cover on day 3.

I once worked a 13 and a half hour shift with no breaks, myself and a newly qualified Staff Nurse and 2 HCAs for 30 acutely ill patients, only 1 qualified Nurse and 1 HCA turned up for the night shift, when I called the Matron to inform her I was told that I'd have to stay. . . .

When I said that I knew that this would be illegal, and I was due to work the following day shift, me staying would leave them understaffed. I was told that was my problem, and to start calling staff to cover.

I called the RCN and the only 'advice' they gave me was that if I left the ward I could be disciplined and they wouldn't represent me at any hearing.

Nurses do get their breaks hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahaha

Spot on about people just seeing snapshots of a nurses day.
I spent quite a lot of my last pregnancy and after the birth in hospital and have to say the health professionals I encountered worked bloody hard.
Did I have to wait? Yes.
Was there always lots of paperwork? Yes.
Were there countless drs, paeds, midwives there when I really needed them? Yes!
They are stretched to the max, whatever department they work in. I would rather they had a break to eat, they deserve one, but if they can't have one I would rather they ate and kept themselves healthy and energy up otherwise how can they care for anyone else? They have my respect.

Oops bit of a rant, sorry.

Apologies if I offended anyone with my observations, I'm lucky enough to work in a part of the uk where people do get their breaks and understaffing isn't an issue, thank god for devolved powers

Idiot are you in Scotland? I am and know a few nurses who work bloody hard but from what I've heard from them and my own experiences on wards it seems a different world than what's described here.

i went without food from sunday night till tues afternoon, was hardly starving, didnt bother me if the nurses had a biscuit or crisps they were running round like blue arse flies , rather they ate on the go than be waiting around for longer.

Nokidshere says what I say, patients don't want to be cared for by people so hard-worked, really they don't. Do nurses really want to give out this sort of care and sleep at night/day and take the money for it? Really? If it's that bad then whistleblow. If it's so bad that you can't eat and go to the toilet for 13 hours on end and it takes at least 3 of you to hold up a bag of crisps so you can get a little scrap to eat because you are so weak with hunger (like the patient the OP was talking about) then you are seriously putting patients lives in danger and should stop now, whistleblow, go to the press whatever it takes. Not carry on regardless.

Sorry marriedinwhite but I find your assertions that due to you having had some admittedly bad experiences of midwives and nurses all nurses and midwives are crap really ignorant and arrogant.

Of course the consultants you know back this up with their stories of declining standards of nursing care...

Yep, that proves it, nurses are underworked, lazy, feckless, selfish and unprofessional

I wonder what job it is you do marriedinwhite and whether it compares to the sheer physical effort of a 12 plus hour shift on a busy ward?

I used to work as a nurse, I now have a desk bound sit down sort of job. Still long hours, lots of meetings, sometimes no time to have a food break or drink... But I tell you what, it is in no way as hard physically or mentally as nursing was. And I also now get a lot more respect and money than I did as a nurse, for a job which requires similar levels of education and qualifications as nursing.

I will never go back to nursing and I feel sorry for all the nurses still stuck in this career with weak unions, poor pay, disrespect from the public, management and consultants, little support from management and frequently working over their contracted hours and lunch breaks for no recognition, no bonus at Christmas time, no pay rise in the offing...

Seriously, if one of my children was interested in nursing as a career I would do everything in my power to dissuade them.

idiot55 Fri 12-Jul-13 21:17:20
Nurses do get their breaks, it would be illegal and unions would be going mad if the didn't, however sisters, charge nurses tend not to

Hahahahahahaha!! Hilarious!

You really have no idea.

Nurses are amazing and I dont know how they do it. They should eat when they can and whenever they want. Anybody who doesnt like it can do their jobs instead and see what its like.

My student midwife complained about being hungry for my whole labour and then cracked out a go ahead biscuit and munched on it whilst lying between my legs with a torch shone up my fanjo waiting for the placenta to deliver.....she must have been really hungry!

whistleblow, go to the press whatever it takes

For all the talk of whistleblowers been protected, its still shit. You get labelled, pushed from ward to ward, while they put you under such enormous stress you either breakdown or leave, and then of course you're seen as being unstable or disgruntled.

Go to the press, ha, you've brought nursing in to disrepute and broken the Code of Conduct. Try getting any job after that.

If they cant eat because of an op doesn't mean others cant eat. Just because there are a few bad eggs doesnt mean that all nurses are so they shouldnt all be labelled as such. People may think that they are doing nothing however unless you are a nurse noone knows how much work they have.supposed if you had an Awfull experience you may label them all as bad.
They give you really sharp food to eat after having your tonsills out. I had them out at 24 and had to have toast. I hate toast

Did your friend have IV fluids? I once spent nearly a week nil by mouth following a perforated appendix and emergency appendectomy which they weren't sure they had entirely removed. They didn't want me to eat because they weren't sure if I would need more surgery. I remember feeling "hungry" (and grumpy) but not starving.

However bad things have been though doesnt mean people should be posting rude things towards each other. Thought point of this website was to support each other rather than that

Btw nutcracker and all other nurses on here, you deserve way more money than you get. The world is seriously wrong that footballers get more money than the emergency services