Nurses!

[lovemymak]

I can't even tell you how upset I am!!! I have been dealing with sleeping nurses for over a year now! EVERY SINGLE night nurse we have had has slept! We have always given them a few chances and then have to get rid of them. We then have to take over a bunch of overnights....get totally exhausted...get someone new...finally get some rest ourselves only to find that they are sleeping on the job again!!!

I got up early to go to the gym this morning and the nurse was totally passed out in the rocking chair. I woke her up and she said "Yes. May I help you?" What the !!! You're sleeping!!! This is technically the first time we have found her sleeping. I usually check on the nurses, but ever since Keturah has gone on the vent, my husband tells me not to check on the nurses because I will make them think I don't trust them and they'll quit. He says she is safe now that she's on the vent because she's not having the really bad apnea and desats that she was having before.

So I take a shower and get ready. When I come down she wants to know if I want her to come back. I told her yes because this is only the first time I have caught her but that I don't accept sleeping nurses. She said, "I'll tell you...I'm a dozer, but I don't actually sleep. I just doze when I am bored." What the !!! We have given her our laptop to watch movies or go on the internet and there are times when she says she doesn't want it! You go to sleep because you're bored???

Then my husband and I go around and around about whether or not it is acceptable to sleep. We have always been told by her Dr's that we shouldn't sleep at night while we are caring for her. (This was always pre-vent) But she does roll around a lot and become disconnected from her feed and vent a lot. My husband thinks that it's fine since the vent alarms, and if we don't have nurses then we have to stay awake. He also doesn't think we will EVER get a night nurse that doesn't fall asleep. I think it's a bunch of that they use my house to get paid and catch up on . I feel that there is a sense of dishonesty when nurses do that! How can I trust that they are doing anything else that they are supposed to be doing? Then the nurse feels like she's getting away with murder!

I can't win!!! Either I don't have a nurse, and we're both dead tired, or we do have a nurse, and she sleeping on the job! I could just bang my head up against a wall!!! I am sooo tired of dealing with this!

Sarah

[sassyangel4u2nv]

Sarah,
When I had the nurses at night, I was ok if they did fall asleep in the same room as Ericka. I will not allow them to be in the other room and falling asleep. Nor did I ever catch them sleeping. Plus I would ask them if they got enough sleep th day before. I was told I would not be getting sleep while Ericka was on the vent. She has the vent... This is giving her the air and breathes that she is needing. Why am I going to worry over a small thing. Yes, you always hear the worse stories about children dying while sleeping. But you should know Keturah sleeping habits and if you feel comfortable with the way she sleeps. The first couple of months I sat next to Ericka's bed just to pay attention to how she was breathing. I then would go to bed listen to her sleep. I got use to hearing Ericka sleeping. Now I when I hear her breathing odd I am always getting up and checking to make sure there is no water in the line or that she is breathing ok. I no longer have the nurses at night because I feel I can handle Ericka at night. I just did not think that they should sit there for 8hrs watching her sleep. YEs, that is what they were doing. She did not wake up at all. When Ericka comes off the vent at night I will have a nurse here but not until then.
I understand how you feel about them sleeping, those are your wishes of what you want. If she is bored tell her to bring things to keep her busy. I hope it gets better with you and things work out

[cariaad]

OK, I never had nursing, but I will say if I did have them and found them sleeping, they would be out the door that instant. They are there so YOU can sleep. That is just crazy, she is "bored". Why do these nurses sign up for the overnight shift if they arent night owls? I would be totally on that agency! Deb

[Kate]

I agree...no sleeping. I caught our 1st nurse sleeping....she felt so bad then she was fine for awhile-but then got prego and then she was done for. I caught her a couple of times sleeping and then told her not to come back. So your nurse says she is a "dozer" You don't know that-how does she know that she'll hear the alarm? I'm with you...no sleeping, that is what she is getting paid for.

[T-bone]

We have never had night nursing so I don't know what I would do in that situation.
But Abby is on a vent and we do sleep. We have a baby monitor and we hear every alarm. We can also hear the vent cycling if the water trap needs to be emptied. So it can be done that you are able to sleep while your child is on a vent, but the nurse is getting paid. So I am not sure if they should be sleeping or not.
Actually, we did have night nursing for one night in the past 5 1/2 years so that Rob and I could have a night to ourselves. The nurse did sleep and I was fine with that. She is a great nurse and I trusted her.

You have to do what you feel is right. But you will probably just keep going through nurses. I wish you the best.

Tess

[Lizzykewlness]

Yeah i had to let a nurse go that was sleeping as well. For any job I'd think sleeping would be unacceptable. I walked into the room right past her and went to pick Luke up and the only reason she did wake up was that the crib we had creeks loud. My plan was to have her wakeup with no patient. The rest of the night i stayed up just rocking luke.
Most agencies have a no sleeping policy. Just my opinion but, this is the nurses job, they should do what they are getting paid for.


-Sarah

[Evy]

In my opinion, it is sooooooo different for a parent to sleep when their child is trached and vented. No one will ever convince me that a parent doesn't have an intuition or ability to hear and anticipate problems and alarms will certainly wake you up. HOWEVER, parents are not getting paid (in the monetary sense). Have you or any member of your family ever had a job where you went to work, slept, and expected to get paid and do it all over again the next night?! It just boggles my mind. If you have a night job, you sleep during the day. Simple as that. If you can't sleep during the day, you don't have a night job. I have no tolerance (can you tell) for anyone, especially nurses caring for children or adults for that matter, sleeping on the job. END OF STORY!

(notice she's awake)

Evy

[preki]

Oh, I don't know...seemed to work out okay for that Comcast guy...


I'm kidding. No sleeping! Of course not, no sleeping! No dozing, snoozing, "just closing my eyes" (my husband's fav), having a few winks, or drifting off.

We had one that dozed on the couch. During the day. But that WAS fine because she wasn't allowed to touch the baby, anyway. We had to keep her until our insurance max was hit so we could switch agencies. So basically, we had a lump on the couch for a month.

She couldn't take a temperature correctly. Cute, huh? Where do they find these people?

Of course, her replacement became one of my greatest friends, so it did all work out in the end, but I'm grateful on a daily basis we don't have to go through that nonsense anymore.

My sympathies. I think you should get one of those boat horns. When you find her sleeping, give it a little blast. You'll scare the crap out of everyone within a six block radius, but hey! I bet she never sleeps again, so long as she lives...

[tprocha]

I used to work overnights a long time ago in a group home and was NOT allowed to sleep. I used to get so tired that when I did finally get some sleep I didn't hear a thing.

Just curious, what is the agency's policy on sleeping?

[lovemymak]

I'm not sure what the agency's exact policy is about sleeping. I think the owner of the agency tries to play both sides of the fence. To me she is saying that yes, the nurses stay awake, and if they get tired, they need to do things to help them wake up. But to the nurses she's saying that she used to work nights as a nurse and it's hard to stay awake and you can "doze". They have told them that there are certain cases that you can camp out at. Every time there is a new night nurse coming over here they tell them there is no camping out and if I find them sleeping they may be asked not to come back. The vicious cycle of poor nurses that they send over here is so ridiculous.