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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I think I got Fucking Tired Disorder


Now I have heard everything...apparently there is a new diagnosis that has been coined: Shift Work Disorder. And of course when some rocket scientist coins a new disorder, you know that there will be a pill to take for it. There is.  I won't help these shysters
push their dope by naming it here.

Hey, every single nurse, doctor, tech, etc. has at one point or another worked nights if you work in a hospital. It is almost required to become a nurse. Unfortunately patients have to be taken care of 24/7. Most nurses try like hell to get off of nights as soon as possible. A chosen few choose to work nights because they hate a authority (hahahaha) and make more money.

The thing is most hospitals seem to try to make shifts as difficult as possible by scheduling people day/night or even day/evening/night. In my ER, no one works rotating shifts. 98% of us work 12 hour shifts. There are people who work straight 7p-7a.  We do self scheduling by clusters meaning  those working for example, 9a- 9p choose a person to do the schedule.  Everyone turns in their requests. If works out great. I don't know why more units don't do this.

As far as shift work disorder, why don't you call it Fucking Tired Disorder. The people who work nights, rotate D/N don't need a pill, they need to be compensated for what they go through. They should be paid $10 more an hour.  They should have block schedules. They should get other benefits. Working these shifts affect peoples health and well being. They deserved to be compensated with cash. End of story.

3 comments:

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Yes, pay them a small fortune: all of them; night shift people in every vocation should be compensated well with impunity. Some people love it and they should be heroes of the Evening and Night Shift Worlds.

hoodnurse said...

Indeed. I personally love night shift thanks to my disdain for authority and night owl tendencies, but I don't need you to pump me full of renamed ADD meds to do my job, thanks. I throw enough PVCs with the coffee without doing meth in pill form.

rnraquel said...

Oh hell no. Coffee and chocolate work for me. And at night you may even be able to drink some coffee at the nurses station. But don't tell anyone.