The Perfect Shift: Are cameras on us?

11 Well, we all know how the voyeur in each of us loves reality TV, even if we watch very clandestinely. So, have you ever had a day that was going so well that you thought you were being punk'd? Sometimes the stars just line up right and its the perfect shift: enough staff, stable patients, appreciative doctors. So, what would make your shift absolutely perfect?
A pay raise? Time-and-a-half? Double-time? Show me the money!

Quote from brianSo, what would make your shift absolutely perfect?

Having a full staff would be a start.

Last night was a perfect shift. Great crew on. Enough nurses. 100% nice, polite, walkie-talkie patients on the unit (seriously). They told us they were going to float our aid. We were so set we didn't even care. Then they changed their mind on that. Doesn't get much better than that.

Quote from blondy2061hLast night was a perfect shift. Great crew on. Enough nurses. 100% nice, polite, walkie-talkie patients on the unit (seriously). They told us they were going to float our aid. We were so set we didn't even care. Then they changed their mind on that. Doesn't get much better than that.

staff who get on with each other and a good laugh - cant beat it, doesn't matter if its busy or ridiculous, if you've got a good team with a sense of humour its the best!

I transfer both of my patients out to the floor. They look good, their families are happy and leave us doughnuts. Since I have no patients left, I get sent home early.

An adequate number of staff on hand, that will work, and preferably can work well together is usually enough for me. As a side note, I used to work as charge nurse in a LTC facility that had cameras all over the place. I had to remind the staff often to be cautious that the cameras weren't only there to catch what they were doing, but to catch what they weren't doing. Many people were fired over the years because of what was seen on camera.

Quote from viannestaff who get on with each other and a good laugh - cant beat it, doesn't matter if its busy or ridiculous, if you've got a good team with a sense of humour its the best!

If I could just be the bedside nurse and not have to deal with a system that constantly drags me away from the bedside, I would consider that to be the perfect shift!!! I wind up drowning in stupid tasks that take me away from being the bedside nurse that I want to be.I’m currently working on my MSN/CNL degree. When I finish in 2015, I will take the Clinical Nurse Leader exam.The whole philosophy behind the CNL is to work on the microsystem that is broken, ideally, a 12 to 15 patient cohort per CNL, and fix it so the following things are greatly muted;~ Bedside nurse does Not have to deal with pharmacy jerking them around with numerous phone calls and new meds being put in without any attention to a nurse-friendly/patient centered med pass administration time. ~ Bedside nurse does Not have to deal with calling the pharmacy for the umpteenth time to get that IV antibiotic delivered, that is now 2 1/2 hour late.~ Bedside nurse does Not have to deal with lab coming to draw labs on their patient every hour or two because several different doctors are all rounding and putting in orders for labs to be drawn, but not on any specific time frame, so lab keeps showing up for more blood.~ Bedside nurse does Not have to deal with family members that are really, really, needy at the same time that the patient is really, really labor intensive.Transfer issues,Admission issues,Discharge issues,Doctor issues,What way are we documenting this protocol THIS TIME issues,I’ve never done this before issues,Why do we have to do it THIS WAY issues,Wouldn’t it be a perfect shift if it was just you and your patients, and none of the stupid stuff that happens to drag you away from the patient education that you want to do; the wound care that you need to do; the medication administration that you shouldn’t be disturbed during; the assessment that you want to do more thoroughly and timely; the documentation that would NEVER be lacking. The peace of mind from knowing you didn’t need to game the system in order to do what you know you need to do.THAT’S A PERFECT SHIFT!!

We had one of those shifts recently. It was one of those nights that started out with that ominous feel..... Low patient census, nurses called off - it was the kind of night that could have gone very badly had the ED decided to blow up. We ended the night with one admission. Unheard of!!!!!

I am blessed to have a good bunch of knuckleheads to work with!