The hospital, any hospital, is an operation that runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Patients are present either in the emergency room or as an inpatient on the units. Most of the time, patients don’t sleep in the hospital for several reasons: noise, anxiety, pain, or they don’t sleep well as their baseline. Nurses need to be available 24 hours a day to meet the needs of our patients and constantly assess for any changes. The night shift in any occupation is the shift that is the least wanted. Soem people cannot function on a night schedule, and have reported feeling foggy or drunk for the time they had to work the nights. Night has a higher risk of sleep issues, digestive issues, cardiovascular disease, cancer and psychological problems.
Between the necessity for 24-hour staff and the health problem that comes along with the unwanted shift, the night shift is the forgotten shift. The events for the staff occur during the day, even though there are two shifts. Few hospitals actually treat the two shifts equally.
Each year in May there is a nurse’s week. It falls on the week of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Hospital attempt to do something special for the nurses with a free meal or drink in the cafeteria. Candy carts and other specialty that are done completely during the day or they try to keep them late to give the opportunity to the night shift. As nice as this sounds, the time given is ten. Night nurses spend their first three hours with meeting their patient, medicating, and assessing. If something goes wrong, the nurse cannot get any time to enjoy the treat. The night shift usually comes in to find half or more of the purchased pizza eaten as cold leftovers.
The school holds classes and meetings during the day. Education is scheduled for Monday through Friday, includes classes and meetings during the day. The school schedules classes for night shift students on their day off or after they complete a 12-hour shift. This can be dangerous for the nurse and other drivers, as it may lead to fatigue. It may cause the student being less attentive as they struggle to stay awake. A computer program used in most hospitals is called Healthstream. Hospitals upload several video classes and learning material on the platform, which students can complete at their own time. The meeting for hospital ongoings always occurs during the day when the night shift sleeps. It’s nice to see an invitation. it’s a little insulting because they know you’re sleeping.
Upper management works during the day, so it’s typical to give more praise to the day nurses and techs because they are visible. The night shift becomes faceless names on a roster. It takes a larger gesture for a night nurse to be recognized for anything.
The hospital, although runs 24-hours a day, only acknowledges half the staff. These little things also drive a wedge between the shifts. The hospital culture continues to perpetuate the existence of a rivalry between day and night shifts.