7 on 7 off 300 bed hospital

[nampa]

how brutal is a ten hour day shift 7 day schedule hospital job?

I like the idea of the 7 off but not sure how to handle so many days.

The hospital never closes. No call. I have two hours on the floor in a satellite room, rest in central pharmacy. Two non doctor rounds per week.

I assume the director leaves at 6.

What have experiences been like?

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[wucool33]

Where have you worked before? The busiest days is still not that bad... especially if it’s only a 300 bed hospital. And no calls?!?!?! That’s super chill... the only thing annoying about hospital is all the RN phone calls...

 

[BC_89]

how brutal is a ten hour day shift 7 day schedule hospital job?

I like the idea of the 7 off but not sure how to handle so many days.

The hospital never closes. No call. I have two hours on the floor in a satellite room, rest in central pharmacy. Two non doctor rounds per week.

I assume the director leaves at 6.

What have experiences been like?

10 hour shifts 7 on 7 off?

Where do I sign?

 

[Xarelto-10]

You need a strong tech to do that. Nursing is a challange and I think it is a matter of difference in perspective. From pharmacy point of view we say this or that doesn’t make sense but from nursing perspective may be perfectly acceptable.
Be open, try to be flexible, prioritize, don’t be bogged down with “clinical” stuff, do provide the best car you can but also have a reasonable expectation of what you can and can’t do.
The rest you’d get it from experience.
Oh sleep well, eat right, stay hydrated, excercise you’d be golden.

 

[confettiflyer]

I typically do 10hrs/8 days and I will tell you that it’s fairly exhausting by day 5, you really need to have a good routine with sleep and exercise. Meal planning and eating healthy is important.

Also planning errands can be a challenge, I use food and grocery delivery services often.


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[Charcoales]

I do 7 on 7 off 10 to 8 (retail tho). Feels like I have a ton of freetime and get a ton of hobbies and hanging out in on my week on and the week off too. I hate the feel tho when another overnight calls in sick and they want me to come in, I usually refuse even tho i feel bad :/

 

[mentos]

Can't be worse than retail overnights. Do it! That's 26 weeks of extra vacation per year.

 

[BidingMyTime]

And no calls?!?!?! That’s super chill... the only thing annoying about hospital is all the RN phone calls...

Hahahaha. As if. He obviously meant "no call" to mean that because the hospital had 24 hour pharmacist coverage, nobody had to be "on call" at home fielding nursing calls. Of course, during his work shift, he will still get tons and tons of RN calls.

 

[mentos]

Nurse calls are so annoying.

"I can't open the pyxis drawer-nevermind bye".

"I can't find the latanoprost." Did you check the fridge? "Nope."

"I sent an order in a millisecond ago is it ready??"

 

[sakigt]

Nurse calls are so annoying.

"I can't open the pyxis drawer-nevermind bye".

"I can't find the latanoprost." Did you check the fridge? "Nope."

"I sent an order in a millisecond ago is it ready??"

"K bye"
"Ok, Ill charge the patient the $200 it costs again are you sure you checked everywhere?"
"I was just about to verify some orders but I exited the screen to get this call. Ill get back in now."

 

[gwarm01]

"I can't open the pyxis drawer-nevermind bye".

The "nevermind, bye!" calls are the absolute best nursing calls. I usually say I was happy to help then hang up.

 

[Dred Pirate]

how many rph's do you have on overnights? a 300 bed hospital with 1 rph could be pretty challenging (depending on your tech help, etc). Do you have an IV tech at all times? do you have to go make IV's? Do you have a tech to answer calls and pulls first doses, etc? Do you refill pyxis machines at night? Depending on the answer to these questions- your job could be chill, or could be ball busting.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

Nurse calls are so annoying.

"I can't open the pyxis drawer-nevermind bye".

"I can't find the latanoprost." Did you check the fridge? "Nope."

"I sent an order in a millisecond ago is it ready??"

"I ripped the medication bar code, now I can't scan it"

"I can't find the patient's albuterol inhaler he has been on for days now." Did you check the bedside drawer?

"I can't find the IV antibiotic"

"The patients blood glucose is 65, should I give insulin?" Call the damn doctor.

 

[lane one]

Nurse calls are so annoying.

"I can't open the pyxis drawer-nevermind bye".

"I can't find the latanoprost." Did you check the fridge? "Nope."

"I sent an order in a millisecond ago is it ready??"

1 millisecond later...."Is it ready YET?"

 

[BidingMyTime]

"Ok, Ill charge the patient the $200 it costs again are you sure you checked everywhere?"

And then invariably, when you sent the tech back up with the newly made IV, they find the original IV sitting out on the nursing counter in plain site (and of course, none of the nurses have any idea how it got out of the lock box on to the nursing counter, they claim the tech must have just put it there.)

 

[sakigt]

I had a 45 minute epic with nurses, charge RN, and house supervisor involving a missing home medication. When security knocked on my door I made my way upstairs (was working central alone and had to wait until night shift came in).After turning the med room over including dumping the trash I opened every single patient drawer and found the bottle IN THE PATIENTS DRAWER.

 

[Dred Pirate]

I had a 45 minute epic with nurses, charge RN, and house supervisor involving a missing home medication. When security knocked on my door I made my way upstairs (was working central alone and had to wait until night shift came in).After turning the med room over including dumping the trash I opened every single patient drawer and found the bottle IN THE PATIENTS DRAWER.

my favorite was when a RN called me looking for a missing dilt drip, while I was on the phone with her, I walked over to her desk and pointed to the drip that was sitting directly next to the phone. That being said, I love my nurses, they deal with so much crap - obviously there are bad ones (there are more than our fair share of bad RPh's).

But we direct away from the OP's original question

 

[PetMed]

I've been working 7 on/7 off in a 350 bed hospital for 5 years. I didn't have any experience in hospital prior taking that position as my only experience was retail pharmacy. The transition was brutal due to the learning curve and the change in schedule. It was very tough the first 3 months, especially when you're the only night pharmacist with 3 techs. Most of the nights are usually quiet, as you don;t have to deal with many new orders. There are only 2 peak times, from 9-10pm due to nurse shift change and 6-7am. You'll get most orders during that time as they tend to dump all the orders before they end their shifts (what are they doing meanwhile?!). You do not have to follow up with renal dosing such as vanco or toby as you will only initiate the first dose as a night pharmacist. Clinical pharmacist during the day would take care of it...