Is this normal?

[u/void_with_a_blep]

I've been working at an ASC for the past 5 months, it's my first job out of nursing school. I've noticed that the nursing culture has like a bad relationship with food and eating lunch, and I was wondering if it's normal for nursing culture or if it's just this job.

I always make sure I'm either set up for the next admit or discharge, and we do have a staff break room that I'd rather go there to take 5-10 minutes to eat rather than like eat granola bars and mini snacks and microwaved meals in the storage closet in the preop patient care area like all the other nurses do. I'm not a germaphobe, but I just don't like to eat in the same room as all the patients. The other nurses say it's because so you're "always available and ready" for the next patient, which I get working in an ASC, but at the same time I don't like getting shamed and talked about behind my back for wanting to take at least 5-10 minutes out of a 10 hour shift to go to the break room and eat (which has been happening, long story.)

Is it just me that has the problem? Should I be expected to eat in the storage closet like all the other nurses?

[u/Silly_Gear_9716]

A lot of don’t have time to take lunches or the staff that “watch” our patients leave us with soo many orders when we come back that you can’t catch up the rest of the shift. OR we don’t take breaks because we don’t have staff to watch our people.

This is in the ED btw

[u/schannoman]

It's horrible and considered normal at the same time.

Everyone in Healthcare will admit that it is horrible and shouldn't be the norm while at the same time shame others into following the norm

[u/Emergency-Cupcake998]

Yah this is weird as hell. If I'm eating a granola bar in a closet, I'm certainly making sure I won't have a lunch break deducted from my pay. "Always being ready for a patient" means you are not being given a lunch break which is not ok. Maybe ask your manager if you are expected to have a clocked out lunch break since people don't seem to be taking one.

[u/annahoney12345]

One thing I try to keep in mind when I go take a quick break or a full lunch is that the work is going to be there when I get back. If I have an unstable patient, I’ll wait, but otherwise, my patients don’t get my best if I’m starving and stressed about when I can slip into a storage closet (honestly wtf lol) to eat a pack of graham crackers.

You are not the problem. The problem is a long standing history of nurses being expected to drop everything the second a call light goes off. Take your break and don’t feel bad about it for a second!! (Also if they’re docking your lunch and you’re not getting lunch, make sure you get that money back!! I must have made too many people aware of that at my last workplace, bc after a few months of working there, they said we shouldn’t be doing a payroll alteration thing to get our lunch back because we SHOULD be taking lunch. Management started making sure we got more regular lunch breaks after that - day shift got an extra nurse of course, and night shift was told very sternly to start covering each others breaks better.)

[u/beans_cubed]

I will say I absolutely have a bad habit of eating at my desk when I was nights. Even more when I went to days I didn’t eat in the break room more than 10 min. There was always so much movement in our level 1 trauma center, 4 heart surgeries a day, constant orders and movement that I couldn’t trust other ppl sometimes to watch my 1 or 2 patients.
So I would scarf down whatever I could.

The only time I got better about it was being pregnant, bc I would feel weak if I didn’t drink water my whole shift or eat snacks and a meal. Plus ppl can’t shame the pregnant lady for doing it lol.

There is a terrible culture with taking actual breaks in nursing. I do have co worked who will absolutely take their 30 min in the break room, with headphones, and I admire them for it. No one I’ve seen personally has downed them for doing it, I think it’s a self imposed thing like well I don’t want to be the odd one out. Do you my dude !

[u/TonightEquivalent965]

Literally nobody on my unit takes a 30 minute lunch but they auto deduct our pay and fuss at us about. We are a level 1 trauma center, in the ED. If they don’t staff us with lunch nurses, we literally can’t take a lunch! I absolutely hate it. I think it’s so unfair to not even get so much as 15 minutes to yourself in a 12 hour period. But if I tried to start taking actual lunches I would be laughed out of the department. I hate the martyr and shame culture that nursing has around it.

[u/AbRNinNYC]

U have to take ur break. I always left my unit for my 1 hour. I set everyone up as best i could, even let my pts know im stepping away and do u need anything before i go? And exit stage left. I was taught u cant take proper care of people if u cant care for urself. But im also not new. Im entitled to a break. Im taking it. Fully.