Change Request for Lunch Break Time Frames for 12 Hour Employees

Nursing is a field of unpredictability and our patients dont stop having needs at any time of the day. Allowing ourselves the ability to break in times that fit our patients needs is important.

I worked 12 hr shifts for a very long time. Had to retire at 62 because of spinal arthritis. Breaks are important.

Thank you

Its really hard to take a lunch on my 12 hour shift from 10 to 1 with the stress of getting in trouble if I don't take it by 1pm. If I am forced by a charge RN to have me scheduled at 10 or 10:30 am, when I am not hungry and don't eat, then all I can do is HOPE that a break time can be when I AM hungry. ..... but that break will only be 15 min, not enough time to go to the Atrium to order food and sit down and eat it slowly, as we should.

I strongly agree with this letter

I Strongly support this petition.

7 years ago Featured

Imagine having an 8am-4pm job and having to take your lunch at 9:30 AM-- That is effectively what BOLI is doing NOW to 12 hr workers! This MUST change!

Since the lunch and break requirements have started being enforced my whole flow is messed up. Lawmakers do not understand that this enforcement negatively affects me and my patients. We both benefit from me choosing when I get to take my breaks. Everyday that I work is different, unpredictable. Forced break times infringes on my ability to provide the absolute best care possible to my patients and ultimately makes my work day more stressful.

Please listen to the people actually working the jobs

I agree that on a 7pm - 730am shift, having everyone in a unit complete a lunch break by 0100 am is a difficult task. It is also less that halfway through the shift. I like taking my 2-15's a couple hours apart. Then around 2 take my lunch and still have a 15 left in the last 4 hours of the shift. The strict rule to be compliant with the law is affecting proper timing of necessary patient care. We need to have more leeway on timing of out breaks. A nurse mentioned to me about 2-30 minute breaks and one 15. Would that be an option?

I've worked night shift for all of the 38 years of my nursing career. I sleep till a couple of hours before my shift, get ready and then eat dinner just before I leave for work. The last thing I want is the state to regulate that I need to complete my meal break in those first 6 hours of my shift. That's the busiest time of my shift as a both a staff RN and a charge nurse. Years of habit & experience say I personally want a meal break between 3am & 5am. As a professional I should be able to make decision as to what is most appropriate for myself, my patients, and most importantly most suitable for the ever changing needs of my unit. As OB nurses we are trained to make continuous assessments and work within a team framework to provide the most appropriate care for the laboring mothers and their babies. I believe we are more than adequately prepared to make judgments about the best time in our 12 hour shift to take lunch. Treat us like the professionals we are.

I work 12hr shift, and have my lunch @1030 am is too early, it is my breakfast time for me .and I will be read for lunch in 3or 4hr read to eat.

In the four years I have worked at Meridian Park FBC, I have never once seen a nurse miss a lunch break. Due to the nature of our work however (women can walk into the unit in spontaneous labor and have a baby within minutes), it is very difficult to oblige by the BOLI rules of taking lunch in the first six hours of your shift. This is the biggest part we struggle with. I strongly believe BOLI should make an exemption for nurses that the break does not need to be taken in the first six hours of the shift. I see nurses work together to take lunch breaks when it will have the least amount of impact on patient care, using nursing discretion and critical thinking to determine the best time to take their break as it benefits the entire unit (patients and nurses alike). BOLI should allow for this discretion in the field of nursing and consider changing the rule that the nurse can take a lunch break in the first 8 hours of the shift.

I would love the ability to sign a waiver yearly regarding my lunch period being when I determine is best for me.

7 years ago Featured

100% IN FAVOR of this petition. We should determine the times we get our breaks. Our field as a whole does not revolve around a set schedule such as office work does. Allowing us flexibility would be better for our well-being as employees, which in turn is better for the people we are caring for.

I am always in favor of allowing one to decide what is best themselves; NOT via regulation created by those who THINK they know.

Legacy and the units I have worked in have always done a great job of ensuring I get my lunch breaks. When they occur is always a dynamic process. I work in the emergency department and it can be difficult to break away from a critical patient. For example, when in the middle of stroke care and administering tPA, standard of care discourages the transfer of care from one nurse to another during this time. I also echo the voice of my peers by saying that a lunch break 3 hours into my 12 hour shift is much too soon, and places our mental and physical well-being at risk. We are professionals entrusted with the health and wellness of others, and should be allowed to make decisions about the health and wellness of ourselves.

CST, Meridian Park FBC

I am a CST at Legacy Meridian Park Family Birth Center

I personally feel It's work harassment to get warning emails from our manager and supervisor when we couldn't take/miss a lunch break.