If nurses are on duty at the weekend, they have to overcome some hurdles that are not in the way during the week. There are, for example, relatives who come to the house on Sundays and public holidays. „These are often family members who live outside and travel extra,“ explains Susanne Lampl, nursing services manager in the Bavarian senior citizen residence in Murnau. And often, these relatives want to be well informed. This includes giving them a glimpse of the documentation or discussing what is planned for their future activities with their father or mother.
1 Know the needs of the visitors
The background is that weekend visitors usually only have telephone contact with the care facility. „Once they are in the house, they want to see a lot and get explained,“ says Lampl, who had been a qualified specialist for many years on weekends. Her advice: „Allow enough time for these visitors“. If you are getting impatient or constantly looking at your watch, you can sometimes complain. Elderly caregivers can avoid this by keeping in mind what needs relatives have. Nevertheless, they should be able to differentiate themselves. „Only because a visitor rarely comes to the home, he must not keep one from the care,“ said the 34-year-old. The art is to hit the right note: friendly-informing, without losing yourself in conversation.
2 Dealing with on-call doctors
The problem on the weekend can also be when nurses need to call a doctor. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays there are emergency doctors who know neither the residents nor their medical records. Again, it is important to schedule enough time for the doctor’s visit. For this to succeed, nursing homes should not drive back their staff at the weekend. Lampl points out that, as usual in Murnau, three nurses should also be working in the living areas on weekends for 35 residents. „Those who save here do so at the expense of caring,“ says the specialist, who has been working for senior citizens for 15 years.
3 Planning in a team
Even events such as church services, Easter celebrations or Thanksgiving can become a logistical challenge on a Sunday, especially when fewer nurses work at the station than during the week. In some houses, the social care takes over the escort service in the in-house chapel or the group room in which the liturgical celebration takes place. However, if these helpers are available on weekends, the nurses have to take over these jobs. Therapist and business coach Leonhard Fromm from Schorndorf knows how to do this: „It helps to talk in the team at the beginning of the shift in order to clarify who is taking on which task.“ Because additional distances or duplication of work are incurred because responsibilities are unclear If the loss of time is immense, explains Lampl. „Then comes more hectic rush than during the week.“
4 Take a deep breath without colleagues
Anke Riegl also sees it that way. The intensive care nurse has 30 years nursing and shift experience. She advises colleagues, especially breaks to actively use for recreation. „Leaving the station once,“ says the 52-year-old, who works at the Klinikum rechts der Isar, makes sense to be able to breathe, instead of spending the break time with colleagues, as is often the case. Particularly challenging: On weekends, in addition to the nursing, administrative tasks are assigned to specialists. For example, to order stock or make pharmacy orders. For this it is important to agree with the colleagues in advance, that for these order processes 30 minutes rest at once are necessary. „It is imperative for colleagues to promote their understanding and create transparency in the run-up,“ says Fromm, who also coaches teams and experts from nursing.
4 Train healthy selfishness
In addition, at the weekend the private environment of the nurses suffers. Friends and family are often missed out. Here it is important to avoid double services. The rule should be: The weekend after the weekend service is free. This agrees with geriatric nurse Lampl. Modern-run houses manage to work without overtime and guarantee their employees that weekends are mutually free.
To enforce this or the right to break, Riegl considers it essential to have a healthy dose of selfishness. Because in nursing it is sometimes difficult for professionals to even say „no“. However, this quality is necessary to be able to prioritize, explains Fromm, and recommends that he consciously practice this character trait. This could be done in resilience seminars or with the help of a specialist in individual sessions. „Setting limits requires self-esteem and self-love,“ says the 55-year-old theologian.
