Not to be confused with “Change of Shift,” for which you should head over to Emergiblog to get info on how to submit your entry for the next edition! It’s quite easy – all Kim wants is your very first post!

We were recently on vacation and on our way to returning the rental car, we stopped to fill it with gas. I thought I’d go in and get the boy some pretzels to munch on until we could get him some real food. I picked out a bag and went up to the counter to pay for them. The clerk informed me that they were doing “shift change” and that I’d have to wait if I planned on buying that bag of pretzels.

Seriously? I have never been in that situation before. I was quite surprised. My face must have shown it, because she said that she’d allow me to have the bag if I provided exact change.

In the hospital, we have shift change at least every 8 hours. Our shifts are so varied, though, that it’s possible to have nurses coming and going every 4 hours. We even had shift change at 3am at times until that shift was eliminated. The biggest shift change is undoubtedly at 7am, the next at 3pm and the next at 11pm. We have a rule that there is to be no family in the unit while shift change is occuring, and we aren’t too keen on taking phone calls from family members either. For the former, patient privacy is the main concern. We talk to each other at the desk, but the desk is really out there in the open and anyone standing around can hear private information. For the latter, it is a courtesy to the nurses. The off-going nurse wants to give report and go home. The oncoming nurse wants to get report and start her shift. Constant phone calls that interrupt this just prolongs report and so we encourage people not to call for updates during these times.

I don’t find this unreasonable. Most other people don’t either. There’s rarely anyone around or calling at 7am, but the 3pm shift change is another story. There are usually lots of visitors and phone calls during that time. Most people understand, but there are a few that get angry at being told they have to wait until report is over.

I gotta tell you though. Shift change at a gas station was a new one for me.