Ever wonder what’s life really like for the Penn Medicine employees who care for patients while most of us are asleep? We were curious so we dropped into the nighttime shifts at three Penn Medicine hospitals to find out.
On first glance, the hospitals seem almost deserted at night. The main lobbies, normally teeming with activity, are quiet, with only an occasional person walking through. But, beyond the empty hallways, the machinery of the institutions is going strong.
Although staying awake and sharp during those hours – and regularly acclimating from nighttime working hours to daytime “off” days -- can be a challenge, most nightshift employees agree that the benefits outweigh the occasional bouts of yawning.
Diane Maccarone, BSN, CEN, who works in the Emergency Department at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, said there’s a greater sense of family, team work and comradery. “It’s a different flow at night, and we have a very tight-knit group. It’s like we speak our own language.” For
Brian Work, MD, MPH, an internal medicine hospitalist at PPMC, the late shift provides an opportunity to interact more with patients who need it. “If someone just found out they have lung cancer and they’re scared, I want to be able to sit with them, hold their hand, and talk to them. That’s not something I ever had time for working in an outpatient setting.”
While patient care units may have a quieter, slow paced environment at night, that’s not the case in other parts of the hospital. For example, staff in Pennsylvania Hospital’s inpatient pharmacy are responsible for filling hundreds of orders via computerized physician orders or the walk-up window. “Our number-one priority is the needs of patients right now,” said pharmacist Gregg Jugla, BS, RPh. Then, they concentrate on preparing all the morning meds for patients and restocking all 96 medication dispensing equipment for a 4 a.m. delivery start!
And, though the hallways are empty, the nonclinical areas that keep the hospitals running smoothly through the wee hours of the night remain on full alert. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the two-man night crew in Physical Plant must be ready to respond to any problem, at any given time, said Dan Hazley, HVAC Operations supervisor, “anything from unclogging toilets to freeing people stuck in elevators.” Calls from patient units are a priority, he said, and completing the job in a way that doesn’t disturb patients is “a must.”
“It definitely takes a unique individual to work our nightshift,” Hazley said. “To borrow a phrase from my military days, he needs to be ‘high speed – low drag.' Basically, do things well, efficiently and quickly.”
Read more in HUPdate, What's New, and the Presby Bulletin about those who are dedicated to providing excellent care and keeping our hospitals running around the clock – and check out the slide show below to see the nighttime shift in action.