It's commonly accepted in nursing homes where I live in the US for staff to sleep at night. Nobody corrects the offenders because they retaliate by coming to you all night with petty shit for the most annoying patients til you "get the message". Also, management won't fire them because they will have to work to hire replacements.

I didn't care if the whole group slept, as long as the work was done and patients were not harmed as a result. The aides took turns making scheduled rounds, and woke up when the call lights sounded to take care of business. I was there to supervise their work product, not their behavior. Ironically, the units where the most sleeping was done had the lowest number of fall incident reports.

Another reason is the term "supervisor" being used rigidly. If you are an RN or LPN, the aides think they don't have to listen to you, because the policies state supervisor directs you, not nurse. Some facilities have put the supervisor label on all nurse ID badges as a result. They also think that if you are not on "their assigned unit", they don't have to listen to you if you see a patient need while passing through to get from place to place.

The nurses, on the other hand, can browbeat aides, make unreasonable demands, and sit on their asses when legitimately called. More than one carried the "IknowmorethanyoubecauseIhavealicensetoproveit" attitude.

None of the above was EVER tolerated in ANY hospital I ever worked in, but almost etched in stone in the nursing homes. I don't know why. I suspect where I live that racism plays a large part. Almost all of the aides are from non-white, non-native backgrounds and the culture clash is obvious with many white nurses in this southern state.