Days vs. Nights & Nursing school

[God'sLittleNurse2b]

I currently work at a hospital as a CNA were we do 12 hour shifts (7a-730p or 7p-730a). I currently work days (but I worked 8 hour shifts at a nursing home prior to this job). I also recently got accepted into a local, online nursing program and will start in a couple months. My boss asked me if I wanted to stay on days or switch to nights because she can keep me full time on either (I have to stay full time to survive - I cannot receive financial aid because I already have a B.S.).

With the online nursing program, my classes will be online but I will still need to attend clinicals (usually 2x per week) and find time to drive to school to take my tests at their testing center (open 8am-530pm and 8am-8pm on other days). So, I am thinking I will need to reserve 2 to 3 days each week for school.

I have been thinking about the pros and cons. Here is what I have so far:

Days

Pros:

- I feel like I see my husband more on days. Even on days I am working, I feel more rested overall and am not sleeping all day on my days off. Even if I don't get home until 8pm, we still get to see eachother for a few hours and they seem more like "quality" hours then when I was working nights.

-Would be able to keep a fairly consistent sleep schedule. Would feel better physically and mentally because my schedule wouldn't be flip flopping around all the time. Since clinicals will also be held during the day, things will just be more consistent.

- My husband is a little older, and we were planning on trying to get pregnant the last semester of school. This would be a lot easier during days.

Pro or con?

- Days are busy so they go by really fast. Everyone is around - administrators, PT, OT, etc. This is good because I feel like I get to communicate better with them and they get to see my hard work. But, it is less laid back than nights.

-I might have to work more weekends with days if school is taking up time during the week.

Days

Cons:

- Less flexible schedule in the sense that if something is held during the day and it is a day I am working, I won't be able to attend. I suppose it will depend on how flexible my instructors are and if they are understanding of the working student?

- Make less per hour than if I worked night shift.

- If we had children, we would have to pay for daycare for 4 to 6 days every 2 weeks. However, the cost of daycare would probably be worth it because I would get more quality time with my family working days.

Nights

Pros:

- More flexible schedule. If something is going on during the day, I would be able to attend (even though it would come at the cost of my sleep)

-Would make more money per hour ($2.50 more per hour) - probably about $300 more per month (before taxes of course). I talked to a night girl and she said it adds close to $200 to your monthly income.

- If we had kids, we wouldn't necessarily have to pay for daycare. But, then again it would come at the cost of me not getting any sleep during the day.

Cons - I feel like I hardly see my husband when working nights. Even on my nights off, I am always sleepy and I miss out on things that happen during the daytime on my nights off.

- Sleep will be all over the place and not consistent. If I work nights I will also have clinicals during some days, other days will need to go into school during the day to take tests, etc. I know this would be very hard for me physically and mentally.

- Trying to get pregnant while working nights might be more challenging. Again, always being tired and not always being home at night.

Pro or Con?

- Nights are slower. No administrators so it is more laid back. However, then administrators don't necessarily get to recognize your hard work or see it as much. That is a con in my book. I am a very hard worker and my bosses have always praised me for a job well done. By working days where they could see that hard work, it might open an opportunity for an RN position after graduation more easily.

What do you think? What has been your experience? Do you think nights or days would be better?

Please share what work schedule you had while going to nursing school and what your experience was!

Thanks everyone!

[littlemznurse]

When I was in nursing school I worked both day and night shift and I found that day shift worked much better for me. However, I didn't do online school and I have no husband or children. I found that being on nights I was more tired and I studied less and the schedule often conflicted with my school schedule. Days hands down worked better for me, but you have to consider what's best for you and what would work better with your lifestyle. Good luck!

[ORNerd, BSN, RN]

As much as I like night shift, in your situation I'd probably stick to days. It will keep everything more consistent. School will be demanding and getting enough sleep will be important, especially before clinical! Good luck :)

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[SweetSouthernLove, ASN, BSN]

Both myself and my coworkers work night shift in a hospital part-time while going to nursing school. It IS tough, but it is worth it. This is my why:

If you are going to spend time in the hospital actually practicing patient care, why not make the most money for it? This includes night AND weekend differential and this means I don't have to work that extra third day out of my week to make up for the money I would have lost out on during day shift. This means I get to stay part-time all the way through nursing school, leaves extra time for SLEEP (which you will be begging for) and studying. Also, when I work nights I almost ALWAYS bring a book to study or read into because most nights there will be down time.

I am not sure why exactly you would be choosing NOW to become pregnant when you are finishing up school. I think this may cause issues because of the simple fact you will be busy studying, commuting to wherever you need to be for the day (or night) and working on top of that. I think when you finally get a moment to yourself and rest that the last thing on your mind will be trying to conceive. Also, I am not sure of your financial situation but while you currently have no children now and a supportive husband this would be the perfect time to cut back on your hours while in school so you could spend more time focusing on studying and even carve out some quality time for your man.

My girlfriend and also my coworker has been in nursing school since last fall and she never sees her two children, husband, or pets. Her husband works days and she is in class most of the day or studying and she actually found that at night while her family slept was when she could truly have uninterrupted time to focus on her school work. She also has to commute quite a ways (probably an hour or so and back) to where we both work part-time so that is also something to consider. You have a great opportunity where your coursework will be mainly online, so I would make the most of that time. I also had another girlfriend who went through the same exact program and had been hired on at the same time I was - we actually did orientation together but she worked days throughout her nursing program - she is now going to be a day shift nurse. She had no man, no kids, no pets and loves her life now. It really depends on your situation and what you feel you can handle. I would say actually stay where you are for the moment - get a feel for school and what your main routine will look like and work from there. This is only temporary!

[pearlypearl]

In my opinion, I think there are more pros for you if you are working days. Like someone already mentioned, your schedule will be more consistent, a factor that I think is very important while in school. If you work days, you'll at least be able to get your day started early and then come home, study, do whatever you please, and sleep whereas if you worked nights, you might sleep until your shift and then after your shift you might be too lazy to do anything. Unless you're really motivated to study after a night shift, then I guess anything will work. But my vote still goes for day shift.

[guest769224]

I think night shift may be of benefit to you.

Slower- more time to do all your nursing homework.

Your work ethic will be communicated to your manager via the existing RN's.