ALL nights or day/night MIX shift to pick? HELP! need to reply to recruiter!

Guttercat, ASN, RN · Jan 17, 2012

I've done both. And as a night shifter, you WILL be flipping back and forth: on your days off you will be adjusting to being awake with the rest of the world, and just when you're feeling normal again, you will flip back to walking amongst those in the land of the living dead.

Still, the only way I'd consider rotating between nights and days, is if it was scheduled in blocks. As in, one or more months of nights then flip to one or months of days.

Night shifts are however, a great way to get your feet wet and learn. There is less pressure and interruptions allowing you to focus on honing your skills. Your coworkers also, will have a little more time to mentor you along.

Best wishes and congratulations in your new position! W0oT! :)

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 17, 2012

I work straight nights, but as Guttercat said, you'll likely be flipping back to days when you're off just to have a life. I can flip back and forth without a problem, but I'm aware that this is kind of a rarity. I also have to flip back to days for a lot of my "collateral duties" as an Army officer; even thought I'm paid 24x7, all our training seems to occur between 0700 and 1700 hrs! LOL

pitaya · Jan 17, 2012

I would go with all nights. Also, is the pay better on nights? If so, then for me it would be a no-brainer. :)

I work nights and I LOVE it. I was on days for my training and I hated it. Too many people, too much to do, too much stress, and 15% less pay. No way.

A couple of my family members work some nights, some days, and really have a crazy schedule (they're not in healthcare, though). I was talking to them about how lucky I feel that I only work nights when they never know when they have to work and you know what they told me? They said they felt sorry for ME because with their job, at least some of it is days instead of nights all the time and therefore their sleeping schedule isn't as screwed up as mine! LOL So I guess for some people the day/night thing works better.

Vyckye · Jan 17, 2012

First congratulations on becoming a nurse. Each shift has it's potential headaches. First, day shifts are extremely busy and often very difficult for a new grade. Being a successful nurse takes alot more knowledge and instinct than is taught in school it is something you get a feel for over time. Howeve the advantage of day shift is if you have children it allows you to be a mother as well. Next we have night shift which is much much more slower paced. The advantage with night shift is it gives a new nurse a chance to test the waters. Disadvntage your body really never catches up on rest, making an outside life somewhat difficult. Third are a mixture of days and nights I suggest this alternative for a few reasons. First, you get the advantage of the day shift yes you learn alot rapidly. Second when working a mixture nightshifts become a down time letting you as the new nurse catch your breathe. Third a mixture in many ways allows you a more quality life than either straight days or nights. Drawback it can be physically taxing; however, nursing is physically taxing. In my thirteen years of nursing have worked all shifts and a vast majority of combinations. My personal favorite was a schedule that consisted of Monday 3-11 and 11-7, Thursday 3-11, Saturday 7-3 and 3-11. Above all learn to enjoy your patients they possess a lifetime of experiences in many cases. Also when you are exhausted remeber you make a difference if even minute. God Bless and Good Luck and if you have any questions please contact me. Vyckye

P.S. What field of nursing are you entering into.

KSGMaine, ASN · Jan 17, 2012

I too am a new grad and was offered a night job and of course took it because that's all that was available. I have been orientating to the floor and did days and am now doing my night orientation. As many have said, it is quite hectic during the day, docs, pt/ot, visitors, etc. and nights are less crazy, as many have said it is a good opportunity for us newbies to get our feet wet with less pressure, however, in all honesty I am finding it a bit boring and I am finding it hard to get a good days sleep. I am averaging about 4-5 hours a day!

Management recently approached a bunch of newbies and asked if any wanted to do the day/evening or day/night because they have too many on nights. I debated staying on nights vs. going days. I talked to a few of my day preceptors and others and determined that I would learn a lot more on days and for me personally, because I am apprehensive of days I am challenging myself to do it!! I decided on day/night, since at the hospital I work at the night rotation is slim to none since they have so many night people vs day/evening, because I didn't want to work one week 40 hours, then 32 the next and the 3-11 shift didn't appeal to me at all!

So, I'm still training on nights, will be changing in early February to the day/night. I'd say give it a lot of thought, maybe they would let you try nights before actually committing to a particular shift - day shifts don't come along that often for newbies, but you need to do what you feel comfortable with at this point and time in your life.

Best wishes in your new job and career!

anotherone, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2012

Hi all nurses.com!!
I am a new grad ready to start my new job soon, however had a question for you, the recruiter called me and asked if I wanted all nights or day/night mix shift.... I have no experience so wondering what the pros and cons and maybe what you would prefer picking and why?
ALL night shifts: i would have to adjust for only for the first few weone? eks??
Day/Night Mix shifts: i would constantly be adjusting my sleep schedule?? would i be a zombie?
THANKS in advance for any comments or advice!!:redbeathe[/quote
How are the day/nighs done? is it 1 -2 weeks of nights followed by 1-2 weeks of days? or is it day, off, night , night, off , day ,day, off off, day, night. night. just random that is what my unit does to most of the staff and it is A NIGHTMARE and next to impossible to have a life outside of work with that schedule. your days off are spent trying to adjust/rotate your sleep schedule. find out first if it is weeks of one or just a fill in the holes on the schedule for the permanent days and permanent nights people.

CCRNDiva, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2012

Congratulations on the new job!!

I vote for all nights as well. There was a recent study that reported the detrimental physical effects of rotating shifts. Also, I think some consistency would be very helpful to you as a new grad. I've worked nights for over 7 yrs and even though I get tired sometimes, I can't imagine flipping back and forth between shifts. I'm having a hard enough time working nights and going to grad school. Sometimes I find myself downright incoherent when I wake up.

When I'm not in school, I tend to stay up late on my days off, get the kids up in the am and go back to sleep for a few more hours. That way, I'm not totally on a day schedule and it is easier for my body to transition on nights that I work. Most of the nurses I work with on nights have been on nights for years and this is pretty much how all of us do it.

Nights is slower paced at times but we work with less resources so I feel like I'm a stronger nurse now. I think it gave me more time to learn disease processes, drugs, treatment plans, etc. Also, there aren't too many people to fight over codes with, lol! Seriously, though, there can be 20 people in the room during codes on days; every resident and their mother responds. On nights, it's us, RT, lab and 1-2 residents so it is much more organized. We work together quite well as a team and have a great relationship with most of the docs. They trust us to keep their pts alive through the night and we have a high level of autonomy.

Good luck to you!!

froggy8, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

MANY THANKS to everyone that responded and gave such helpful information!! I am very glad I posted this thread in my hour of need!

WELL, I picked ALL nights but I feel like I will have to do some days anyway (probably going to email nurse manager). it is 2 8 hr shifts and 2 12 hr shifts per week. I see that there is an advantage/disadvantage to all shifts. I will see how this goes, and let you guys know. Also have to research on how to best adjust myself to sleeping in the day....

I spent 3-4 months searching and this will be my first RN job! It is a step down icu and I am very excited about it.

Good Luck and Best Wishes to everyone!

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

I was a zombie when I was on Day/Night. I had thought, "Cool, I'll always have evenings free."

I didn't have evenings free. Every day was spent trying to get sleep or stressing over not having enough sleep.

I switched to Day/Eve. Much better.

young_gun_np · Jan 18, 2012

When I was a new grad I work 3 12hrs Night shift 7pm-730am. I really enjoyed it working three days a week and still getting paid pretty good. Now that I am an NP now that hours have changed. That is no shock to me that they gave you those hours to pick from because your a New Grad. Don't worry it will change in time to pick your hours..Good Luck!

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Jan 18, 2012

Straight nights.

I worked a job as an LVN where I could end up doing day shift, swing or night shift. It was a nightmare.... I was a zombie, I was paranoid about making errors so even when I would go home and sleep I couldn't. Sleep was just always so far behind. I honestly don't remember that time frame very well because I was so sleep deprived.

Studies have been done and the results indidcated that if you do shift work, try very hard to keep the same schedule, anything else is too grueling on your body.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

Working rotating sucks...we did it years ago, 2 weeks on night, 2 weeks on days...and we worked 5 days a week which really was bad, esp if you only had one day off between nights and days. You will find a straight shift much more bearable. And the 8 hours shift, 11-7, go pretty fast after working 12's lol