[ptadvocate81]

TWELVES by far. It's one of the perks of being a nurse. You can schedule yourself 6 days and then be off for 8! It's soooooo much better than eight hour shifts. It's great to be able to take a vacation without asking for the time off. I also agree that I get to spend more time with my pts in 12 hours than I would be able to in 8.

[MellowYellow]

12s for sure. Don't think I could get everything done in 8 hours. Definitely don't want to work 5 days a week.

[tntrn]

Originally Posted by ptadvocate81

TWELVES by far. It's one of the perks of being a nurse. You can schedule yourself 6 days and then be off for 8! It's soooooo much better than eight hour shifts. .

I'm sure you are a good nurse, but with more and more studies showing that mental acuity begins to decline after 8 or 9 hours at a task, I would not want you to be caring for me or my family members, especially on those last 3 shifts. At best, you have had 30 hours of sleep in that 6 days (6 hours between shifts). I'm surprised you can even drive yourself home safely after all that. Glad that you have, but I don't find it a good or safe practice.

I think laws some be enacted that would put some sensible limits on this kind of scheduling; like airline pilots have. They can fly 1000 in a year. Nurses could certainly work more hours than that, but sheesh, let's put some brakes on how many and how many in a row. This would also make administration for some better staffing practices.

[tntrn]

[quote=MellowYellow;2308583]12s for sure. Don't think I could get everything done in 8 hoursQUOTE]


I really do not understand this kind of thinking. When you do an 8 hours shift, you have 8 hours of work to do. When you do a 12 hour shift, you have 12 hours of work to do. So in 12 hours you should be doing 12 hours of work, not taking 12 hours to do 8 hours of work. (Although some of our 12 hour people want the 8 hour people to take over their patients because they say we're fresh and "we've been here 8 hours already" to which we respond, "and whose fault it that?")

I guess to each his own, but you are still responsible for 12 hours of work, not 8. I think that may be one of the selling points administrations use to convince people to work 12's.

[MellowYellow]

Perhaps I didn't express myself correctly. I simply meant looking at what I do in 12 hours I find it difficult to envision it being done in 8. I am so engrained in 12 hour shifts that I forget 8 hours would encompass 4 hours less work and not simply less time to do the same amount -math not my strong suit. So you are in fact correct.

[tntrn]

Originally Posted by MellowYellow

Perhaps I didn't express myself correctly. I simply meant looking at what I do in 12 hours I find it difficult to envision it being done in 8. I am so engrained in 12 hour shifts that I forget 8 hours would encompass 4 hours less work and not simply less time to do the same amount -math not my strong suit. So you are in fact correct.

Not a problem, but I see posts from 12 hour nurses like that all the time, "I can get more done in 12 hours than in 8." Well, of course. If you don't, you're not doing your job completely.

[upgreach]

Just a quick thought about the 8/12 discussion...I think we would all eventually conclude it is a personal preference that involves many factors. I don't believe for a minute that I am any less effective as a nurse after 8 hours than I am before 8 hours. Scholastics can make any study say what they want! When I've worked on the Med/Surg floors I do have busier times during the 7-3 portion of my shift than the 3-7 portion of my shift (on most days)-fewer scheduled meds from 3-7, few antibx scheduled during these times. Somedays I don't get to charting until about 2pm...of course some days it's 730pm too! We should all remember though, the debate is not settled by us, or by what is best for the patient, it is what is best for the institution you work in. If your doing 12's, it is because your facility thinks it can save money doing it that way!
just my thoughts!

[lizzyberry]

In the hospitals do they like to stick new grads with evening shifts and graveyard?

[tntrn]

Originally Posted by lizzyberry

In the hospitals do they like to stick new grads with evening shifts and graveyard?

When I started nursing 31 years ago, new grads automatically started on nights or less often, evenings, depending on where the need was. NEVER on days. I spent several years on evenings, and when my firstborn was about 4 I started asking for a day shift. (I was looking ahead to when she would be in school and I would never see her.) I believe she was in 3rd grade when someone on day shift actually died, and that's how I got a day shift spot.

Where I work, it seems like the new grads are more likely to get what they want, by refusing to do anything else. Once again, the recruiting takes precedence over retention.

[dorie43rn]

I used to work on a med/surg floor where I worked 5 eight hour days. When I interviewd for ICU, the manager told me I would have to work some 12's. I was shaking in my boots thinking at 49 and wore out after 8 hours, how on earth would I handle 12? Well, what I didn't realize was that working two 12's and two 8's, they schedule you at times where you get 4 days in a row off! I love it! Also, in the ICU, I need 12 hours to get my work done! Floor nurses have the thinking that since ICU nurses only have 2-3 paitents, that their job is easy. I got a culture shock when I started in ICU! I'm even busier at times then I was on the floor. Busy floor nursing did however give me a good base to come into the ICU prepared. Anyway, I now love 12 hour shifts!