8 Hour Night Shifts

[Tait]

Ok so I am working on my capstone project for my RN-MSN-Ed. My PICOT at this point is dealing with 8 vs 12 hour shifts.

On an unrelated note my first job was working 11-7a. Basically I hated it because I felt like I had no life. Half the time my days off were spread apart so I never had recoup time, or I was on call until 3am (very small hospital).

Anyway, here is my question, not for my project, but for my own curiosity. Let's say it is proven, beyond a doubt, that 8 hour shifts could improve your life. If you could be scheduled like this:

January: Sun-Thur

Feb: Mon-Fri

March: Tue-Sat

April: Wed-Sun

and so forth, moving your work week one day, but keeping your days together, would you work 8's instead of 12's?

I know there are a million variables to this, but for me I think consistency would be the key, at least for me to work nights as an 8 hour.

Thanks for any feedback!

Tait

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Never. Only way I'd consider 8 hour night shifts is if I only needed to work 16 hr's a week. 5 days in a row in an office job without the stress of nursing left me exhausted and the opportunity to leave that behind and work 3 days a week was to me one of the perks of going in to nursing. I'm as unlikely to do anything useful with my time after an 8 hr day as I am after a 12 hour day so those 4 hours on an 8 hour day are lost to me. Working night shifts in general is a tough enough balancing act with life in general without spreading the burden out over more days and reducing the days I have off a week. Plus, more days a week means more days of childcare, more fussing with making business hour appointments, etc. There's nothing about a 5 day noc workweek that is appealing to me.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

I think it's a difficult question to answer because you're using a premise that has been disproven; that 8 hour night shifts are better.

There are a few Nurses who prefer 8 hour nights, but overall they're inferior to 12's. They're more likely to cause errors, injuries, and even cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. So I think a more accurate way to ask this question would be; if it wasn't for the negative safety and health effects of 8 hour nights...

I respectfully challenge you to show references on these facts. Everything I have researched so far for this project has told me the opposite or was inconclusive.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

Thanks for all the responses. :)

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I respectfully challenge you to show references on these facts. Everything I have researched so far for this project has told me the opposite or was inconclusive.

Here's a good article on the pros and cons. It points out limitations in a lot of the studies that are in favor of 8 hour shifts. Patient Safety Tip of the Week Archive

And I would keep researching. Some classmates of mine did a similar project and the articles they found did not support 8 hour shifts as inherently safer.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

Here's a good article on the pros and cons. It points out limitations in a lot of the studies that are in favor of 8 hour shifts. Patient Safety Tip of the Week Archive

And I would keep researching. Some classmates of mine did a similar project and the articles they found did not support 8 hour shifts as inherently safer.

Thanks! I have added that article to the list of references I am currently reviewing.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

Here's a good article on the pros and cons. It points out limitations in a lot of the studies that are in favor of 8 hour shifts. Patient Safety Tip of the Week Archive

And I would keep researching. Some classmates of mine did a similar project and the articles they found did not support 8 hour shifts as inherently safer.

Great article! Thank you. Personally I love 12 hr shifts because I only get to work three days and off 4 days. If I work 8 days x 5, there's a chance I'll have 5 miserable/ bad/busy days, I 'd rather have 3 terrible days working 12s :). I love 8 hr shifts because they fly ! When I worked 8 hrs, I was able to think more clearly and I was alert at all times!!! The last 4 hours dragged no matter how busy I was! I was forgetful, weak, dizzy, not very focused, and could not stop thinking how tired I was!

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

In my area the hospitals do not schedule 8 hour people with 5 shifts. It is either 3 12s(.9 FTE) or 4 8s (.8 FTE) I have only been working 12s for 4 months, and I am still adjusting. Besides the savings on gas, the insurance is also cheaper because of the higher FTE.

I would not willingly go back to 8 hour nights. At least with only 3 days per week I don't feel guilty taking a full day to recover!

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

^This!!!

I cannot, canNOT survive past three days in a row. I feel as though its too much!

I feel the same way. I can feel myself starting to get crabby in the middle of my third shift in a row. I know myself, and have determined that 3 days in a row is my limit before I start to fall apart. In order to keep me really happy, staffing needs to only schedule me 3 days in a row...at 4 days in a row they're taking a huge risk.

I can't work 3 12's in a row to save my life. Tried it, hated it.

[MunoRN, RN]

I respectfully challenge you to show references on these facts. Everything I have researched so far for this project has told me the opposite or was inconclusive.

There's a large amount of evidence that deals with 8 hour vs 12 hour shifts in general (not necessarily specific to Nursing) that found 12 hour based shorter work weeks to be safer, mainly the NIOSH meta analysis on shift length.

There are quite a few that are specific to Nursing as well; Stone et al (2006), Smith et al, Johnson et al (2008) all found fewer errors, fatigue, and/or injuries with 12 hour shifts than 8 hour shifts. There are a few exceptions to this, although they weren't really exceptions if you look at them closely. Geiger-Brown found difference but only based these on the increased risks in hours 8 through 12 of a 12 hour shift and didn't take into account the increased risks in the additional shifts per week of an 8-hour schedule, which based on other studies is a large part of where the risk lies. Both Rogers et al studies were based on embarrassingly bad math. They found more errors "per shift" with 12 hour shifts, but of course a 12 hour shift represents more time and therefore more opportunity for error, if you look at their data as a "per hour" number they actually showed less risk in a 12 hour shift.

Then there's also the health risks; working night shift is a know carcinogen, and also increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The risks for all of these increases with each additional night worked regardless of shift length, so working 5 nights a week instead of 3 carries a significantly higher health risk.