8-hour vs. 12-hour workshift: Traditional or Innovative? Benefit or Hazard?

[WELLimAnurse]

to all registred nurses who have worked or are currently working now, what are the advantages and disadvantages of working 8 hr. vs 12-hr. workshift?

[wildmountainchild]

I work 3 12's a week. Sometime 4. I really love it. I don't feel tired unless we get really slow and there isn't anything to do. Then the hours just drag by. Luckily that doesn't happen much in the ED. I wonder about the med error studies. Were the nurses making those erors only making them after they had passed the 8 hr mark, or did they make the errors in the first 8 hours of the shift?

It seems to me that I always end my 12's feeling perky and as if I could easily go another 4. The 4 days off a week is the real winning point. I can take chinese lessons and work on my pilots license. I feel like I actually get to have a life outside of work.

[nursein08]

I just started 12s and love them. I can't believe how fast the time goes. We have self scheduling, so if we don't want to work our 12s back to back, we can schedule every other day or however it works out. I like knowing that I get those extra days off during the week. We also only have to work every 3rd weekend, which is another plus. During my orientation we did 8 hr days and I hated it. I thought the shift would never end. I would gladly take 12s over 8s anyday.

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

just graduated nursing school, but as a tech i did 2 12s, 2 8s, which i liked.