do new RNs always get the night shift??

[amyrae76]

I'll graduate from nursing school next May (2005), and I've been hearing some disturbing rumors about a lot of the hospitals in my city. Apparently if you're a new grad, you pretty much automatically get put on the night shift. Is this true where you live too? Is it a given, or is there hope of finding a hospital nursing job with daytime hours?

This really has me worried. Not everyone can handle working night shifts, with a schedule opposite of your spouse and the stress of trying to adjust your whole sleeping schedule. When I went into nursing I was looking forward to a good starting bonus and a good salary, but now I'm worried I'll have to forfeit that because I'm not willing to work the night shift.

Can anyone reassure me??

(P.S.: No offense to anyone who does work night shift and likes it. I know some people do, but I also know that I'm not one of them.)

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

What exactly is floating?

And nights the pay is better ?

Floating is working on a unit that is not your "home" unit.

Examples - NICU nurse floating to LDRP or pediatrics, ICU nurse floating to Med/Surg, Orthopedics nurse floating to telemetry or pulmonary.

Some nurses do not mind - some of us HATE to float (I'm one of the latter).

The pay on nights is generally better, but there are exceptions and how much better depends on where you work. I have seen places offer as little as $0.50 an hour for night shift differential (cheapskates!). Many places seem to offer $3-5/hr differential for nights. Many, but not all places offer an additional differential for weekends that is usually similar to the night shift differential.

:)

[TexasPoodleMix]

Thanks, NICU !