New grads resigned to night work?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in cardiac-telemetry, hospice, ICU.

Just curious, can you experienced people speak on this matter? I understand that newbies will not have seniority, but what are the chances of a new grad getting a day job (assuming jobs can be found) right out of school? I never have been a night person, but obviously will do what I need to.....just wondering.

Thanks for any info or opinions!

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I was able to get a job on days, but I was already a employee on the floor as an aide. I had no desire to do nights, but ironically 6 months later I took a night position becuase it was a considerable increase in pay and I am loving it so far. I adjusted to the hours fairly quickly and it is MUCH less stressful.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Just curious, can you experienced people speak on this matter? I understand that newbies will not have seniority, but what are the chances of a new grad getting a day job (assuming jobs can be found) right out of school? I never have been a night person, but obviously will do what I need to.....just wondering.

Thanks for any info or opinions!

A lot of new grads end up on night shift because its quieter and you are provided with the opportunity to perfect your skills and learn new ones when your at work. It is possible to get a day job. Most places put you on days initially because a lot of preceptors are day shift workers. However, every place is different. My advise to you would be to keep your mind open to night shift. There are a few perks. One is that it is quieter in most cases. You can hear your self think and look up things about the patients your taking care of. Read the charts and educate yourself on the diagnosis that your patients present with. Medscape is a great resource for you to use to find the latest research. Secondly, you DO get paid a little more for working nights. Having left nights and went to days. I can feel the difference in my pay check. Not to mention the level of stress in my working environment. I sometimes wonder why I left nights in the first place. :uhoh3:

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I hired in full time, days. I'm looking to switch and get 16 hour shifts instead of 8s but I'm at a facility that appreciates their nurses and works well as a team.

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Specializes in PP, Pediatrics, Home Health.

I love night shifts and I am a new grad!They are much quieter and if I have questions that come up and I am unsure of there are always more experienced nurses to be found to help me out.I worked days before for about four months and I HATED it!

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Not necessarily; it probably depends on the facility I think. I worked full-time, 12-hour days on a medical-surgical unit a few years ago when I was a new graduate. It was a very fast-paced unit with 7 patients per RN but I liked the intensity and had very knowledgeable preceptors and a really cohesive team of co-nurses.

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Just curious, can you experienced people speak on this matter? I understand that newbies will not have seniority, but what are the chances of a new grad getting a day job (assuming jobs can be found) right out of school? I never have been a night person, but obviously will do what I need to.....just wondering.

Thanks for any info or opinions!

If you work in a clinic, then its *usually* M-F, days and early evenings.

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Specializes in ICU.
A lot of new grads end up on night shift because its quieter and you are provided with the opportunity to perfect your skills and learn new ones when your at work. It is possible to get a day job. Most places put you on days initially because a lot of preceptors are day shift workers. However, every place is different. My advise to you would be to keep your mind open to night shift. There are a few perks. One is that it is quieter in most cases. You can hear your self think and look up things about the patients your taking care of. Read the charts and educate yourself on the diagnosis that your patients present with. Medscape is a great resource for you to use to find the latest research. Secondly, you DO get paid a little more for working nights. Having left nights and went to days. I can feel the difference in my pay check. Not to mention the level of stress in my working environment. I sometimes wonder why I left nights in the first place. :uhoh3:

Depends on where you want to work. I started dayshift on a busy telemetry unit right out of nursing school; got the job offer 4 months before graduation.

However, because I wanted to transfer to ICU, I had to take a position on nights. I have to agree with the above, it is much easier to focus on your patients on nightshift. The only downside for me, besides the fact that I could NOT adjust to nights was the fact that the docs aren't around to ask questions (or get orders from). But, hopefully you'll have enough experienced night shift nurses that probably know more than the docs do anyway!

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Specializes in Developmental Disabilites,.

I got days right out of school. Sometimes I wish I worked nights. Days are really fast paced and intense.

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I was hired for nights but orientation was for days. On my first day of work since my boss knew I had been looking for a day position she said the person she originally hired for that spot didn't work out so she offered it to me right there (I'm sure the other resident/new grad RN's weren't happy when they overheard that since I was the last one hired). But it worked out. I agree though, nights would be much much less stressful. Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Transplant.

I'm working day shift as a new grad. Yes, it's busier than nights but I'm lucky to work at a place with reasonable nurse/pt ratios and helpful coworkers so that I don't feel hopelessly overwhelmed. As someone who sleeps like a rock during the night but seriously *cannot* sleep for more than 4 hours at at a time during the day, the dayshift opportunity was a godsend!

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It totally depends on the hospital. While I had to start on nights, I was able to transfer to days after 18 months. Some of my nursing school classmates were able to start on days. Days is pretty busy . . . pretty much nonstop the entire shift, so the day flies by. However, for a new grad, I think that nights is great because the slower pace will allow you to perfect your skills and learn prioritization and time management. However, in this job market, take what you can get

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