Nearly every medical facility has a day and a night shift and it seems that no matter where you go there is some level of hostility between these two shifts. Each shift has its own set of advantages and disadvantages and it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves that both shifts are needed to give patients good care.
NursesGeneral NursingArticle
I have worked both night and day shifts; I even spent a little time doing a combination of both shifts. The hardest thing about alternating between the two shifts, other than sleep issues, was that I had to constantly hear each side complain about each other. I always felt like I needed to defend each shift to the other.
The day shift obviously has to get out of bed earlier in the morning; I'm not much of a morning person and know very few people who actually enjoy getting out of bed in the morning.
The day shift tends to be busier since they are usually giving the majority of the meds and treatments. The patient is generally more active during the day making the workload heavier.
I work in a rural facility, so the day shift is also dealing with taking care of outpatients, as well as pre and post-surgical patients. One thing that makes the day shift more desirable is the hours. They get to spend every evening at home with their families and rarely have to miss out on school activities.
The night shift obviously has the disadvantage of having to stay awake all night; these hours will wreak havoc on anyone. The rest of the world continues on whether you are awake or not during the day, so unless all of your friends and family are also working night shift, it makes it hard to stay in touch.
The night shift definitely has its own advantages. Things tend to be quieter, although this is not always the case and depends on what area you work in. There are less extra people around, which can be nice until things go haywire.
When things aren't running smoothly and you have to call in the "on call" person, you are made to feel guilty for waking them up. I've worked many very quiet nights, where you have to find things to keep you busy, like update and review policies. I would take a busy night over a night watching every minute slowly tick by on the clock any time.
I know there are many more pros and cons that could be included in these lists. My point is that both shifts have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. If we can all work together as a team with less bickering about each shift then I think we could improve the morale of staff as a whole.
