You work 3 days a week? MUST BE NICE!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I can not tell you how many times I get this response when I tell people that I work full time 3 days a week. They always say something like, wow, that's it? THAT's full time? What do you do with all your time off?

What people refuse to understand is that we work for 13-14 hours straight, walk around most of the time, usually stressed out, and then after our shift is completed we have to slip into a deep coma to recover.

I actually quit a M-F 7:30am-4pm bank job to go into nursing for 3 12 hour shifts!!! I get the are you crazy question all the time! I love 3 12 hour shifts and yes it is physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding, but strangely enough I enjoy it. My bank job was demanding too, but in different ways such as not knowing from week to week if I was going to be outsourced to India or some other far off country. Every job has it's demands. I LOVE having 4 days off a week.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I love this thread. I'm assuming you work three days and don't have a part time job on your days off. I notice some nurses do that and I wondered how that affected the body.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work 3 days a week. Currently, I work 3 12s in a row, have 1-2 days off, go back and do 2 12s, have about 4 days off, then go in for 1 12, and then get another 4 days off, and then repeat. The 3 12s suck, but all the days off around my 1 12 hour shift is nice... although sometimes i feel like a bum just sitting around all of the time!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in psych, medical, drug rehab.

I am a nurse and would LOVE 3 twelve hour shifts which are nearly impossible to get in psychiatry!

My last job was on a medical unit. Two 12's and two 8's. LOVED it!

I cannot imagine why they dont do twelves in psychiatry. It just goes to reason that nurses who have days off have a better quality of life and can give more back.

Agggggggggggggggg:angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have had people say that to me also. I just say, "yeah, you are correct it is nicel".

Up Vote Up Vote ×

How do other nurses manage to work extra shifts I wonder? I would also prefer 3 12s over 5 8s- but as I am reading everyone else's experiences- most days off are spent recovering...and that makes sense.

All that overtime money that looks good on paper- you have to be pretty hardcore to go after that.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatry.

I am looking into changing my schedule to 3 -12's vs. 5-8's. I would probably still have to do 8 hrs. OT each week but with 3-12's I would still have 3 full days off.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

What kills me is the folks who say, "oh, take a nap for a few hours, then we can go do something..." Hello, I have to leave the house at 6, clock in by 7, work until 0730, then another hour home. That's almost 15 hours for me. Yeah, I can sleep two hours and then get up, go shopping and running errands, and then go back to work....yeah, if I want to kill my patients or fall asleep coming home... Right now, I'm working full time as an LPN, in school full time for my RN, and every single day of the week, I'm either in class, going to work, coming home from work -- I literally have no day off. But if I had a 9-5 job, I'd have to drive 130 miles for the weekend only option...

grrrr....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

count me in as one that loves 3 days a week! I work 8 hrs on friday, 12 on saturday and 14 on sunday,every week. i love my schedule!

every monday is what i call my "dead day". it's totally for me to relax and recover from the long weekend. i spend it in my pj's, on my couch, snuggling with my dog under the blanket and play on the internet all day or crochet and watch movies. my favorites are when it rains. then i really snuggle in.

then on tuesday is my shopping day...grocery store and any errands i need to do. any appts i need, like hair or nails or doctor.

wednesday is laundry day

then thursday is all mine again...i totally am lazy on thursday.

i have been on this schedule for almost 5 years and even if i really do change jobs soon...i will still want a weekend schedule. i figure walking into an interview saying "i would like to work every weekend" SOMEBODY will want me, lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

Not to mention, you get paid MILLIONS to do it! NURSES R RICH.!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

I get that a lot too. I don't even bother with trying to argue with it for 2 reasons, 1) it IS nice to ONLY work 3 days a week and 2) those who say that wouldn't understand even if I did explain it. They are the type who think nurses sit at the nurse's station talking, playing games, and snacking all day/night. They don't realize that our 12 hr shifts generally end up being 14 hr shifts by the time all is said and done. They don't understand that our job is stressful and that we make lots of split second decisions every shift that ultimately effect whether our patients live or die and what their quality of life may or may not be. They are the type that think all nurses do is to pass pills and that the doctors are the only ones who actually make a difference for the patients. No point in arguing with that sort of ignorance.....You're not gonna win and they're not going to "get it". .... But back to the ONLY working 3 days a week...I used to work on a tele floor that had lots of mandatory OT and call days. I hated it. I moved to ICU. I work 3 days a week. Any OT is volunteer. We are generally pretty well-staffed so call days are rare. I love it. I have thought of what it would be like to work different hrs and I honestly don't think I'd like it. I don't want to work 5 days a week even if it were only 8 hr shifts. I'm spoiled to having 4 days off and I like it even if it does mean that sometimes I'm working when my friends who are school teachers are enjoying the weekend with their families. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

When I get into nursing, I would love to work three 12's. (As long as I don't work the weekend or not every weekend...I want to spend time with my family when they are off). I have worked 10, 12, even 14 hours shifts at jobs that were stressful, physically demanding, with little or no breaks. So I do know that it is not a walk in the park. Those extra few hours after an 8 hour shift really get to you, I don't think people understand that. But I still think it would be worth it.

No matter what hours you work, what shift, what department, floater or regular, people (and fellow nurses), need to realize that nursing is hard, demanding, and underappreciated. ALL nurses work their butts off and deserve respect.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment