rotating shifts?!

[scrabblern]

i was browsing online at various hospitals for jobs and comer children's in chicago has 2 nicu positions open - both are rotating shifts!

rotating shifts are a known health hazard. with that known, i am surprised that anyone still offers them!

anyone here working rotating shifts? how do you cope? are they getting phased out by the hospital?

[spartangal1989]

I am still rotating after almost 11 years at the same NICU. We rotate to the off shift (7p-7a) for a one month schedule. I rotate 2 times in 12 months. I can do them in a row or seperate them by 6 months. I will have to rotate until I have 20 years in, but will go down to once a year at 15 years. Usually if you want to work straight nights it will be accommodated, it seems no one will apply for staright night shifts (or at least that has been our experience).

[Preemienurse23]

I am still rotating after almost 11 years at the same NICU. We rotate to the off shift (7p-7a) for a one month schedule. I rotate 2 times in 12 months. I can do them in a row or seperate them by 6 months. I will have to rotate until I have 20 years in, but will go down to once a year at 15 years. Usually if you want to work straight nights it will be accommodated, it seems no one will apply for staright night shifts (or at least that has been our experience).

Wow. How high is the turnover? 20 years of rotating? wow.

[Cathyhil]

rotating shifts is one reason i won't move back to canada. it seems that just about everywhere there requires rotation and this body can't do it. i did rotation as a new grad when i still lived back there. it is not worth the health risk. i used to work straight nights here in the us. the significant night shift differential was worth it. now i am on straight 12 hour days, but sometimes have considered going back to nights for the money. working nights may not be as healthful as days but it is significantly more healthful than changing it up every week or 2.

[BCPedsNurse]

Here in Canada, rotating shifts seem to be the only option, except for nurses who work in public health, OR, or ambulatory care. The standard acute care shifts, for those fortunate enough to hold a full-time position (which are very difficult to come by for new grads) are 0700-1900 for two shifts, then 1900-0700 for the next two, then five days off. However, for those of us who graduated within the last couple of years and have not been able to find full-time work, and must work casual, the rotating is a lot more often. It's common for me to work, for example, one day, three nights, one or two days off, and then be back for a couple days, and then a night, and then perhaps a day off and then another day shift. It's not the night shifts that I have a problem with, but the day shifts! I rarely fall asleep before midnight and wake repeatedly throughout the night because my body is so confused! Working rotating shifts like this is definitely a hazard in many ways but unforunately the only option to be able to pay back very costly student loans.

[rn/writer, RN]

Confirmed night shifter here. When I'm not working, I go to bed between 0200 and 0400 and get up eight hours later. Some of the health studies that showed noc shift was hazardous have been amended to say that it's hazardous primarily for those doing it against their will. In fact, the only thing worse than unwilling night work is rotating shifts in a short period.

[umcRN, BSN, RN]

When I worked nicu I rotated to nights for about 4 weeks evry 6 to 8 months...no biggie, my new unit I must rotate every three weeks and it is a 12 hr schedule, ugh