Day shift or night shift - Which do you prefer? Why?

[Joe V]

There are pros and cons to choosing a preferred nursing shift. But what is right? I mean - if you haven't tried it how will you know.

What is your current working shift? Do you like it?

What are the pros and cons of working your preferred shift?

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[txwildflower57]

I love working my 7p-7a shifts. I worked those for almost 10 years. Decided to go to days with a different type of job - hate it, hate it, hate it. I stuck it out for a year but now I am going to searching for a job where I can work my nights again. I agree with macgirl, if you love waking up early in the morning - go for days; if you are a night owl - go for nights. Pay is usually better at night too. See here it is almost 11pm and I have to be up at 5:30am - still wide awake. So ready for my night shifts - give me a 4:30pm wake up call any day!!

[CCL RN, RN]

I work cath lab...so I work all shifts.I prefer my STEMIs at 2am. The drive home is peaceful, the hospital is asleep and quiet, the lights are low...it's nice.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I work permanent nights by choice. I sleep better during the day. Even when I worked days, I still wanted to stay up until 1 am. I find nights allows for more time to spend with people. And of course, the extra money is a bonus. I also won't flip shifts...ever. I've decided that it's either straight nights, or straight days for me, not both.

[CloudySue]

I work nights for a home health agency. I love it because there are more hours available and they are so desperate for overnight nurses that not only will they give me all the overtime I want with never a peep of protest, often last minute they offer great stat pay.

It's also great bc I work while my girls are sleeping, my husband gets them off to school and they wake me up after they've completed their homework. The way I see it, as long as I have my afternoons and early evenings home w my family, it doesn't really matter to me if I sleep at night and work all day, or vice versa. Either way, those hours in my life are booked.

Plus I've always been a night owl. I hate the alarm clock before sunrise more than anything. I've never been able to get settled down to sleep before 11 or midnight, so I'm actually sleeping better this way than I would living a "normal" schedule. The only thing I have to remember is to take a melatonin before I go to bed in the am. I have no trouble falling asleep, but without my melatonin, I'll wake up about 4 hours later and my body thinks it's time to get up and I feel fresh as a daisy. Once I figured this trick out, I was able to get a quality 7-8 hours every day.

[PennyWise]

I currently work nights, mostly because that is where I am put, not necessarily because it's where I want to be. My manager is free to use me on either shift, as long as I have the days I need off for school. It's a trade off.

My motto for comparing the two shifts is: "Days are busier, nights are harder."

Mind you, "harder" is not only talking about the shift's work involved. There are many threads on here about the difficulties people who work nights regularly face: Insomnia, oversleeping on days off, lack of energy/motivation on off days, social isolation, weight gain, increased tobacco use, sometimes even depression.

Me, if all is equal and I have a choice, I'd be on days. I don't care that the shift is a good bit busier. I'd feel like a normal person as opposed to some zombie who is denying their own body's impulses.

[TWUness1]

I currently work nights & do not like it (9pm-9am). My husband works days & usually gets home around 7pm; so, on average I have 1 hour to spend w/ him before I have to leave. I also work 5 days a week. I don't like having to sacrifice my sleep to get errands done as well.

I'm moving to Colorado in November & will likely be transferring w/ the company I am with now. I'm definitely going to request to work days.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

There is a ton of research discussing the ill effects of night shift. While it is true that our natural circadian rhythm is set for days, I think some people (myself included) are inclined to be the opposite. I'm not sure why, but I do know that when I've worked days, my sleep is poor. Whatever works, i suppose.

[lynhardworkingrn]

There are Pros and Cons to working both shifts, I have worked both.

Day shift - so much busier, you have to deal with everyone!, Family, doctors the whole multi disciplinary team , like radiology, lab, social services, family! You will also need to know how to think fast on your feet and time manage well. But you have all the resources available!

Night shift - less hectic as day shift, less people to deal with, however less resources, but also allows you to be more independent and autonomous, make more decisions and be more in tune and aware of your patients. More time to interract with your peers.

[cardiacrocks, BSN, RN]

I have worked every shift, currently I'm on nights and let me just say, I HATE IT! The first day off is a total loss, and if that's one of your only days off, it totally sucks the life right out of you. Currently, I'm going to start working days very soon. I am not a laid back person by any means. I love the hustle and bustle of days. I like having others around, I like the business of it all. I have great time management skills. It just seems like time goes by so much faster on days, before you know it, it's time to leave. Plus, I like all the resources available to you on days. I agree with many of the OP regarding if one patient on nights starts to go off, it sets the mood for the entire night, It happens often on my unit. I work on a very busy cardiac step-down 35 bed floor. Many times there are only 4 nurses on nights and it sucks. Anyhow, this is just my opinion but better money is not worth my health. Also, I rarely get to spend time with my husband who works days. I have also missed some of my kids activities due to going in at 5:30 at night. I drive 45 minutes one ways so that also is time consuming.

[hurty25]

i preferred to work night shift...not too busy as like as the morning shift...

[wakyone]

Worked nights when kids were little and never felt rested. I really think it's your circadian rhythm that determines your ability to do it.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

Worked nights when kids were little and never felt rested. I really think it's your circadian rhythm that determines your ability to do it.

I agree.