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

Nurses Rock Toon

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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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brian said:
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?nurse-day-shift-vs-night-shift.gifClick Like if you enjoyed it. Please share this with friends and post your comments below! Want more nursing cartoons?

I have worked all shifts! When my kids were young 11-7, latter 8a to 2p. ( that was the best while they were in school. Switched to 3-11 for a few years. Now I work 7a to 7 p. it's all what works for you! And you can change if you want to.

1 Votes

i have worked all different shifts before but i prefer the night shift. it was so peaceful and all i had to focus on was my workload. it was unbelievable. i cant however work nights right now bc i hav a newborn but will definately return to it wen he is older

2 Votes

I just graduated in May and I've been working as an RN since, but I started working nights as a student nurse tech May of 2011. I love nights the most for the people - my co-workers are always supporting, always willing to do things for one another and offering help often. I'm also not a get up and go person in the morning at all; I absolutely dreaded waking up at 545a for clinicals during nursing school, so having an upside down day compared to the normal working person has never been a problem for me :p I get 6-7 hours of sleep after working and I feel great!

Nights as a new grad has also been good in that I've had the opportunity to have more time to learn skills that I might have been too busy on days to be able to grasp. I'm a do-er when it comes to learning, so having the extra time to have hands on time with equipment or procedures is always a plus.

I'd say the major down side to working nights is having to wake up patients for whatever reason - everything sounds silly in the middle of the night ("Hi Mrs. Smith, I'm just here to give you that 1am Heparin............" or "Hi Mr. Jones, I'm just here to give you this 6am Protonix..........").

1 Votes

Worked day shift for years while my son was growing up in a single parent family and I was caring for my mother. But I was always exhausted even tho I consider myself a morning person. Just too difficult with all the consults, doctors, management, 3 meals a day, p.t./s.t./ and o.t. meeting with the pt. and fitting in all the 0900 meds. Altho the day shift has a strong shift charge nurse there is too much happening for my taste.

Now work night shift and love it, but my son is grown and mother is past away. But it is not the hurry, hurry, hurry atmosphere. More time with pt care, care plans and pt education. More time evaluated the pt's diagnosis and looking at labs and evaluating conditions, not just a medication passer. Like it on night shift and want to stay there.

As far as team work and co-workers, I think, where I work, things are a lot worse on night shift because management is not there to see what goes on. People do a lot of back biting and gossiping.

2 Votes

I have worked both. I worked nights for two and a half years on a med-surge unit. I started out my nursing career on nights. Nights was good for me because it was slower and I could really get learn my nursing skills. Nights was either really busy or it was manageable. I learned how to be a good nurse. Night nurses really have to work with one another because there are not the same amount of people around to help. I learned when I really needed to call the doctor and what was worth really freaking out about. One of the cons was the horrible schedule and wreckage it did to my body. I gained alot of weight on nights and I was always tired. I was tired for two and half years.

I have been for working for days for about three months on a neuro/med-surge unit, and it is so much busier. I have to deal with all the tests, doctors, and families. Dealing with the families is one of the biggest differences. The pace of days is so much more intense vs nights. I am constantly going and rarely get to sit down. But I am sleeping much better and that counts for alot. So this is just my opinion on the topic.

2 Votes

Night shift. Less visitors, more peaceful.

2 Votes
Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

When I first started hospital work Imy kids were pre-school and I worked 3-11 and had a good baby sitter. I wasn't a fan of evenings I thought it messed up your whole day couldn't do anything before or after my shift. When they were in school I worked days I hated it just hated working day I never had enough time to complete any of my patients care. Then I went to 11-7 I just loved it. No sleep diprivation nothing I slept while the kids went to school Since they were old enough to take care of themselves.......Wrong. I had to go to days again because my house was party central!!!LOL But after that I went back to nights and stayed there for 20 something years. I have worked all shifts and nights will always be my preferred shift. I can't sleep at night but I can sleep in the bright sunny days. My body is attuned to nights even after retiring in 2005.

1 Votes

Night Shift for me. I have two young teen girls :devil: and they are very active in school which makes it seem as if I am working a second job driving them here and there for school. It frees me up for them and other things I may have to do. Working nights I've noticed there is less "politics" and drama. I also have more time to actually read charts, HH and previous nursing documentation. I find that keeps me informed because as we all know some things are not passed down shift to shift in report and a lot of times the things that are forgotten are important. What scares me is that there are health dangers associated with working nights. Even when I'm not working I get my energy when the sun goes down. I remember one night I went to Walmart at 2 am, lol

1 Votes
Specializes in Maternity & Well Baby Nursery.

I prefer evening shift (3p-11p) myself. I like it because it doesn't matter whether it is summer or winter, I always go to work in the day light and go home when it is dark.

Aradien

2 Votes

I love late shifts, 1300-2130,

2 Votes

i'm a PCT not a nurse but I work days. I like it because I'm young (23) and so I can hang out with friends and do social things after work. Plus I'm not tired all the time. I think my goal is to never work nights, but you guys sure do make it sound like fun!

1 Votes
Specializes in Emergency Room, ICU, Burn Unit, Endoscop.

Somehow working nights means being away from managers that don't do much but look over everything you do. In our area, there is a closer knit of staff that work together as a team compared to day shift. i have been working from 7p to 7a for the past 13 + years and the only regret I have is that days off are spent sleeping instead of doing something else. I am a mom and I get to be home when my child comes from school...have time for homework and by the time I leave the house for work, we had dinner already.

1 Votes
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