Is 3rd shift all there is for new nurses?

SWFlorida · Aug 8, 2005

Less hospital admins around. Kind of nice! :)

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 8, 2005

Day shift spots come at a premium. Its only fair that they go to those who have been with the company longer. It makes the current staff very resentful when the manager will give a day slot to a new grad just to hire them in. There is nothing wrong with starting on night shift. You may find you like it. Once you prove your skills and competence you will find getting a better shift easier.

indeed. particularly hard to come by dayshifts in my speciality....OB. It can take YEARS (and I have waited 6 years)----

Yes, I have waited my turn, and soon it will come. Let the new ones wait theirs, too. It's only fair.

In other specialities, dayshift positions can come up sooner. you have to choose what is most important, working in the chosen area/specialty and starting on the night shift, or taking another job on a day shift, one you may not like as much. Seniority is the deciding factor in nearly all positions, however.

BETSRN · Aug 8, 2005

I'm a new grad RN & am working the 3 PM-11 PM shift. I don't mind it at all. I would have worked either 7-3 or my current shift (I too don't like 11 PM-7 AM). I think there will be some days positions on my unit opening up soon, but honestly I like to sleep in a little & don't want to have to get up every morning at 5 AM for work, so for now I'll stick to 3-11. Plus my husband gets home around 9:30 PM anyways & goes to bed around 1-2 AM-so we're on the same schedule. We don't have any kids yet, so I don't know if I'll change my mind about hours once i'm a mom. I think everyone likes a different shift for a different reason.
-Christine

I've been a nurse for 20 years and I still love evenings! Although I love my coworkeers on days, I dislike the day routine and all the extraneous stuff that goes on on days. There is just such a difference in personality of each shift. I think that's pretty much everywhere.

BETSRN · Aug 8, 2005

This may seem terribly shallow, but it's something I have to consider. If I go into nursing school at my age (48) I'll want to give it my 'all' but my boyfriend (a doctor) has told me 'You'll be stuck working every other weekend and nights for years.' Frankly, I could work 7-3 just fine, being a morning person, but I have doubts about having the energy to work late shifts when (if?) I graduate. I love school -- I graduated from college 25 years ago -- and I know he'd be supportive, but...he's got a point. Part of what attracts me to nursing is that it is a career that 'ages well' and where life experience really seems to count. Have any of you found yourself working five years of lousy hospital shifts before working days? Are shifts assigned according to seniority?

Usually every other weekend comes with the territory. I have worked evenings for years and it has yet to really interfere with anything.

I like the flexibility that comes with a career in nursing. As thelarge population of nurses ages, I think we will see changes in every aspect of the field.

Do what's in your heart and don't worry about weekends. It's nice to ahve days off suring the week.

yen23 · Aug 29, 2005

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BETSRN · Aug 29, 2005

This may seem terribly shallow, but it's something I have to consider. If I go into nursing school at my age (48) I'll want to give it my 'all' but my boyfriend (a doctor) has told me 'You'll be stuck working every other weekend and nights for years.' Frankly, I could work 7-3 just fine, being a morning person, but I have doubts about having the energy to work late shifts when (if?) I graduate. I love school -- I graduated from college 25 years ago -- and I know he'd be supportive, but...he's got a point. Part of what attracts me to nursing is that it is a career that 'ages well' and where life experience really seems to count. Have any of you found yourself working five years of lousy hospital shifts before working days? Are shifts assigned according to seniority?

Personally, I hate days (not to mention the pay is less). Too much fuss and bother with tons of unnecessary people around. I'm an "off shift" person (evenings) and will probably remain there. There is a different "personality" on the off shifts, if you KWIM.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Aug 29, 2005

Part of what attracts me to nursing is that it is a career that 'ages well' and where life experience really seems to count.

In the south you would have no problem getting a day shift on a med/surg unit. I would think this would hold true everywhere.

I worked L&D for on nights for 12 years and never could get a day position because no one would leave. I transferred to med/surg and every one was like "what the heck were you thinkng" But I have to say I have learned alot and do enjoy my job.

I would think most every hospital is on 12 hours shift therefore you would work 3 days a week. I will be 50 in 2 weeks and I can tell you that life experience, if you haven't been a nurse, would not be a big assest or reason for becoming a nurse. Nor would nursing be a professional that would age well if you don't start practicing until you're 50. Nursing is very demanding and physically difficult. I admire people who go back to school as adults, I went from LPN to RN at age 46, but hospital nursing is not something you start at mid-life.

I earn a good hourly wage but I personally don't believe nursing is a profession you can justify to yourself doing for just the money. Go back to school, have fun but forget hospital nursing at this point in your life.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Aug 29, 2005

I didn't realize the U.S. was importing so many cheap nurses from the Philippines.

I believe that is a racial slur. Shame on you :nono:

jsteine1 · Aug 29, 2005

Thank you. Still thinking about it. I like the job security aspect of nursing, but I make more now than a beginning nurse so it'd be quite a transition, and for a number of years -- from what I hear on other threads. The new nurses don't seem to think they are paid what they are worth. I didn't realize the U.S. was importing so many cheap nurses from the Philippines.

NO nurse anywhere is paid what their worth. Nurses from any country shouldnt be considered "cheap". That sounds awful and makes you appear very uninformed. If an institution or private corporation sponsors a foreign grad start to finish, there are significant legal ,relocation and sometimes temporary housing fees involved for that institution and sometimes at least for the first year, their salaries appear a bit lower to cover the fees.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2005

The idea of getting up early in the morning to go to work, to me anyway, is obscene. I prefer noon or later myself. Now I can get up early and go golfing, but thats an entirely different thing.

Thank God

rn/writer, RN · Aug 30, 2005

I believe that is a racial slur. Shame on you

Why does that have to be interpteted as a racial slur? The US is indeed "importing" many nurses from the Phillipines and, for various reasons, many of them find themselves working for comparetively low wages. Acknowledging that fact has no racial connotation that I can see.

Miranda