RN job with 'normal' hours?

[htanis]

I will be graduating as an RN when I am 27. My plan (however we all know things rarely go according to plan) is to work full-time for about 3ish years, then start my family. It is my dream to obtain an RN job that is M-F dayshifts with weekends off as I want to be able to spend my weekends with my family. I have never had a job with weekends off & it is horrible to miss out on every event because of work.

I know a lot of you are going to say I will have to 'pay my dues' before I can even dream of weekends off, however I have been reading quite a bit on this topic on these forums & i see quite a few people have somehow gotten nursing jobs with weekends off.

I am curious as to what positions this would be possible with? And how to best set myself up for these positions? Ideally I'd love public health as my mom was a PH nurse & she was always home around the same time we'd get home from school & she had weekends off with us. However I know PH jobs are difficult to get. Any tips on what I can do straight from school to 'up' my resume for these 'normal' hours jobs?

Thanks! :)

[tareija]

I think these types of jobs can be difficult to get. Some of the nurses I know with young kids get around this by working as casuals, or in part time positions. With casual work, you can choose which shifts you work, although there is no guaranteed income of course. I know some people who work casual at one or several jobs, and are quite happy with it. I also know some moms who work part time. They are still doing shift work of days and nights, but it's more manageable than doing it full time. You could also try home care, I think those are usually day or evenings shifts, but it may not be straight days, Monday to Friday. My impression of home care is that you need a few years experience, but it might be easier to get a position than a Monday to Friday day job in public health.