night shift day shifts pros and cons

I am working nights, and have done so for the last three years. I like the nights, because at our little facility there is no one buy nursing personnell, making it much easier to do my job. I like the added money from shift differentials. I like being able to do things during the day. I don't like missing my children's games in the evenings, taking several days to get on my families schedule on my days off.

--The thing I hate the most about working nights is getting phone calls at 11 AM "What are you doing, surely you weren't sleeping anymore!"

When I was working days I liked to be able to visit with more co-workers, evenings with my family, actually being awake when the rest of the world is awake.

Studies show that working night shifts can have an adverse effect on your body after so many years. I work night shifts 7:30pm-7:30am (not as a nurse) and go to full-school fulltime (undergraduate), and it really wears me out. Your circadian rhythm can get pretty screwy. What's great is that night shifts are more relaxing; however, a lot of things like the bank, doctors appointments, stores, and etc. are only open during the day while you are sleeping.

They say working nights is only for the young...

-Paul