Advice for Rotating Shift

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been looking around at employment opportunities. There is one floor that I dream to work on, but it is rotating shifts only. While it is all self-schedule, it is a requirement to work days (50%) and nights (50%)...just not rotating in the same week! I have heard so many bad things about this type of schedule from many posts on allnurses, and it has frightened me for sure to read people's opinions. Any advice?

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I hate rotating shifts and would avoid a job like that at all costs. Keep on mind that "self schedules" are frequently altered by management to meet the needs of the unit.

On the other hand, I didn't mind rotating shifts in my 20's. I wasn't a nurse back then, but I would have agreed to rotate shifts to get my foot in the door of my dream unit if I had been.

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Specializes in Pedi.

This is the norm in my neck of the woods. I rotated shifts for almost 5 years. Usually 3 weeks of days followed by 3 weeks of nights but my floor didn't guarantee that you wouldn't work days/nights in the same week. Fake days off after night shifts (work Sun night, have Mon off, work Tues day) were technically against hospital policy but they still happened. "Staffing to demand" was always management's excuse.

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Specializes in Peds, Neuro, Orthopedics.

How do they schedule? Blocks of night shifts or do they sprinkle them around? I had a hospital schedule two day shifts and two night shifts in the same week, followed by two day shifts the next week. I was horrified that they thought I could flip back and forth that quickly, like I'm a robot. Needless to say I don't work there anymore, and it was an awful year!

Self-scheduling is a myth. They will flip things around as needed. It is a waste of time thinking about what schedule would be best only for them to flip it all around anyway.

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How do they schedule? Blocks of night shifts or do they sprinkle them around? I had a hospital schedule two day shifts and two night shifts in the same week, followed by two day shifts the next week. I was horrified that they thought I could flip back and forth that quickly, like I'm a robot. Needless to say I don't work there anymore, and it was an awful year!

It sounds like it is guaranteed for staff not to swap shifts within the same week...I guess unless you want to? Things are never for certain. I don't know how they schedule personally, since I don't work there and it is out of state. What I have seen/heard during school will definitely be different once I find a place to work.

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This is the norm in my neck of the woods. I rotated shifts for almost 5 years. Usually 3 weeks of days followed by 3 weeks of nights but my floor didn't guarantee that you wouldn't work days/nights in the same week.

Have any tips for surviving? Did you enjoy it at all? How often did you rotate between 12's?

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