Am I the only one who hates 12 hour shifts?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

Based on some things I've read on this website, I know that I'm not, but I just cannot STAND how 12 hour work days consume my life! There is no time to do anything besides work on those days and prepare for the next work day. I would be so much happier if I could switch to 8s or 10s or even some combo of 8 and 12s... I need to be able to exercise and take care of myself in order to be happy at work!

Mostly I just needed to rant because I know I can't address this yet as a new grad, but has anyone else felt this way and taken action to get a better schedule? Better hours would make work a billion times better!

I love working 12s at night and have been doing it for two years, but I have always been a night owl. I feel very queasy if I get up before the sun rises. Although working 12s at night, especially 3 in a row, leaves me feeling jet-lagged, I love having 4 days off. I feel like I really get a break from work. When I worked 8-5 M-F at a desk job, I dreaded Sunday evenings and Monday mornings.

No .. You are not the only person! I didn't enjoy working 12 hr shifts. Back in 2001,02. I was always mean and cranky. My schedule was 2 on, 2 off , every other weekend then it went to 6 on and 7 days off. I worked 7p to 7a. I was so relieved when I found a M-F holidays and weekends off job. I've worked every shift imaginable. I like day shift jobs and I like to be at home in my bed at night and preferably an 8 hr shift job. 12 hr shifts are the norm for nursing jobs and I knew this before entering the field. You just have to choose what fits your lifestyle!!

I love my 12-hour day shifts for a number of reasons. I often give and receive report from the same nurse 12 hours later. And the extra 4 hours per shift does not make much of an impact on me but the extra day off does. I usually get home, eat, and get ready for bed. I ride my bike to and from work so I am able to exercise despite the 12-hour shift.

Nothing sucks more than doing 8 hr shifts with people that hate their job as it is and slack off. I'd rather deal with them for 3 days and 4 days of my own slacking off that doesn't involve insubordination.

give me 8s and i better making 3 more zeros on my paycheck .

I can't do 12s anymore. It takes me until my third day off to start to have any energy whatsoever after working night shifts, so if I don't get 3 days off in a row, I'm not good for anything on my days off. If you are lucky enough to work days then this isn't so much of a problem. However, *ell would freeze over before I'd work days with the current staff in the ER where I work!

I'm starting 8s soon, working from 9p-5:30a. No, I'm not crazy about working 5 days per week, but I will be able to sleep and still have time to do what is necessary at home. I can pretty much guarantee that most of you who work night shifts will start to feel the same way about 12s as you get older if you work them long enough.

Specializes in MICU - CCRN, IR, Vascular Surgery.

Working 3 12s was one of the attractions of going into nursing. I've always worked nights (7p-7a) and you can pry the 12s from my cold dead fingers. I have no desire to work 8 straight night shifts per week!

12 hour shifts are definitely a love/hate relationship for me. HATE: After 5 pm I am tired and drained, and I feel like mistakes are more likely to be made after working for 10 hours. You cannot do anything but go to work on your days on...especially if you are getting up to do it all over again! plus the 12 hours are killer on my arthritis. LOVE: The days off. Being home for my kids on those days. Not having to be a nurse 5 days a week! Being able to take a vacation without losing any time. Plus...on the days I work....I don't have to cook dinner!! :woot:

Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

This is one of the (few) reasons I am glad I didn't do nursing school when I was younger. I like the idea of 12 hour shifts, and have done them, and longer, in other jobs with no problems. But having little kids right now makes it hard. My husband is an OTR truck driver, pretty much never home. If I worked a 12 hour shift now, I would have problems taking them to all their activities on those days. And they have something every day. I am not sure how a single parent does it. I have had enough issues finding help after school until 6 pm. And I miss so much. But by the time I finish prereqs, go to nursing school, and get a job, I think it will be much easier. I won't need anyone to watch them, and my oldest might be driving by then.

Then I would be happy to get my work week over in 3 days and having 4 off. Sounds like heaven.

Oh, and I used to work 4pm-1am. Absolutely love that shift. It is great for a night person like me, but someone that doesn't have kids.

You may not necessarily see an overwhelming preference for 12 shifts when it comes to day shifters, it's working nights where 8 and 12 hour shifts schedules aren't even comparable. Because of this, most day shifters have to yield to what's better for nightshifters, even if that means working 12 hour shifts so nightshifters can also work 12 hour shifts, which helps them live longer, get enough sleep, get adequate recovery time, stay sane, etc.

I find this to be just the opposite for me. I work nights but prefer 8 hour shifts. When I work 12s, I'm useless for at least 2 days until I recover adequately, thus I have little to no time off essentially since I'm sleeping a great deal of the time. With 8 hour shifts, I have time to make appointments, go grocery shopping, cook at home, etc. I just can't do that working 12s.

Nurses, as a group, are up there in age. To work them on 12 hour shifts is to physically abuse them and burn them out. Actually, many of the younger nurses feel the same. There is no good argument for working nurses 12 hours. It is dangerous for the patients and bad on the nurses bodies (even for those not smart enough to realize it). As for me, I will work an 8 hour shift or I will not work at all.

Specializes in geriatrics.

I work permanent nights. I'm the nurse, the housekeeper, the ward clerk, the pharmacist, and the NA. Day shift and night shift nurses work equally as hard. The nature of the work is just different.

Nights are not as busy with family or staff, so less politics is the advantage. However, you better be able to move quickly and be on alert because patients go bad on nights, and you're often a skeleton crew with no support staff.

I'm confused about the number of nurses who would prefer 8 hour shifts. I am hopeful to be accepted to nursing school in the next week or so...and I am looking forward to 12's and picking up an extra shift here and there for OT. I work 8's now in cardiology as a tech and while I like coming to work everyday and getting a weekend of OT a month it will be so nice to work 3 12's and every other weekend. That means I could get several days off to hang out my family, pick my daughter up from school, go to the gym then just relax around the house. I can't run any errands during the week really and its tough to make it to the gym before or after work. If you think about it, if you work 8's, you get up at 7 to be at work at 8 then get off at 430 or 5 and then get home at 6. Thats not a huge difference from working 7-7 and getting home at 7:30. The difference is, with a nurses schedule you may have the next day/days off.

I like working though, I enjoy coming to the hospital everyday and interacting with patients and coworkers.

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