Any Canadian nurses having trouble adjusting to aussie 8 hr shifts

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Specializes in Vascular/general surgery.

Hi, im canadian and have been working in melbourne for 6 months, i was doing agency at first which was great cause i could pic when i wanted to work.But now i am somewhere permanent and to stay with my sponsership i have to stay full time. But here unlike canada where 12 hr shifts are usual, 8 hr shifts are the norm here, so since i must do 80hr a fortnight and never get the same days off sometimes i end up working for 7 shifts straight then only 2 days off then another 5 shifts in a row. By the end shift i feel like i have so little emotionally to give my patients cause i am just drained in myself from being in the hospital so much. Im use to doing four 12 hr shifts and then having 4 or 5 off. I much rather just do a clump of 12 hr shifts and have more days off than doing shorter shifts. Are there any other nurses who had trouble adjusting? Im hoping i will just get use to it after a while.

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Hi abbynurse,

welcome to australia.

I'm an ER RN in Queensland, and it really depends where you work. Some places still have 12 hour shifts, some don't. I work in a place that has both and you can choose.

Having done both 8hr shifts/10hr nights, and 12 hour shifts. I can honestly say if you are working full time, 12 hour shifts are the way to go for sure!

But if you are part time, so 4 or 3 days a week, 8 hour shifts are ok, and 10hour nights means you have one day extra a month off.

I remember working in the wards and it was 8hour shifts, and if you get a bad roster, you will do late shifts then start early and that stint could go on for 7 or 8 days straight, it's terrible.

Try and request you roster if you can and try and do longer night shifts so you can get an extra day off, it really helps.

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Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

hi there I used to do 12 hours in Ireland and it took me a lot to adjust. I would lie in when I was on a late and then be unable to sleep that night before my early.

I'm in Melbourne also and I realised that I needed to adapt my routine as the whole hospital was not going to adapt for me. I started get up at 8.30 - 9 am on my lates and go for a swim or to the gym. Do some house work or get stuck into my neverending pile of paperwork.

On my early shifts I will go for a walk or the gym and them make arrangements with my friends to have dinner or see a film. Then on my days off (usually Wed & Thurs) I will go exploring or just chill.

Try and request your shifts so that you can arrange your life some what and get up and out exercising. (Trust me you would not of heard me saying that 4 months ago but I am sleeping so much better and feel the benefits of it).

It is hard to make friends in a new place so you really have to get out there and get a good social network going to defuse from work and have fun.

Plus it has been a long winter but summer is coming if the mosquito bites on my legs are any suggestion. Best of luck and hang in there.

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Canadian hospitals don't just run on 12 hour shifts. Mine offeres 4, 8, and 12 hour shifts.

Lately, more nurses are asking for 8s after they return from mat leave or as they age.

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