Anyone working two nursing jobs?

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I have always been a work-a-holic and I am planning on attempting to acquire two nursing positions, either both at one hospital or one at each of the two hospitals in our area. Both hospitals work 12 hour shifts with 3 days on-four days off, so I would be working 6 days with one off. It would only take one year of such labor to pay off all of our bills and after a second year our bank account will be flush and I can make a good start on a retirement account.

Anybody else here working two jobs or planning to?

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I have two jobs- one in peds ICU and one in peds home care. I like the variety, and the home care job is basically tending a vent kid at night while the family sleeps, so I use the down time to pay bills, make grocery lists, work on my research.

Well, when I started out I worked three part time jobs. Just reading about the schedule you are suggesting exhausts me! Do you think it's safe?

Specializes in ICU.

I'm working one full time job now but I'm hoping I could also get a part-time or PRN position further down the road. I feel like I need to be pretty settled where I am first, though. I can't imagine working two full time nursing jobs. That would be exhausting.

Specializes in Pedi.

The odds that you are going to obtain two full-time positions and be able to make the schedules work with both are very small. Neither job will care about your commitment to the other one. One hospital is unlikely to hire you for two full-time positions based purely on the overtime aspect.

I worked two jobs up until a few months ago. The money is good but the quality of life isn't. Working two jobs as a new grad isn't wise or advisable.

Specializes in Psych, LTC/SNF, Rehab, Corrections.

No. Honestly, I'm just too lazy to get another job. LOL I really thought I'd feel differently because I've always been a workaholic and that's what I vowed the minute I graduated, "I'm going to be on the grind. I'm gonna make so much money!"

Yeah, right. LOL I don't have the motivation. I mean - I don't have a child to bust my tail working for and money, itself, really isn't the motivator that it used to be.

Don't feel alone, though. Half the new nurses I've met work multiple jobs. I work with a new nurse who works 7 days straight. Not full 12's though. Her main is an 8-5 doing nurse admin/health insurance...then she has a few 8, 12,16 PRNs that she'll do. It can be done. Some people are just well-suited for hard work.

I could work 7 days straight, too. I just don't want to.

I plan on working two jobs, buT not two full time. Just got a per diem position and I will continue looking for full time work. I also want to work as much as possible for a year or two to get my debt paid off. If it becomes too much I'm not obligated with the per diem job.

I do have 2 nursing jobs. One is FT weekend days in ICU and the other is prn in outpatient surgery. On average I work about 50 hours/week and that is plenty! I went a couple months where I was working 60 + hrs/week and it nearly killed me. I was always tired and had no desire to do anything but sleep. To me it wasn't worth it. Also, I didn't feel that I was providing as safe of care as I wanted to because I was so tired. I think doing 2 jobs is okay, just be smart about it and don't push yourself too hard!

Two full time jobs sounds a little extreme to me. I do know a couple of CNAs (not any nurses though) who do it, but they are always cranky and exhausted. I think a full time job plus something per diem is doable. If you can pick up overtime wherever you're working full time, that sounds more economical than working for straight time in two different places -- since overtime pay is at least time and a half, that's definitely the way to go as far as I'm concerned, provided your employer has the time to offer.

You have to understand that I am a former truck driver who worked 12+ hours a day, 70+ hours a week for weeks at a time for 20 years. I may change my mind later, but this kind of schedule doesn't bother me too much.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

As a full-time employee, you will have some specific obligations to an employer. This means that you will have to attend staff meetings, mandatory & continuing education at the very least. You may also be required to sign up for a specific number of 'on call' shifts to provide emergency coverage. This just does not work with two different employers - you would end up being terminated at one of those jobs 'for cause' & this is definitely not the outcome you're looking for.

Driving a truck is absolutely not comparable to patient care.... but even truck drivers (along with several other high risk professions) are prohibited from working the hours you have described. There is a large body of research that clearly indicates the patient safety issues associated with clinician fatigue - that is one of the reasons that medical resident hours were cut several years ago. Here is a nice compilation of research findings from NLM The Effects of Fatigue and Sleepiness on Nurse Performance and Patient Safety - Patient Safety and Quality - NCBI Bookshelf Health care employers have been successfully sued for problems arising from clinician fatigue. Many states have or will enact legislation related to this issue also. In light of all this evidence, do you still think it is a good idea to put your career & patients at risk?

A better option - get your career started & establish your clinical competency. Then, sign up for some PRN work that you can fit into your schedule. Your employer may even have a 'second employment' policy that would permit you to do this without the hassle of doing all the mandatory training stuff for multiple companies.

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.

I used to work 60 hours a week for 7 years but not as a nurse. I could not do it because the mental and emotional strain are too much and there is too much at stake. I know of people who have tried but could not keep it up very long. How about a full time position and a perdiem position?

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