Battle of the Shifts!!!

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Mar 2, 2009

I work 3-11. I have no problem with day shift. They're busy all day. 3rd shift annoys me though. They walk in without looking or speaking to anyone. You try to give them report and they ignore you. All they care about is checking the alarms so they can get rid of you. They make snotty comments and roll their eyes if not everyone is in bed (we only have like 3 or 4 people don't want to go to bed before 11, and they're all washed and changed- they're just not IN bed). They ***** and whine about everything. One lady sleeps in the fetal position, and we got yelled at for that "because it takes 2 of us to change her when she's like that, and it's really hard." Well, that's how she sleeps, sorry. And by the way I change her *all by myself* before you come in.

mochabean · Mar 2, 2009

There's a NA where I work at who works the night shift and she complains about the day shift people not doing anything. What's so funny is that I've worked with her a couple times before and she's the laziest NA on the night shift. Her side of the unit is always half done. She's notorious for falling asleep at work.

mncna08 · Mar 17, 2009

whew! i know how this goes! i work pm shift (2-10) so i hear the round abouts, about what shifts should be doing what better lol although i find morning shift to be very clique and imature....i think thats just how things work.

sonomala · Mar 17, 2009

I've worked day and night. Before I went to nights I thought days was just being picky and whining because they didn't get paid as much. Wrong! Overnight is the easiest shift ever! If you work 12s you have maybe two hours worth of work to do when you come in and thats if your 12 starts before 8. Anything after 8, its come in and chill. You hang out, wait for the appointed time to go dry everyone, and then come back and chill out for awhile more. You do this for over half your shift, hanging out and getting annoyed when an alarm goes off. Then for the last hour or so you get people up and start whining that days is going to be picky and make comments about how easy your shift is. And they are right!

Days shift is non stop. You come in, get everyone else up, start showers, strip beds, greet family members, take out trash, start feeding the list goes on and on. You work non stop.

Evening comes in and does sim. Get in, start showers, stocking ect.

The only shift that has it easy is overnight.

Equinox_93 · Mar 17, 2009

That all depends on where you work. Many facilities have residents who are bathed in the evenings- and night shift gets everyone up for breakfast in many places. Depending on the facility- night shift may have mostly sleeping residents, (but some facilities have alot of night owls, or those who need active care around the clock) but day shift may have most of theirs away for some sort of therapy. So- I'd just consider yourself lucky and say that night shift just has it easy *where you work*. It's not a shift thing- it's a facility thing.

I've worked day and night. Before I went to nights I thought days was just being picky and whining because they didn't get paid as much. Wrong! Overnight is the easiest shift ever! If you work 12s you have maybe two hours worth of work to do when you come in and thats if your 12 starts before 8. Anything after 8, its come in and chill. You hang out, wait for the appointed time to go dry everyone, and then come back and chill out for awhile more. You do this for over half your shift, hanging out and getting annoyed when an alarm goes off. Then for the last hour or so you get people up and start whining that days is going to be picky and make comments about how easy your shift is. And they are right!
Days shift is non stop. You come in, get everyone else up, start showers, strip beds, greet family members, take out trash, start feeding the list goes on and on. You work non stop.
Evening comes in and does sim. Get in, start showers, stocking ect.
The only shift that has it easy is overnight.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Mar 17, 2009

Where I work, 7-3 and 3-11 have the same # of showers, and we both give everyone else a partial bed bath. AM has 2 meals to pass out, we only have one. But they get to send a lot of people down to recreation after lunch (that come flooding back at 3:30), plus PT does some of their walks and they have housekeepers around, and we don't. And I guess 3rd shift gets some people up for them, whereas we have to put everyone to bed. But they always have more staff. The only difference is that on days you're busy right up until 3 o'clock, and by 9:30 our shift has usually calmed down a lot. I still don't arrive to work at 3 o'clock and get all huffy because someone has a dirty cup in their room. This is after we took our last hour of downtime to stock the linen cart, stock gloves, get new papers out, etc. for them.

I've never worked 3rd shift but I know people on 1st and 2nd who have and they said it's really easy and they don't know why 3rd complains about every little thing. I know not everyone sleeps through the night, but it's not like all 100 of them are up and jumping when they get there. Even on the nights when a couple people are not in bed, they're still washed, changed, bed taken down, and everything else. They have the same q2h rounds as the other shifts, but with no showers, no meals, no walks, and not many people to get up. But they have more attitude than anyone else. At least that's how it is at my facility.

yousoldtheworld · Mar 17, 2009

I've worked day and night. Before I went to nights I thought days was just being picky and whining because they didn't get paid as much. Wrong! Overnight is the easiest shift ever! If you work 12s you have maybe two hours worth of work to do when you come in and thats if your 12 starts before 8. Anything after 8, its come in and chill. You hang out, wait for the appointed time to go dry everyone, and then come back and chill out for awhile more. You do this for over half your shift, hanging out and getting annoyed when an alarm goes off. Then for the last hour or so you get people up and start whining that days is going to be picky and make comments about how easy your shift is. And they are right!
Days shift is non stop. You come in, get everyone else up, start showers, strip beds, greet family members, take out trash, start feeding the list goes on and on. You work non stop.
Evening comes in and does sim. Get in, start showers, stocking ect.
The only shift that has it easy is overnight.

Really? I want to come work where you work, then.

I work thirds and I very rarely get to "chill" for even a minute.

Call lights are nonstop, rounds take a long time, and I have to get 8 people up, usually including a couple of showers.

Also have to stock linen carts and pass linens, stock all the rooms, clean wheelchairs and walkers, take out the trash, etc.

If we're LUCKY, we might have 10 minutes of downtime if everyone's asleep, but most of the time, we're just running around like mad.

systoly · Mar 17, 2009

I've worked 7-3, 3-11, 11-7. 7a-7p, 7p-7a, and currently work 7a-11p. I can assure you that each shift has its unique challenges. To say one shift is easier than the other is comparing apples and oranges. And to those folks who claim 11-7 is the easiest ever: why don't you work 11-7 then, go ahead live the easy life and why do we need shift differential, is it because nobody likes the easy shifts.

sonomala · Mar 18, 2009

I did work 11-7. Its the easy shift, not the easy life. The shift itself was a no brainer, in my op :). But the coming home, trying to sleep durring the day and missing so much stuff with my friends and fam was a nightmare! I had headaches so freaking bad that never went away no matter how much I was able to sleep in the day. At first I was able to sleep well but with each week it got harder and harder. OTC sleeping pills didn't help at all. My other coworkers described a regimen of switching pills every few months or so to try and sleep. I also heard of prescription pills that did no good for people who had been on the shift a long time. Alot of our day staff has been to nights and come back because of similar issues. Its a hard life but again dry runs and few call lights are, in my op, alot easier then feedings, showers, family members, doctor visits, shopping visits ect ect. I think the reason there is shift differential is because finding people who can adjust to that kind of lifestyle is very hard. We get a ton of workers who start out there, maybe one in five stays more then a month and one in ten more then six months.

Your working 7a to 11p? I take my hat off to you because by the time my shift ends I'm literally crawling out the door with my coworkers. Another four and they'd have to carry me out on a stretcher.

systoly · Mar 18, 2009

Thank you sonomala. It's not so bad though, I get four days off. I share your experience about the 11-7 lifestyle. I had worked quite a few 11-7s (to fill in) and really enjoyed working with the 11-7 crew so I switched permanently, but soon found out that it's a dayshift world. I used heavy window covers and got my bedroom completely dark, but faaling asleep was still difficult. Staying asleep was even harder because of the phone ringing and people stopping by.

And then the change of schedules between work and off days. In short, it whipped my hinder parts. The only reason I stayed on for over three years is because of the crew I worked with.

CNAinTampa · Mar 18, 2009

3rd shift is hard. we have way more pt and at my work, we do all the linens & clean everything. plus no one sleeps the whole night through.