Day nurses who switched from nights, is it better?

[tarotale]

Hey all, merry soon coming holidays, hope you are working hard for present monies :) I have been working as night nurse since my graduation yr and half ago and I must say life hasn't been all that great. I have been hating my job, apathetic at work and patients, always tired, barely have a social life, insomnia has worsened with night shift, irritated/angry at my situation, stressed, under pressure, no energy to workout, and so on.

I really want to improve my situation, and I was wondering if switching to day shift ever provided somewhat of an improvement for anyone. I will have better sleeping schedule, regular human lifestyle, more energy, less tired, hopefully less angry, better social life, much better staffing, and so on. Of course there are downsides, and the biggest one would be not getting extra $4/hr night diffs, but if my life can significantly improve and give me a chance for happier life, decrease in money is only an expandable luxury.

So for those who made the switch from nights to day shift, have you noticed any big change for the better? Thanks!

[Singingbird812]

As weird as it sounds, I am almost glad to hear someone else questioning this. I've only been working nights for about four months now, but it's really starting to get to me. I feel like I never get to see, or even talk, to anyone I really care about anymore because they're usually sleeping when I'm wide awake. Plus, it's started to feel like I never get an actual day off since I don't leave work until about 8 am on the day I'm off. It also doesn't help that I am required to work every other weekend, which I actually really liked initially but now has limited my social life to practically nothing. Yes, I know it sounds petty but I do miss being able to see my friends or get away for a couple days without thinking that "couple days" is really just one night.

Right now I'm trying to decide if I can tough it out eight more months and look for opportunities elsewhere or if I need to make the jump sooner. I really love one of the units I work on and probably wouldn't consider leaving at all if there was a chance of switching to days, but that isn't an option.

Does anyone know if rotating shifts work better? I would consider that, especially since I do love some of the quality time I get to spend with patients at night, but I've never known someone who did that consistently. Where I work, those who rotate are required to work something like 5 nights per four week schedule, but I know other places do it on a three week rotation (three weeks on days then three on nights). From what people who I work with have told me, the 5 nights is brutal since they usually can't do them all in a row but I am curious if a longer rotation is nicer.

I honestly would appreciate any advice people have about this!

[Guest219794]

If I were you, I would stick to nights:

Dec 24 by [COLOR=#003366][COLOR=#003366]tarotale

When patients ask me "do you like nursing?" or "do you like what you do?" my exact word is "No". They ask me why and I tell them that I don't mind the work but health care is full of crooks and that I work for crooks so I hate what I do. I have no problem talking smack about my employer, they are out for themselves in the end and their profit, their money, their bonuses.

You are more likely to get away with inappropriate behavior at night, when the crooks you work for are safely in bed.

[Cafelattee]

Pro: better sleep, more energy, less sick time. cons: way, way more work, more politics, more managers and corporate suits wandering the halls, more families, more doctors and families blaming YOU for the shortcomings of the night shift nurse.

I've worked evening - nights for about 18 of my 22 years. I've a night owl and just feel full of energy. I'm also very independent and do not like the whole day shift culture. There are just to many people. There are actual doctors that prefer evening rounds because funny enough they don't like all the loud busy day mess. I've also had many nights of MD in the ICU with me. Which I don't' mind at all but I've never had to put up with administration and joint commission which is a winner

The bolded part goes both ways hate to tell you. I've spent the first 4 hours of my 12 hour shift finishing day shift crap or fixing day shift crap. Then the patients are all about I've been asking for such and such for hours. There are tons of orders that haven't been check off or initiated The statement was inflammatory IMO. I really hate how nurse are demeaning of other nurse usually by hey ICU better than floor or day shift nurses are better than nights. It really tells me why as a profession we are still treated like school children when it comes to pay and respect by the powers to be.

I didn't hate my 4 years of day shift but honestly my favorite shift is 3p to 3A