Day shift or Night shift

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello everyone,

I would like to say thank you to all of you who will share your opinion/experiences on this site. I am a step up student and been in nursing school for 1 year. I use this site for tips and reviews while I am at school.

My question is about what shift would be most appropriate for a student that will graduate in a couple months with some patient/medical background experience?

During my preceptor, I was told to start at night shift to hone your nursing skills.

I really appreciate sharing your thoughts and your experience.

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Specializes in Med-surgical; telemetry; STROKE.

Night shift is easier compare to the day shift: less hectic, more time to take a look at policies if you need; to call the pharmacist and ask about the medication you know nothing about, or IV compatibility; to check info about your patient's condition; to study new things, to learn new skills like IV insertion, NG tube insertion, etc, because you will have more free time.

If you have this choice, start on nights.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I have worked all shifts and mid shifts. (in the ER we have more than just the standard 7-7 shifts) and I feel like I always learned and saw more on day shifts. But I can't speak for how it is on regular nursing units.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts. If given a chance to pick what shift, i'll definitely start on nights and hone my nursing skills.

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Thank you for sharing your experience. ER is one of the specialty that i am interested.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma.

Not necessarily. Coming from an ICU standpoint i learn much more on day shift. Day shift is a time that all the doctors are around (which will generally explain a lot of things to you!). Also lots of procedures and surgeries happen during the day too.

Not saying you wont get this at all during nights, but nights are generally a lot slower paced.

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Specializes in LTC and Pediatrics.

While night shift tends to be slower, there are many nights where they are quite busy. I do prefer nights over days as an agency nurse as it gives me time to get used to their systems and way of doing things in a bit more relaxed way.

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Specializes in med-surg, IMC, school nursing, NICU.

I started on nights and I am so thankful I did. It's busy and there are shifts that are so hectic you can't even sit down but there is definitely a little more downtime. You can get used to things, look up policies, get to know your coworkers. The camaraderie on nights is one of a kind! I also got VERY good at phlebotomy and IV starts and just felt less rushed when it came to learning procedures. I am definitely glad I started on nights. The extra money didn't suck either.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Not necessarily. Coming from an ICU standpoint i learn much more on day shift. Day shift is a time that all the doctors are around (which will generally explain a lot of things to you!). Also lots of procedures and surgeries happen during the day too.

Not saying you wont get this at all during nights, but nights are generally a lot slower paced.

Ideally, you get the basics on night shift: now to turn, position, clean up and chat with a patient. How to change a dressing, place an NG tube, draw blood, change IV tubings. How to look at orders, when to look at orders, what to do with orders. Where is the blood bank? The pharmacy? The cafeteria? Where do I find a sphygmomanometer? How do I work with a Pyxis? Where do I find the most frequently used phone numbers? Where are my resources? What's important to know about my patient and where do I find it in the chart? How do I chart vital signs? What else do I need to chart? All that and more, and without visitors vying for your attention (because the ice is too cold) or doctors showing up to change that dressing NOW.

After you're comfortable with the basics, you can see a lot more on day shift. Plus you'll have a framework for fitting all that new information together. It's hard to get excited about seeing the latest brand new wound vac when you've never seen ANY wound vac before and aren't really sure what they're good for. You might meet Dr. Imaworldfamoussurgeon, but if you haven't read his notes in the chart, taken off his orders and read his journal article on some topic that is hot right now, it won't mean as much to you. You also might see Dr. Imaphdinnursingandthenursingdirectorofyourhospital, but you won't know who she is, how she fits into the organizational structure or why she might be there. You might get the chance to watch someone placing a central line, but if you don't know how to flush it or dress it or where to get new IV bags and tubings for the brand new line, you'll be too stressed to appreciate seeing it go in. Also, by the time you get to day shift you'll be more comfortable calling pharmacy, walking to blood bank, talking to visitors, calling doctors and accessing lab information.

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Specializes in NICU.

It may not be an option. Most new grads start on night shift. When a day shift position becomes available, we sign up (apply) for the position. It is based on seniority (25% corporate time, 75% unit time). It usually takes 2 yrs to get enough seniority to obtain a day shift position.

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In ICU, there is not much of a difference between days and nights.

Days tend to get more frequent visitors, but the single night visitor will stay there all night(we allow one visitor overnight who can sleep in the recliner).

Days gets more expected/scheduled surgical admissions, nights gets more emergency and trauma admissions.

Whatever you get, there will be plenty to learn.

Nights does pay more, but my body does not adapt well to night schedule, so I work them occasionally rather than regularly.

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From an inpatient med-surg POV:

Nights:

+Pay if your organization offers a differential.

+Easier to prioritize if you are a poor multitasker because there is less "sidetracking junk" like admits/discharges/families, etc.

+In theory, less work/more time to look at physician documentation and work on critical thinking and technique because most people in theory are asleep.

+/-Overall, less experienced workforce. This has both positives and negatives; usually less relational aggression/drama but harder to find experienced help for complex stuff and codes.

-Waking up attendings at 2 AM if your organization doesn't have hospitalists or residents.

-Waking up patients at 2 AM because some doctor is insistent on doing neuro checks Q2h despite the patient having no neuro symptoms for several days.

-Sundowners. If you have problems with confused people, wait until the moon rises. You ain't seen anything.

-Depending on your organization, higher patient:nurse ratios and lower PCT/CNA availability.

-Higher likelihood of circadian disruption than days.

Days:

+Docs are generally more around for questions and less grumpy.

+Depending on your organization, lower patient/nurse ratios and higher PCT/CNA availability.

+Healthier for your body than nights.

+Higher likelihood of inservices/committees being baked into your day instead of needing to make a special trip.

+/-Overall, more experienced workforce. This has both positives and negatives; usually easier to find help for complex cases and codes, but more relational aggression/drama.

-Much easier to get pulled in a thousand directions and more junk to sidetrack poor multitaskers such as doctors doing rounds, PT/OT, people wanting to be up and out of bed, families, etc.

-Lower pay if your organization offers a night differential.

-Discharges, which rarely occur on nights. More admissions, transfers, and pickups from the OR.

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