Day VS Night shift...help

[Joanie49]

Soooo, I just graduated nursing school and would LOVE to get a 3-11 shift. That would be PERFECT for me but unfortunately most hospitals where I live are 12hr shifts that are 7a-7p and 7p-7a. I HATE getting up early in the morning for the 7a shift but I am worried about working the 7p shift because I have never done it before and don't really know what to expect or if it will drag or what exactly..

I know what it is like to work 7a-7p but can people tell me what their experiences have been with working nights 7p-7a? How is it different, do you find your sleeping patterns are drastically disturbed, do nights lag? What is a average shift differential?

Any help would be SO much appreciated!!

:)

[vanessaem, BSN, RN]

I just got a phone call from a 7p-7a application I submitted yesterday for an interview tomorrow :) I am so excited so so glad I posted on here to get some more info on what to expect! Woohoo :):)

Congratulations! I wish you the best of luck. :)

[DeeAngel]

Last time I worked I worked on night ****. We had one more patient than they had on day shift with none of the visitors and craziness to deal with. There is no way I will ever work day shift on a med surg floor, it was just a complete zoo and no one stuck around more than a few months. Get blackout blinds for your window, silence your phone, get a white noise machine and night shift is completely doable for a lot of people. There is not a clear answer to your question, they only real way for you to know is to actually work night shift for awhile.

[CeciBean, ASN, RN]

I was *born* a night person...you could have asked my mom! School was positively hell for me much of my life until my mother allowed me to drink coffee starting in high school; that made morning classes, if not wonderful, at least possible. In college I could at least schedule classes starting later in the day. I eventually preferred night shift, although 11-7 wasn't wonderful back in the days of 8 hour shifts; 3-11 was better but bad with a family. When the 12 hour shifts came along I hated them until my body got used to them, but eventually I got so I preferred the 12 hour nights. The only time I went back to days were the years I did home health, while my kids were in high school; those were years of lots of coffee and being discombobulated much of the morning, but the driving helped. After the last one graduated, back to the hospital, evenings and nights PRN. Then I separated from my husband, became a traveler, and was divorced. I worked all shifts while traveling, but nights were mostly in demand. When I decided to stop traveling and settle down again, it was nights for sure. Now that I'm retired, I still don't get up early and probably never will by choice. If I absolutely *have* to be up before 10 am, I have to set the alarm clock, because otherwise I will be blissfully asleep until then or later.

[Snowbaby87]

3-11 is a great shift for the hours. However, based on my experience in a busy unit that had both 8 hour and 12 hour shifts the 3-11 shift really sucked. We had 1 or 2 girls that work 7-3 so my job was to take their patients. Some days I was scheduled and either they had discharged their patients or they did not work that day and I would always get new admissions or the other nurses would give up thier worst patients to me. I hardly ever got my same patients back. One day I even got 1 patient on the unit 2 new admissions and a transfer. I stayed on that shift about 6 months. So the good hours may not always out way the horrible workload.

[Robinsb1]

Hi Joanie,

You might consider going to your nurse manager & ask him/her to consider scheduling you 3-11 shifts. Scheduling all staff 7A/7P shifts has advantages: easier to manage, avoids OT (in theory), & appeals to most nurses who want to work 3 days a week. However, you can offer flexibility. 3 main points: by working 3-11 shifts, the unit can better match workload; you don't want to have the same amount of RN'S on days as on nights & you don't want to have a drop off of RN'S at 7pm on the unit. Second, if you are willing to work Fridays (& maybe more weekends) it will help the unit (& the NM) & seems fair in exchange for you working 3-12shifts. Third, as a new nurse, you will provide safer care, be more dependable, & adapt better to your new position better by working 3-11 shifts. You may be able to do 2, 12 hour shifts (7A) & 2, 3-11 shifts a week as well. There needs to be flexible pieces to make a good schedule & this should appeal to your nurse manager / management.

Adapting to 7pm shifts is different for everyone. In general, it is not normal physiologically. Especially changing from 7P to 7A shifts is hard. You end up not quite knowing when to sleep or eat. For some, it is very exhausting, if not dangerous, but most will muddle through. There are advantages to working any shift. Most nurses don't want to work straight evening shifts (let alone 8 hour shifts)

I hope it works out well for you!

[kikaymeh]

I worked nights for 3 years and hated it.

Switched to days and loved it ever since.

Night shift can be tough on some people. I had trouble sleeping during the day. But the only thing that I love during nights is the occasional downtime when the floor is not too busy or census is low. The management people don't come during nights, you will see a lot of them during the day reminding you to do this, chart this etc....... When I first started out as a nurse, worked nights. I think it is a good idea to give it a try, establish your routine, you will learn, nights is not that busy and fast paced compared to days. Day shift can get too crazy and hectic, I work in a tele floor. There is hardly downtime and you are constantly being interrupted etc.

Good luck!

[srercg]

I'm not an expert at it yet -but I can tell you what I've learned so far.

I've always worked day shift in the past.

I got through my first night shift fine - but once you get home you pretty much have to take something to force yourself to sleep because believe it or not - you just can't do it. I thought I was going to pass out driving home, but once I got there I couldn't fall asleep. Other nurses say they use melatonin, Benadryl, etc. Benadryl would have knocked me out for my next shift so I can do that.

Next night - not so bad as I thought it would be on 4 hours sleep. but got home and slept the whole day. 3rd night in a row - breeze after getting the sleep. BUT - got home after the 3rd one - slept for 4 hours - woke up to go have lunch with a friend, but then got home and didn't wake up til 3 am - went right back to sleep until 9:30 am. Pretty much that whole 4th day after working my 3 shifts was wasted on sleep.

I wanted 3 in a row so I could have 4 days off in a row - but one of them is pretty much sleep. I will also have to use the entire day prior to my first shift the following week to sleep .

It is a LOT slower at night. They say you get more admissions - but they aren't that difficult really. You only have maybe one or two med passes -some not at all, no new orders from docs usually unless something goes wrong. No patients going out for tests or surgery at night unless you have an emergency situation. All the focus is on charting, and blood draws.

btw - I work 7p -7 a. 3pm to 11 won't be as bad for sleep issues - BUT, if you have kids - not so good - also that's only an 8 hour shift so you have to work 5 days to get full time.

I hear lots of stories that its not true that night shift is slower -but I have to tell you - I have not seen that myself yet. I worked day shift for a while, then went to night shift - night shift was definitely slower - a lot slower. Even with demanding patients - still have tons of down time.

And I'm sure this is not the norm - or at least I hope not -but I've also noticed that night shift -because of the down time - has a lot more politics and drama than day shift. Just MY experience so far.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I am a day person, but don't mind working nights at all. Less management, less family drama, less staff overall - which is a mixed blessing.

[peachy512, RN]

I'm working 7p-7a as a CNA and I LOVE it. The unit I'm on has fantastic team work, we get paid more for being there at night, and it's much less stressful than day shift. Don't get me wrong, nights can get busy, especially if we're short staffed and then they pull one of us to go sit, but because we don't typically have families there constantly asking questions and the patients are usually asleep, we can catch up and are less likely to be pulled in a million different directions. The autonomy is great too, and while 12 hour shifts CAN drag on, I much prefer having the 4 days off! That being said, I have been told that day shift is better for your body, makes it easier to eat healthier, and is likely easier for those who are married with families, but everyone is different.