Do 3, 12 hr shifts for weekdays only exist?

[M0nk3y007]

Hello all! I'm new to nursing and my family and I were discussing the flexibility in nursing schedules (usually for experienced nurses,, we discovered). We're curious about all nursing schedules available out there, especially as I make the transition into a working nurse and think about my future jobs.

I haven't really come across any work schedules in which you can work 3 12 hr shifts M-F? For example, working MWF, or TRF, or any combination of weekdays with no weekend requirements. So, I was wondering if those even exist? Or would you say M-F nursing jobs are typically 9-5 with weekends off?

I understand if those schedules do exist, it will most likely be for nurses that have experience and not a new grad nurse like me. I'm just trying to think ahead of what a possible schedule can be for when I get married (next year) and plan to have a little family of my own soon after that.

[FurBabyMom, MSN, RN]

I work in the OR. Most of our staff work 4x 10 hour shifts. Some work 5x 8 hour shifts. We now have a larger number of staff working 3x 12 hour shifts. We have staff who work one week day and the weekend. However, like most procedure areas, we do have call requirements. Call is fickle - sometimes you don't get called in for MONTHS, others you get called in EVERY SINGLE assigned day. On the other hand, we get paid a portion of our hourly wage to sit at home or be within the response time to work while on call. Holidays are a requirement for all except PRN staff (as a department we're large enough we could "trade" or "give" away our holidays pretty easily).

Finding something without weekends will be best accomplished either working in clinic or as PRN. Those will most likely not be options right out of school though.

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

I worked at a dialysis clinic where there was a MWF 12 hour shift schedule. Not so sure about acute care...

Babeinboots is correct. This type of schedule in dialysis (hemodialysis) settings are the norm and quite common. Dialysis patients go either MWF or T TH S. Most of the time the nurse is set to mirror the schedule of the patients so you're either the MWF nurse or the T TH S nurse. Saturdays can be rotated though......so just because you're MWF doesn't mean you won't have to work a Saturday every other week or once a month, etc...

Clinic hours can vary, but I knew somebody who worked in one and the dialysis clinic opened up at 0500 and closed at 1900. Saturdays they closed earlier at 1800. Many are set up w/ these type of hours. Of course, there are a few sites who are open until midnight or a bit later so patients can come in after work.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I worked at a dialysis clinic where there was a MWF 12 hour shift schedule. Not so sure about acute care...

Love your user name and pic, so cute!

[SmilingBluEyes]

In all the dialysis clinics I worked (5 of them) there was a Saturday requirement for all nurses. Usually is was 2 Saturdays a month. Our schedule did NOT mirror the patient schedule but went something like this:

4- 10 hour days a week

Open 0430 (or 0530 depending on when first pt on time was) to 1330 or 1400)

Mid 0830-2000

Close 1330 (or 1400)-2330 (or midnight)

The days varied each week; no one had set days they worked This was a 16 chair unit, with a luxurious 8:1 patient to nurse ratio.

One clinic (24 chairs) worked this way:

1st shift: 0530-1430

2nd shift 1415-close usually around midnight

1 nurse went home when down to 12 patients.

Everyone worked at least two Saturdays. One nurse went home at night when down to 12 patients. The ratio was 12:1 patients to nurse. Techs, 4:1

They all vary. In some states, you can have as high a ratio as 16:1, but the norm is 12:1. In some states the nurse actually puts on 4 and the ratio is 12:1. That is tough; I've done it. It really varies by clinic, not just state.

Anyhow I know that is just dialysis, but the beauty of dialysis (outpatient) is no Sundays and no on-call requirements. If you work acute (in hospital) the days and hours vary (and you do have to take call)---- and if you do home therapies, you have to be on-call for problems patients have with home tx.

[Mavrick, BSN, RN]

I'm chiming in with the other perioperative nurses. The Pre Op area is strictly M-F. 8 hour shifts but most of them start at 0600. Some come in later and stay until 1930. NO call.

OR and PACU work mostly days and eves M-F combination of 10 and 12 hour shifts. But somebody has to cover nights and weekends. Depending on how big your staff is, you rotate the call. In the PACU where I work I take every Thursday night and 1 Sunday a month. One Sunday I was at work for 11 hours straight then got called back in for another 2. Another Sunday the phone didn't ring once.

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

Yes, they exist. We have several NAs and RNs on our unit that work a variance of this schedule.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Most of the time the nurse is set to mirror the schedule of the patients so you're either the MWF nurse or the T TH S nurse.

Dialysis clinics in my area work Thursday thru Wednesday on (Sundays are off), then Thursday thru Wednesday off. The nurse works the whole day whether it's 10 hours or 16 hours

[babeinboots, MSN, NP, CNM]

Love your user name and pic, so cute!

Thanx!

[babeinboots, MSN, NP, CNM]

At the clinic where I worked, there was no rotating Saturdays. If you were MWF, then that was your schedule. Of course you could switch with another nurse if you needed a particular day off and didn't want to use PTO. I'm not sure if this was specific to my clinic or to the whole company.