Doing away with 12 hour shifts?

nckdl · Feb 20, 2008

Thanks for all your replies. I do realize that they do have staffing issues, BUT and this is a big but... The staffing that they are having trouble with are all the 8 hour shifts not the 12 hour ones. About 90% of our 12 hour workers are younger and have children which is all a concern of course. I think what is going to happen soon is a petition taken to the CEO and see if that helps.

StrwbryblndRN · Feb 20, 2008

I like to work 12's but not everyone is me. I would think most facilities would adopt a mix of 8's and 12's. We do just that. It works out for the best. And we even have nurses come in for just 4 hours. Except for the fact we do not have enough staff, it is easier to staff the shifts with all the options available.

It is a win/win scenario if facilities were flexible. Staff then could be flexible back which would give a better balance in order to provide for pt's.

(who would get the brunt of the problem if there is not enough staff)

PS I am working tonight for overtime. I usually work 7p-7a. If that was the only thing available I could not come in. But I can work 11p-7a. They accepted. Granted I can't do exactly what they want but at least I can help out for most of the shift.

ShayRN · Feb 20, 2008

God Bless all of you who work 12 hours.:bowingpur I did that for a year and felt like a zombie the whole time. I just don't have it in me. I can feel my brain shut down at hour 10. Also, that extra day off wasn't worth anything to me because all I wanted to do was sleep.:zzzzz I am a nurse that management just loves, I PREFER the evening shift. (2-10, 3-11 or in my case 4-12.) I am not a morning person at all and really enjoy the pace of that shift.

I think that coming in and saying "no more 12's" to a group of nurses is just asking for people to leave. I know that people who work them, love them.

PMFB-RN, RN · Feb 20, 2008

In the ICU where I work we have 4, 8, 12, & until recently 16 hour shifts. 16 hour shifts where done away with in the name of patient safety. As only 3 nurses (our of 54) did them (I was one of them) doing away with them had little effect. However doing away with 12s would cause an instant staff shortage as about half our nurses have vowed to leave the unit if they do.

I have heard patient safety trotted out as a reason to do away with 12s. I wonder how safe patients will be with an even more extreme nursing shortage when nurses leave the bedside as a result of doing away with 12s.

It seems absurd to me that nursing administration can not offer different shift to different nurses.

Love_2_Learn · Feb 20, 2008

I work at a hospital which hires 8 and 12 hour shifts. Our unit is staffed this way and although it is difficult for our manager to sometimes "fill in the gaps" we all pitch in and get it covered. Since we are flexible with helping out we are able to keep our beloved 8 or 12 hour shifts. I believe that retention of nurses is very important and schedules mean so much to people! As many of these posts have mentioned we have multigenerational nurses and each has their own reasons for why they prefer certain amounts of time to work. I say if everyone, or almost everyone, can be happier then do what is best for them all... After all, I once had a manager tell me, "If you don't mess with your nurses' schedules or paychecks they will generally be loyal and sometimes bend over backwards for you." and I believe her!

Sweet T · Feb 20, 2008

As a mother of 3 I like the idea of 12 hour shifts. 5 days of work and 7 days of being a parent. The problem I find is most shifts are 7a-7p or 7p- 7a. If you have a husband that has to be at work @ 6am and daycare or before school care open at 6:30 you just can't make it to work on time. What about 8-8, 9-9, 10-10. I know it's wishful thinking, but if more facilites would have flexible scheduling alot of nurses and healthcare workers in general would be happy:bugeyes:

seanpdent, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Feb 20, 2008

Not happen to me personally, but have had fellow colleagues tell me about it.

From a staff's view, the 12hr shift is so much more managable with your lifestyle.. and time away from work.

From the managers point of view it lessens the number of unfilled shifts, as well as eliminate the possibility of staffing shift 'holes' (having a shift filled from 7-3 and then 7-7, but no staffing for the 3-7 shift).

I too love nursing for this very reason. I love 3 days on.. and 4 days to recover. We all need those days to recuperate... and re-energize!

lorilou22RN · Feb 20, 2008

I love 12 hour shifts, i think they are what keeps me from getting burned out in nursing. 4 days to regroup before i go back into the trenches.

I agree totally, I used to work 8 hour eves, and I did get burned out very fast. 12 hour shifts tho difficult, work out much better with my family responsibilities. I would think that 12 hours are EASIER to staff, you know only 2 bodies, as opposed to 3! Jeez, when will administration learn. I too would leave that place and go elsewhere. Addl, when does a shift ever end in 8 or 12 hours? Give me a break. :devil:

tntrn, ASN, RN · Feb 20, 2008

And how is telling you that your facility is going from 12's to 8's any more upsetting that telling you it's going the other way? That's what happened in the past, and yes, that also upset the lifestyles of many. Put me in the group that could never do 12's. And you can also put me in the group that doesn't really believe that people who do all those 12's are really safe nurses, or safe to drive home afterward. There are just not enough hours in the day for them to be getting proper sleep between shifts.

Don't even get me started on patient safely and 16's. That's a nightmare waiting to happen.

lorilou22RN · Feb 20, 2008

And how is telling you that your facility is going from 12's to 8's any more upsetting that telling you it's going the other way? That's what happened in the past, and yes, that also upset the lifestyles of many. Put me in the group that could never do 12's. And you can also put me in the group that doesn't really believe that people who do all those 12's are really safe nurses, or safe to drive home afterward. There are just not enough hours in the day for them to be getting proper sleep between shifts.
Don't even get me started on patient safely and 16's. That's a nightmare waiting to happen.

Puhleese. I used to do 16 hours, one shift I had to do 20, there was noone to cover after. Now 16 burnt me, but I was safe. As far as 12 hours, well done em for 10 years, and happen to be very used to them, not that I'm not tired, but I do 3-12's in a row, I like to get them done. I haven't had any issues happen because of them either. As far as driving home, no accidents either. 12's are easier for me than 5-8 hour shifts. Thank you for your concern.

oramar · Feb 20, 2008

That is so dumb. Let the people who want to work 12 do it and the people who want to work 8 do it. I have worked at several hospitals that did both and it worked out fine. The only problem was when a person calls off for a 12 it is really hard to cover for them. When someone calls off for a 8 you have the option of covering it several different ways. I think scheduling maybe a little more complicated but it had been going on for many years without much problem.

lossforimagination · Feb 20, 2008

They can pry my 12 hour shift from my cold, dead hands.
If all facilities would go back to 8s, I'd probably leave hospital/facility nursing all together. I can't do this job 5 days a week.

It's not usually just 5 day weeks when working 8 hr shifts....to accommodate working the staff every other weekend, the staff usually end up working 7 on before getting 2 off. I worked a hospital with 8 hr shifts... I worked only 32 hrs/wk because I wasn't going to work FT and do 7 on/2 off. 12 hrs shifts are hard, but working more days on in some God-forsaken hospital is much worse!