Free time for night shifts for CNA and Nurse

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  1. If you work the night shift, H=how much time do you actually work per shift?

    • 3
      4 hours
    • 0
      3 hours
    • 2
      2 hours
    • 2
      1 hour
    • 0
      less than 1 hour

7 members have participated

I heard that if you work the night shift at assisted living places or Home Health Agency you can have a ton of free time.

How true is that? Would it be easy to find a job where you work less than an hour each night as long as you complete your few weeks of CNA training?

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

you obviously have not worked my 90full beds, 26skilled medicare LTC home, when we worked 8hr shifts , i worked at least 9hr....every night, my cnas did not have slack time either

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Never worked less than a full shift on nights. There might be a few nights with down time, but paperwork takes up any time the patients don't. If you have free time, it because you aren't doing something that could be done. You might get a better response if you have the same number of hours worked as you do hours in the shift on your survey.

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Specializes in Oncology.

Omg, this is hilarious. Are you basing those on an 8 hour shift? Where is the option for 9 hours, cause I often can't leave on time? Granted, this is based on acute care but I've never heard of LTC people discussing all of their free time either. I would say a shift where you work less than an hour is extremely unrealistic unless you aren't doing your job.

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Are the three posters above nurses? I just heard for CNA night shifts. Maybe I should have left out nurses out of the question, maybe they have to work a lot.

But I wasn't sure if the CNA jobs that I've heard about were rare or common (less than an hour of work).

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

RN FORTY ONE YEARS! and my CNAs have no slack time

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I doubt that they are only working an hour. Call lights are still going off for one reason or another. I doubt they are sitting around playing solitare or reading books. As for Home care it is a different kind of a job, and while they are sleeping you probably are just sitting there and waiting till maybe they need you. So i can see these people are reading, knitting, and doing quite things while their clients are sleeping.

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Are the three posters above nurses? I just heard for CNA night shifts. Maybe I should have left out nurses out of the question, maybe they have to work a lot.

But I wasn't sure if the CNA jobs that I've heard about were rare or common (less than an hour of work).

I think perhaps you have been misinformed. I am a CCA I work 12 hour nights, I get my coffee break at 10pm, and I maybe have another hour of sitting for the rest of the night, most nights I don't though. If someone at my facility said they were sitting most of the night I would be shocked if all of their work was accomplished. Rounds take almost an hour most nights.

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I doubt that they are only working an hour. Call lights are still going off for one reason or another. I doubt they are sitting around playing solitare or reading books. As for Home care it is a different kind of a job, and while they are sleeping you probably are just sitting there and waiting till maybe they need you. So i can see these people are reading, knitting, and doing quite things while their clients are sleeping.

I see. So I guess it's mainly the home care that has a lot of free time. If you get Home Health Aid Certification you can you only do home care while if you get CNA you can do a variety of job including home care?

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

only if you are doing pvt duty like provider services, if you are doing regular home health, you will travel to about six residents homes, help with baths dressing vitals, and adls

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Specializes in None.

I worked nights in the hospital from 7p-7a and had maybe an hour (including 30 min lunch) of "down time". In an LTC facility some are able to ring the call bell but a lot are incontinent, need repositioned, etc. If you asked a CNA that does his or her job then i'd imagine you'd only have some downtime because you would be checking/repositioned the total care and checking on the alert residents.

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I see. So I guess it's mainly the home care that has a lot of free time. If you get Home Health Aid Certification you can you only do home care while if you get CNA you can do a variety of job including home care?

Yes at our home health agency we have aides and CNAs. And if you are just an aide, home health is basically all you can work. But if you have your CNA there are many more doors and opertunities for you to work. I work either a 1st shift or 2nd shift depending on which client I am working with. But home health have some clients that need 24 hour care, wheather it is because family wants someone there with mom because they simply do not want them to be alone, or you could get someone that may need a lot of care such as a paralytic. But in any case if you are willing to take 3rd shifts, many home health agencies are looking for people willing to work these hours. I don't think they are always easy to fill. Also they usually have a good amount of time as well. Mant 3rd shift can be or close to 12 hour shifts. while day shifts I feel the majority of them range from 2 to 8 hour shifts depending on the clients needs.

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