8 hr shifts/ 12 hr shifts....and childcare?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am thinking of going back to nursing school, but I have 2 small children....1 and 3. By the time I finished....my oldest would be in pre-school or maybe kindergarten, and the little one either preschool or daycare if I was working. How do you handle childcare when nursing? I know alot of hospitals work 12 hour shifts....do any work 8 hour shifts?

If you work 12 hours, what do you do with your kids? I mean, most daycares require pick-up by 6pm at the latest. Do you use in-home daycare...spouse picks the kids up?

What do you do? Especially if you only work like 3 days a week....most daycares I've looked at make you pay full price for a week just to hold the child's spot, even if they arent there but a few days.

Ideally, if I do nursing, I'd like to work a fri, sat, sun schedule. How readily available are those?

Thanks for the information.

RNperdiem, RN

4,592 Posts

Many of the nurses I work with work the weekend pay plan.

They work straight weekends. The children are generally cared for by family members.

Every weekend does have its disadvantages, and a strong family support system helps.

Eight hour shifts sound good, but in practice, 8 hours at work does not include the 30min of lunch, the time it takes to commute to work(where I work, it can be a 10min walk each way from the parking lot to my unit plus a 30min drive each way)staying late and coming in early enough to avoid being late.

TangoLima

225 Posts

Child care has been an issue for me, especially while I was in NS and my husband was still in the Navy and out to sea (I have no family in the area either). I didn't use daycare centers because I only needed a few hours here and there. I was able to find someone who would watch my son in her home for a couple hours in the morning and then get him off to school, he would spend the day in school, then go to an after school program until I could pick him up. It was a whirlwind, but anything is doable if you want it badly enough.

I now work 3 12-hour shifts per week, and my husband picks up the slack. I work nights, so my husband drops son off at school in the morning, and I'm able to pick him up in the afternoons, or he goes to after school program. Fortunately, my husband's workplace has been good about letting him work a flexible schedule on the days I work.

Like you, I also thought I'd like to work Fri, Sat, Sun, but my hospital does not have "straight weekends". I guess it would depend on the facility. I think some units work 8 hour shifts, especially day-surgery and maybe some others. You could also work in a doctors office and have more "regular" schedule.

I agree with the other poster in that 12 hours doesn't really mean 12 hours (or 8 hours for that matter). Count on allowing extra time for parking and walking to your unit, giving/receiving report, lunch, etc. I leave my house at 5:30 in the afternoon (hospital is 40 miles away) and don't get home until 8:00 next morning.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN

3,543 Posts

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

We work eight hour shifts on my unit, and we work every other weekend. Since my kids are adults, I haven't had to deal with childcare, but most of the nurses with little ones arrange their schedules with their partners so that the need for childcare is minimized.

NightshiftRN69

47 Posts

Specializes in Neuro /Med-Surg.

Some hospitals have a parent shift or a shift spilt system for this type of issue. Where I use to work had parent shift nurses who would come in and work as admission nurses or just extra resources for the floor. They didn't have them on night shift of course only days. It might be worth looking into to see if anyone in your area has a program like this. The only catch is I'm not sure how much experince you have to have to work a parent shift. Even if the hospitals in your area don't have anything like this there is always part time. If nursing is what you truely feel your calling is then it will work out. Maybe a baby sitting co op type system with other nurses, your not alone in this type of situation and there are others who have the same thing to deal with you just have to think out side the box some times. Good luck

Some hospitals have a parent shift or a shift spilt system for this type of issue. Where I use to work had parent shift nurses who would come in and work as admission nurses or just extra resources for the floor. They didn't have them on night shift of course only days.

This sounds wonderful and it's such a shame that more hospitals don't do this!! Neither of my local hospitals do this, nor do they offer "weekend plans." You work variable hours, any day of the week. Period. :(

Most shifts are 8 hours, but a few units (CVOR, ICU, etc) are 12's.

I am not a nurse, but I am a health science major in college and a unit floor volunteer at one hospital. I am also the primary caregiver (a.k.a. "Mommy") to a young child. Unfortunately, the realities of a nurses schedule has made me decide NOT to pursue nursing as a career; I'm going into an area of healthcare that's a bit more family friendly.

If nursing is something you are really serious about, be aware that it may be hard balancing a nursing career with an active family life (this is what other nurses have told me). You will need strong support from spouse, family, and friends. JMHO, but I think it would be REALLY hard with two children that are so young.

Good Luck!

if you want something bad enough you will make it happen. i am a single mom who just started nursing school with a 16 month baby. i put her in day care at school while i am there. i cant really afford it, but some how i manage. it is tough but it will work itself out if this is really what you want

jenny456

25 Posts

Hi,

The easiest thing would be to work straight weekends, or do what I did and work 7p-7a 3 times per week. Your husband can be home with the kids in the evening and night. Then please send them to daycare in the a.m. so you can sleep! You can pick them up in the late afternoon or have your husband pick them up on his way home from work. Best wishes!

missjennmb

932 Posts

I'm just a student atm but I also work in the hospital on off hours. My husband picks up the slack right now (I'm either working or at school pretty much every waking moment). Once I'm done with school I'm looking for either PRN, 11p-7a, 7a-3p, or the like. Our therapists do 12 hour shifts, but only work 7 days every two weeks and still get 8 hours of OT every two weeks. That kind of makes it worth it, just for the additional time off. I've worked a few 12's and honestly, it doesn't feel like any more or less work to do 12's than to do the 10 1/2 hrs that I do now on weekends, or any harder than the 4 hr shifts I have during the week, once you factor in getting ready for work/driving there/etc.

I have a 13 yr old, 1 yr old, and 3 yr old at home. My baby will be almost 2 when I start working, and almost 4 when I switch from working and going to school, to working and doing school online.

patwil73

261 Posts

Specializes in ICU/CCU, Home Health/Hospice, Cath Lab,.

I work 6 straight 12 hr nights (7:30-7:30 plus 2 hrs of drive time total). My wife works 8 straight 8 hrs shifts (11pm - 7:30 am plus 2 hours drive time). She works Wed to Wed and I work Thu through Tue.

We interviewed 12 different nanny/babysitters and finally found someone who worked out for us. They come on Thu (my starting day) at 10pm and sleep over to watch the kids, get them up in the morning for school and see them off. She does this each night we work, then is off when we are.

It is a bit expensive for this option but allows us to continue working and making sure the kids are well cared for - working nights like this has this advantage that it might be easier to find coverage if they know they are simply sleeping over rather than having to be active with the kids all days.

During summer of course she stays with the kids during the day and takes them to different activities to keep them engaged and away from the house :bow:.

Both our kids are in school full time so that makes it easier for finding care as we wake up when they get home.

As most people have said - you can do most anything you just have to look around.

Hope this helps

Pat

country mom

379 Posts

It can be difficult- you also need 1 or 2 back-up plans if your normal plan goes awry- (like the babysitter calls in sick and you have to leave in 10 minutes). My husband is an over-the-road truck driver so it's basically all up to me. Sadly, I had to leave bedside nursing if I wanted to work full time. No facility in my area offers "weekend-only" positions and there is no such thing as "split shifts". If you have a partner who can pick up the children for you, or have grandma, etc. close by to help, then you're set. If you're "on your own", you will have to be very creative and selective in your choice of positions and will be somewhat limited in your career options.

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