Can you find 12 hour shifts in long term care facilities?

[Ceteris Paribus]

My wife and I are resolved to move to Florida from Indiana. Currently, I have one year as a PCU/medsurge telemetry RN and she has allmost 5 years in a cardiac ICU. Because the job market is so tough right now I have resolved myself to taking essentially WHATEVER job I can get even if it means taking a step in a direnction that is opposite my goals (which is to work in critical care and then possibly become an NP or CRNA). However, the ONE thing that I'm having a hard time getting my mind around is 8 hour shifts! If I could "open up" applying to long term care facilities then my prospects of finding a job would be much greater, BUT 8 hour shifts mean five days per week and ONE of the major reasons that I went back to school for nursing was to work three day work weeks (or at least get overtime if I worked more). Do any/many of these facilities offer 12 hour shifts? IF not would they likely consider letting me work two 16 hour shifts plus an 8 hour shift? If not why not? I've also noticed that 8 hour shifts also seem to be THE NORM in psyche nursing (which is one reason although I loved it in nursing skill and was offered a position as a new grad on a psyche nurse, I did not accept it). It would seem easier to staff two 12 hour shifts instead of three eight hour shifts. I no that at my hospital they basically stopped hiring people who only wanted to work 8 hour shifts because it is just easier to staff 12's. Can someone give me a short history lesson on the whole 8 verses 12 hour shift thing and why certain specialties prefer one over the other? Is it "job protection" (more shifts means more needed workers), long standing industry practice (that's the way its always been done and no one has thought to change things) or are things so much harder in these areas that people can only bare to work eight hours at a time?

[BerryHappy]

I live in Miami and work at a LTC. They offer 12 hour shifts and 8 hour shifts. Whatever you prefer...good luck!

[kat7ap]

Many LTCFs offer weekend doubles in which you work two 16 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. Some homes will pay you for 40 hours if you work the weekend double. I have seen some LTCF do 12 hour shifts on the weekends (this is also called the "Baylor plan" in some places) but I'm yet to see one that offers 12 hour shifts during the week. Good luck in your job search!

[rnlately]

In my town 12hrs is the norm for the shifts. 8hr shifts are few in my neck of the woods.