What's your favorite shift and why??

ICRN2008, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2006

I absolutely adore second shift. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and I have time in the morning to get things done before going to work. Plenty of time for working out, shopping, and appointments. I meet my husband for lunch almost every day (when I'm not in school).

Third shift is definitely at the bottom of my list- talk about being a zombie! I didn't realize how poorly I had been functioning on nights until I moved to evenings. I felt as if I had gone from being an 80 year old back to someone in her twenties with a decent amount of energy again!

angel337, MSN, RN · Nov 16, 2006

i like days. it feels more normal because i get home by 4pm, fix dinner, spend time with family. i used to like pm shift because of not having to get up early, but days works better for my family.

puggymae · Nov 16, 2006

3-11 for me - I like coming home, staying up for a while and wathcing TV, then going to bed and sleeping in. You still have to do errands before going to work if you need to. Of course I haven't worked 3-11 in a good long while as we do 12 hour shifts...

Nightrn16 · Nov 16, 2006

I liked the 11p-7a shift. Sure the patients get cranky when you have to wake them up especially when the 3-11p RN gave a sleeping pill at 9pm, but the way i look at it, they get their vitals taken at midnight anyway, so their gonna get woken up.

It had its advantages. I'd scheudle my doc appt's for the first thing in the AM then sleep all day and wake up around 9pm to get ready and stuff. THe sun scares me tho hehe

luckylucyrn · Nov 16, 2006

I like 7p-7a as long as all my days are together. I love sleeping a lot (he he) and can sleep all day on my first off day and then wake up for a while and go right back to sleep at a normal time. I really enjoy my time alone in the house in the daytime, and I like not waking up so early in the morning. Also, the ER where I work slows down around 3am (sometimes!) and so I can wind up my shift and leave on time. On days, that doesn't always happpen because we are really busy at the end of the day shift.

mom23RN · Nov 16, 2006

I LOVED nights. I worked 7p - 7a twice a week and then 11p - 7a twice a week. We always had at least 2 days off in a row as well.

I loved night becuse I never had to miss anything. You could pretty much time your sleep around just about anything.

Oh... and holidays. If you worked the holiday it was always the night before. That was awesome!

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 16, 2006

Dayshift. Because it's the shift where I get to feel like a normal human being.

dragonflyRN · Nov 16, 2006

I like nights. 7:30p to 8a. I suppose I'm just used to it, but I have never been a morning person.

tatgirl · Nov 16, 2006

3-11 is my favorite. I can sleep in, run errands before I go to work. The downside is that I only see my daughter for a few minutes in the morning on the days that I work. And I like having the shift differential too!!!!!

Wendy

LPN

luckylucyrn · Nov 16, 2006

Oh yeah! Shift diffs! Add that to my list of why I like nights. Makes a huge difference.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2006

Early in my RN career nights won hands down, I was learning ICU nursing, was working on a divorce and had a few older women willing to watch my kids while they slept (I had 2 at the time). Right now daylight and evenings are my preference as I am getting a bit older and am a morning person. I like a lot of action and the shift being over before I am aware of that..fast paced units work for me. Fresh out of high school I worked steady evenings as a nurse aid while trying to establish my horseshoeing business.