Who came up with the idea of 12 HOUR SHIFTS?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello. I am a new nurse pulling 12 hour shifts. Let me say I LOVE my job and I LOVE being a RN. :p However, after about 8 hours, I start to feel TIRED. By the time I get home, heck, I can hardly type on the computer my eyes and fingers just don't want to work anymore. I am pretty much out of it by then.... like a zombie. :eek:

Who (when) did nurses have to start doing 12 hour shifts?? :igtsyt: Since we are nurses, handle meds and make life and death decisions.... WHY are we working over 8 hours?? Seems somewhat unsafe to me. We are human and get tired. :bugeyes: Most jobs are 8 hours. As medical professionals, we should work even less in my opinion, since we have to be 'on our game' all the time. Ugh. :sstrs:

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

The answer to your issue is simple.

Don't work the 12 hours and look for something that's 8 hours a day.

I want to hear what you think of being at a job 5 days a week.

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I personally :redbeathe the twelve hours shifts. Less time in general at the hospital. I have more time with my family a week. When I started as a nurse I was working 5 8 hr shifts a week, plus pulling 2-3 8 hr shifts of on-call a month. We Begged Admin to let us go to 12 hour shifts. Much happier work staff now :yeah:.

I have been a nurse now almost 11 yrs. I have done a varied 8-12-16 hr shift on days/ evenings/ nights. I seem to feel rushed in my job with 8 hour shifts. With my 12 hours, I can give my babies time to recover from procedures before the next one has to start IE Weights/linen changes, assessments,labs, X-rays ect..

This is just my :twocents:, but if the hospital decided to go back to 8's, I would have to find another job :crying2:.

Kathy

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Specializes in Medical Surgical Orthopedic.

I think the fewer times a patient is "passed off", the better. Twelve hour shifts make it easier to organize and get everything done.....I think. Of course my first day of work is not until tomorrow, so I can only compare 10-11 hour clinical days with 5-6 hour clinical days so far.;)

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Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.

Going from 12 hours back to 8 hours increases your commuting expenses by 66%. Some people (myself included) like to have more time off during the week to work a second job or be with family, social friends, etc. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

As for how this started, I believe it was with the original 1980 Baylor University Medical Center's (Dallas, Texas), program that used two 12 hours shifts to entice nurses to work a full weekend, but be paid for a full week's salary. This was back in the 1980's heyday of real nursing shortage. Irish and Filipino nurses were literally arriving by the boatloads, with congressional approval of H-1B visas because the need was so acute. Nursing salaries also became much more attractive as hospitals provided all sorts of benefits to entice RN employment. Man, those were the days... (eyes misting over).

But seriously though; I do understand your point. However, I think that nurses can work longer if patient ratios were not as demanding. I myself have found that in the ED, during quiet nights, I walk out of there like I walked in; still ready to work. But other times when I have 16 patients and another walks in; can't even wait for the shift to end because I'm about to drop. So I think it's really a matter of what you're doing for that time period and that 8 versus 12 hours is not the only variable to the fatigue equation.

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

I worked 10 hour shifts in acute dialysis, and I loved it. I hated the 12's on the floors - I was always exhausted by the end of the shift, and could barely give a decent report. I always thought 12s were for a short-term coverage issue; they were NOT supposed to be forever.

I understand the commute issue, and in some ways it may be better for the patients. When I was young, I sometimes did doubles in an emergency (16 hrs) but if there is an emergency for coverage and you have already been there 12 hours, are you going to work 24 hours?

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Specializes in LTC, Subacute Rehab.

When you find them, let me know; I have a bone to pick. :devil:

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

I prefer to only be at work 2-3 nights a week, thanks. I've done the 5 8's and HATED it. Plus --less time spent getting dressed and commuting.

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Specializes in ER, LTC, IHS.

I'm with the majority, I love the 12s! Keep 'em comin'!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I personally like the 12 hour shifts better. It allows me to continue my education, and carry a second job should i need to.

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

I work from 4am to 4pm and I have to admit the first month was a killer!:yawn: I was so tired I was nauseated half of the time. Getting up at 2:30 is not fun. However, like the other people said, I get more days off with my family and I don't feel as frenzied to get it all done by the end of the shift. It's nice to have a 5 day stretch off at times. I worked today, Sunday, and I don't go back until Thursday.:yeah:

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In your post you state that you are a new nurse...that's probably the part that makes your day exhausting more so than the 12 hour shifts. The first job I started out at they had me on 8s for 2 months because they said new nurses tended to burn out if they threw them onto 12s, she wanted to make sure I could handle the stresses of a new job, and new work hours. I did enjoy 12s, but the job I have now has so many more perks that working the 8 hours is something I'm willing to give up, I don't hate my job and I enjoy going to it, we get ample vacation, so it works better than hating going to work and counting the days until I HAVE TO, not GET to go back...glad I quit that job! Regardless, just remember your first year as a nurse is a tough one, hang in there 12s or 8s...

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