I would like to return to working in a hospital setting but what I've noticed about most job opportunities is that they are always for 12 hour shifts.
After having already worked 12 hrs before on a med/surg floor, for me, these shifts nearly KILL me. My mind and body shut down after 8 hours and those extra 4 or 5 hours are especially taxing when I am so worn out. I burn out quickly. Having two extra days off each week is little comfort when I know that it will take two days just to recuperate.
As a single mother of two it will be difficult to find daycare and after-school care for my children.
My question is, why aren't hospitals offering 8 hr. shifts as an option? Perhaps part of this nursing shortage could be resolved if nurses had scheduling options.
I've also wondered why more hospitals aren't offering on-site daycare? Most nurses are women (duh), many are single, and inevitably, many have children.
Hey, Dplear, I HAVE to be the devil's advocate here and say the real reason you can do 7 12's in a row is because you are a male and your wife does all of the parenting and household duties while you're working!
Seriously, I couldn't drive home after the 4th 12 hour as I would probably fall asleep at the wheel-- sometimes that 3rd 12 is pretty hard to drive home after.
I work a combination of 8's and 12's-- during the week I work 8 hour nights and on weekends I work 12 hour nights- I only work every 3rd weekend and I work either 2 12's or 3 12's every 6 weeks.
It works for me. I'd worked 12's for about 4 or 5 years; and suddenly "hit the wall" bacause the fatigue was so bad. I didn't want to give up the every 3rd weekend option, so this is what works for my unit, my family and me. It does take 2 days to "recover" from those 3 12's in a row, though, so I'm never scheduled to work after them. The first day off, I'm kind of a zombie, the 2nd day is better, but don't ask me to do any hard thinking or balancing my checkbook because that is beyond my capabilities on those 2 days.
OHG...Jenny found me out.... Actually i generally get home in time in the morning to get my 2 kids off to school and I wake up at 3:40 in the afternoon to get them in the house and help them with their homework. I also generally cook dinner for them on those days. If it is an off day for me the wife gets to cook. Now about cleaning the house...that is something else...LOL ( I REFUSE TO MAKE A BED!!!!)
Balancing checkbooks???? that means you would have to have money to to do that....it must be the side job at Taco John with your son, since we know nurses do not make enough money to need to balance a checkbook with zero dollars in our accounts:p
Hey, you're the guy who makes the big bucks! And as far as balancing the checkbook, I always seem to add instead of subracting any checks I've spent if I try to do it after my 12 hour shifts!
As far as the Taco John's job, I never went through with it since my hospital didn't go on strike. I just try not to spend money (although both my daughter and hubby do more than enough of that!).
BTW, since my Hubby works days and I work nights, about the only time my bed ever gets made is on laundry day-- and my excuse is that with one or the other of us always sleeping; the bed needs to air out! And I end up doing the laundry, housework, etc; so no one argues that point with me.
12 hour dayshifts for me aren't so bad most days, once you get used to them (takes about 6 months).
It's nice not to have to be responsible for cooking dinner 3 days out of the week. It's also a relief to have a quiet house all to myself on days off during the week. And less traffic if I go out doing errands. The key for me not getting to tired from the shifts is, never do more than 2 days in a row.
The worst part of working 12 hours is that I don't sleep well (or at all sometimes) because after rushing around at work like a maniac for 12 hours, I can't relax, even if I do fall asleep I usually dream I'm working all night. Splitting the shifts up helps a bit.
I forgot to mention the biggest advantage of 12-hour shifts: we only have to work one weekend a month. The 8-hour people have to work every other weekend.
Specializes in Mental health, organization and leadership.
Here in Sweden we have in general 3 shifts. 07.00-16.00, 12.30-21.00 and 21.00-07.00 with some local variation. It`s quite good, it means that for example in afternoons (12.00-16.00) staffing is usually good, since both morning and eavningshift are on duty. The bad thing is that you ofcourse have to work more days with this system, 5 of 7. I don`t know which system is the best, personally I think I would prefer 12 hour shifts for myself, and get 4 days off instead. I don`t know, maybe that system is too tough in the long run, but at least for now it would be good for me!
my personal experience is this: 5 years ago......12 hour shifts were great. i worked 3p-3a quite a bit. it was not always crazy in our er, and we had lulls, and time to re-coop a bit. i have worked 8 hour shifts the past three years..........because of kids. however, we are always packed, always busy, constantly running.....and 8 hours tears me up. from others point of view at work, this is what i see. i do the scheduling, and am a manager. people all want 12 hour shifts......they claim they only want to be at work 3 days a week instead of 4 or 5. a few pick up extra time for o/t........and don't really like too, if it causes them to be there 5 or 6 days a week. mostly worker preference..............but we have all kinds of screwy shifts in the ed sooooooo???????????
I started doing 12 hr shifts (days7a-7p) while I was an LPN finishing up on my RN. I loved it!! I went to hospital and now work 12 hr nights 7p-7a. I still love it!! I have 3-4 days off per week, we self schedule so we work two day- three day stretches, then the same off. I come home, sleep 6 hrs if I have to work later, 2-3 if not. I spend a lot less time sleeping than I did when I worked days.
I just hope this is not a honeymoon!! LOL, I have only been doing this for a few weeks.!!!!!
i will miss my 12 hour shifts after i graduate in december with my arnp - i will hopefully find a job to suit me! working 12 hours leaves me alot of time to develop my own schedule for school, etc.
Actually i generally get home in time in the morning to get my 2 kids off to school and I wake up at 3:40 in the afternoon to get them in the house and help them with their homework. I also generally cook dinner for them on those days. If it is an off day for me the wife gets to cook. Now about cleaning the house...that is something else...LOL ( I REFUSE TO MAKE A BED!!!!)
Dplear
288 Posts
I do Pediatrics