I hope you can help me fellow nurses. My husband and I will be working both 12 hours shift. He is dayshift, 3 times a week, and I will be nightshift (at least for a few months, this is a new position for me), 3 nights a week. We both gonna work every other weekend. I will have the option to pick my weekend that I want to work but I need to give a answer soon.
We are arguing about what would be the best schedule for us and our 5 months old baby. Hiring someone is not an option. So 2 things: work opposite (which I want to do) or work same days (meaning him day and me night) so we get our days off together. That seems a nice idea except for the fact that he does not seem to care if I don't sleep before going to work!!
According to him, people that work for example 2 nights in a row don't sleep the day of their first night so my first night will not be a problem. For example, he goes to work on a saturday, I care for our baby then drop her off for an hour or two at my sister's then go work night. Then come back home care for my daughter and work sunday night, then I can rest on Monday. That seems crazy to me. I need at least 4 or 5 hours of sleep. My baby is not a big nap taker, a hour max 3 times a day. No way i can feel rested with that type of sleep!
I would love to get some input. Night nurse do you sleep before going to work on your first day? Do you have a husband that works 12 hours as well? How do you do with kids?
My husband and I worked without the same days off for I'd say at least 5 years! Then we got one day off together. He works and odd job delivering beer starts at 4 30am and off by 330! I had to work 12 hour shifts Fri sat sun for years, total bummer as he worked Tuesday through friday. I now.still work.Fri sat sun every other month noc 12 hours but im starting my new position this Wednesday in hospice working mon through Fri 9 to 5 weekends every 7 weeks or so. Holy moly!
I think.working opposite is nice because daycare won't be an ssue and you won't have enough to call out sick because trust me, kids get sick alot! And eventually you both can have days off together.
It's hard when two people in the family work odd hours.
Lots of compromise.
omg that is crazy idk if i could do that!! My boyfriend and i are both nurses at new jobs and have been getting completely opposite schedules. I will go days at a time without seeing him and i can barely handle it lol. Hopefully (im self scheduling and he is auto-scheduled) we can get on a good rotation
I've worked days, nights and have raised kids. I would NOT try to do your shifts together to save up your days off together. You should work yours on days he's off for the most part because you will NEED every minute you can get between shifts to recover. Raising a baby and nursing are both exhausting. Adding nights is another element.
I stay up later on the night before my first shift. Sleep in in the morning then take a 2-3 hr nap before going in. The day after my last shift if I'm not on that night I go home and sleep a half day and then either go to bed with my family or catch a short afternoon nap and then stay up later to sort of semi stay on a night owl routine. Depends on whether I need to be "on" early in the morning or can sleep in.
That doesn't sound possible to me. When I worked night shift I sometimes would go without sleeping before my first night shift but then would come home and crash for pretty much the whole next day before going in again. My husband and I rarely saw each other for more than a couple hours a day when our kids were little but it is what worked for us - we didn't want to have to put our kids in day care. Now that they are older we get our days off together and it is great. To be able to have our children at home with one of us was worth it to us but may be different for others. Good luck in whatever you decide.
Willingly going into work with no sleep in 48 hours, goes against your nursing license. You basically are going in intoxicated with sleep deprivation. If anything happened at work to your patients and they find out you willingly went in on no sleep, you could see your license revoked and jail time. That is absolutely dangerous and selfish to risk your patients like that. Tell your husband no on this one.
BSN16
389 Posts
omg that is crazy idk if i could do that!! My boyfriend and i are both nurses at new jobs and have been getting completely opposite schedules. I will go days at a time without seeing him and i can barely handle it lol. Hopefully (im self scheduling and he is auto-scheduled) we can get on a good rotation