Hours

MelBel · Dec 29, 2007

Do you mean 96 hours BI-weekly? Or 36 hours a week?

Because if you really mean 96 hours a week, I'm just going to ask if you are crazy! :uhoh3:

BiologyNerd · Dec 29, 2007

Bi-weekly. Sorry, lol

nursemike, ASN, RN · Dec 30, 2007

Depending on your age and skill level, I can imagine a possibility that one might be able to work four 12-hr shifts per week and not jeapordize ones patients, but I wouldn't recommend it during your first several months, and I wouldn't recommend it to many people as an on-going deal. I have done my regular three 12's and picked up an extra 8 or 12, but at my age, that borders on kamikaze nursing, and it's rare. Too many hours too often is hard on the nurse, but also raises the risk of errors. A young person with solid skills might get away with it, but it would be taking a chance. Trying to do six 8's, or worse, three 16's, on a regular basis seems like courting disaster.

Then, too, nursing shortage or no, most facilities don't like to pay overtime. I doubt many employers would allow you to work that much, routinely. It might be feasible to work at two different facilities, but you'd lose out on the OT, and on patient continuity (generally, it's a lot nicer to have the same patients on consecutive work nights, since you can work a bit more efficiently when you already know most of your patients.

So it probably can be done, but I doubt that it's a good idea. Even when you're twenty-something and immortal, you need rest to function at your best. JMHO.

MelBel · Dec 30, 2007

When I started, workin my 3-12s tired me out! And I worked full-time while in nursing school, so it wasn't like working was a shock to my system. It took about 3 months for me to really get used to my new schedule, etc.

I now work my 3-12s a week, and sometimes pick up 1 extra shift. Which isn't too bad, but I prefer to spend time with my family and friends.

At my facility we are desperate enough that if I wanted, I could probably get an extra shift of OT every week, but even the good pay isn't worth it to me :)

Fiona59 · Dec 30, 2007

I've seen it done by new grads and let's just say the result ain't pretty.

Stress, weight gain, and patients that hate them. Patients pick up when you're tired and will question your care. Co-workers don't enjoy picking up the slack from tired people.

mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 30, 2007

During the summer my need for $$$$ was incredible so I picked up a PRN job because OT where I worked was almost impossible to find. I worked an average of 1-2 days a week there, plus my 3 days a week at my full time job. This lasted about 4 months before I could feel the pressure building upside. So in October I quit that full time job and found another that actually pays me pretty darn good now and I have a great set schedule. I now work 1-2 PRN shifts a month. To keep my PRN status *active* I have to continue to pick up the occassional shift and believe me, that is all I want now.

I wouldn't recommend what I did to anyone. I was not a safe nurse, I was exhausted and plain downright nasty and hateful 99% of the time both at work and at home. Not to mention, I was a fairly new grad. I should've been savoring my time and learning all I could learn at my full time job, not spreading myself so thin.

I like my 3 night shifts a week - pick up and extra shift here and there to keep my PRN status at my other 2 hospitals and life is good.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 30, 2007

Where I work (ICU, 1:1 assignments usually) we have a nurse who regularly works 20+ 12 hour night shifts IN A ROW, with the occasional 16 thrown in when we're really short on days. No one trusts her any more, and no one wants to be assigned to the patients on either side of her because they don't want to be responsible for her patient when she wanders off without letting anyone know where she's going, or to have her cover their patient while they take their breaks... She often takes 15 minute bathroom breaks, and she's a smoker, so she will disappear at regularly scheduled times. Her runs of 20+ are usually broken up by one or two nights off, then she starts again. Some of hte extra shifts are trades she's made for months down the road, and others are OT shifts that staffing lets her book because they know she'll say yes. Management turns a blind eye and unless people are willing to put their concerns in writing (and no one is) they don't have any way of correcting this. Our regulatory body's guidelines on working OT state that the decision whether the nurse is competent and safe is to be left to the individual nurse. So we're hamstrung.

I think any more than an occasional stretch of 4 12s in a row is too hard physically, emotionally and psychologically to do on an ongoing basis. If you add a commute of more than a few minutes each way to the picture, you really have no life.

baby_gurl0604 · Dec 31, 2007

I think it depends on where you work. Where I work, they are always desperate for people and offer bonuses and overtime pay for picking up extra shifts. But I agree that it isn't a good idea to do this too much at first. Once you feel more comfortable and confident in your skills, I don't think it's such a big deal. Over the past few weeks I've been working 4 shifts a week, and am looking forward to going back to just my 3 next week. The money is good, but you have to have time to live your life too!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

I'm not a nurse, I start my 4 yr degree this June. But, I have a question for you working nurses...
How many hours do ya'll work each week? I would like to work 96 hrs bi-weekly on night shift once I am a nurse.
But, I thought I'd ask ya'll because ya'll have the experience and it is your first year. So, any advice for how much one should work their 1st year? As far as difficulty, etc is concerned?

I doubt that any employer is going to let a new graduate nurse, or any nurse work 96 hours in a two-week period. Mainly, it is because it involves paying 16 hours of overtime. When I was a manager, we were to avoid overtime by using float, part time and PRN nurses. As a nursing manager I would not let any new grad RN work those kind of long hours.

Also, the first year of nursing is probably the hardest. What nursing school doesn't prepare you for is the sheer amount of work and organization that you are going to encounter. That takes times to assimilate and acclimate to. It generally takes a new grad anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to adjust to the job responsibilities. It is a very stressful period in your working life.