hours??

Did you get to choose the hours (shift/days) that you REALLY wanted to work as a new grad or even later on I figured new grads get the yucky shifts, but wasn't sure if it was common to be able to pick the shift/days you prefer to work. Thanks for the info!

Hey there!!

I would say it really depends on the hospital or location. A lot of places have a type of "self scheduling" where you can more or less pick the days you want to work. Also while you may find night shift jobs being offered, day shifts are out there and available for the picking. The thing I would say though is that in the hospital it is very likely that you will have to work one or two weekends a month.

i am hired for a 3p to 3a shift and required to work every other weekend. It actually works out well for my son and I!!!!

xo Jen

I think more and more new grads are able to request certain hours. When I was a new grad I had no say so and got put on a day/evening rotation, there was no such thing as permanent day shift, everyone rotated. A year later when I started my current job I requested nights and got it right away.

i always got the shift i wanted...i always specified it in the interview and would only take the position IF it was what i wanted...

i found wkend option to be ideal...3wkends/month - sat and sun 12 hr shifts...50 bucks/hr... my hubby worked mon-fri day shift...carried the benefits...great for those w/ kids...:)

good luck

My expereince has been that if you look into positions at several places, you will find the hours you want at one or another of them. If you only have one hospital to work with, you may be more limited. It depends on the needs of that facility. You may get lucky. Generally, I believe most hospitals do use the rotating weekend schedule. You could request to be off the same weekend.

a lot of our staff are married to other staff members. Many try to get the same shift, and manage to do so. Some prefer opposite shifts so as to cover child care, etc. It can be done, but one of you may have to be more flexible than the other, depending on the needs of your nursing unit.

I had no problem getting day shift at my facility. Most places are so short, they'll take you for any shift. I am required to work every other weekend and could not choose my days off during the week though.

Thanks for all the help! My boys are all teenagers (2 in college 2 in high school) so I don't mind working nights and weekends after they graduate in 2 yrs...I just wanted to have a similar schedule to my husband's schedule, sounds like we might be able to work it out afterall...thanks again!

It really all depends on where you work and how flexible your superviser is. When i first started working...oh lets just say many years ago... I was just told what my hours would be and I did my every other weekend and rotating holidays no questions asked... but i have noticed now that when new people come in they tend to get what they want (especially if the have kids)... I think its mostly due to the fact that we JUST need nurses so bad that my superviser tends to give them what they want...which sometimes causes problems among the "older" nurses(lol) ....I just say as long as they do there job well then hey its a plus for us! So you never know what you might be able request at this point in nursing....if you work in a place that is desperate for nurses then you pretty much can do what you want.... Just dont go to a place that has self scheduling...I heard thats tough when your new! Good luck to you and your husband! :)

It never hurts to ask for what you need and to shop around if the hours are what is most important. I wanted to work that particular hospital bad enough so the lack of say-so in the hours didn't matter as much.

Today I want every Monday off to go bowling, and the same weekend off as my spouse. I get that without any grief whatsoever. Ask for what you need. :)