How many hours can a nurse work.

Amparo Pagan Titmus, MSN, RN · Jun 10, 2011

oh boy...my initial response was LOL as I am reminded of the time in my life when I worked two full-time night shift jobs.

However, in seriousness, that is going to depend on the state regulations and if there is a (looks both ways) a union. The general rule or standard is no more than 16hrs a shift. This of course if the sum of the hours is at one location.

Personally, I know of nurses that work 8-10 hr night shifts and then go and work 8 hr day shift somewhere else. Don't ask how they do it.

alotaibi · Jun 10, 2011

In my country nurses work 7 hr morning shifts, 8 hr afternoon shift, and 9 hr night shifts. This is regulated by the government. Nurses may work 9 hr night shifts and then go and work 7 hr morning shift somewhere else. Now the big question is not how they do it but WHY THEY DO IT? I believe that would open up a whole can of worms!

nicu4me · Jun 11, 2011

Work ICU can only work 12 hours (unless you are transport or late getting out), then you MUST have an 8 hour break between shifts. Some say oh, I just need a 4 hour break I will come back at 11 am after getting off at 730. Answer is no and we are NON union.

Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN · Jun 11, 2011

I worked a 16 hr shift once. (I volunteered to stay.) I left in the morning and I could barely drive home.

When working long shifts you really have to stand up for yourself.. you are no good to anybody if you are passed out on the toilet because you worked too much.

Rntr · Jun 11, 2011

The only time I have had to do anything like that was oncall.... some hospitals do 66hr weekend call and usually it's Friday night... so you work from early am Friday till almost Saturday am...

Never have I been anywhere or know of any place that regulates nursing work hours.... I don't think it's a bad idea though.

Sugarcoma, RN · Jun 11, 2011

kappy, I am willing to bet we work at the same place. I was told by other nurse friends that there is a limit of 18 hours in a row but am not sure of the actual law. I have tried to find information about it but cannot. We routinely have nurses work 16 hour shifts and many who will work 5,6,7 and even 8 12 hour shifts in a row. So unsafe to me, but management doesn't care at all and even encourages it.

mn_nurse · Jun 11, 2011

To answer your question: There is no maximum number of hours (I

am assuming you are over the age of 18)

http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,1607,7-154-27673_32352-42008--,00.html

Check with your HR Dept at the hospital. Most hospitals will have a max number of hours for nurses. At my hospital it is 16 hours.

lemidora · Jun 11, 2011

kappy, I am willing to bet we work at the same place. I was told by other nurse friends that there is a limit of 18 hours in a row but am not sure of the actual law. I have tried to find information about it but cannot. We routinely have nurses work 16 hour shifts and many who will work 5,6,7 and even 8 12 hour shifts in a row. So unsafe to me, but management doesn't care at all and even encourages it.

:eek: this is insane! Even from purely economic way it doesn't make sense to me... Wouldn't it be cheaper (not to mention safer) to have 2 nurses work two 8hr shifts instead of one working 16 hours because they have to pay overtime. You guys do get paid overtime, right? Or am I just being a naive student?

EmergencyNrse · Jun 11, 2011

Never pulled more than 16 straight before...

I've pulled many 16's in a row though.

There is no legal regulation that I know of on the books.

All I can say is that after 18 straight I was pretty tired.

I try not to do that very often but today was 8 of 10 straight 12's.

WTH, Pays the bills.

Work hard...play hard!

Midwest4me · Jun 11, 2011

kappy, I am willing to bet we work at the same place. I was told by other nurse friends that there is a limit of 18 hours in a row but am not sure of the actual law. I have tried to find information about it but cannot. We routinely have nurses work 16 hour shifts and many who will work 5,6,7 and even 8 12 hour shifts in a row. So unsafe to me, but management doesn't care at all and even encourages it.
This is SUCH a sore point with me. The actual limit is 16 hours in our state. Our hospital "mandates"(meaning requires nurse to stay an extra shift--doing 16 hrs instead of 8 hrs.) Some areas of the hospital are so bad that people are mandated 4 of their 5 work days! Even one or two doubles is terribly unsafe. Management doesn't seem to care because hey, management is not covered by a union so do not have to do 8-hr shifts. People get physically ill from being mentally and physically stressed to the limit so then they call in and this feeds the vicious cycle. One day someone will fall asleep at the wheel and die and I hope his/her spouse sues the hell out of the hospital then. It's asinine how we are treated....no wonder so many of us vent, scream, call in sick, "lose our patience" with the patients---we are pushed to the limit!

Sugarcoma, RN · Jun 11, 2011

this is insane! Even from purely economic way it doesn't make sense to me... Wouldn't it be cheaper (not to mention safer) to have 2 nurses work two 8hr shifts instead of one working 16 hours because they have to pay overtime. You guys do get paid overtime, right? Or am I just being a naive student?

We work 12's and we do get overtime for any hours over 40 in a work week. Our unit is chronically short-staffed to the point where we have had only one or two nurses scheduled in one shift (25 bed unit). Only new grads are hired on this unit and we have a couple of contingents. For some reason overtime is extremely encouraged. There is really no limit my manager will let you work as much as you want to. I agree that it would make much more sense to hire more staff but according to our management they cannot get approval for more. I think they save in benefits and make up the overtime with the chronic short-staffing. Our contigent's do not get ot just a straight rate but that rate basically works out to an ot rate for a full time RN, but no cost for benefits. Anyone on ot is the first to get cancelled with contingents next in line. It is a ridiculous system. It is not uncommon to sit down for report and have the nurse reporting to you state they are on their sixth shift in a row.