How many of you NGs are on nights?

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Used to be that was the only thing you were offered. Now it's a mix. Which specialties do you really think are best begun on nights... ICU, tele...

I am contemplating a night gig, but I don't think it'll be 12s, I think it's gonna be 8s If so, that means no normal life, huh.

Also, I wonder, a lot of (the few available) jobs out there for NGs are part time.... do you get offered FT if you pass muster? Do you really get a chance at moving to days eventually? Or, do you have to completely change jobs to move to days.

What is the current scuttlebutt on this?

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

I was hired on nights but that was the position I applied for. I had the option of going for days but that would mean the 3 days I work, I will not see my kids. So nights work better for me and my family. If I want I could move to days, we have days shifts open now. I was also hired on full time. No part time positions available. Again, I wanted full-time.. It will come down to what is available in your area.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

How are you handling the flip flop of your life, sleep etc. are you spacey or what?

[StayLost, BSN, RN]

When I finished my ICU internship, I was to begin working nights like the majority of interns do. It's slower for a new grad & it usually helps fill the night positions that most nurses don't care to work.

But for some crazy reason, none of the night people wanted to move to days to make room for me. So now I am happily working days. It's pretty tough during the day-- most doctors round, new orders, CT, MRI's-- but time management is getting easier & I feel I am getting a lot of experience I may not get at night.

[Bobbkat]

I'm hired to rotate half days/half nights, but have the option to work all nights (or mostly nights) if I want. I can work pretty much any combo of 12's, 8's or 4's that want in order to get my 40 hours in. The day/night rotation schedule is relatively flexible too.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

My kids are older so I sleep when they are in school.. I don't feel any different. I work my 3 days, sleep while the kids are in school and wake at 3 when they get home. I have several hours with them until time for me to go to work.. I buy simple things for hubby to cook on those nights.. One the nights I don't work I go to bed with my hubby and go about my life getting up around 8:30 and do the normal things anyone else does. The only difference is on the nights I work I wake up early that morning so I can nap before work :) Some people have a hard time but I have found it to be very easy.

[RNDreamer]

I chose nights, but will be orienting on both shifts. I'm not a morning person, so nights is better for me for now. Eventually, I would like to go to days, but for now I'll take nights.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Thanks everyone... I see how getting some more sleep in the evening prior to leaving for work is smart. I guess I'm a bit concerned about the 8s this place has. Most places around me are 12's especially if it's gonna be nites. Beggars cannot be choosers, so.

[pers]

I work 12 hour nights and wouldn't have it any other way. I don't like 8 hour shifts in general because I feel like I work every day when I do that, would much rather stay an extra 4 hours and have 2 more days off a week! That said though, you take what you can get when you need a job.

As for what specialities are best for new grads on nights, I don't know that it's better on any shift, rather just different. I work telemetry and those who work dayshift often comment on the slower pace of nights but forget that we don't have the support staff they do (no charge, no secretary and one pca instead of two) which puts a lot more on the nurses to do. Also, we have a 25% increase in our patient load (8 patients to their 6). So while we may have a slower shift in some ways we also have a significantly heavier load with fewer resources to call on should we need help. There are also higher expectations of us on nights. If dayshift doesn't get around to completing an admission that came 3 hours prior to shift change it's considered acceptable for them to pass it on to nights because they were busy. If nights gets an admission 30 minutes before shift change we are expected to stay and finish the admission.

I like my dayshift coworkers and I wouldn't want to work their hours because I'm a night shift person by nature but having worked days and nights I honestly feel like days is the easier shift for a new grad simply for all the support. And I almost never get lunch on nights or have downtime while I never missed lunch on days and almost always had downtime. For me, the lighter patient load with more going on and plenty of support staff is significantly easier to handle than the heavier load with less going on and little to no support staff. If you work somewhere where the patient load is the same on both shifts, then I definitely see how working nights would provide a slower pace that would allow you to learn at a better pace.

As for FT vs PT, our facility hires both based on what we need. If you want to move to a FT or PT position as a current employee you can do that before they will hire a new person to fill the slot but if there isn't a FT (or PT) opening they won't create one, you have to wait till one opens up.

[LETRN]

I oriented on days and will be switched to nights soon. They handed me the 3p-3a shift. FML.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

What kind of admin freak came up with those hours!

[linRdsNay]

I'm a new grad working nights. But I think as a part of my new grad orientation, I work several weeks on nights and then several weeks on days to orient to both schedules. I'm kind of diggin nights though, so once my orientation training is over, I'm pretty sure I'll stay on nights.