How do nurse shifts work?

anchorRN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 8, 2016

12 hr shifts are very standard for RNs/LPNs in hospitals. If you get lucky enough to work in a clinic, a M-F 8hr shift is probably possible but the pay is going to be much less.

In my 12 years as a nurse I've mainly worked 12s, normally 3 days per week. In the military we work 3 12hr shifts one week, 4 the next and rotate. I hate 12hr shifts and feel like i'm in prison the whole time. I'm hoping to get into a good FNP program and never set foot back in a hospital again. I'm sure the grass isn't always greener, but 12hr shifts plain-ole suck.

The biggest "perk" - 4 days off per week, granted you spend one of them recovering from the 12hr day s**t-storm.

SnowShoeRN · May 8, 2016

"...how the shifts work in the nursing field?"

That depends upon where you work and what type of nursing you do. Some hospitals have both 8 hour and 12 hour shifts available. Some places hire for set times (for example Sally always works 7pm to 7am while Jane always works 3pm to 11pm) and some hospitals make you rotate so one week Jill may work 7am to 3pm and the next week she works 11pm to 7am.

"That would be difficult while having young children..."

Not yet having had young children I don't exactly feel qualified to answer this, but the moms I worked with liked having the schedule that they did. For example, the night-shifters worked while the kids and partner slept and slept while everyone was at work, school, or daycare. Or they could arrange things so that 3 times a week - while they slept - their partner or grandparent had the kids. Nightshifters have liked being home for dinner (before leaving for work) and breakfast (getting home) and I've heard from moms that they like the fact they only have to work 3 days a week too. People working 12-hour days did seem to have a bit of a harder time with missing bedtimes and breakfasts 3 days a week.

"Is it a set shift upon hire or are shifts able to be changed? "

Every hospital RN job I've had has had us rotating the days of the week, but we usually had 3 days in a row. We had to do every 3rd weekend too. If we needed a night off, we could usually find someone to switch with in advance.

"How flexible is the work schedule?"

Again, depends where you are and the people you work with. Some places let you switch. At my last job I would occasionally work a 3pm to 11pm to cover someone else, but I worked nights so that was difficult for me.

"How about working part time? What are the shifts like for that and is there a lower pay for part time?"

I worked with weekend-only people which was a sweet gig for them. Only 2 nights a week and they received better pay than most since they had a differentials for always working only weekends. Not all hospitals do that though. I also worked with a woman who only did 2 12-hour shifts every week. That was pretty great too though because she would schedule herself to do 2 days at the end of 1 pay period and 2 days at the beginning of the next so she only had to work 4 days in a row every other week. She essentially worked every other Friday through Monday. Other than weekend work though, yeah part time people would likely make less just because of the fact that they'd be working less. But, many places have so many differentials (my last place had evening, night, weekend, holiday, and overtime) that it really depends on when you work.

Hope this helped some and best of luck! :)