How did nursing ever "buy into" 12-hr shifts???

[HazeK]

My unit has lost four nurses to other non-hospital jobs, so the nurses can be home in the evening with their young children.

How did we ever get to 12 hour shifts?

How do we get OUT of them???

I only see them benifiting the hospitals or young nurses w/o families who enjoy the extra days off.

12 hrs nearly kill off us 'over forty' nurses, in sheer physical exhaustion

(my first day off is spent w/ feet up and naps, recouperatiing...)

12 hrs means gone before children go to school and gone when they come home and go to bed.

12 hr shifts leave so many of us so tired and 'burned out' that it is difficult to care about the Profession of Nursing, like participation in our nursing organizations, getting quality CEUs, etc.

QUESTION: are 12 hr shifts helping or hurting the nursing profession?

Haze

[christianRN]

Ditto, Sjackson! I love 12s. If I'm already there, how hard is it to stay another 4 hrs in order to only have to work 3 days a week? I can't imagine choosing to work 8s, although my hosp offers both.

[Scavenger'sWife, RN]

Originally posted by LauraRN0501

We do 12s, but have one person doing 8s. I'm all for people doing what they can do, and this nurse is so burned out she loses it when she does 12s. BUT I have to say that when she leaves at three, the rest of us are stuck with either dividing up her patients, or, if she's charge, we are stuck without a charge nurse. The admissions we have gotten lately from 3-7 are amazing, we always get at least 2 anymore. So, when she leaves, it causes some difficulty and hard feelings. Management basically tells us to suck it up, that we have the staff and can do it. Don't see them helping out from 3-7. Bah.

HEY! Do you work at my hospital??? I know that person!:chuckle

However, I vote for the 12s. I am 49 and yeah the hours are hard. Mine sometimes turn into 14. And I have some health issues. But I love the days off. I could not stand 5 d/wk anymore. I just do 2 in a row, never 3. I work 1 out of every 3 weekends. Not too bad. :)

[sdre]

12 hr shifts came back in @ 1970 from a YOUNG group of nurses in an ICU in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They wanted the extra time off. As they were YOUNG, footloose and fancy free at the time, it worked for them THEN.

It also works for administration because 1/3 fewer nurses are required to staff a unit than when 8 hour shifts are the norm.

I have worked both. I have NOTHING positive to say for 12 hour shifts. I ceased to be a member of my family for 4 days. I was exhausted by the end of the work "week". I am TOO old for such poor shifts.

12 hour shifts have never improved my patient care as I was in and out too quickly to develop a working relationship with the health team, the patient or the family.

[askater11]

I don't think 12 hours should be mandated.

Our unit is mainly 12 hours shifts. They're weaning out the afternoon shift. (8 hours)

When I started we had mainly 8 hour shifts. But now we don't have many 8 hour shift employees at all.

What I've noticed with 12 hour shift, the last 4 hours most nurses are dead tired. A couple nurses still seem "on top of things" but most don't.

As a 8 hour afternoon nurse my patients are higher acuity. How that works is after the day nurses first 8 hours right before 3 P.M. the day shift nurses pick which patients they want. And believe me they pick the lightest acuity patients. (I've been told because we only work 8 hours, we can handle more)

The nurses that look dead tired...I ask them how 12 hour shifts working for them....they all say great....it helps give them more time at home. (working only 3 days than 5 days a week) But I do think it affects patient care. (we some staff members)

I could only work 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. because of my husbands work schedule. Right now I'm in the process of looking for new employment....I've heard that a lot of places are mainly hiring 12 hour shifts only .... too bad you have to start on the "off" shift for most units...b/c my dh's job doesn't give me the flexiblity to work mn.

I don't mind 12 hour shift...for people that can "truly" handle them. I think it's a great option.

[Rubyshoes]

I LOVE 12 hour shifts. When I did work 8 hour shifts I never had enough time to do my work. I never left work on time when I worked 8's. Now I almost never leave late.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm another over-40 nurse who HATED 12-hr noc shifts when I was working in the hospital. It might be better on 7a-7p, but then you have all 3 meals to serve, baths, surgeries etc. as well as lots of management & doctors to deal with. And for less money too. I sometimes end up working 10-12 hrs a day now that I'm in management myself, but I refuse to do more than 8 hours if I'm on the floor. My residents deserve a nurse who is a safe practitioner---not that there aren't nurses who CAN do 12's safely, I'm just not one of them.

[salve#1]

Like I tell everybody. Go work for an agency. Then you can work three 8's and get paid what you would for a 40 hour week! Take control nurses. It's in our hands if we try hard enough!

[Lacey]

With this nursing shortage, RN's have a great deal more choices about their work situation. I've said it before, but if you don't like it where you're at- Look for something else and quit moaning to everyone else!:)

[JEA616]

Hate 12's ! I'm only 39 but they almost killed me. I would run for 12 hours straight without ANY breaks (that includes bathroom) then spend my day off wiped out. I never saw my children and they are my priority not my job. I decided to leave a job I loved and people I was close to just to get out of 12's.They primarily benefit managemant and make staffing alot easier. I saw alot of mistakes from coworkers and loss of attention after their 8th hour. I also heard alot more patient complaints in the last 4 hours of the shift.

[karenelizabeth]

12 hour shifts suit me and more to the point I have a chioce.

We still have a mixture of 12 hr, twilight,and conventional shifts. Old and New staff get a chioce as to what they work (think they'ld get a bit anoyed if you chopped and changed) but it keeps the unit ticking over.

One thing I must have is a lunch break though, I go hypo in a big way (passed out when a student when taking a patient to theatre most embaracing had more nursed around me than the patient) I now recognise the symptoms and don't let it get that far,so I at least don't sit and have a nibble of something. Even had the manager feeding me mugs of sweet coffee one day when I had on hope of getting out of intensive care due to very sick 25 week twins we had just admitted, (finally got to lunch at 5pm but still standing)

[Enright]

I left my last clinical job when they changed to all 12's. I hated them. I felt I was not physically up to it ...I had 8 hours at 100%.

Now as a nurse consultant I work 4 10 hour days, M-R. This is desk work and teaching. Big difference.

Since the average nurse is, what 45 now? I think the aging factor is going to work in favor of more creative staffing patterns.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

I work 12 Hr nights, and I love it. I have kids at home, and actually get to spend more time with them. I leave a couple of hrs before their bedtime, and I return (usually) in time to get them off to school in the A.M. Plus, while I'm gone, they are asleep, so they don't miss me as much. And the 4 days off gives me the much needed time to get other things done in my life, such as school, etc. I used to hate 12 hr shifts, but have come to very much appreciate them. Besides, where I work, it can take 12 hrs just to get everything done with my patients that needs to be done without leaving stuff for the next shift. For instance, I'm not in as big a rush to get my 23:00 I's and O's done, etc.