8 or 12hr shifts?

DutchRN09 · Sep 26, 2012

I worked 8's and felt I was nver home, now I do weekend 12's and it's great.

LifeLearner776 · Sep 26, 2012

I prefer the time off that working 12 hr shifts provide.

sallyhoward1964 · Sep 26, 2012

I will be graduating soon from the ADN program and was thinking about jobs. If I get the option, what shift is better 8 or 12 hour shifts? Twelve hours might be nice to get it all over and have more days off, but it sounds like you would get burned out fast. Any ideas or personal experiences?

I've done both.As a young single nurse the 12 hr shifts were good. As I got older and had a family it was easier to do the 8hr shifts esp as the children got older and were more involved with extracurricular activities. The 8 hr shiftwas a great benefit to me when I suddenly became the single mother of 4.Sally M Howard

Tinabeanrn · Sep 26, 2012

Back in the day I would have told you 12 hrs without a doubt in my mind...but now that I am working 8's I absolutely love it. I will NEVER work another 12 hr shift again. Especially not 12 hr nights. You have to sleep prior and after your shifts, you have to work your 3 days in a row to make the other days off..actual days off. Then you need 2 days to recover, so its like you only end up with 2 days off anyway. The two days your up, your up all night and sleep all day and missing out on life, ugh. Working 8 hr days from 9 to 5, I get my kids off to school and I am home by 530. I have the whole afternoon to myself and I get to sleep in my bed everynight. So much better. i would never go back. I miss the entire day with my kids when I work 12 hrs. Cant get them to school, and its bed time when I come strolling in at 8 or 830, cant do anything but go to sleep. Never again :)

SarcasticLVN · Sep 27, 2012

So true! I work 8's but wish they were 12's!

SarcasticLVN · Sep 27, 2012

I have only works 8's but working a few 12's a week sounds tempting. I work ltc so 8 hours is barely enough time to get everything done. But it also depends on the shift.. I work day shift and its 6:30-3 so I have the rest of the afternoon to do stuff, but with pms you get up only to have a few hours of your day, goto work, and them either go home and sleep or your up all night.. I couldn't do that every week!

MotherRN · Sep 27, 2012

I'm working LTC right now with 8 hour shifts. Getting everything done in that time frame is pretty much impossible so I end up working 9 to 10 hour shifts anyway. I do think the 8's fly by. I can be home and looking at the clock and realize I would still have 2-3 hours left if I were working a 12 hours shift. I'm older and don't know how my feet would take the 12 hour shift. If it meant another med pass, I'd probably lose my mind! If it meant more time to do justice to my paperwork, that would be worthwhile.

Salisburysteak, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2012

I'm working LTC right now with 8 hour shifts. Getting everything done in that time frame is pretty much impossible so I end up working 9 to 10 hour shifts anyway. I do think the 8's fly by. I can be home and looking at the clock and realize I would still have 2-3 hours left if I were working a 12 hours shift. I'm older and don't know how my feet would take the 12 hour shift. If it meant another med pass, I'd probably lose my mind! If it meant more time to do justice to my paperwork, that would be worthwhile.

I agree that with the 8 hour shift it is hard to get everything done. When I went a different LTC facility we worked 12s. I was freaked out thinking the time would drag. It doesn't. Once I got my routine done pat, those 12 hours would just fly by. I found that my documentation improved because I could do a better assessment and was able to document more thoroughly. The extra med pass really isn't that bad. It made the last 2 hours of my shift go by faster. I like 12s because you know all the MD calls you have out will be taken care of by you and you will know if there are any med changes. Like I stated in my previous post. I worked with 3-11 nurses that hated receiving return calls from doctors, and hated the fact that they had to write the orders and send the info to pharmacy. For some reason it was ingrained in their brain that taking orders from an MD was a 7-3 thing.

Wet Noodle · Sep 27, 2012

Three-day-week shifts are great for nurses, but not so great for patients' continuty of care, where they might not see, for four more days, the nurse who's been taking care of them for three days in a row.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2012

We were split on this issue at work recently. Some of the nurses with families reported they would prefer 8's. Currently, we are scheduled for 12's. Myself and a few others voted to keep the 12's. For one thing, we don't have the staff coverage to switch to 8 hour shifts. I've experienced working both 8 and 12 hour shifts. I prefer 12's, as I need the time to recover and have a life in between shifts. Working 8 hour shifts results in less time off.

lindseylpn · Sep 27, 2012

I very much prefer 12s. 3 days a week all I do is eat, work, drive & sleep but, having 4 days off is great. It gives you a much needed mental break from work too.

RJMerchant · Sep 27, 2012

I would prefer 12s. I used to work 12s 3 days work, 3 days off but my organization changed it to 8s. In my country, you can work up to 48 hours/week. What is the rule in other countries like Thailand, Canada, America, Australia? Any idea?