I love the night life

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in mental health. detox.

Ok. Here's something I'd like to know just as a general "get to know you" sort of thread.

When I first started working as a tech after i graduated I enjoyed being able to work the 3-11 shift. It was a nice change from the random hours i'd worked as a part timer mall slave during my college years. and i'm not a morning person anyway-being able to wake up around noon and go to work at 2 and NOT hit rush hour was an absolute blessing to me.

Of course, money became a priority so i would pick up any shift i could. I was PRN and the place where I worked (at the time) had no compunctions about letting anyone work almost as many hours as they could cram in as long as you didn't break the 20hr a shift rule and you weren't full time (didn't figure THAT one out til much later-joke's on me i suppose) and I discovered I needed at least 8 full hours between shifts (yeah, sleeping for 5 hrs and then going back for any amount of time was not only murder, it was vocational suicide) and finally figured out 12 hr shifts over night were PERFECT. It gave me enough time to go home and sleep and then go back to work and the shift differential didn't hurt either. Except for the few times I signed up for 60 hours in a week and started losing all sense of time, I've always enjoyed the night shifts. I simply had to make sure my patients were asleep at the assigned time and then worry about charts, admissions, and rounds. Except for the hell nights when we'd get 7 or 8 admissions in the course of 5 hours, I rather enjoyed myself. I've now taken on a position as a sort of tech at a special education clinic and have had to go back to the day walker lifestyle (although i find myself able to live with myself alot better regarding the care of the kids than my previous patients) but I have never gotten over how great it was to work overnight.

So, after that long and windy introduction, what shifts do you ladies and gentlemen enjoy working and why? I'm sure there are a few good stories.

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Specializes in ER,OR.

Night shifts. Just simply cause theres more time to spend in allnurses.com :bow:

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I like the 3-11 the best: a lot of the craziness is over, most of TPTB are gone for the day, and so it's a more mellow environment...though it has its moments.

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Specializes in ER.

I love 3-11. I despise getting up at 5 am to be at work by 7 am. I have trouble falling asleep so sometimes I fall asleep at 2 am only to be up 3 hrs later. Evenings let me sleep in, eat a leisurely lunch, shower, and then go into work. When I get off at 11 I can still go to the grocery shop. Love it!

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Specializes in LTC.

I've always been a second shifter and a third shifter I'm keeping my fingers crossed that mgmt will soon change us to 12s so I can do 7p/7a and stop working 5&6 days a wk. Or evenings rather . I so prefer evenings&nights because the mgmt goes away and you don't have them coming to you for a hundred things and most of the families are in and out because they've got supper to cook or whatever and it's usually more peaceful and not as rushed. I currently work 3-11 and I am always rushed so I generally do 12 hours of work in 8. I go nonstop with meds admissions charts tx's aides that I have to babysit etc. Plus I pick up leftovers from day shift to help the RN who is overloaded plus I do a few things for third shift to help them out. I'm a true nocturnal being and for the life of me I don't know how people work in daytime. I'd never make it on days.

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Specializes in mental health. detox.
I so prefer evenings&nights because the mgmt goes away and you don't have them coming to you for a hundred things.

YES! God I loved not having to even acknowledge the management as I oozed into my car and muttered "i guess i'm gonna miss that meeting on the new cafeteria scheduling... :D"

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Specializes in Emergency, CCU, SNF.

My favorite shift was 3-11, could stay up late! I'm not a morning person. I used to work a 7p-3a shift in the ED, busiest time for us and could always get OT if I wanted.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

I love the hustle and bustle of day shift. I also enjoy the nightshift because it gives me more time to analyze what's going on with my patients. I work both at the moment. I work night shift at one hospital and days at the other. It plays heck with my sleep schedule but I'm young and I don't really mind for now :)

In all honesty I probably prefer day shift. You get more help. You have more opportunities to interact with the rest of the care team. On night shift it always seems like everything gets put on hold until the next day :p I just feel like I get more done working day shift.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I love 3-11p. The time saved not having to deal with traffic is probably at least an hour a day where I live.

If I need to schedule a cable-guy visit, school meeting, doctor's appt, etc. I don't have to deal with the "I've got to leave at 1pm" or whatever that everyone will frown at you and make you feel guilty.

When I worked days, I would think, wow, off at 3:30, I can do all this stuff, but often I would just fall asleep!! The only thing I like about days is that is when all the doctors are around, and I liked the hustle-bustle of rounds, etc.

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Specializes in critical care: trauma/oncology/burns.

work 12 nights, have worked nights for over 2 decades now. Don't get me wrong, I did my thing on evenings (3-11) I find evenings the busiest shift (8 hours) of the three: visitors, post-ops, pre-op work-ups, admissions, dinner...Plus I never left "on time" always seemed to leave after 2 am.

I am a true-blue night walker and I can't see myself on days.

athena

Iraq

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Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.

I worked all shifts.... well......the perfect shift is the shift that start at 7 and finish at 15.00. Is a normal one.

Now let me to tell you about each shift:

1. Morning shift

My foreign logicality tell me like that: morning shift is not for a new grad because are to many thinks to fallow up with .

Is a fast paced shift and need speed, experience and clear minds.

Also you could not have senior nurses all over on the floor (they need to be in management, supervisor, perceptors, positions at this time of them life), morning shifts need mild age experienced nurses most of them, able to run and deciede in short time, in the high time of them carrier.

Is not a shift for orientation of a new grad, she/he will be overhelmed!

If you go on morning shift and you will see..... employee....and they have only/majority new grads hired........is scarry.... means that is a cheap conservative company trying to pay less for hard work, and is unsafe!

If you will see only/majority senior nurses working, run away, there is a clique and you don't want to be there, because it seems that no one couldn't stay there.

Please ask for turnover rate, or find it over the net, and think.

Is an amazing shift if you have a good balanced staffing.

2. Evening shift 3-11

Very nice shift if you want to sleep more in the morning and to have a less craziness, lol. Not so many Drs, but many visitors, is a good shift for a nurse with 2-3 years experience or more , for a senior nurse, even for a smart new grad. Plus shift differential, Yummyyyy! Lol

The same rules applied like for morning shift: too many seniors is bad, to many new grads again bad! Under staffing bad, bad, bad. Need supervisor!

3. Night shift.

This is a really awesome shift for a new grad.

-Awesome people on night crew

-Easy to find a good perceptor

-Slow paced (not ER, ICU, TELE, OB)

Shift differential.

The same rules applied ...too many new grad is bad (is a weak shift), too many oldies but goodies...run, but here is another one....FOREIGNS!

If you will see LOOOOOTS of foreigns on nights shift, is somenthing very bad smelly taste there, ran away!

Night shift will tell you what is happen behind curtains of facility, hospital, how they really are, the real IMAGE of them, for who you works.

Night crew is awesome, or totally bad, night crew, give the real image of facility/hospital, who they really are!

And i will explain you why... each and every facility will try to clean them MORNING-face, eventually evening face, but they forget about night time. People are there from long time, you will learn A LOOOOOOT from them.

Is a good place for a new nurse, or for a nurse who want a not "twisted" life!

Choose a shift that you will like the best, or where you feel that you are feated.

And enjoy nursing life is woanderfull....when you will found your place, your team.

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Current, I am working 12 hour day/night shifts. My facility does not allow anyone "straight anything". But there are enough people that prefer one shift or another that most of the time switching shifts isn't a problem. That being said, I usually try to switch for mostly night shifts. When I work days, I have to get up at 0400. That's damn near impossible for me considering I NEVER make it to bed before 2400. My commute is also 1 hour each way so those 12 hour shifts turn into 16 by the time it's over and done with. Needless to say, I have figured out that 12 hour shifts are not for me. Sure I get 4 days off a week, but what good are they when I sleep half of them away? Fortunately, I've found a job at a hospital MUCH closer to home (by 45 minutes) and will be working 8 hour day/nights. Sure, I will have to work more days a week (most of the time 4), but I will be gaining about 6 hours per day on my work days. Before my 12 hour shift job, I was used to working 7-3:30 M-F so I'm actually looking forward to getting back to something similar. Never thought I would say that!

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