internal rotation - is it the norm

[emmy]

Hi

Just reading an article in the UK's Nursing Times and it mentioned that nurses are wanting to quit due to having to rotate between day shifts and night shifts.

Is this the norm for Australia also or are you designated either day shifts or night shifts or do you HAVE to do both.

Thanks

:)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

It was the norm when I started. There was no such thing as a day shift. If you wanted any days shifts you had to rotate day-evening or day-nights. But there was permanent nights or evenings.

Now where I work, there is no rotation at all. You work one shift and one shift only permanently. I like that much better. :)

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Varies - some places have set rosters, some places you can do permanent day or night shift but commonly there is the "full rotating roster". Day, evening, night.

In QLD we get 1 week extra holiday a year for working a full rotating roster - believe me - it's not worth it.

We also still have the "late/early" where you do a late shift and then came back 8 hours later to work an early - gross!!!

[emmy]

Thanks for the replies.

Looks as though it's something I'll just have to deal with although those late/earlies sound dangerous to me :uhoh21: doesn't leave much time for sleep even if you practically lived on the hospital doorstep. Oh well, all my sleep deprived years when the kids were small will be good practice :chuckle