Is it a good idea to work 5 days straight (12 hours shifts/day)?

[happyface27]

Hi nurses! Some of my co-workers have done this before, but at the end of the 5th day they look so tired. Do you think it is worthy? Some of the older nurses say that after the 4th day everything is lost in taxes. Give me your opinion in this matter.

[Drowsyrn]

When I worked in the hospital and nurses worked more than three in a row.... They were bears to work with! Along with all the other reasons listed here, it made the other nurse's life bad. I would get so tired of the moaning and complaining during report and during the day. Or they would call in on the fifth day. YOU made the decision to work five straight...... Shut up ::)). That used to be one of my rants. Drove me nuts. If YOU decide to do it, please don't talk/complain about it on day four and five!

[HappyWife77, BSN, RN]

No it is not a good idea. I get "work hangovers" when I do 3 in a row....

Occasionally I'll get 40 hours in three days if someone calls out and I have to work a 16 with two 12s.

Talk about burning out fast....this would do it.

[PHXRN1]

I always feel like the odd man out whenever this question comes up. Like one of the previous posters said, I worked six on one off for over a year at my last hospital. The unit I worked on was an inpatient oncology unit with great patients, the people I worked with were absolutely amazing, and it never really felt like work because I enjoyed it so much. Add to that over 60 hours per paycheck of night shift overtime and it was one of the greatest years of my life.

The real answer to your question is, "it depends". People will link articles on the effects of less sleep and work performance, but at the end of the day, every nurse functions differently. The best thing you can learn is how to listen to your body. Be honest with yourself and be willing to accept your limitations. Do that, and the number of days in a row you work becomes inconsequential.

[chillin4me]

Not safe, and please take care of yourself first 'coz nobody does,

[lub dub]

If you are questioning this, then you probably already know the answer...

Don't do it.

[lub dub]

I worked six on one off for over a year at my last hospital.

Twenty hours of overtime every week for a year??? Did anyone ever look at the budget for that unit?

[vianne]

I'm with 1fastRN I have headfrazzle after 4 normal shifts, not good to push yourself like that...if you could choose what kind of things you would deal with in a shift then you probably could, but we all know that an hour in nursing can be the most highly charged you you've had to date, an its draining and you need down time to make sense of it....I'd say don't do it...I'm sorry cos you might have family and its the only way you can work, but they deserve the good bit of you too...be kind to yourself happyface27

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I might do it once in a rare while, but I wouldn't do it on a routine basis. It's too taxing.

[Dranger]

Everything after 4 days is a waste of time and money because of taxes plus you are basically slowly killing yourself. I work nights and if I did 5 days in a row I would be dead and grumpier than I usually am lol

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I don't feel it is safe, either. We had to do seven (yes, seven!) 12's in a row, night shift, in one ICU I worked. I finally said I couldn't do it anymore, and went to five (5) twelves in a row. (5 on, 2 off; 2 on, 5 off.) I still was tired all the time, because this was a horrible ICU where you took 3 patients and they were always busy. The other nurses thought I was the crazy one; they loved doing this and then having 7 off in a row, every other week. This would've been OK if they weren't 12 hr. shifts. As you know, they are never really just 12 hours!

[PHXRN1]

Twenty hours of overtime every week for a year??? Did anyone ever look at the budget for that unit?

Inpatient oncology/bone marrow transplant. That unit practically printed money.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

When I was younger and worked in retail, I would travel and set up new stores and fix ones that needed fix. Lots and lots of hard, physical labor. We worked 18 hour days (not kidding), and we would do this for weeks on end. After about 5 days of this I was exhausted. But this is what I did in my late teens and early 20's. I sacrificed for my employer to move up the ladder. Now that I'm in my 30's, I probably couldn't do that, but I could do a few 12's in a row. I'm used to that kind of work.