kids and being Nurse

I worked full time when my twins were born 3 years ago(hubby was laid off)

when he got his job back I went to 12 hour day shift/week.

found out he was going to get laid off again last fall and went to 3/12 hour shifts/week.

now a new desk job this past Spring-no weekends or holidays.

Have to work. He is flying again for a smaller company but it is a temporary contract and we need health insurance and a steady income......

I brought up the idea of 24-hour day care like las Vegas and Houston.

They were going to get rid of weekend daycare( we banded together and stopped THAT) and got rid of ANY day care after 8 PM . I used to work 3-11 and the day care was open until 12:30.

nursing is not a field taylored to having kids/family that is for sure. You work odd shifts, you work weekends...it stinks to put it bluntly. If you have kids especially. I'm a new grad and I have turned down a couple jobs already due to the schedule. I'm a single mom. I want to be home at night for my kids like any parent. So I'm looking for a shift of 8 hours that allows at least that much. I have an interview set up for a 6 am to 2:30 pm job...however no doubt I'll be doing weekends at times and/or even holidays. I got into the profession to be able to support my family, and that is what i must do, so we do what we must; still, there are great sacrifices - sacrifices to family indeed. I like helping people too...but my main key is supporting my family and nurses get paid for that knowledge/sacrifice.

I am doing other projects working toward a future where hopefully, I only have to work part time and can perhaps even go with a monday through friday job - we'll see. But in the meantime I have to 'do my time' as they say. My projects will take time, and I need the nursing time on the job before I can GET one of those monday thru friday jobs...

I did get offered a mon thru friday job in the area i love..which is pacu...outpatient but they pay 1,000 month less...and you are required to work late ...which again I just can't do b/c I have a family.

I think bottom line we have to decide how much we are willing to sacrifice our families need for structure and decent scheduling... etc. its tough to do... very tough, and it's a heartbreaking decisioin but we have to make it sometimes don't we...due to financial stuff.

I just keep praying that someday...I can work a regular schedule on a part time basis and still manage to afford healthcare for my family...those costs have gone through the roof even when you do work fulltime.

See, I thought the opposite; that nursing was family friendly in the sense that it can potentially be flexible (i.e. per diem, night shift, weekend shifts, etc)

I wish more hospitals offered on site daycare 24/7. I don't have kids, but I'm indirectly affected.

Some nurses I know who are both single mothers work opposite schedules and watch eachother's kids. It eliminates child care costs completely for them.

See, I thought the opposite; that nursing was family friendly in the sense that it can potentially be flexible (i.e. per diem, night shift, weekend shifts, etc)

No, this is a myth! Nurses that manage to be assigned to good shifts worked years for the company/department. New grads do not land the great shifts on average. I know lots of nursing students who think the same as you do. I tell them I worked in Health Care and I know that X, Y, and Z hospital/clinic/facility will not give new grads good shifts and are not very understanding about schedules or kids. However many do not believe me because they think there is nursing shortage and they are the ones in control not their future employers.

They are wrong because the so-called nursing shortage is a myth too. Check out posts where experienced nurses cannot find employment or refuse employment due to poor working conditions! :uhoh21:

In any case, the positive thing is as a nurse who has put in his/her time, you can usually move on to other things. The opportunities are there, but it is not there for every new grad to grab. Naturally there are exceptions to this rule, but believe me those are few and far between. Experience matters in health care as in any field.

In addition, facilities are not desperate to hire and fill open positions. Refer to all of the posts where bedside nurses are complaining about short staffing and high nurse-to-patient ratios. Sometimes management prefers it this way. According to many of the nurses on this board, it is cost effective.

All I have to say is go into nursing with your eyes wide open. The politics sounds like it is no different then any other field of study. Good luck.

I worked full time when my twins were born 3 years ago(hubby was laid off)

when he got his job back I went to 12 hour day shift/week.

found out he was going to get laid off again last fall and went to 3/12 hour shifts/week.

now a new desk job this past Spring-no weekends or holidays.

Have to work. He is flying again for a smaller company but it is a temporary contract and we need health insurance and a steady income......

I do not know your entire situation and I will not pretend that I do. However, I do have some suggestions...

Maybe live as if anything beyond food, shelter, and travel for your work are a luxury for now? This is where you can cut your life-style so you are actually seeing your pay check every month. Maybe it is possible to cut back on your life-style so much that hubby does not have to work?

I know he might want to work and wishes to work... etc. However, since his income may not be steady for some time to come, you two might be losing money with him working. I know that sounds very odd, but if you sit down and do the math you might find out you two are paying his employers for the privilege to work in a way. Travel, day care, lunches, and other items related to his being employed might be running you two into the ground. Even if you have debts, you still might figure out his being employed is causing more debts. Good luck.

I changed jobs less than 6 months ago.

I have been in healthcare for 18 years and 14 as an RN.

I got tired of dropping my kids off at the day care at 0645 and not picking them up until 8 PM.

I now work 7-3, 8-4 or 9-5---desk job and do 4-8 clinical hours per week during those times only.

How does everyone do it: no family nearby, husband travels as a pilot...what does everyone do for child care and holiday child care??

Same as you- daycare. I work 3 days/week. Every two weekends I work so those are the weeks my husband is home with the kids and the baby doesn't have to go to daycare but 1 day that week.

My husband works 730 to 400. So those days that we are both working the kids are in daycare from 630 till 445. I feel a lot of guilt those days. Even have gone into the bathroom and cried about it while I am at work. I *hate* putting them in daycare. But I also was a sahm for 4 years with my first older child and I do know there is *some* benefit to daycare. They get a lot of interaction, completely child centered and they get to socialize. So it's not all bad. Most of the bad is my mommy guilt those weeks I do 3 week days.

Your situation sounds tough with your husbands work schedule. I give you much respect. I know it's hard.

Rebecca

I worked night shift for 18 years. During the day when I slept my mother would come over and watch the kids while I slept, that way I was at least available. If their was something going on at school I made it (maybe looking haggard but I made it.) When the kids got to middle school I switched to day shift, they were old enough by then to take care of themselves after school and more important for me to be home in the evening and nights.

Frankly, I don't know how anyone does it with children. I worked part-time with baby number one. When baby number two came along it was a nightmare. The cost of another child meant I had to work more hours, and I had to take what I could get. I went through 12 daycare situations by the time she was 2. I could tell you daycare stories that would make your hair stand on end.

If I had it to do over I would choose career and no kids, or kids and no career. My experience has been that no, you really cannot have it all.