Lunch time...

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Question for ya...

Buddy of mine and I were discussing how shifts work (neither of us are nurses lol so it's pretty silly). But we were curious, do Nurses that work 12 hour shifts get paid lunch, and what is the duration of lunch? How does that work?

In engineering we get 1 hour UNPAID, so we are really at our job for 9 hours a day (but work 8 of those).

A 12-hour shift in nursing, how does that work? Thanks in advance for the information!

Specializes in ICU.

Typically you get a 30 minute unpaid lunch break. So a 12 hour shift is really 12.5 hours. 7am to 7:30 pm or 7pm to 7:30am, although some facilities vary a bit on the times. The should also be a few 15 minute breaks in there too, which are paid for. Personally, I am lucky in the fact that I work on a unit where we usually make sure everyone gets enough breaks throughout the day, although that is not always the case.

Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.

Yep, it's really 12.5 hours and at my facility they automatically deduct 1/2 hour for lunch. We're also (theoretically) allowed two paid 15-minute breaks. If I don't get to eat a lunch, or if I'm eating while charting, I have the option of punching in a "no lunch break" code when I leave work.

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