Night or day shifts?

[NICUplease]

Hello all,

I am a nursing student and was just curious what the pros and cons were of working night shifts instead of days besides the obvious reason of a shift differentials. I hear it's a lot more slow paced, true? Thanks in advance!

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

Pros of night shift:

I don't have to wake up at 4 am.

I don't have to drive through rush hour traffic.

I don't have to park out in never-never land.

I don't have to deal with managers/administrators.

Oh, and I get paid more.

For me, personally, you couldn't pay me enough to work day shift.

[NICUplease]

I see you work in the NICU, would you say the pace is a lot slower? calmer? I remember being in the NICU at night with my son and it just seemed more peaceful.

[lisat380]

Ditto on what RainDreamer said :)

...and i been working day shifts for three years either 8 or 12hr shifts and now its been 3 months now that I've switch to noc shifts and I don't think ima morning person anymore it depends on you and how you are able to sleep during the day. But from my experience around 4 or 5am thats when you start to doze off so make sure no one catches you sleeping.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

I see you work in the NICU, would you say the pace is a lot slower? calmer? I remember being in the NICU at night with my son and it just seemed more peaceful.

We are a 65+ bed unit .... very busy, even on night shift. There's really no difference in the number of admissions on night shift as compared to day shift, obviously babies have their own agendas.

There's not as many as people coming in and out, so it's calmer in that regard ..... no therapies, developmental, social work, etc, etc. But our docs round through the night and write orders, so there's not a whole lot of difference there.

[Proverbs 16:3]

Night shift. Been working it since early 2007 and i applied for a night position except they want me to work days for the first year. I really can't picture myself getting up early because i've always been a night owl. I love night shift, i work on a heart failure unit and even when it's crazy it's still better than dayshift.

For the sake of shift differentials and not having to deal with administrators, i say nights. You can come home in the morning, sleep till 2 or 3pm and still run errands before you go back to work that night. i walk to work so i usually leave my house between 6:45 and 6:50, mostly 6:50 or a little later.

i love nights, period!

[blarf]

i like nights once in a while but it messes me up too much (eating at midnight...). i worked at night while on break from school but no way i would do it during school. as far as "slower pace", well i get it all depends in what department you are working in.

[LauraTheNurse]

I know some nurses that would never give up their night shift and loved it. Slower pace.

[krissyhoff]

I am a new grad on days and am still in orientation. I was orienting with another new grad and she has since switched to nights. She is having a hard time getting used to it.

[MB37]

It depends on you. I can't wait to start working nights again - my last job was mostly days, and it's the only day job I've ever had. Some people, however, don't like to be up all night and screw with their internal clocks by trying to wake up in the am on their days off. If you can't commit to being on an up most of the night/sleep past noon lifestyle even on your off days, you may want to consider days. I'm like some previous posters - the DAY shift differential would have to be astronomical for me to consider getting up before 0600 on a regular basis.

[Barkow]

Night shift pros:

-shift differential

-aren't constantly watched by manager

-more independent decision-making

-don't have to wake up before dawn

-better parking (day shift uses shuttle parking)

-less congested commute

-even if tired, you technically have the day free for appointments, etc if you need it

Night shift cons:

-need to have understanding family

-fewer support staff - must do clerk and aide work sometimes

-fewer emergency resources

-fewer nurses working

-on days off you are constantly awake at crazy hours

[pielęgniarka, RN]

I've worked, nights, days and evenings. My favorite parts of nights were: Less politics! Quieter atmosphere. Ability to talk to pts. My quality of charting was better since I had more time to put into it-- even though the quantity was doubled.

Though... nocs... sometimes you feel like the clean-up crew for days and eves.

The worst was not being able to sleep in bed with my husband who works days, and thus, the reason I moved to days. I worked in LTC 65 beds where there was only one nurse on and 2 aides for nights. So when there was a death, or emergency-- it's your responsibility to get all the paper work, charting for several nurses worth, call the MD etc. You need to have pretty fabulous CNA's and be autonomous.

On days you have many other nurses and staff members to assist in a crisis, and there are more opportunities for learning. I would go back to nights in a heartbeat if my husband could switch shifts though. It's nice to be home all day too, even if you're sleeping.

Sara