Night weekend track job? Worth it?

suanna · May 13, 2014

Worked it a few years- gave it up for a staight FT nights position. It depends on what you want from a job and your life outside of work. Consider if you work 3 12s a week- you can work Su, Mo, Tu.XXXXXXXXTh,Fri, Sat,-8 days off in a row without burning 1 vacation day. Take 3 days off and juggle well and you can be off 14 days with 3 vacation days used. On a weekend option you are never more than 5 days off in a row. Most of the programs don't allow you to take more than 1 or 2 weekends off a year- including illness. You will never attend a birthday party, get together with friends for a few drinks, or go on a date with a new person who has a job. You will fall asleep in church if you attend, and you will always work the shift with the sickest patients and the least staff both physician and peer. Your chances of having a CNA is slim to none. Oh, by the way, everyone will look down on you for having such a "cooshy" position. Apart from that the pay is GREAT and you have a lot of options for picking up OT when you want it. When I went from weekend option to FT nights I gave up $25,000 a year with lost OT. I'm a little more worn out working 3 12s instead of 2 a week, but honestly, most weeks I worked 3 days or more when I was on weekend option- I just got paid more to work them. As it is I HAVE to work 3 12s. Hope this helps.

lindseylpn · May 13, 2014

I've been on weekend nights for years. I work three 12s. I love having 4 days off in a row but, I sacrifice a lot of time from my family and friends. I rarely get a day off with my husband when he works mon-fri. I miss the majority of birthdays, cookouts etc. It's hard to transfer to a different shift too. Someone who'll work weekends all the time when no one else will is hard to come by so, you kind of get "stuck" in this shift. I would love to just work in the week but, I really do like my job.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · May 13, 2014

I work weekend nights. We get a great shift differential for committing to work weekends and it allows me to work part time instead of full time. There's no other way I'd be able to swing that. And it makes child care much easier with a set schedule and I can make plans months and months in advance because I always know when I'm working. I like that a lot about it.

Negatives: I hadn't realized just how much stuff happens on the weekends. People are always asking me to do things and I have to say no to most of them because I need my sleep and my vacation days are reserved for Important Events like weddings that I really must take off. So that's been a little hard with friends and family. And frankly, I get a little irritated when my family says "oh we'd like to come visit, let us know when a good weekend is." Um. Never. I work weekends. You know this. No weekends are good for me. Ever. Ever ever.

I also have a challenging child care situation because DH works every other weekend so every other weekend I'm with my baby during the day between night shifts. It was ok when she napped more but I'm trying to figure out what to do now and it seems unreasonable to ask the babysitter if she's like to work a 29 hour day instead of the 16 hours she already works, but that's more a nurse married to a medic with kids issue than a weekend issue.

Overall I am so glad I have this option. I don't plan to work it forever but for right now it's the best fit for me and my family. DD is in early intervention and has pretty frequent doctor's appointments so I get to be a SAHM and never have to worry about getting off work or being free for all that weekday stuff.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · May 13, 2014

I think my program is pretty great though. I work 2 days a week, have 8 days of vacation a year. It's about a 64% shift differential too. I only qualify for the benefits PT employees get but am on DH's insurance so it's not a big deal.

RNperdiem, RN · May 13, 2014

The pay differentials are nice if you accept the trade-offs. Weddings, reunions, and social gatherings take place mainly on weekends. You need to be strict with yourself to get the sleep you need to function at work. In my neighborhood, leaf blowers and lawnmowers roar for many hours on weekend days, so daytime sleeping is harder than during the week.

Most of my weekend night people are older with kids. For people with children, childcare is taken care of by the other parent, so they don't need to pay for childcare.

Not paying for childcare while making good money makes it worth it for many.

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · May 14, 2014

I work every weekend night but I'm not officially weekend track, because I do 8s. Our weekend track only gets 5 days of paid time off a year but makes about $10 an hour more base pay than the rest of us. I love weekend nights, but there is a trade off.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · May 15, 2014

I'm a fairly satisfied weekend night person who has been on this schedule for about 6-8 years (just can't exactly remember). The pay is incredible and my compensation is not the best weekend plan there is out there. For newer nurses the differentials would be slightly better than overtime on all their hours. It's not as high a percentage for me as I'm about to "top out".

I'm kind of used to is but it does get old. If you want to socialize with the usual events; weddings, concerts, festivals, you have to plan these months in advance, along with remembering your vacation days eat into allowed weekend time off.

One minor positive when it comes to social events is that many of the plans only require holidays if they fall on the weekend. I won't have to work Christmas until 2015, it doesn't hit all that often!

I would say if you are young, unmarried, interested in socializing, you will suffer on such a plan.

Families sometimes really struggle when one person has a M-F job and one has a weekend job. Other families find this is a way to never have to pay child care. Add that to the financial benefit.

It's mostly used as a retention tool. Our employer is currently flooded in applications so they have said they are not renewing the program. If any of us "break the rules" (call off too much, ask too many weekend days off) we will be off the program and it will not be available to sign up for again.