During my nurse residency, it was mentioned that our health system and in general across the board, 12 hour shifts are under scrutiny. This is due to staff fatigue, errors, and continuity in patient care.
It was said that in the not-too-distant future 12 hour shifts will be going away in our health system. In bedside nursing, the four days off to recuperate from the circus that is my unit, I can't imagine being there 5 days a week!
I am looking to get out of bedside nursing anyway, but I was wondering if anyone else has heard talk of this!
For those of you who love 12s and would look elsewhere if only 8s were offered, good on you. I just wish (as an experienced nurse of 30+ years) that there was an option of eights for those of us who still have something to offer at the bedside but find 12s (esp. nights) are wearing us down.
Look at it this way, when you work 12 hours, you can work, commute, sleep and shower. That's about it. When you work 8s, you can do all of the above PLUS sit down for a meal with your family, make a dentist appointment, grocery shop- whatever, AND STILL work without feeling like a zombie or giving up sleep.
If they stop nurses from working 12's then they need to stop dr's from working 48-72 hr shifts... just sayin'. I know that if my company offered 12's I would be so very excited! Right now I work 8's and those 2 days off are nothing. Especially since I work 11p-7a. I feel like I only get 1 day off. I would much rather have the 12s.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I adore 12-hour shifts. Attempt to pry them from my cold fingers and see what happens!
Speaking as a bedside nurse and house supervisor, I'd rather not see needy patients or their unrealistic family members five days a week. I'd rather not see my managers or coworkers five days a week. I'd rather not be at work five days a week.
I'd prefer working a condensed schedule of three 12-hour shifts, which enables me to have four days off each week. I also enjoyed working two 16-hour weekend double shifts to obtain five days off in a row each week.
But contending with five 8-hour shifts a week at the bedside, a.k.a. the circus? It's hell on earth for me. I've been there, done that, and absolutely won't do it again unless I was at immediate risk of becoming homeless.
Doing away with 12 hour shifts would increase the number of nurses needed by 33% in a 24 hour period. I can't speak for anyone else but my health system has continually sought to decrease wages, benefits, and retirements since 2007. I don't think they are willing to pay the costs of health insurance, unemployment, and training costs for the necessary numbers of RNs needed dor 8 hour shifts. I would like to see how they could spin hiring 33% more nurses when they are constantly telling us we have no money for anything, much less more staff.
I'm with the majority of the responders. 12 hr. shifts all the way for me! I have worked 8's in the past and felt like I had to cram 12 hrs. of work into an 8 hr. day. Found it hard to get out on time. If I'm already at work anyway, I'd much rather bust out another 4 hrs. and have more days off a week. All my 9 to 5 M-F friends are jealous of my long stretches off w/o having to take vacation days. In my opinion, 12 hr. shifts are one of the few perks of bedside nursing.
Specializes in Ortho/Uro/Peds/Research/PH/Insur/Travel.
My experience has been that older nurses tend to prefer 8-hour shifts and younger nurses prefer 12-hour shifts (for a myriad of reasons). I completed a 13-week travel contract where I worked both 7-3 and 3-11 and it was the worst experience of my 8-year nursing career. I felt like I never left the facility and, as another nurse posted, I need those 4 days to recover from the stressors of bedside nursing.
There is a contingent of nursing 'leaders' who, for reasons I still don't understand, have been pushing to switch to 8-hour shifts. They've been using really badly done research, much of it so flawed it's hard to believe it's not intentional. For instance, from an article referred to in a previous post The Nursing Debate: 8-Hour Shifts vs. 12-Hour Shifts "nurses who work 12.5 hours or longer are three times more likely to make an error in patient care". This is probably the quoted "stat" used in favor 8-hour shifts, it comes from an Ann Rodgers study who found that number of self-reported errors and near-errors was higher "per shift" in 12-hour shifts compared to an 8-hour shift, but they didn't realize their numbers actually showed a slightly lower error risk by nurses working 12-hour shifts compared to 8-hour shifts even though the "per shift" rate of error/near errors was higher. I curious if anyone can figure out why that is?
If they stop nurses from working 12's then they need to stop dr's from working 48-72 hr shifts... just sayin'. I know that if my company offered 12's I would be so very excited! Right now I work 8's and those 2 days off are nothing. Especially since I work 11p-7a. I feel like I only get 1 day off. I would much rather have the 12s.
Well hopefully I will be out of bedside nursing before this comes to fruition. I kind of hate 12 hour shifts because after the 8 hr mark I do NOT give hoot anymore. I work nights. My body is taxed by that point. At the same time I kind of love 12 hour shifts because no way in hell could you pay me to be in a hospital 5 days a week. Yuck.
My hospital did away with 8 hr shifts a couple years ago. I think it makes scheduling simpler Additionally, it makes it harder on older more expensive nurses who can only handle the eights. Another way to push them out the door.
12 hr shifts definitely make night shift doable for someone who doesn't want to become a total nocturnal being. I couldn't handle nights if I had to do 5 a week.
meanmaryjean, DNP, RN
7,899 Posts
For those of you who love 12s and would look elsewhere if only 8s were offered, good on you. I just wish (as an experienced nurse of 30+ years) that there was an option of eights for those of us who still have something to offer at the bedside but find 12s (esp. nights) are wearing us down.
Look at it this way, when you work 12 hours, you can work, commute, sleep and shower. That's about it. When you work 8s, you can do all of the above PLUS sit down for a meal with your family, make a dentist appointment, grocery shop- whatever, AND STILL work without feeling like a zombie or giving up sleep.