Length of shifts

saskrn · Feb 4, 2005

oh my god!! it was me!! i guess it was a freudian slip!! well i guess it's etter to overlap them, than keep them separate (so now it's one big pile!!!) :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle

:chuckle :chuckle :chuckle

alkaleidi · Feb 16, 2005

i work two 16s back to back now...my preference is 12 but i absolutely hate 8 hr shifts
going in every day is the pits

I agree -- I can't imagine having to work 5 8-hour shifts a week to get full-time pay. At least, not now while I have no one and nothing to be responsible for but myself! I do 3 8's while I'm still in school (working as an LPN... anticipating RN graduation in 3 months) only because of my class schedule, but I pick up an extra 4-8 hours here and there when they are short, have call-offs, etc. I think the 16's are almost attractive, except for the exhaustion I think I'd have the day after the 2 16's. Whew! A lot of hospitals around here have deals you can work out doing 2 12's over a weekend and getting paid for a 40 hour week. That's slightly attractive too. I LOVE the diversity of nursing schedules!

sblanchet · Feb 16, 2005

When I was younger I did twelve hour shifts and loved them. It was well worth the extra days off. I lived in sunny South Florida then and had so much extra beach time! Now as a woman of a "certain age" with three school age children I find eight hour shifts to be about as much as I can do on any given day, but I am fortunate to only need to work part-time. If you are young and energetic I would say go for the twelve hour shifts. They're great!

safewaygreenbox · Feb 16, 2005

Hi,

I work in the UK and can choose between 7.5 and 14 hour shifts. If we do a 14 hour shift we get 3 x 20 min breaks (in theory but not allways in practice :rolleyes: )

When you do a 12 shift what breaks do you get?

Kay x :)

sparkyRN · Feb 16, 2005

When it comes to parttime, 12 hour shifts can't be beat. We have to work 20 or 24hrs/week to be parttime and earn benefits. Most of our PT need to work 24 hours. 2 12's beat 3 8's any day!

Gompers, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2005

Hi,
I work in the UK and can choose between 7.5 and 14 hour shifts. If we do a 14 hour shift we get 3 x 20 min breaks (in theory but not allways in practice )
When you do a 12 shift what breaks do you get?

I believe 8 hours we're supposed to get 30 minute unpaid lunch and 2 15 minute paid "coffee" breaks. I think a 4 hour shift just includes a 30 minute unpaid lunch. So....on my unit, we take one 30 minute break and one 60 minute break during each 12 hour shift.

sparkyRN · Feb 19, 2005

We do the same as Gompers.

happthearts · Feb 19, 2005

I work any where from 8 to 24 hrs a day litterally I set up Pt care and marketing , sometimes have to do care when we are short.On the 24 hrs I must be able to get 6hrs of uninterupeted sleep.

luzzy · Feb 19, 2005

I'm a nursing student as well and I was wondering this exact same thing.

Are the 3, 12 hour shifts consecutive or every other day?

stidget99 · Feb 19, 2005

I'm a nursing student as well and I was wondering this exact same thing.
Are the 3, 12 hour shifts consecutive or every other day?

I work 12-hour shifts. I have found that work a day, off a day, work a day or working 3 in a row are real killers......esp if you work the noc shift! But 12-hour shifts are definitely better than the 8-hour shifts!! As for our breaks.....we get one 30 minute unpaid lunch break (which we rarely get to take), and then we get 3 15 minute breaks.

As far as being forced to stay over.....in NC, a nurse can be on the clock for 16 hours in a 24 hour period. So....if you add back in the 30 mins for lunch...you can feasibly stay for 16.5 hours. However, a colleague and I were talking about this yesterday. She seems to think that the 16 hours has been bumped up to 20 hours!! Unbelievable. I honestly do not see how it is safe to practice nursing for so many hours. Recently, in our hospital, there were two separate instances where workers were in house for over 24 hrs....one was RT and the other was OR tech. Both were required to stay! Again.........UNBELIEVABLE!!!

sparkyRN · Feb 20, 2005

I'm a nursing student as well and I was wondering this exact same thing.
Are the 3, 12 hour shifts consecutive or every other day?

That all depends on how your unit or floor does scheduling. If you self-schedule, then it's up to you how you set up your days. Of course balanced staffing is the priority for the NM and there's no guarantee you'll get exactly what you put down. If the NM or other admin person does all the scheduling, then you pretty much are at their mercy. You could end up working 6-12 hour shifts in a row for straight time if the first 3 days are on one pay period and the 2nd 3 are on another. For instance our work week starts and ends at 7A Sunday morning. So, a nurse could be sched. Thur, Fri, Sat which is on one week, then Sun, Mon, Tue which is another.

Just a personal note if you are working nights: unless you absolutely have to for personal reasons, don't schedule yourself for every other night. You will be totally screwed up, will never have a social life, and eventually it will make you psychotic!

safewaygreenbox · Feb 20, 2005

I work 12-hour shifts. I have found that work a day, off a day, work a day or working 3 in a row are real killers......esp if you work the noc shift! But 12-hour shifts are definitely better than the 8-hour shifts!! As for our breaks.....we get one 30 minute unpaid lunch break (which we rarely get to take), and then we get 3 15 minute breaks.
As far as being forced to stay over.....in NC, a nurse can be on the clock for 16 hours in a 24 hour period. So....if you add back in the 30 mins for lunch...you can feasibly stay for 16.5 hours. However, a colleague and I were talking about this yesterday. She seems to think that the 16 hours has been bumped up to 20 hours!! Unbelievable. I honestly do not see how it is safe to practice nursing for so many hours. Recently, in our hospital, there were two separate instances where workers were in house for over 24 hrs....one was RT and the other was OR tech. Both were required to stay! Again.........UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Can you not say NO? What if you have childcare issues? I work my 30 yours a week and if they are short they can ask me but if I don't wan/carn't do it they accept that.

Kay the 2nd :)