PLEASE I HAVE A QUESTION about nursing scheduales...

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 7, 2014

You're going to have to go to nursing school full time. And most places require that you work full time when you start a new job. It's difficult to learn what you need to learn while working part time. After two years or so, though, you should be able to work part time or per diem.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 7, 2014

Hi, and welcome to AN :)

I have to tell you, you really are asking for the world, at least where Nursing is concerned. Tackling this piece by piece: yes, it is possible to work one day a week, but not until you are well-experienced, which will take years of full-time--you are looking for a sought-after specialty (NICU) and with that kind of competition, you won't be much of a contender without the appropriate experience and credentials to go with your application to the unit. I have seen it happening more often than it used to, that a new grad would be offered a part-time position but that only means it will take you that much longer to actually be worth something to the unit you want: you still have to have the experience, and it won't be done one or two days a week.

Now, working one day a week as a per-diem arrangement will probably give you most of the holiday time you seek, BUT (and it's a big but!) most facilities do require you to work some of them. And sometimes there is no additional holiday pay, because you are after all working just per-diem. Not always, but you should know going in that you would have to expect weekends, nights, holidays, and everything else that comes up to be tossed at you. That's nursing in a hospital, and if you're already cherry-picking your work dates you will find yourself on the short end of the stick sometimes. Just how it is.

Are you willing to spend years in clinicals, years in whatever job you can get in order to gain experience, and then potentially NOT get anywhere NEAR your dream job? California is nearly busting out at the seams with new nurses; there is no shortage in your area and you will be lucky to find a job, any job, once you graduate. Ideally, you will work in a med-surg unit to learn what you never learned in school (A LOT!!) and gain the kind of experience that would make a nurse manager of a specialty unit like peds/nicu even look at you.

I understand you don't have to work from a financial standpoint.....will your schooling all be paid by graduation? Or will you be incurring debt? Keep in mind the job market is super tight in your region and you could be out of work for quite some time, then have to take what's offered if you plan to actually work in nursing.

What do you think of all that?

RN2bBevy · Aug 7, 2014

Hi, and welcome to AN :)
I have to tell you, you really are asking for the world, at least where Nursing is concerned. Tackling this piece by piece: yes, it is possible to work one day a week, but not until you are well-experienced, which will take years of full-time--you are looking for a sought-after specialty (NICU) and with that kind of competition, you won't be much of a contender without the appropriate experience and credentials to go with your application to the unit. I have seen it happening more often than it used to, that a new grad would be offered a part-time position but that only means it will take you that much longer to actually be worth something to the unit you want: you still have to have the experience, and it won't be done one or two days a week.
Now, working one day a week as a per-diem arrangement will probably give you most of the holiday time you seek, BUT (and it's a big but!) most facilities do require you to work some of them. And sometimes there is no additional holiday pay, because you are after all working just per-diem. Not always, but you should know going in that you would have to expect weekends, nights, holidays, and everything else that comes up to be tossed at you. That's nursing in a hospital, and if you're already cherry-picking your work dates you will find yourself on the short end of the stick sometimes. Just how it is.
Are you willing to spend years in clinicals, years in whatever job you can get in order to gain experience, and then potentially NOT get anywhere NEAR your dream job? California is nearly busting out at the seams with new nurses; there is no shortage in your area and you will be lucky to find a job, any job, once you graduate. Ideally, you will work in a med-surg unit to learn what you never learned in school (A LOT!!) and gain the kind of experience that would make a nurse manager of a specialty unit like peds/nicu even look at you.
I understand you don't have to work from a financial standpoint.....will your schooling all be paid by graduation? Or will you be incurring debt? Keep in mind the job market is super tight in your region and you could be out of work for quite some time, then have to take what's offered if you plan to actually work in nursing.
What do you think of all that?

YIKES! haha, I totally need that "cold truth". School would be no problem and full time. I knew that part, but didn't think of having to impress the unit I want to work for, and having to put in full-time hours at first. I guess over-all, I would definitely not mind working full time for a couple years or so, and then hopefully eventually getting into NICU! My only problem would be, if NICU does per diem or part-time. Nights is okay with me too. I wouldn't mind working every holiday to get Christmas off!:) Does NICU usually do per diem, or are they usually full-time employees only? Thank a bunch. And yeah, here in SoCal, there are tons of nurse graduates from great Universities. I love teaching, but the 55 hours a week, not even including the grading of hundreds of papers at home has took a toll on me. Thanks for all the previous above statements!:)

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 7, 2014

Good luck getting every Christmas off. Not gonna happen- even if you DO offer to work ALL the other holidays.

I think you have a VERY idealized view of a nursing career. Do yourself a huge favor (and I am being completely honest and serious here)- spend a 12 hour night shift shadowing a NICU nurse. Now, imagine doing this 3-4 nights/ week for a couple of years until you qualify for that dreeeeeam one night/week position.

MSofia · Aug 7, 2014

I think you posted this question in the wrong forum

TC3200 · Aug 7, 2014

My sister is in NICU. She went to Pitt and did clinicals and her first job at McGee Women's Hospital. That's how she got her early start in NICU. She relocated when she married and had to take a FT job at an area hospital, and as I recall, it was more general peds because there was no NICU there. Then she landed a weekend night-turn job at a children's hospital and worked 36 hrs per week that way (that 36 hrs was paid as FT w/ benefits), but it was always night shift 12s, and every weekend. It worked well for them because her husband worked straight weekdays, and that way they didn't have to hire a babysitter or put kids in daycare. But then she had to cut holidays short if Christmas fell on a F, Sat, or Sun. And when the family had a long weekend off at Thanksgiving, she was working.

She got a great deal of NICU experience at that "inner city" type hospital. When she moved down South, they were glad to get her because problems that were "rare" at that nicer hospital were old hat to her. She picks up a lot of per-diem work for other hospitals on her days off. But RN school is just a generalist education. There won't be enough NICU training in the average nursing school curriculum to amount to beans, at least not most of the degree programs here. It's learned OTJ and via special training that occurs after RN school.

eta: The good thing about being night shift, she says, is it's less stress and she only has to deal with the babies, not the doctors, parents, and other chaos of day shift.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 7, 2014

YIKES! haha, I totally need that "cold truth". School would be no problem and full time. I knew that part, but didn't think of having to impress the unit I want to work for, and having to put in full-time hours at first. I guess over-all, I would definitely not mind working full time for a couple years or so, and then hopefully eventually getting into NICU! My only problem would be, if NICU does per diem or part-time. Nights is okay with me too. I wouldn't mind working every holiday to get Christmas off!:) Does NICU usually do per diem, or are they usually full-time employees only? Thank a bunch. And yeah, here in SoCal, there are tons of nurse graduates from great Universities. I love teaching, but the 55 hours a week, not even including the grading of hundreds of papers at home has took a toll on me. Thanks for all the previous above statements!:)

I think for more specifics about how a typical NICU works you'd have to post this question in that forum. But generally speaking, whether there are per diem shifts available period would have to be dependent on the needs of that unit, in that facility, in that region.

I see your posts have much emphasis on the hours worked, and comparing how many hours you would hope to work in a NICU with your current slate of hours. It would be worthwhile to consider that school will take pretty much all your available time for classes, clinicals, labs, and studying. And after a couple of years of that (I didn't ask how long your BSN program is supposed to last?) you must expect to work full-time and it's unrealistic to say that means 40 hours. You might be scheduled for 3 12's per week, or 3 12's one week and 4 the next...or straight 8 hours. And tacked onto those shift parameters you can expect to need to stay later than your scheduled 'out' time in order to give report, finish up charting, etc. Many nurses--particularly new ones--find they are scheduled for shifts that add up to 36 hours, but work 40 anyway. Again, depends on the facility and the already-established schedules for that unit.

I have no doubt that you are dog tired of working the hours you currently work. I also know--especially emphasized because you are getting older, not younger--that on-your-feet bedside nursing is a KILLER for the body (and mind). You might in the long run be logging fewer hours than you do now, but most certainly grading papers on your couch is going to be a much easier "job" than working the floor. And while you're grading those papers, you can BE at home, with family. Nursing? Not gonna happen....you get home when you get home.

Just more to consider.

And ask around on the boards where you see NICU nurses congregating for their input

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 7, 2014

A good friend of mine is a NICU nurse and she laughed out loud when I showed her your post. She said you're dreaming if you think you're going to get a per-diem only position in the NICU, especially no Christmas shifts. You have to pay your dues and learn your specialty full time before they'd let you near that unit. Who wants a nurse who has "honed" their craft 1 day per week coming near their critically ill baby? Sorry to be blunt, but your priorities are all wrong if that's what you think nursing is going to be like. Keep your day job.

RunBabyRN · Aug 7, 2014

I have to agree with the harsh realities that have already been stated.

On a broader note, new grads in CA have it ROUGH. I have extensive prior healthcare experience, including military medicine, where my scope of practice was wider than it is now as an RN. I have put in over 800 job applications since March. Because of my prior experience, I have an infusion job, which right now, is about 6 hours a week, and could end at any time, as my patient is in poor health. I am also working health fairs, about 4 hours every 2 weeks, at $20/hour in the San Francisco area. With a BSN. NO hospital work yet, and I have applied for TONS of positions. Everything within 5 hours of me, which would mean spending half of the week away from my family, if I am lucky enough to get 3 12 hour shifts together each week, so that I can get that coveted "acute care experience" that is absolutely, 100% required for any hospital position. Because I do at least have these jobs, and will be doing some flu clinics this fall, I am able to narrow my hospital job search to departments I like, but they're extremely popular, highly sought-after units, and I would be damn lucky if something pans out, frankly. It is eating up ALL of my free time, aggressively applying for jobs and following up on every single tiny job lead I hear about. I have worked my connections, and even with very good connections (one very high up at Kaiser, for example), I STILL have to have experience in acute care. Plus, I am working on getting all of the certs necessary to be eligible to apply for these units. That'll be a good $1500-2000 just for that.

Right now, new grads will pretty much take anything that will take them. You can forget about NICU for a few years, because you'll need experience, NRP, PALS, possible your CCRN, plus a ton of experience to even have your resume get to human eyes (robots scan our resumes, and many of them never even reach a human). Don't count on any particular holiday off, getting off work on time, getting the shifts you want or even as many hours as you want if you're new and per diem. Many new grads get frustrated at the lack of hours when per diem because they have zero seniority. So they're not getting the experience or consistency they need, let alone enough income to pay the bills (which doesn't sound like a big concern for you).

Check out the NICU forum and the First Year of Nursing forum. You'll get a tiny taste of what I mean.

sadiemae1123 · Aug 7, 2014

I think your dream is pretty unrealistic. If money isn't an issue then you might be better served by quitting your regular teaching position and just doing some private tutoring. That way you could set your own hours.

As far as the NICU, you could ask if the hospital allows volunteers in that area. Some places allow volunteers to assist with feedings and hold/comfort the less sick babies who's parents aren't available.

It might be the best of both worlds.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Aug 7, 2014

I think your dream is pretty unrealistic. If money isn't an issue then you might be better served by quitting your regular teaching position and just doing some private tutoring. That way you could set your own hours.
As far as the NICU, you could ask if the hospital allows volunteers in that area. Some places allow volunteers to assist with feedings and hold/comfort the less sick babies who's parents aren't available.
It might be the best of both worlds.

Agree with this post....this may be your best bet.

As others that are in your area and have longevity in this business, I think you needed a few reality-based posts; you also seem very appreciative of them :yes: , so here's another one:

In this market, you have to take what you can get; also, nursing is not a profession where you can just come out of school and immediately slide into a position and work with such flexibility that one day a week would be feasible; you are a novice-nursing wasn't like that many years ago, and is certainly not like that NOW. :no:

No nurse manager is going to want a nurse to work one day a week; they need people at the bedside, especially in such a specialty as critical care; heck in any specialty; it is expected that one is to commit to a full time position, or at least 20 plus hours/week, especially those with no experience; they are hiring for the sole purpose that the expectation is that you are available to do bedside experience at least 3-5 days/week, no more no less; and that's anywhere, not just your dream position.

You may have to seriously rewire your plans; you may not end up in your specialty of choice for many years; can you see yourself in this business if don't get that position? That will be your answer to whether you want to be in this business.