Grape_soda

I work 12 hour shifts, and in a pay period I work 7/14 days. which is great for the time off. Everyother weekend is free. as for holidays, we go by the schedule, but our hospital will essentially try and make it so if you work say christmas this year, you wont work it next year, unless you want to and there are hours. One of my best friends is a nurse and she works 8 hour shifts, and essentially she has more time off in a work day (work a day shift and off at 3 and free to do whatever) she is still going to work way more often than i do and has less time to spend wiht family and friends. shifts are simply a fact of nursing life. You need to be prepared for that unless you get lucky and find a place that offers lines with straight days or nights or evenings. and i agree with everyone else here, nursing school was the only real part where i found i had no life. it drains you more than working with patients. Most places accomadate people when it comes to holidays and time off, mainly because no one wants to work every holiday, and unions wont allow it anyways.

So I currently work in hamilton, ontario as a psych rpn and just recently got a fulltime job on a different unit than I originally started in the hospital on. I work 12 hour shifts, max 7 shifts in a pay (ofcourse less if I have stats, drop days or vacation). my fiance and I are getting married in two years and with him in school its currently really difficult to start saving. So I have opted for getting a second job. Currently I have an interview booked for monday (only 4 hours after coming off nights) but it is in cambridge (about 40 mins away). Its part-time and I believe they are 12 hour shifts, but I'm not sure how part-time it is, or if its casual (although I did state directly in my coverletter about my availability) I was just wondering if I could get some advice from any nurses working 2 jobs. How difficult do you find it? Do you commute a fair distance and what is that like for you, especially when you get home? I don't want to get burnt out, but I would love to have my foot in two doors at once so to speak. We're driving to cambridge sunday afternoon to see what the drive is like, amount of gas used, etc to see if it would be something i would consider. Any information, tips etc you could give would be great! thanks!!