sjm30

I cant help but wonder if the nursing profession would benefit from lowering the number of hours worked in a day. I know that most nurses enjoy the extra days off by working 3 twelve hour shifts a week but those last few hours of the day come when the staff is tired and isnt that when errors are more likely to occur? It seems to me that splitting the day into 3 eight hour shifts would cut down on nurse fatigue and therefore cut down on nursing errors. Plus that would allow more time to recover before the next shift. What are some ways that you have been able to combat fatigue? What do you think about shorter work days for nurses in general?

Once I graduate where should I focus my job search, in a large hospital or in a local community hospital? It seems to me that in a local community hospital I would get a well rounded experience in different aspects of patient care whereas in a larger hospital it seems like I would be in only one department and that is it. Since I dont have experience in the medical field outside of the nursing program where would I be most likely to succeed?