Question About Working Hours Help!

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2010

Typically at nursing homes there are 3 shifts: 7-3, 3-11, and 11-7. Hospitals vary but most of the hospitals in my area only have 12 hour shifts: 7a-7p, 7p-7a. So yea, you can work day shift if you want lol. However at a nursing home, day shift is one of the harder shifts imo b/c not only are you responsible for getting everyone up, you also have two meals during that shift as well. Evening shift is a little bit more laid back.

juliaann · Apr 20, 2010

I agree with everything above. Most facilities will hire you for a certain shift, and you (usually!) won't have to do nights if you're hired for days, and vice-versa. Some places will require every other weekend or one weekend a month. You'll just have to ask about that sort of thing in your interview, since every facility is different. If you work 8 hour shifts (like MiiszKim said - most nursing homes work this way), you would work 5 shifts to be full-time, and if you work 12 hour shifts (most hospitals operate this way), you would work 3 shifts to be full-time. For example, when I was first hired on at a hospital, I was hired for "full time - days, T, W, Th." Every week, I only worked 7am-7pm those 3 days, which left plenty of time for being a full-time student on my M,F, and weekends.

You should be able to find a facility that will work with your schedule! Good luck!

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Apr 21, 2010

Where I work day shift is hard to get on. They really don't hire anyone for that because people on the other 2 shifts are always waiting for it.

ItsTheDude · Apr 21, 2010

as other have stated, day shift is the most popular for some reason (harder to get), i don't like it though. most ltc want newbs to cover 2nd and 3rd shifts.

take a hospital job if you can get one, it's generally gonna be easier than ltc.

CoffeemateCNA · Apr 21, 2010

As a new CNA, you would probably do best by starting out on evening shift (3-11p). It is more laid back and there is more leeway for getting tasks done. There's nothing that says you can't start out on day shift, but know that it is very, very busy. You really have to know what you are doing or you will fall behind easy. Working evening or night shift will allow to build up your skills and knowledge base.

eveningsky339, LPN · Apr 21, 2010

You can probably work day shift without a problem. It is usually the hardest shift in terms of workload, and I began refusing to work days after only three shifts when I first started out as a per diem. Not just because of the workload, but the negative personalities of some CNAs. Day shift is either full and impossible to get into or severely short-staffed...

If you get a hospital job, you may find yourself work 12's. I was recently hired to do 7a-7p on my hospital's med/surg floor. The good thing about that schedule is you only have to work three days a week in order to be part-time, so you could arrange your school schedule accordingly.