Question about nursing career schedule

Wuzzie · Jan 13, 2020

1 minute ago, AB1989 said:
I’m considering figuring out another career option (even though I’m really excited about nursing) because I don’t want to be working nights and weekends all the time. It’ll ruin my relationship. Plus, we want to have a baby. Can anyone let me know what to expect if I keep following this path?

Expect to work weekends and night shifts and holidays. It's the nature of the beast.

caliotter3 · Jan 13, 2020

Especially in the beginning. There is a pecking order to get day shift and in some cases, as described in another recent thread, that pecking order does not necessarily align with seniority at the organization.

14 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:
Expect to work weekends and night shifts and holidays. It's the nature of the beast.

verene, MSN · Jan 13, 2020

While it is true that many new grads in acute care will start out on nights - this is not always the case. If days is your priority then it *is* possible to get a day shift position - it just may be in a less competitive specialty or outside the hospital (e.g. clinic / ambulatory center etc). If working in the hospital it *will* be normal to pick up weekends (every other, or every 3rd is not unusual) but again - if working in a clinic or non-hospital setting there may not be any weekends to work.

While not working the same schedule as your wife can seem difficult - there are also opportunities to this as well - a coworker works exclusively e/o weekend because he wife works during the week - this lets him be a stay-at-home dad to their young son during the week and bring in a little extra money for the family by picking up a couple of weekends a month.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2020

Expect nights and weekends. Plan accordingly.

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Jan 16, 2020

If you just look up New Grad RN jobs on a major hospital website that offers New Grad jobs, you'll probably see the majority of the jobs offered will be for nightshift. They will advertise them as 7am - 7pm and 7pm - 7am to get you to look....but then WHAM! You read the actual entry and it's usually for nights. I have seen, however, some will have rotating day and night shifts so that might be an option. I don't see these a lot, but in the end....you'll still be working nights more than likely to start off with.

Golden_RN, MSN · Jan 16, 2020

Even if you were lucky enough to get a day shift position, you'd still be working weekends and holidays. It's a 24 hour business.

And on those 12 hour shifts, factor in commute time, coming early/staying late (this is the norm for many), you really don't see your family on those days.

As for having children, 12 hour shift job was pretty good for me because even though I didn't see my kid on the days I worked, on those 4 days off I was able to devote the whole day to them/school activities/etc.

9-5 jobs do exist, but you won't qualify for those until you get bedside experience, and many of those require BSN.