3rd shift roll call!

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Ortho, PICU.

I am lucky enough to have a slow night here on the floor. I work on an orthopaedic med/surg floor and thurs/fri nights are always slow. Most of our surgeons schedule Mon/Tues surgeries so patients can go home by Friday.

What area do you work in, and why do you love/hate it? Do you like late (or day) shift?

I am new to hospital nursing and would love to explore the possibilities in the future, but I loooove 3rd shift. All you night owl day shifters are more than welcome to chip in.

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Specializes in Rural Health.

I'm a night owl! Worked day shift for awhile, the night nurses here are way easier to get along with;) Our shifts are 4-4 though, so it seems either way you're working half the night! I work in a rural hospital, we do everything. It's been busy tonight. We usually have 3 nurses at night, but tonight there's just 2 of us. We have 5 patients, 2 of which are newborns and we're working on our 7th ER for the night. That's a LOT of ER for one night here!

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Specializes in med/surg , hospice and oncology.

Nightshift here! I love working nightshift because I feel that I can give my patients a "little extra". No dealing with Social Workers, PCM, blah, blah, blah. On my unit, we usually care for 7-8 at night-Oncology/Med-Surg. Lots of FFP, Platelets and PRBC's on night. Not unusual to be running on three patients.

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Specializes in LTC.

Nightshift at a LTC...I can take it or leave it. It's still a paycheck..I prefer evenings...I'm the only nurse in the building at night.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

Love nights. Would not do anything different. I am still busy but do not have the noise of management, PT, OT, CM, family (sometimes), ya'll know the deal.

We do get alot of frequent fliers who will pluck your nerve at all hours. I like the challenge though.

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Thanks for opening up this thread and for these comments - I am actually very new to the field, and was just offered a 7P - 7A position in local hospital. First job out of the gate, training was in LTC, so this seems like a dream, but I don't know what it's like or what to expect (of work life or social life) working 3 (night) 12's per week. Husband and one almost grown child.

Your comments are so very welcome!!!:confused:

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Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

LTC here working 7pm-7am. I wouldn't have it any other way. I have another nurse on the other wing that does her thing and I do mine. If we need help we can call each other. It's quiet without management, housekeeping, dietary, etc. I like it that way and wouldn't have it any other way. :)

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Specializes in Telemetry, IMCU, s/p Open Heart surgery.

i work nights 7p-7a.... i love it! the night shift crew is way cooler and easier to get along with than the day shift! oh it's a telemetry/ status post open heart surgery unit.

we dont have to deal with families as much, SW, MDs, management... etc... we have more time to spend with patients, plan food parties while the patients are asleep... my clinical manager convinced me to work a day shift one day and i was a zombie until about 1pm! not to mention i kept writing the wrong times on my charting! hahaha...

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Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

Night shift in med surg here. Nights seem to be much more team oriented; I know my fellow nurses are covering my back no questions asked. Day shift is much more hectic and because of that it seems like the day shift nurses just do not have the time they'd like to spend with their patients. No ancillary people under foot also is nice.

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Specializes in Rural Health.

I have to agree that I love the lack of other departments at night time, especially these slow nights we've been having. I at least feel like I can slack off a little without every other department in the building watching to see what I'm doing

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Specializes in PCU/tele.

woot!!! nights all the way! i was a bit apprehensive when i took my job about a year and a half ago. i was always a 2nd shifter. i work 1900-0730 in ICU stepdown/PCU in a rual-ish hospital. (next closest ones are 45 miles away, with major university medical centers either 1.5 hrs, 2 or 2.5hrs away on ground). I love nights bc its *most of the time* a little more relaxed than days. youre not tripping over unnecesary people at the nurses station, your boss isnt there all day breathing down your neck, youre not having to redo your "brains" sheet 10X bc your on your 10th pt of the day, etc! the only thing i do not like about nights is the crappy pt ratio (5-6:1 most times 6:1; compared to 3-4:1 on days); and my boss in general, but thats a whole nother thing

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Specializes in General adult inpatient psychiatry.

New grad here working 7P-7A on a general psychiatric inpatient unit. Depending on the unit census when I get in at 7, the shift is either pretty busy with admissions or quiet with a few people who never sleep.

I've fallen into the really bad habit of switching to a "day" schedule on my off days. I've been off for 3 days in a row, went to bed at 2130 on my own last night and woke up at 0600 this morning and haven't been able to go back to sleep yet. I'm going to try my hardest to nap before I go in tonight.

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