Shift You Like Best

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Nov 2, 2006

I work 7 pm - 7 am .... and I LOVE it!! You couldn't pay me enough to work day shift. Night shift is just the perfect schedule for me ..... I'm a nightowl anyway and I stay up late as it is, so it's not hard for me to adjust on my days off. And I don't have to deal with traffic, administration, or management

I've never worked days at this hospital, so I can't say really compare one to the other, but our night shift crew works SO WELL together! Love it!

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Nov 2, 2006

Can't beat three 12's per week. I work 7a-7p and have a ton of 'play time' - can go to school, participate in some outside groups, and of course, support my Allnurses habit.

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Nov 3, 2006

I work 3-12's, 18-0630, love it.

Sounds like you have to work 8 hour shifts, I suppose the best would be days. Night shift, I only got 2 nights off in a row every other weekend. Other than that it was 2 single nights. PM's is not bad, but with kids you aren't home in the evenings.

Ask about 12's!

Jolie, BSN · Nov 5, 2006

3-11 is my favorite, but it is not very family friendly. 11-7 is my next choice. I've never liked 12 hour shifts, even 20 years ago when I had the stamina to do them.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Nov 5, 2006

Old timey 3-11. 3 x 12 a week is really hard with a long commute. It becomes a 14-16 hour day at times.

palesarah · Nov 10, 2006

Old timey 3-11. 3 x 12 a week is really hard with a long commute. It becomes a 14-16 hour day at times.

I hear you on working 12s with a long commute- that's what I do now. I rotate days & nights, but regardless of which shift I'm working, I leave at 5:30 and don't get home till 8:30.

My absolute favorite shift was 3-11, when I worked per diem for a short while I was working usually 3 of those a week, that was the best!

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Nov 10, 2006

Everyone has to do what works for them, I feel differently about "twelve" hour shifts with a long commute attached. To me, I get a long commute no matter how long my shift is, and I would rather only commute 3X/week than 5X/week.

My commute is average 35 minutes (25mins on weekend, 40 minutes on weekday).

So;

35mins/shift= 105 minutes commute a week

If I worked 8 hr shifts:

35mins/shift= 175 minutes a week

Overall I spent less time in my car with 12's, but it is about 14 hrs from leaving home until getting home (because I tend to leave early and drive by for supper).

I worked 8 hr shifts with a very short commute for 5 years and I would hate to go back. I could see when I get older I may not want to work that many hours in a row but for now I'm enjoying having 4 days off a week.

When it comes to nursing jobs; there is no perfect fit for all; but there are better fits for some people.

SteveNNP, MSN, NP · Nov 10, 2006

I really loved working night shift in my NICU, because the people were laid back and worked together. Now with so many irons in the fire, and all my friends working day shifts, I'll take the pay cut and work days. I REALLY hate dragging my tail out of my warm bed at 0445 every morning, though.... 1700 was sooo much easier!

-you might want to check out if you hospital offers a weekend-only shift, either Sat/Sun, or FSSun, etc....you'd be home for your family during the whole week, then..

walkingrock, ADN · Nov 17, 2006

There are so many variables to consider. How many days/wk do you have to work, how much energy do you have? What will your child's schedule be (school, kindergarten, etc.), what is your babysitting situation??? For me personally, I am plain tired of 12 hr shifts. I worked 3-12's/wk for most of my career; both days and nights not rotating, just at different times in my career, probably about equal years on each. I have not had the opportunity to work 8 hr shifts most of that time. I did work 8 hr shifts the first few years I was a nurse, and now the last 2+ yrs. Nights is very hard on the body and the psyche, some people can't tolerate it at all, they get physically ill. Others (only a few!) love it. It is the most flexible for family/school activities. The older I get the harder it is to work nights and the harder it is to work 12 hrs shifts. It is just plain physically harder and harder. I have been working PM's for the last 10 months, only spent maybe about a year on PM's previously in my career. It is a very nice shift, but it is not great for a husband and family, for most people. My personal body clock would find 8 hr day shift the easiest, but it can also be the most stressful shift, with lots of interuptions and procedures...No one answer works for everyone, you'll have to compare the pro's and con's of each available option for you and decide what will work best for you, at this time in your life (it will most likely be deifferent at another time).

ittybittybabynurse · Nov 19, 2006

My son will be in his last year of preschool next year, and I have the option of sending him every day or every other day. The nice thing is that I have in-laws that live 2 minutes from the school on days that I will have to work (school opens at 9, hubby has to be to work at 8). They take him now on my clinical & school days.

So, since my last post I have been told that you have to "work up to" 7A-7P, three days/week in the NICU. Most new hires are for day or night shift 3 days one week and 4 the next, which I know I do not want. I worked all summer doing 3 12's, and that was all I could handle.

I could work 2 12's at night, which would be great, but that means I will have to pay back $10,000 in work scholarships agreements. That makes no sense to do that. The other option is working weekends with an added day during the week. That may be OK, but I'm not sure if days or night would be best with a pre-schooler. Does anyone who work thats type of schdule have any input on how that works for them?