Single mother working 12 hours night shift

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I just passed my NCLEX and will be starting work soon. I got the usually shift for a new grad 12 hour night shifts. I’m a single mom I somewhat have help but kind of uneasy about having to depend on someone to get my child ready for school because I would more than likely not get back on time to take him to school on time. I have somewhat figured out after school. Would really appreciate to hear what others are doing or have done. Thank you!

Specializes in Psychiatry.
On 7/1/2019 at 8:28 AM, NolaBCbabeRN said:

I just passed my NCLEX and will be starting work soon. I got the usually shift for a new grad 12 hour night shifts. I’m a single mom I somewhat have help but kind of uneasy about having to depend on someone to get my child ready for school because I would more than likely not get back on time to take him to school on time. I have somewhat figured out after school. Would really appreciate to hear what others are doing or have done. Thank you!

Congratulations on passing the NCLEX and new job! I sympathize with your situation as I’ve been a single mom for 13 years, and worked 3 12 hour shifts plus call the entire time. A large portion of my salary has gone to child care, and I budget for it as a necessity. Relying on someone to take my son to school has always been stressful, but at least I took him 2 days a week. There are no easy answers. When he was a baby I commuted an hour to a hospital that had onsite daycare, but that was hard to find.

Best of luck!

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Congrats on landing your first RN job.

Is the child's father available at all?

Someone suggested calling home each morning. Not always possible, though.

Things will work out and it is good that you are being proactive.

Let us know how things go.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

There are some home monitoring devices that allow you to interact via a smart phone. While not a substitute for your presence they can be a tool to augment your child care endeavors.

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I’m guessing the child’s father is not in the picture? My ex-husband used to get my child off to school when I worked nights.

I know some people use Care.com and find like a college student to take their children to school in the morning. Even dayshifters often have to find someone as we have to be at work at 0700 and most elementary schools aren’t open as early as we need.

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Nope not involved at all. Oh care.com is a good idea thank you!! It’s true even day shift would need that. The daycare she goes to now has the bus come pick kids up from there so I’d be able to drop off. But they open at 6:30 and that’s so close to 7:00. Having these suggestions gives me some of relief. Thank you

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3 minutes ago, NolaBCbabeRN said:

Nope not involved at all. Oh care.com is a good idea thank you!! It’s true even day shift would need that. The daycare she goes to now has the bus come pick kids up from there so I’d be able to drop off. But they open at 6:30 and that’s so close to 7:00. Having these suggestions gives me some of relief. Thank you

I didn’t realize there was a daycare in the mix! In that case my first suggestion, if it turns out that your mom isn’t up to the task, would be to ask some of those early shift workers at daycare if they can stop by and spend and hour getting her up and ready, and then bring her along.

In my experience, people don’t want jobs that last an hour or two, especially not super early, but and hour or two when you end up at work with no downtime? That’s a different story. And daycare workers are so underpaid. They are often eager for extra hours.

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Kids are smarter then we think. Have her sleep in her school clothes and get her some kind of cool alarm clock. She can go and wake your mom up when it goes off. Have something to eat premade in the fridge. Frozen burritos and granola bars work in my house. If she misses a day or two while it all gets organized it is ok. It's good for kids to feel independent. You can set a timer on an Alexa speaker to tell her when she leaves the house for the school bus . Just my two cents. Congratulations on the job!

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Specializes in NICU.

You have my deepest sympathy,been there,and the stress level of worry is unreal,please be very careful.If your mom is there ,perhaps someone could assist your mom with getting the child ready.

Even if you were a non single ,things happen quickly and can be dangerous.Most parents are at work,and grandparents do not usually live nearby.

I had a parent and a sitter for pick up after school,while working.But this gets confusing for children with our varied schedule.Especially 12 hour shifts,your on 2 or 3 and then off,weekends are like weekdays etc.

Twice I had such a scare,I quit fulltime,and I am grateful I was able to do that.

Get experience and try school nurse.

Some of my fellow nurses hired out of the country,(where they were from) live in baby sitter.

Look at the nanny agency,au pair that are checked and insured.

check out fellow retired nurses.I wish the best for you.Good luck.

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On 7/1/2019 at 11:05 PM, NolaBCbabeRN said:

Thank you everyone for your responses just questions I’ve wondered about and just wanted feedback

nursenmom3 Thank you for your kind words and you’re right I think I’m just unsure how things will work out when I’m not around since I’ve been doing it all myself even while in school. Having family that love your kids care for them is an advantage in its own way. I just need to start working and figure things out as we go

I totally sympathize. You may find someone on a service like care.com. When you get a chance, I'd switch to days and/or look for homehealth or 8-5 clinic job. Homehealth charting takes away free time though. Check your hospital about when you can transfer to days (3-6 mos). Good hospitals work to put an RN in the right position for her/him. When you work days in the hospital, daycare/school will cover your childcare. I hired a sitter for after daycare closes (6-8PM). Some schools have YMCA afterschool care which will save you money! I'd get to know mommies but I hardly had time to socialize. I agree with the comment above about finding folks at church or hospital classified boards too. You may want to place an ad. I found a great sitter on care.com but had to interview a few and pay for background checks on those sites before finding her. I paid her $20/hr but for me it was worth it for 2 hrs of her time every shift. She spent some of it on my child and was very active (going to parks, community pool, homework, reading, playing games, art, cleaning, etc) . I would make sure that you feel your son is safe and that you have a backup. Build up PTO so that if you or your child is showing signs of being sick that you call off. I never tried to leave in the middle of the day. I just called off for the day my child showed getting sick or had a fever the day or night before. You may need it if childcare falls through too. I saw what happened to other nurses, even with emergencies when they tried to leave. I'm still trying to find a work/life/child balance in nursing. I'm developing side gigs.

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21 hours ago, NolaBCbabeRN said:

Nope not involved at all. Oh care.com is a good idea thank you!! It’s true even day shift would need that. The daycare she goes to now has the bus come pick kids up from there so I’d be able to drop off. But they open at 6:30 and that’s so close to 7:00. Having these suggestions gives me some of relief. Thank you

Some of the sitters on care.com or sittercity.com also offer before school care. I'd just make sure you feel safe for your child, are happy with them, and that they are flexible for your schedule. Maybe a 6-8 AM sitter to make sure your child gets up and goes to school safely.

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