what do you all think about 12 hour shifts?

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I personally miss the days of normal 8 hour days. I find myself craving a normal 5 day work week. I have been considering leaving acute care for this reason. So what do you all think? Has 12 hour shifts increased the stress of nursing and contributed to nurse burnout?

I couldn't imagine going back to 8 hour shifts and working 5 days a week. I have more flexibility with 3 - 12 hour shifts, also I'm more likely to pick up overtime only having 3 days scheduled per week.

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8 hour shifts would be an immediate reason for me to leave and seek another position.

I'm not burnt out after my 12's and love my 6 on / 8 off schedule.

What an awesome life!

I just plan to sleep on workdays and nothing else.

Now unlike others.... I don't have the family issues to worry about... grown & gone!

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I think it is very bad especialy when you work a day shift because you leave home early in the morning and come back late. You don't realy have time to spend with your family because my shifts and my husbands shifts are very different we hardly got time to speak to each other properly.

But I must adapt it.:uhoh3:

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When we were working 8's I don't believe I ever left work on time. 12's are exhausting, but at least there are only 3 of them in a week.;) I couldn't imagine working a 5 day/40hr week. I picked up much more OT working 12s rather than 8s.

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Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.
When we were working 8's I don't believe I ever left work on time. 12's are exhausting, but at least there are only 3 of them in a week.;) I couldn't imagine working a 5 day/40hr week. I picked up much more OT working 12s rather than 8s.

I rarely have to work over, and I do 8's. Few of our 12 hour people ever get out on time. It's very common for them to leave a full 2 hours after their shifts end. Let's see 12 hours of work, 2 hours of staying over, 2 hours (minimum) for getting ready for work, getting to and from work, that's 16 hours. That's leaves exactly 8 hours to get 8 hours of sleep! How convenient! I am going to be very wary (if I'm ever a patient) of whether my nurse has just had 3 shifts with 4 hours of sleep between them, or if she's an 8 hour person who most likely on the night before a shift, went to bed at a decent hour.

It might be easier to staff with 12's but I know a lot of 12 hour people who go back to 8's because their own health has suffered.

The minute our place says it's 12's only, it's hasta la vista!

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Specializes in Pediatric, Obstetrics, Public Health.

I can't stand 12 hr shifts. They became mandatory at our facility about 2 yrs ago. A BIG problem our facility has is childcare issues. The hospital had a 24/7 daycare right next door that was open when we only did 8's. The daycare changed hrs to 6a-6:30p right before 12's became mandatory. As someone who works nights & weekends it is IMPOSSIBLE to find childcare. Plus, many of the single moms on dayshift had to hire teens or adults to go pick up there kids from a regular daycare at 6 or 6:30 until they could make it home at 7:30 - 8pm.

No matter which shift you work (day vs night) I think the whole day is wasted. Either you work the entire day away or you sleep the entire day away.

But...I'm not willing to work LTC or go back to a Drs office just yet for a 9-5 job so I guess I'm stuck, for now.

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I Think That 12 Hour Shifts Are Good For Some, But It Was Upsetting To See Nurses With Different Home Situations That Had To Leave Their Hospital Because It Could Not Work For Them. When The Hospital Decides That Is Better For Them, Good Nurses Are Out Of Luck.

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Specializes in CVICU, PICU, ER,TRAUMA ICU, HEMODIALYSIS.

I graduated in 1975 and in 1980, started working 12 hour shifts in Critical Care, ER, CVICU, PICU, hemodialysis. After 30 yrs total, my body is wrecked , ruined. I have chronic vasculitis of both feet and ankles, arthritis of both feet, hands, knees, acetabulum bilaterally, spinal osteoarthritis which has decreased my height from 5ft 8inches to currently 5ft 6 and 1/4 inches. I have chronic pain nearly everywhere; I received Social Security disability effective November 2004, but just got eligible for Medicare but I have been without insurance coverage for 7 years until this May. I also have nerve entrapment at the shoulders and elbows as well as Carpal Tunnel syndrome of both hands and wrists. I started my nursing career at age 26; I am now 58 and can barely get out of bed. I could have all kinds of elective surgeries done to allegedly help increase my level of functioning and decrease the pain. Unfortunately, after what I have seen and what I now see in the medical arena in spite of the wonders of modern medical technology and such catchy phrases as "evidence based practice" and "patient centered care", I think I will take my chances continuing to wear wrist splints and doing what I can when I can and easing up when I can't do anymore.

As for 12 hours shifts, the human body isn't stuctured to be able do the type of work required of a competent, compassionate, patient-driven nurse. Especially, when I would bet that 90% of all nurses who work 12 hour shifts work more than their required 3 shifts. I routinely screened my calls because I almost never worked more than my 3 required shifts but I was always being called to "help out because we're short tonight". There is no h istory of arthritis in my family, nor carpal tunnel. I know what is responsible. As more of us are forced to retire early due to job related maladies, hopefully it will become more apparent to the nursing profession as well as to the employers that the nursing shortage is not going to be shortened by wearing out employees 10 years prior to the normal age of retirement.

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Specializes in Psych, substance abuse, MR-DD.
Again, can someone please explain this to me. If a nurse works 12 hours, do you only do assessments once in that 12 hours? If the facility is only 12 hour shifts, are assessments done only twice a day? We have 8's and 12's, but all treatments, assessments, I and O's are still geared about 8 hour time tables. So a 12 hour nurse who comes in at 7 p, would still be doing I and O's at 10 pm and 6 am. I just don't understand how you who do 12's have more time to get your work done, when there's still the same amount of work to get done, not less because you're there longer.

In our facility, any thing ordered q shift, means q 8 hour shift, not whatever kind of shift you are working.

At our hospital we are required to do 2 assessments per 12 hour shift, so the patients are actually assessed 4 times per 24 hours. I think that is great. Also, most shifts the nurses are always catching up, I don't think it makes a difference on our floor if it's 8 or 12 hours- there is always an abundence of work to be done!

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i work 2 - 12hr shifts on the weekend. 7pm to 7am. in my hospital the pay for weekend work is much higher than through the week. i'm off for 5 days. it is a no brainer. most of the staff work 12 hr shifts, particularly the 72 hr. position - 3 - 12hr. shifts per week. it gives you much more time off. it is something your body gets used to and you learn to spread the work out over 12 hrs rather than 8hrs. obviously night work is much less taxing physically, but the people i know who work am shift like it as well.

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Specializes in SICU, PACU, Public health.

I have worked 3- 12s (6:45pm until 7:15 am) on the night shift and after 8 months i had to stop. I switched to another unit and now work 8:00 am -8:30 pm. While it was better, i came to the conclusion that 12 hour shifts are not for me. On paper, 4 days off per week looks great, but in reality (my reality) it was hard to work. I am so tired when i get home. I have to add a 30 min commute each way and so my days were actually 14 hours because we did not get paid for lunch (12.5 hour shifts). One thing i could not stand was the fact that at after lunch, i realized I still had 8 hours left until i got off!!! not to mention I missed out on so many baseball/soccer games and other activities with my children. We never had dinner together on a regular basis, and on my days off, i STILL had to get up and get my kids to school. It is a personal choice which works best for you. There are pros and cons for both shifts. I start a new day job next month, and i am hoping is works out for the best. I will let you know.

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Specializes in SICU, NICU, Telephone Triage, Management.

12 hour shifts should be available for all who prefer. I have worked them and there are pros and cons related to working 12 hours shifts.

Hospitals as a whole need to look at offering various shifts.

There are those of us who would be willing to continue to work at the bedside but can no longer run around on our feet for 12 plus hours.

I would continue to work if I could do 3 eight's a week.

It is easier to staff if all shifts are 12's but not as easy as it would be if you actually had enough nurses.

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