third shift

Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2007

I work third shift (7p to 7a) and I enjoy it. No management and few family members. I make a pot of coffee right after report and make my first round with the med cart. Whenever I start feeling a little sleepy, I get up and make a round....keeps me alert and my CNA's on their toes. Good luck!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2007

I worked an overtime third shift last night from 10pm to 6am, and I loved it! As the previous poster mentioned, I don't have to deal with management or rude family members. The majority of the patients are sleeping. I completed a small midnight medication pass, and a larger med pass at 6am. Between that time, I calibrated the glucometers, completed the census paperwork, charted, assisted the new nurse downstairs with admission paperwork, cleaned the PEG tube pumps and poles, replaced the PEG tube administration sets with new ones, and basically relaxed.

On rougher nights, you might have to deal with patient falls or excessive pain pill requests from 20 patients all at once. Overall, the third shift seems more relaxed.

changeofpaceRN · Sep 7, 2007

I would try staying up later and later but it's so different at home vs work. At work, the lights are super bright and I hardly even notice it's the middle of the night. I LOVE 3rd shift. What I do now is take a little nap before I go in just to give me that extra boost I need (about 30 min-1.5 hrs). Of course, I sleep when I get home for about 6-7 hrs in the morning.

striving2007 · Sep 7, 2007

I am glad to hear that you all LOVE working third-shift. I just graduated from a PN program today and plan to work third-shift after I take state boards. A lot of class mates thought that I was crazy for wanting to work third-shift but I have my reasons. Everyone's different.

Thanks!

lorettaline · Sep 9, 2007

i work third shift yes it's less busy, yes almost no family member to deal with, etc... but it's not for everyone, not everybody can adjust to it. when you home you have a choice at work you don't. you might find it hard to stay awake and to concentrate, and worst hard to fall asleep once you home. so good luck and becareful

mamac0805 · Sep 13, 2007

What about working nights and having a toddler at home? I am thinking about accepting a job from 7p to 7a; i think that I would love it BUT, I have a toddler at home with me. My husband usually leaves for work at 11am so she would be all mine after then. I can sleep untill he leaves for work and then nap when she does but really that is about it. Does this sound possible or am I absolutely crazy. I wanted to take this job to finally be able to spend time with her, but at the same time I don't want to be super crabby during the day either. Oh .. . what's a mom to do?!?!?

jnrsmommy · Sep 13, 2007

What about working nights and having a toddler at home? I am thinking about accepting a job from 7p to 7a; i think that I would love it BUT, I have a toddler at home with me. My husband usually leaves for work at 11am so she would be all mine after then. I can sleep untill he leaves for work and then nap when she does but really that is about it. Does this sound possible or am I absolutely crazy. I wanted to take this job to finally be able to spend time with her, but at the same time I don't want to be super crabby during the day either. Oh .. . what's a mom to do?!?!?

There are times that it is hard w/ a little one at home. I've been working nights for the past 7 years (my kids are 9 & 8 now). You might want to look into daycare for the days that you work. Maybe stay awake until your hubby leaves and have him drop your kiddo off so that you can get some sleep. It's seems hard at first, you start feeling like you're not spending enough time with your children, but I focused on the fact that it was only for 2 days (the first day I went back to work, I slept really well the night before, and took a nap when the girls did), so that I still had plenty of time w/ them during the rest of the week to make up for me not being as active w/ them as usual. On the days that I couldn't get them into daycare, I would have them in my room w/ me (all my stuff put up), TV set up, they had their sippy cups and a snack and I would sleep for a few hours until lunch, make them lunch, then we would all lie down for a nap ( I was lucky in that they loved to sleep, so I would get 4-5 hours easy after lunch). By that time, my hubby or my mom would be able to start watching them for me to get rdy for work.

If you have the time, try doing a practice run to see how you would feel working nights. Stay awake all night (if you start getting tired, just come on Allnurses, especially the humor forums, keep you awake for hours reading some of those threads :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: ), then see how it would go taking naps when your kiddo does.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Sep 13, 2007

Loved it and still love it!!!!!

SW_07 · Sep 13, 2007

I tried 3rd shift for a little while. It definitely wasn't for me. I think it takes a special person to work that shift. I found myself trying to stretch out my list of things to do during that shift and the night seemed to still drag on forever. I like the day shifts because i stay busy and before i know it my shift is over. I could never get a good sleep pattern established. And after awhile i started getting down because it seemed like the only time i saw the sun was on the drives to work and from work. With that said though i can definitely see the pro's of working that shift. It's not as busy as the previous poster said, you have plenty of time to do all of your charting, you get to spend more time with patients just visiting and comforting before they go to bed. Definitely give it a try though. I love the 3rd shift nurses because when I come in, in the morning I know everything has been taken care of and there is nothing left over from that shift. God bless 3rd shift nurses.

lvnandmomx3 · Sep 13, 2007

I worked 7a-7p three days a week for a while when I was in the admitting dept of a hosp and loved it. Don't think I could do 5 nights a week though that would be tough. I know as a nurse it is way diff and that is what I initially wanted when I started putting in applications, unfortunatly no offers came forward. I would still love to Find a position working 3 nights a week. As for the kids when I was on 7a-7p I had 2 kids ages 3 and 5 and I did have them in day care part time and would use it the day I got off. Sometimes I was lucky and could stagger my days and had one off one on and did not have to take them to day care. I can get by on 4-5 hours a sleep so adjusting was not hard for me.