Three 12s vs Five 8s

Nurses General Nursing

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I know this has already been discussed before. So what I wanna talk about it again. Thanks.

Anybody else currently debating between these two? I'm sure we are all aware of the pros/cons of each. What are your thoughts, what are you leaning towards, and why?.

Specializes in Pedi.
I switched from 3 x 12s to 5 x 8s two years ago. In my opinion (YMMV) it is waaaay better. When you are on 12s, all you can reasonably do is work, sleep, shower and eat. On 8s, I can still run to the grocery store, do laundry, see my niece's softball game -in other words HAVE A LIFE) and not short myself on sleep to accomplish it.

I know there are good reasons for 12s, I just with it were an option. More older nurses would stay at the bedside.

I agree with this. I loved working 3 days/week when I did it and never thought I wanted a Mon-Fri. Now that I've been doing it for 6 years, I don't want anything else. When I worked 12s, I didn't do anything but work and sleep on work days. Nowadays, I can work and go out in the evening if I want to. A few years back, I had something I did every weeknight. I was on multiple social sports teams (depending on the season- a combination of kickball, floor hockey, flag football, inner tube water polo, broomball), I went to trivia weekly and I always went away on weekends. That was when I was single. Now that I have a fiance and 2 dogs, I spend more time at home but we take the dogs on local hikes most evenings now that it's warm out. Working till 7:30pm then taking 2 buses home, this wouldn't be possible because it would be dark out by the time I got home.

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Can I hear it for four 10s? lol. That is what I would love to do, but alas, I work five 8s (that are never only 8s).

OMG, I LOVED four 10s! I miss them! I miss my day off every week! I had a day off a few weeks ago and I was so productive - I wish I still had that. Instead I'm now working five 8s that aren't generally just 8s.

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Very few of the nurses in my hospital have 5 8s. Most are 3 12s or 4 8s. Once we finish with bedside report and any last charting we need to do, it's almost always more than 8 hours. So RNs who have 5 8s would get overtime every pay period, which management obviously wishes to avoid. The few nurses who have 40 control hours have been there a long time because there are no new 40-hour jobs posted.

With my current situation (young children and a spouse who travels frequently), I need the 8-hour shifts or I'd need a nanny to pick up the children from daycare and stay with them until I could get home at (or past) their bedtimes.

If I were younger and single, I'd want to bang out the 12s, and have more off time. I also personally prefer the pace of 12-hour shifts because there are always still a million things going on at 3pm, so getting everything tied up neatly before shift change is difficult.

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Specializes in A variety.
I chose the in-between option: Four 8's per week. It only came out to 32 hrs/wk but that was all my mind and body could take, and everywhere I worked it was considered full-time for benefit purposes. It worked well for me for a lot of years.

What specialty is this?

Was it a dramatic pay decrease or comparable to what you worked before?

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Specializes in Practice educator.

3 12s will always be superior. We used to do 3 14.5s at one of my jobs, that was too much.

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Specializes in oncology, MS/tele/stepdown.

I love 3x12's just for the purpose of being off for four days. Otherwise, I'd never work a 12. I worked 2x12's and 2x8's at my old staff job, which would have been ok, but I had to rotate days/nights. I worked straight 5x8's evening shift which was amazing, except, again, I felt like I was always working. But every extra second I spent charting was OT, so I made bank. I have only worked one place where 4x10's was an option, but my travel contract was for 3x12's so I didn't get to try it out.

I definitely believe the PPs who stated 4x8's is the best. Someday!

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3 12s will always be superior. We used to do 3 14.5s at one of my jobs, that was too much.

This! I would block my days and create a mini vacation while never having to use actual vacation days.

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Specializes in Psych, geriatrics.

I was on 8's when I first started out. We also work every other weekend, so the only time I got 2 days off in a row was my weekend off. Now working 3 12's with the same every other weekend off. Being older does make a difference. I feel like all I do is work, eat, sleep, repeat on those days. Something about knowing I will be home before 8 pm really appeals to me. Maybe someday.....

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I have done both. 5 8s is brutal. It's shorter shifts, but that's 5 days of walking into nothing done, admitting people and doing their belongings checks, 5 days of getting diet cokes for families, 5 days of "You can pull him up, you're young and healthy," 5 days of "Your nurse will answer that" (how)???? 5 days of working short, working without the CNA....

you get the picture.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I've done 8s, 12s, and 10s. I prefer 8s because I actually get to have a life. Yes, I'm only off a couple of days a week, but on work days, I get to do more than just work and sleep. With 12s, work days are pretty much written off for only work and sleep, plus the fact that one day off is lost to recovering from the 12s. Not worth it to me.

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5 8 hr nights were my personal hell for a time... only two days off in row every two weeks... nope. I would not have stayed in nursing.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I switched from 3 x 12s to 5 x 8s two years ago. In my opinion (YMMV) it is waaaay better. When you are on 12s, all you can reasonably do is work, sleep, shower and eat. On 8s, I can still run to the grocery store, do laundry, see my niece's softball game -in other words HAVE A LIFE) and not short myself on sleep to accomplish it.

I know there are good reasons for 12s, I just with it were an option. More older nurses would stay at the bedside.

And I will never give up the three 12s. I don't want to be at work five days a week! I want to have four days off this week and pair them with my four days off next week and go someplace fun for a week. I want to be able to schedule myself off for my best friend's birthday, the class I want to take, whatever. All you can do on your work day is work, eat ,sleep and shower, but four days off!

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