Twelve Hour Nights or M-F

[Lynn1230]

OK so I am in running for a M-F 8-430 position, the type you actually get out at that time. No nights weekends or holidays (13 of them).

Currently work 12hr nights with an 8 hr in there along the way and mandating usually 1/month. Love the job and the patients. Hate the management games. Working every Friday night and been placed on schedule every holiday.....we don't have a "rotation" or "assigned" holidays...

Please give me your thoughts.....honest. Stay or go

[jobellestarr]

If you have bad management and a bad schedule plus working nights, it would be hands down M-F job for me. Good luck ❤️

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Is this a trick question? Why would you NOT take the M-F job? 

[Rachel Elizabeth]

If you are truly looking for a change and better work life balance I would go for the M-F. I have changed jobs/positions multiple times and haven't regretting making any of the leaps. I see a lot of my coworkers unhappy but too scared to change due to being comfortable. I would take the jump. You can always go back. 

[Peachpit]

Go for it! The biggest change for you would be working 5 days/week plus drive time vs. the 3 12's and working day time hours vs nights. You will most likely be around management a lot more too working days. Management, unless really abusive/intolerable, is never going to be perfect so base your decision primarily on what you are looking for in the total scope of your life at this time. As others have said, you can always go back to 12 hr shifts if the M-F doesn't work for you. It sounds like having weekends and holidays off is also important to you so that is another plus for the M-F position. 

 That being said, I just left a M-F position because it seemed like all I did was get up/go to work/come home/go to bed/repeat then spent weekends catching up on errands. The job was repetitive and extremely boring which didn't help. I felt "trapped" for lack of a better word, working that schedule. But for someone else, it would be a dream job.

 I am glad I tried the M-F position and don't regret taking the chance. I learned that type of schedule/position is not suited for me and was fortunate to find something much more along the lines of what I wanted to do and schedule wise. You may find the M-F is exactly what you want but you will never know unless you try. 

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I switched from 3 12s night shift to M-F 7:30 -4 in an outpatient setting. I work for the VA hospital and visit patients in their homes. Nights and weekends off, all federal holidays off. I can start the day in the field and do my documentation at home. If I see all the patients M-W I can work from home on Th and F doing treatment plans, phone calls, etc.  I would never go back to night shift. Also, even without the differential, my salary is much higher.

[Lynn1230]

Do you go a raise going to a new job? 
would thing would be same hourly, minus the shift diff. The VA has huge shift diff on weekend, crazy. What area did you leave ?

[Lynn1230]

Been there,done that said:

Is this a trick question? Why would you NOT take the M-F job? 

No. It's more of is it worth it to got to 5 days and give up shift diff ?  
 

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Lynn1230 said:

No. It's more of is it worth it to got to 5 days and give up shift diff ? 

Only your budget knows that. Also, with M-F, getting off for appointments, etc, will that be an issue?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Lynn1230 said:

No. It's more of is it worth it to got to 5 days and give up shift diff ?  

Only you can make that decision. At your current position, you are being used and abused. Nobody should have to work every holiday and every Friday. I cannot tell how you  feel about night shift. For me, the piddly differential was not worth what it did to my circadian rhythm.  

[Lynn1230]

Great points ! 

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I'm an odd duck that never minded working the weekends and holidays. I liked my days off, thought the longer hours per day were worth it because I worked fewer days. Shift differentials weren't a factor with my schedule so that made no difference in my decision to pivot to a management M-F position.

Now that I am doing the M-F no weekends no holidays schedule that I figured I'd probably really not like turns out I love it. I'm not so tired after working a stretch of days that I need a day off just to do nothing and recover.  There's not any scheduling conflicts for family get togethers or holidays anymore. 

While it's certainly not the case for every M-F job I have a lot of flexibility with my schedule and the option to work remotely is there which I am taking advantage of this week. My sister is in the hospital ICU so I am just taking my laptop with me and working from the hospital so I can be there  with her. That would not have been an option with my previous position so I am grateful I can be with her without needing to jump through hoops to get time off work to do so. 

If you have that opportunity to take a M-F position go for it. You might find out you love it but if you don't you can always go back, if not to your current position then another one.