8 vs. 12 hour shifts

VCUBen · Feb 11, 2009

I like evenings as well. I am not a moring person or much of a night person either. I also get to spend time with both shifts, the day people going home and the 12 hour night people coming into work. When I graduate i think i will work 3 to 11 or 3p to 3a if i have to work 12s.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 11, 2009

I prefer three 12-hour shifts per week or even two 16-hour shifts per week. My preference is for having more days off per week.

Sorry, but I simply do not have it in me to come to work 5 days per week when the same amount of working hours can be accomplished in 2 or 3 compressed work days.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Feb 11, 2009

8'a and 12'a both have their good and bad. Same with working days vs nights--both have their good and bad.

12's are good but I never seemed to get my days off in a row or was always getting scheduled 4-5 shifts in a row which was HORRIBLE. Bad thing about 12's is your whole day is sucked into work and working 12's 3-4 days/nights in a row can be pretty rough for some. It really depends on how your unit schedules things but I would sometimes work one night, have one night off, work the next night, have the next night off or some crap like that.

8's you get less whole days off but you can have a life on the days that you do work....I love waking up at 3 in the afternoon and being able to have 7 hrs to do the things I want (go out and eat, shopping, visiting friends, etc) before heading into work--my whole day isn't sucked into work. But I only get 2 days off a week.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Feb 11, 2009

Anyone do 2 eights + 2 tweelves?

I didnt have that as much.

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · Feb 11, 2009

I worked night for the biggest part of 35 yrs. Give me 12 hour shifts any time. I loved going to the lake for 4 days instead of 2. Or a week off with out taking any vacation day.

DA314 · Feb 11, 2009

I'm only a nursing assistant, not an RN (yet), but I work 12's and I LOVE 'em. working few days per week and getting a full paycheck? yes please!

MiaLyse, APRN · Feb 12, 2009

I like evenings. Hopefully that will help me in my job search. You go to work, finish, go home and eat pizza and watch J. Leno, maybe a movie. Get up in time to do whatever needs done, and go to work. Plus, its not as bad as daylight, I dont think, bussiness wise. I'd take them over nights.

I'm currently orienting days on med-surg but have worked second shift for years.

I was wondering if it is a little more laid back on evenings? I don't think my body can

handle overnites either.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2009

I think evenings are stressfull just like the other shifts, but for different reasons. I like the work of evening shift more, I just had a better time with organizeing my day. I dont know why, I just did.

Nights, I cant handle as well from a physical standpoint.

Days......most ideal sleep schedule, but too bussy unless you are on top of your game.

Evenings depends on you. Sort of a "glass half empty or half full" thing. I say evenings is good cause: Not as bussy as days, better sleep schedule than nights. Others might say: Almost as bussy as days, and wrecks your schedule like nights.

I might go to 8s, evenings if I can.

IndigoCarmine · Feb 12, 2009

Ha! I guess I'm the odd man out, here. I've always worked nights, save for a 6 month stint on postpartum evenings. Ugh! Evenings? Five days a week? KILL ME.

Nights are for me. I loooooove nights. TOTALLY different vibe on nightshift, even on L&D, which is 24/7. Sure, it takes some getting used to. It even took me a couple of months to adjust, and I had always worked till 2-3-4 in the morning tending bar. There's a big difference between going to bed at 4AM and 8AM, believe it or not.

But, OH! The reward? Commuting in the "wrong" direction and always getting a seat on the subway? Bonus. Sleeping the cold, dark Winter days away? Awesome. Curling up in clean sheets knowing that every other schmo in the city is just sitting down at their desk? Priceless.

12-hr nights. There is no substitute.

jjensen · Feb 12, 2009

I HATE 8 hour shifts and working that much. I love to work 3 12 hour shifts... Then I get 4 days off a week. How many other jobs can do that? Granted when I work I pretty much work, eat and sleep, but to get 4 days off to get things done is great...

I once had a job where we worked 7 10 hour days and got a week off. At first that was nice to have every other week off, but my body just could not handle it by day 6...

wyosamRN · Feb 12, 2009

I'm a student, but I have to say that 12 hr shifts are one of the big appeals of the job. I have worked 4 10's for years, and when I was looking for my new career, the idea of working 5 days a week took many fields out of consideration.

MiaLyse, APRN · Feb 12, 2009

Ha! I guess I'm the odd man out, here. I've always worked nights, save for a 6 month stint on postpartum evenings. Ugh! Evenings? Five days a week? KILL ME.
Nights are for me. I loooooove nights. TOTALLY different vibe on nightshift, even on L&D, which is 24/7. Sure, it takes some getting used to. It even took me a couple of months to adjust, and I had always worked till 2-3-4 in the morning tending bar. There's a big difference between going to bed at 4AM and 8AM, believe it or not.
But, OH! The reward? Commuting in the "wrong" direction and always getting a seat on the subway? Bonus. Sleeping the cold, dark Winter days away? Awesome. Curling up in clean sheets knowing that every other schmo in the city is just sitting down at their desk? Priceless.
12-hr nights. There is no substitute.

I could see how sleeping while the kids were in school, having your evenings with them and then

going to work would be nice. I just don't know if my body would adjust. lol