What is your schedule like as a nurse?

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Oct 18, 2015

36 hrs a week, during the slow season we can flex off for part of our shift if we ask and no one else wants

Overtime only if you want it, and only if there is a need. My facility pays a nice little differential if you sign up for an open shift within 7 days of working that shift

So overtime pay plus the differential plus night differential and you are looking at double time rate....so during the busy season I try to sign up for as much as I can, but never mandated

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2015

I am on permanent 12-hour night shifts, from 6:00pm to 6:30am. I work anywhere from three to four 12-hour night shifts per week. I am ineligible for overtime because I have an exempt lower managerial position. Therefore, I receive a set salary instead of hourly pay.

RNperdiem, RN · Oct 18, 2015

I work per diem, so I only am required to work 12 hours in a pay period plus one summer and one winter holiday.

My full time coworkers self-schedule. There are a few guidelines for self-scheduling, but usually you get what you want, as long as the shifts get filled, all is well. Overtime is not mandatory. Some people like overtime for the time and half pay, so there is no shortage of volunteers, especially in a large department.

Some nurses do work on-call. In my hospital, dialysis, OR and L&D nurses do take call. I worked with one former labor and delivery nurse who couldn't manage the last minute childcare for getting called in, so she switched departments.

emmy27 · Oct 18, 2015

I am currently PRN (as-needed staff) contracted to work a minimum of 13 shifts a quarter, but I generally work more than that. Our unit is primarily staffed in twelve hour increments but I do pick up eights and even fours as well. Overtime is usually available but rarely mandatory. On rare occasions I've been required to stay late because my relief didn't show up and the unit was short-staffed to begin with, but this is very rare. We do self-scheduling and other than mandatory holiday rotations, we mostly get what we ask for.

In non-union areas you *will* occasionally find managers and organizations that systematically try to scam employees out of legal compensation, especially with things like working through lunch. It's incumbent on you to keep track of what you actually work and file exceptions to get paid if, for example, you can't take a lunch break, but be aware that if no one else is doing this (either because they actually are getting lunch or because they're worried about rocking the boat) it may come back on you as a "time management" issue.

I worked at one facility where they were very careful to staff a relief nurse during lunch to ensure everyone got a real, uninterrupted, clocked-out, thirty minute lunch every single day, because a past manager had bullied people in to clocking out for lunch and then returning to the floor to work instead of actually taking a break, which is a major labor and liability issue. So this stuff does happen, and employees need to be aware of the law and press for their rights.

ETA: Many jobs hire on to night shift first, because there's nearly always someone on night shift who wants to go to days, so especially as a new grad, night shift may be the only option. But although my first job was night shift, I've managed to find day shift jobs ever since without much difficulty.

richardgecko · Oct 18, 2015

3 12s/wk, however I work extra because I'm buying a house soom

Julius Seizure · Oct 18, 2015

Ive had different experiences in different states/hospitals. I started as a new grad on nights, as many do, because there was a "wait list" for nurses that wanted to transfer to open day shift positions. No mandatory OT, but most nurses worked through their breaks simply because there was never a good time to take a break...not because they weren't allowed to. Then I transferred to a different unit, on days, and almost all of the nurses would take a break to go to the cafeteria to get breakfast and the other nurses would watch their patients. Everyone worked 12 hour 7-7 shifts.

When I moved to a different state, I started working in a unionized hospital, and there you could be mandated up to twice a month, for no more than 4 hours each time. You could also volunteer to work over more than that if you wanted. Some nurses took breaks, but not all, and usually only once a shift other than lunch. Again, I started on nights, because there was a wait list of people who wanted to move to days. Here, some nurses worked 12 hour shifts, and some worked 8 hour shifts (5 days a week if 8 hour shifts).

Another hospital that I worked at tried to get their nurses to sign a waiver form that said they would waive their rights to breaks. Hah.

When I moved AGAIN to a different state, at that there was no mandated OT. Nurses rarely took breaks, except for a few who take their breaks even if its not a good time and everyone is super busy. Those people frustrate their coworkers. This place also works 12 hour shifts.

Every hospital that I have worked at has had weekend shift requirements varying from 3-4 weekends and 1-2 fridays per month. And every hospital has had abundant opportunities for people who want to work overtime shifts. Overtime has always been paid appropriately. Granted, people dont get compensated for missed breaks but thats because the company doesnt say they CAN'T take a break....its just that the work environment makes it hard to find a good time to do it without screwing over your coworkers while you are gone. Plus, you have more work to catch up on when you come back from break. So most nurses dont go.

Yerani27 · Oct 18, 2015

Thank you for all your wonderful answers everyone!! It's really helpful for me since I don't know any nurses in my personal life. This website is a very convenient way for me to connect with nurses.

mtjoanna · Oct 18, 2015

I work nights by choice. It takes me out of the office politics and away from the eye of my DON (who is not an ideal boss: see the post "My DON came to my house today" in the geriatric nursing section for further details). Being out from under her direct thumb helps me to keep my job as I'm not required to bite my tongue quite as much. Anywho, I work scheduled overtime, one shift per pay period. I work 3 12-hour shifts one week and 4 the next. The other noc nurse works the days that I don't. This allows us to bunch our days so we each have 3 days off in a row one week and 4 off in a row the next, and allows us to plan for events as we always have the same days off a week. We used to have another nurse who worked Wednesdays, but she got run off and so sow there's only the 2 of us noc nurses. It's nice for the paycheck and it's not required--we could refuse the overtime at the beginning of each new schedule if we wanted to, but so far both of us want the extra money.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2015

Unfortunately, it's very common for nurses to miss breaks and not be paid, even if there is a union. Most nurses do not want to make waves and submit for missed breaks.

I work permanent days and we often miss breaks dealing with resident, staff or family issues as they arise. Managers are not paid overtime.

When I worked nights we would submit overtime slips and be compensated. However, we were also aware that submitting OT on a regular basis was discouraged by management.

RegularNurse · Oct 18, 2015

I work two 10 hr days in a cath lab recovery unit and work as a pool nurse in med tele 1-2 days a week. I also teach clinical 1-2 days a week for a local school. I hustle a bit, but the variety makes nursing much more palatable.

FurBabyMom, MSN, RN · Oct 18, 2015

I'm in the SE United States. I work in the OR. I'm scheduled 40 hours a week, most weeks four 10 hour shifts 0700-1730. Sometimes if I don't want overtime but want to help with staffing I offer to flex to five 8s, 0700-1530. Sometimes I work my day off, 0700-1530 (sometimes 0700-1730) and others I offer to come in and help with lunches (1030-1430). Overtime is basically a free for all right now, staffing is so bad for us - we are being offered critical staffing pay for picking up extra shifts (and have travelers). As for our call, it depends what kind of call an individual takes as to how much they have. We work 1-2 holidays a year and it used to be a rotation, though it looks like we're changing to self-scheduling.

We're short staffed across the board right now, and are on all shifts. Which means utilization of on-call staff is up. It also means the number of people without relief at the end of their shift is also up. Recently, I was not even on call and stuck at work until nearly 1900. As much as you want to leave work on time, you sometimes cannot, because there is just nobody to relieve you. You can't just leave a patient under anesthesia without staff to care for them. It's nice not to get stuck but it DOES happen sometimes. On the other hand, we get flexed to go home whenever staffing permits (productivity thing, and most people have enough PTO to do so without not having any left over). Around holidays we often get extra time off because the elective schedule is usually lighter than normal. That is, sometimes, not always, as people like to have surgery on days around holidays...as THEY use less time off that way, or they want surgery before the insurance year ends.

I've both gotten stuck late at work because there was no relief, and I've been told to go home early because we aren't busy enough. I've also been told I could go home early because of staffing only to make it to the locker room and be about to change and get called back because while staffing was fine 10 minutes ago, there was an emergency that was just posted that needed to go then, and they needed staff so I got to stay. I've also gotten stuck at work for days due to inclement weather (to be fair I was on call to start...and being on call they can essentially demand you stay in house).

When I worked floor/stepdown, I worked 0700-1930 or 1900-0730. Sometimes I worked 0700-1530, 1500-2330 or 2300-0730. Sometimes I even got mandated to 16 hours (always happened when I was on a nights swing so I'd work 1900-1130).

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2015

When I worked in the hospital, 50/50 day/night rotation for everyone except permanent night staff or nurses who'd been around for 10+ years and made a deal for a permanent day position.

Missed meal breaks were not paid, nor was time stayed late for charting or rushing a patient to the OR. The facility considered all staff nurses "salaried." They could schedule you for 48 hours/week (and did, often) and no OT. Once the schedule is set, the only way they can mandate you to pick up overtime is if you're already there and there is no relief for some reason. The most common reason in my neck of the woods is snow. They can't force you to come in on your day off, just don't answer your phone when they call.