What would you do?

MJB2010 · Dec 31, 2011

Take number 2, suck it up and try nights. If you can't make it work try to transfer within that hospital to a day position.

Marshall1 · Dec 31, 2011

Wouldn't nights pay more and have diffs as well? I've never known day shift to pay more than nights...I know what you mean about night shift...I never worked it either except for a position that required call. I see a lot of night shift positions but am not sure I could make it - literally - working all night. As far as the ortho - if this is what you want to do and at the end of 3 wks you aren't feeling comfortable then tell the manager - as far as the nurses you work with - you aren't there to be friends - just coworkers - be pleasant, pass and repass - you are there for the patients and yourself.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2011

I'd do days. Your hubby/partner is right.

Starting on nights on a new floor will wear you down to the ground. And 3 weeks orientation is a dream!! Most jobs in Oz you get 3 days or a week!

Nights will sleep deprive you, you will have to do more work with not much support and you will feel like ur being thrown in the deep end. On days also you can stay back for more training opportunities (none on nights that I'm aware of), and access more information for learning as ur working. Also ortho is good med/surg training, I learned a lot working on those floors.

At least after days u can go home, relax a bit, catch up & have time with ur family & don't have to stress too much about not sleeping & getting up going 2 work.

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Dec 31, 2011

Do Option 1 but ask for more orientation.... Nights is hard and you really need to consider the needs of your husband and family.

AZO49008 · Jan 1, 2012

Newer RN here - 1.5 years as an RN, work on a busy cardiology unit on nights. My plan was to migrate to days but have since changed my mind. We have been required to take a 5th patient, which is a lot on a busy cardiac patient who have some pretty high acuity rates. Day RNs are seeing sometimes 6 to 7 patients a day when you factor in admissions and discharges. They are less able to help their fellow RNs because they are all so flipping busy. I have had day shift RNs cry during report out of pure stress.

Nights can be hectic as well, but we usually begin with 4 patients and get an admit during the night. We don't have to do any discharges. We can find the charts when we need them. We don't have to deal with many family members, management, and disruptions to patient care due to having to "share them" with PT/OT, speech therapy, dialysis, etc... I started out not liking nights but now I love it. I work with an awesome team of RNs and we all pull together and help one another when the **** hits the fan.

Finally, THREE WEEKS? That isn't an orientation period...that's a throw you in the deep end and see if you sink or swim period. That in nowhere near enough for a new grad. If you had some experience, that would be another thing. But as a new grad? They are insane and I think it's just setting you up for potential failure. I had 8 weeks on my floor and I still felt like a bumbling idiot until about 6 months in.

Best of luck!

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Jan 1, 2012

3 weeks orientation is NOT enough for a new grad.

If you can handle the physical effects of working midnights... take it. Renal is a great area to start specializing in... oncology... not so much.

Good luck!

beeker · Jan 1, 2012

I am more interested in hospital number 2, they seem to want their nurses to succeed and the nurses stay there longer. I hear good things from nurses who work there. I am just apprehensive about renal/ oncology and nights. I feel like that hospital is a better place to work. But nights are going to affect every other aspect of my life.

I really feel like 3 weeks is too short. I know days seems better but as a new grad I think a short orientation would mean needing more supportive coworkers, which this floor does not have. There are red flags here.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2012

I love nights for all the reasons AZO49008 posted. I wish I could work permanent nights but I'm stuck rotating. I can't wait to go back to nights.

I'd take position #2 but that's me. You'll learn a lot in renal and oncology and your lack of experience there shouldn't really concern you... you're a new grad so what kind of experience do you have in ortho? If it's clinicals or working as an NA, you're still going to have to gain experience as an RN with those patients and learn everything that comes with caring with them... just like renal/oncology.

That said, none of us know you. You have to do what is right for you as you're the one who's going to have to work whatever job you take.

Tina, RN · Jan 1, 2012

I think that #1 sounds like a ticking time bomb.

If the floor is not good to new staff, why doesn't the floor manager do something about it??!! He/she needs to take control and let the staff know that they need to treat eachother with respect. No wonder there are so many open positions! Nursing is hard enough, without dealing with a bunch of people that are known to be difficult, yet are allowed to continue to act that way.

Three weeks training is not enough at all for a new grad! It would be a stretch for an experienced nurse, to try to figure out the workings of a brand new hospital in that time period. But a new nurse?? Plus unsupportive co-workers?? And a seemingly detatched manager?? Sounds like a huge nervous breakdown, waiting to happen...

I'd go with choice #2. You could always just do nights until a day shift becomes available at that hospital. I know it would be really tough, but #1 makes me very nervous for you.

Best wishes!

missladyrn · Jan 1, 2012

3 weeks orientation is a disaster for a new grad. I would take option 2 and get some good experience. When you have more experience you will have more options. The other one, eve though it is days, has a high probablility of being high stress.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 1, 2012

you seem to have answered your own question. hospital number 2 is a better place to work. the orientation is a much more reasonable length for a new grad, also. the sticking point -- for your husband, especially -- seems to be working the night shift. if you haven't tried it, you won't know whether or not you "can" do it. let me just tell you that almost anyone can do night shift if they want to, and it sounds like a much better opportunity for you. there are many threads about working night shift -- try "night shift for newbies".

night shift is a fact of life for hospital nursing, and if you make up your mind to succeed, you'll have far more opportunites than someone who takes any old job just to avoid nights. good luck.