What do you think of this schedule?

adpiRN · Oct 18, 2016

Would love to hear from other nurses who went through a divorce to hear what schedule worked for them!

morte, LPN, LVN · Oct 18, 2016

you may be too exhausted to be save with your son after that stretch. 4 twelves in a row, is a lot.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2016

If "4 days in a row seems exhausting", your nursing performance can be compromised.

Deep breaths adi, this a personal decision. You don't even know what son's scheduled time will be with dad. You should call the shots on the visitation ( run THAT buy your lawyer).

Kid's are tough, the back and forth is going to happen. Take care of YOURSELF first.

Best wishes, let is know how it's going.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Oct 18, 2016

Self scheduling can be great, except where are you in seniority? At my facility part timers are automatically last to pick their schedule and really just filling in gaps, not so much having control.

GM2RN · Oct 19, 2016

I'm the grandmother of a child who is sharing time between mom and dad. Dad is my son who also has a brain tumor and lives at home, so I spend a great deal of time with my granddaughter. I have negotiated a work schedule that allows me to maximize time with my granddaughter and to be available if my son needs help.

I, too am only required to work every third weekend, but since my son gets my granddaughter every other weekend and every Wednesday during the school year, I volunteered to work every other weekend since working every third would cause me to have to work one weekend per month when my granddaughter would be with us. In exchange for working the extra weekends, my manager allowed me to have a fixed schedule where I work Thursday thru Tuesday (all six shifts in a row) and then have 8 days off until I work again. This also gives me every Wednesday off when she is with us. The only time my schedule fluctuates is when I have to work a scheduled holiday that doesn't happen to fall during my normal schedule.

adpiRN · Oct 19, 2016

Every other weekend and Wednesday afternoons seems to be standard in our state.

But he has already told me he doesn't think that's enough and wanted more weeknights.

And I'd rather not have to switch to an every other weekend work schedule unless I have to.

So I was thinking he may prefer the schedule I came up with.

GM2RN · Oct 19, 2016

Every other weekend and Wednesday afternoons seems to be standard in our state.
But he has already told me he doesn't think that's enough and wanted more weeknights.
And I'd rather not have to switch to an every other weekend work schedule unless I have to.
So I was thinking he may prefer the schedule I came up with.

Of course you have to do what works for you, but every other weekend is pretty standard for the non-custodial (physically speaking) spouse to have for visitation so I wanted to share what might be possible. As for weeknights, I'm working minimally 2 Thursdays, 2 Fridays, 2 Mondays and 2 Tuesdays every month. That's exactly half of all possible weekdays except for Wednesdays which is the trade-off for working an extra weekend per month. Not to mention that I'm working at least half of all Friday and Monday shifts which lots of nurses attempt to get off. That's more than fair to my employer in my estimation. Again, you need to work out what is right for you, but that's an argument that you could put to your manager if you did ask for a similar schedule.