What is a typical RNs schedule?

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

op: i have worked in two different facilities where i was hired to work one shift and at times was moved to different shifts. i also have been given a week notice when i was to change a shift or to work different days then i expected. in general, as the others have reported, nothing is typical in nursing. you can be hired to work nights for 3 12hour shifts and end up working mid shift 5 days a week for 8hours. of course these were non-union facilities so there may be a difference at union facilities. in any case, in my experience nursing managers do not care that we have a life outside of work. the facility and floors are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week and they need coverage. in fact, at the facility i just left (thank you god!!!) all of the nurse who were attending school and working full-time dropped out of college this semester because there class scheudles were not acocmodated with the new schedule change.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I work 12 hour nights mainly...some days here and there. I don't have a set schedule, and I work 10 to 14 shifts per month.

Erclifton85 · Mar 10, 2011

I work Monday through Friday 8:00AM-4:00PM doing home health and hospice. I am on call 3 week nights a month and one 24 hour weekend day. Overtime is starting to be frowned upon so if I do have any they try to give me time off to compensate.

noahsmama · Mar 10, 2011

At my current job, as a public health nurse, I work 8:30-5pm, Monday through Friday, with half an hour off for lunch each day, so that works out to 40 hrs per week. I get all federal holidays off, and 3 weeks of paid vacation per year. Overtime is not an option.

At my previous hospital job, most everyone worked a "4/5ths" schedule, or 80% time, 32 hours/week, 4 shifts of 8 hours each. Nurse who had worked there 20 or more years were exempt from working weekends (but still had to work holidays) -- everyone else worked every other weekend (both days), plus 3 weekdays each week. People with more seniority were given regular schedules where they worked the same weekdays each week -- people with less seniority were used to fill in the gaps, so schedule varied somewhat from week to week. Schedules were done in 4 week blocks, and were posted 2 weeks prior to the beginning of that block. You were allowed to trade days with other people if you needed a particular day off, as long as the trade didn't create a situation where the hospital would be required to pay you overtime.

It was pretty easy to pick up extra shifts, and sometimes the hospital would ask people to work doubles, or "half doubles" (i.e. stay for an extra 4 hours for 12 total) -- but overtime was voluntary -- people agreed to work extra if they needed the money. If you worked a double, you would get time and half for hours 9 through 12, and double time for hours 13 through 16, so it was pretty lucrative.

Hope that helps!

MassED, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I work Mon, Tue, Fri every week 12 hour shifts. Period. Sometimes, if they are in a jam, I will OFFER to pick up a day, but it is never required. I do also work every other holiday.

whoah, that's a sweet schedule. Do you have seniority? No weekends?

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

12 hour shifts x3 days per week, 2 weekends per month, otherwise the days rotate around. I'd rather work weekends, the folks we get tend to be more interesting as opposed to a post-surgical they're keeping with us in ICU "just in case." When it's flu season, I've worked as many as 5 in a row, or 3, off a day, 3 more. I think 6 in a row would kill me.

LilRedRN1973 · Mar 10, 2011

Depends on where you work. When I did bedside care in the ICU, I worked 3 days a week, 12 hours/day with a 30 minute lunch and didn't get holidays off. In Dialysis, I did Mon-Wed-Fri and worked from about 5am to 7:30pm with a 30 minute lunch and some holidays we were closed (Christmas, Thanksgiving). Now I work Mon-Thu from 7:30am to 5:30pm with an hour for lunch, then every other Fri from 7:30am to 11:30 and have every Federal holiday off and Nevada Day because we are closed (it's a state run psychiatric clinic). Also, I get about 3 weeks of vacation a year and accrue about 4 1/2 hours of sick every 2 weeks. It all depends what kind of nursing you go into and what type of facility you work in.

OgopogoLPN, LPN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

In acute care, 12 hour shifts, usually four on-four off. 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off. That is a FT rotation for LPNs.

FT for RNs is 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off.

There are a number of PT rotations though as well. So maybe 2 days, 1 night, 6 off. Something like that. There are very few 8 hour positions for LPNs and RNs at my hospital. A few, but not many.

LTC is all 8 hour shifts. FT is 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 3 off. The "on"s are a mix of days 0700-1500 and evenings 1500-2300. There are dedicated night nurses at my LTC facility so I don't have to work nights :yeah:

BrookeeLou_RN · Mar 11, 2011

In acute care, 12 hour shifts, usually four on-four off. 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off. That is a FT rotation for LPNs.
FT for RNs is 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off.
There are a number of PT rotations though as well. So maybe 2 days, 1 night, 6 off. Something like that. There are very few 8 hour positions for LPNs and RNs at my hospital. A few, but not many.
LTC is all 8 hour shifts. FT is 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 3 off. The "on"s are a mix of days 0700-1500 and evenings 1500-2300. There are dedicated night nurses at my LTC facility so I don't have to work nights

I have never had a job where I had to rotate shifts.. that is awful..really awful.

Sugar-Phosphate · Mar 14, 2011

Here most 'typical' is: 2 days followed by two nights (12 hours), followed by 4 days off, repeat