What is the work schedule like for RNs?

[Ted D]

Is it generally 4 days on, 3 off? Is there much flexibility or is it pre-determined and rotating?

If someone wanted to work nothing but overnight shifts, would they be able to?

[amyleadon]

A colllege friend of mine is a RN in Labor and Delivery department. She prefers night shift and advises it. She works 3-12 hours shifts. She says its better money, less work, less stress. She had to get use to schedule but she has 4 days off to do so.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

It depends on where you work. I have a lot of input into my schedule and pretty much what I ask for is what I get. But I'm also flexible and whenever possible I try to schedule myself for the days where I know other nurses on our unit are out.

As far as nights being less hectic...again, depends on your facility. Generally less managment around to deal with, but don't forget that patients are 24/7 :) Like Tait said, search for Days vs. Nights threads if you want to read more.

[*ac*]

Varies by unit at my hospital.

Where I am, new RN's must rotate for the first year. This is because some things are done only on days and some only on nights, so the idea is to get all the experience. Then, if you want, you can go to straight nights, but it takes several years of seniority to get all days. We work 3 12's per week, somewhat self-scheduled. Plus you can always trade shifts to get what you need, within certain parameters. There needs to be a certain experience mix on each shift, so you can't trade to the point that the whole shift is newbies.

For experienced nurses in my area, straight nights are easy to get.

[April, RN, BSN, RN]

As other said, it varies a lot by hospital and even by floor. A lot of hospitals in my area have RNs do day/night rotation or day/evening rotation. I do day/night and like having the change of pace and extra money on night shift without having to do nights full time. Funnily enough, the nurses who get to do straight days OR straight nights are the ones with more seniority.

I work 3 twelve hour shifts for the most part and then pick up an extra 12 hour shift a month. A lot of people like to group their 12 hour shifts together, but I actually prefer to spread them out a bit. I hate barely being home for 3 days straight, and then I'm too exhausted on my first day off to get much done. I do work some weekend shifts but we don't have assigned weekends on my unit (like every other or every third) so there is more flexibility.

[shoegalRN, RN]

I work the weekend alt plan. I work every Sat and Sun night (12 hour shifts) and get paid for 3 days. Full benefits too.

I'm off M-F. If I want, I'll pick up a couple of extra days during the week, but not often.

[momwannab]

This is good info. I hope to work 7p to 7a to free me up for my kids during the day (if I'm able to stay awake) so I'm glad to learn that recent grads usually get those hours. Now.....I just need to get accepted into nursing school (lol)! Wish me luck.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Is there competition for the night shifts, seeing as those would be less hectic?

Usually it's the opposite - everyone wants to get to days. Every place I've worked, there is a waiting list to get to days, varying from 6 months to 3 years.

I work 3 12s, usually in a row, then generally have 3-4 days off. I work every 2nd or 3rd weekend, as well.

For most people, working nights is very hard on the body. Most people's circadian rhythms are such that working nights is unnatural. People who work night shift are more likely to be overweight, and have higher cancer risk.

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

It depends on where you work. We work 8s in our department but the rest of the hospital works 12s = 36 hours so they only make us work 5 days one week and 4 days the next; or vise versa. We have to work 6 weekend days/nights in a six week period. We are self scheduling. I just moved to day because no one likes days and a bunch of people have left. Evening shift is the popular shift and NOC shift was killing me even though I loved the people and the pace, I just was NOT sleeping in the day anymore. When I worked NOCs 4&5 nights a week I had NO life. By the time I switched over on the week I had to work 5 NOCS I had only one day off and I was still exhausted.

[klone, MSN, RN]

There is NO WAY I would want to do nights if I had to work 4-5 shifts a week! Right now it's tolerable because I only have to do it three nights a week.