Who came up with the idea of 12 HOUR SHIFTS?

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Hello. I am a new nurse pulling 12 hour shifts. Let me say I LOVE my job and I LOVE being a RN. :p However, after about 8 hours, I start to feel TIRED. By the time I get home, heck, I can hardly type on the computer my eyes and fingers just don't want to work anymore. I am pretty much out of it by then.... like a zombie. :eek:

Who (when) did nurses have to start doing 12 hour shifts?? :igtsyt: Since we are nurses, handle meds and make life and death decisions.... WHY are we working over 8 hours?? Seems somewhat unsafe to me. We are human and get tired. :bugeyes: Most jobs are 8 hours. As medical professionals, we should work even less in my opinion, since we have to be 'on our game' all the time. Ugh. :sstrs:

Wow! Those were LOTS of great responses! I am fairly young (37), so age is not too much of as issue. BUT I do have a minor heart condition and I have chronic low potassium. After about 7 hours on the floor I notice my heart rate is up and by the end of the 12 hour shift, my rate is REALLY up. Even by the time I go to bed a few hours later, it is still beating hard. Since I have started these 12 hour shifts the last week, my heart has beat harder and faster. I am not very athletic otherwise, so maybe I am just out of shape, but that's why I DISLIKE the 12 hour shifts. I get whoozie too and feel a little faint. I do eat a snack every few hours to keep up the sugar. I will soon be doing 12 hour nights and that will be a problem. I take six meds. a day for my heart and my low potassium and I take them in IN THE DAY. This is how I have taken my meds. for years. My heart beats fast on day shift. That is WITH the meds. I am somewhat concerned that at night, when I am working, it will be VERY FAST as I will not be on any meds. at night. :uhoh21: I am usually asleep at night.

Best case situation for me is to work days 8 hours, but no hospital will do that around here and I really want the hospital experience. I really like where I am at, but it's a SUPER challenge for me. So there you have it. Ugh. Wish me luck! :clown::up:

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Specializes in Psych, EMS.

I'm with ya..but we are in the minority. I love working 5-8s! I work 7a-3p...when I get home I still have plenty of time and energy to grab drinks with my girlfriends, invite friends over to watch a ball game, work out, chill at my apt's hot tub, etc.. Plus I am prone to depression and isolation so my schedule forces me to be out, presentable, and social 5 days out of the week. :rolleyes:

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I'm with ya..but we are in the minority. I love working 5-8s! I work 7a-3p...when I get home I still have plenty of time and energy to grab drinks with my girlfriends, invite friends over to watch a ball game, work out, chill at my apt's hot tub, etc.. Plus I am prone to depression and isolation so my schedule forces me to be out, presentable, and social 5 days out of the week. :rolleyes:

5 8's 7-3 would be nice for me, but it will be years before Ii can get that shift! It's the 5 nights that are killer for me :nurse:

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Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.

I work 4 12s one week/ 3 12s the next. I do like having a few days off....but I am completely worn out most of the time. I don't know if its just night shift in combination with being so busy....or just nights. Things are constantly changing at my hospital....could be stress I suppose. I have thought about doing 8 hr shifts but dont want to be there five days a week either!

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

I think it just depends on the type of nursing you do. When I did ICU there is no way I would have wanted to work there 5 days a week. I now have a MUCH less stressful job in psych and I love only working 8 hr days....I love having time *every* day to be with my kids, go out with friends, work out, cook dinner for my family, etc...things I could not do everyday working 12s. I also know my 12s often stretched into 14s at time. My job now I clock out right on time every time, always get a lunch + 2 breaks, lots of downtime.

I only live only 5 mins from work so there is no real commute or any issues like that for me.

There are pros and cons to both. It just depends on your job IMO.

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ohh i'm sorry to hear that there may be some medical reasoning behind it!! honestly, it might just be a matter of you having to get used to it?? maybe you will love it then! i'd say most people are not used to working 12 hours straight, esp in a hospital setting, so i would give it a little time and then, if it's really affecting your health, you may have to decide something else?? also, this may be a little controversial and i'm not sure if this would be contraindicated with your health problems but i recently read that doctor's now can prescribe provigil (previously only a narcolepsy drug) for people who have difficult with night shift and doing that type of shift work. like i said, i'm no doctor and i'm not sure how many people actually do this, but who knows, it may be of some help you to??? i have read several reports on the internet of people successfully using it for this, so maybe it is something to look into?!

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Specializes in Women's health & post-partum.

When my mother was an RN in the early 1940's, many of her nurse colleagues "went to war" and the remaining staff was working--you guessed it--12 hour shifts. There were also untrained or rather trained-on-the-job unlicensed "nurses" working charge. Mom might have signed up too, except there were 5 of us by then.

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Specializes in NICU.

I prefer 8 hour shifts because I have time each day outside of work to have a life. Our facility offers both in every unit, so for the most part people have what they want. This seems to work well. I know 12 hour shifts provide continuity within the day, but this benefit of continuity is somewhat diminished that a patient might have continuity of the same two nurses for 2-3 days but then those nurses might be off for 4-7 days. This is not really continuity. I don't really have an issue with working 4-5 days a week since this is what my non-nursing friends do, except few of them have an 8 hour work day. Most work 9-10 hours five days a week, and some put in extra hours on the weekend but are salaried--no OT!! :eek: I enjoy my random days off in the week for errands and such, but I don't need four days off every week. But I'm also lucky to have a job I enjoy going to, so this makes a difference. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

You certainly want to stay at a job you like so much 12 hours or not, Epona! If you are like me, we start to run our tail off and forget to eat, drink and go to the bathroom 'cause the time zips by on a busy unit. You've just got to be insistent on "taking care of number one" with a chronic health problem. My stepdaughter with diabetes has learned that lesson the hard way. Your cardiologist is obviously the one who can best advise you on the specifics. Best wishes in your job!! :nurse:

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