Why Can't Hospitals Offer Shifts Other Than 12 hr. 7 to 7?

PANurseRN1 · May 6, 2006

I am a single parent wanting to be home with my kids at a decent hour every day. I have been working 7p to 7a for the last 5 years. I am tired of it. Why do most hospitals only offer these horrendous 12 hour shifts?.. These hours are hard on families. I would love to be able to work 8 to 4 in a hospital. Why isn't that an option? Hospitals could offer 8am-4pm...then 4pm-12am and 12am-8am and maybe the nursing shortage wouldn't be so bad....

You and just about everyone else. I work in day surgery, which is supposedly a day job, but often don't get out til after 7:00pm.

PANurseRN1 · May 6, 2006

I also wonder who the OP has in mind to work the shifts she finds distasteful. Having kids is not a trump card in this profession. If the hospital doesn't offer the shifts you want, then you need to look elsewhere.

FYI: 11a-11p is the worst shift you can work in the ED. I did it briefly before I went 7p-7a. It was horrible; horrendously busy, absolutely no chance for a break, and out late often. Many of my friends who work/worked ED at other facilities say the same thing. It's exhausting.

mysterious_one, ASN, RN · May 6, 2006

I have been a nurse in germany, our shifts were 6-2, 1-9. We switched, one week you were in morning shift , one week in evening. The evening shift covered weekends and so got 2 days off during their week instead. We could select our off days ahead of time before our evening week shift and also the time we preferred to work that particular weekend. It allways worked out, dharge nurses just made sure everything was covered. For the night we had 3 or 4 nurses, that preferred to do that, there shift was 9-7 for 10 days a month, the rest of the time they were off. They only worked nights and so were used to that schedule. If someone were sick , then someone from dayshift might help out. It all worked out, and everyone was able to get days off that they needed for that special something. ALso we switched amongst each other, if needed. As you can see we also had an hour overlapping each shift, this was to put next shift up to speed on their patients, by the previous shift.

Shelly69 · May 6, 2006

i used to work in a dialysis unit where there were 10 hour shifts. 6-430, 10-730, 2-1230. you had off every sunday. your schedule would rotate 1st week off monday tuesday. second week off wednesday thursday, third week off friday saturday. it always fell into the mon-tues week so every third week you had a mini 5 day vacation. i think it was the best shedule i ever worked. had to leave because i didn't drive at the time, and had a young child, but if i ever get to go back i would do it in a heartbeat.

sunnyjohn · May 6, 2006

I'd work 12's for the time off, but 10 hour shifts work best for my body.

RN and Mommy · May 6, 2006

I love the 12 hour shifts. I don't see myself working 5 days a week again any time soon. I know of some hospitals in my area who does offer 8 hour shifts, but I'll stick with the 12!

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 6, 2006

Most people in my unit hate 12's...so what's preferred is a matter of opinion and depends on where you work.....and I could care less what the majority of administrators think...... Also I do not want to work cath lab or Endo. I may consider the ER as they do offer 11am to 11pm...

I have a friend who works recently where it was mandated they go to 12 hour shifts. The uproar was so loud they decided to go back to working both. The main objection of the loss of four hours of pay believe it or not. Not the three days time away from kids in the evening.

Have all you 12-hour shift haters banded together and made a loud stink (professionally mind you), above the manager's head? They may have their reasons, but nurse satisfaction should matter. If they don't listen, be persistent and remind them over and over most people on your unit hate it and why.

Whenever a unit goes all 12-hour shifts there are going to be many people who don't like. Many of the units in my facility only offer 12 hour shifts, but my unit does both because the stink any suggestion of all 12's brings. The overwhelming majority of us work 12 hour shifts and we're self scheduling. But to try to please each and everyone's individual needs isn't happening.

fergus51 · May 6, 2006

I think 8 hour shifts really only benefit day shifters. If you work evenings or nights, you get the short end of the stick. That's why a lot of us night shifters prefer working 3 12s a week rather than 5 8s. At least this way I have enough days off in a week to revert to a semi-normal daytime schedule. I can't imagine doing that if I was working 11p-7a 5 days a week.

If you really want an 8 hour day shift position, you may just have to look at other areas. OR, PACU, daysurgery, telehealth, public health, LTC etc. all offer 8 and 10 hour day shifts where I work because that's when they are busiest. It may not be your area, but sometimes you can't have it all at work and just have to decide what's most important to you. Plus, even if your place did go to 8 hour shifts, there's really no guarantee that YOU would get the shift that you want. I could see a lot of nurses fighting over those sweet 8a-4p shifts!

allnurses Guide · May 6, 2006

I have to agree with the other posters that nurses themselves wanted the 12 hour shifts for the most part. Our admin did a poll a few years ago to see if nurses wanted to change anything and overwhelmingly we all said no.

We work 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. I work the "day" shift that starts at 2:45 a.m. And I only work part-time. No one would work a true night shift here so the nurses themselves came up with 3-3.

To tell the truth, I do not like getting up at 1:45 a.m. I have to be in bed by at least 7 p.m. to get enough sleep to be a good nurse and that is very hard to do with a family. Football games, softball games, plays, musicals, etc. I've gone to work on 1 hour of sleep sometimes. It is very hard.

One solution for you might be a free-standing surgery center. 8 hour days usually, no weekend and no holidays. One of my friends does this part-time, two days a week. She did this so she could be home for her young children and have some semblence of a family life.

My goal is to not work at all - gotta win the lottery for that though.

steph

p.s. I would never work a 7-7 shift btw.

Warpster · May 6, 2006

Nursing homes offer 8 hour shifts and the VA did when I left, the 8-4 shirft that you so crave. However, that shift is assigned by seniority and most nurses will have to work evenings or nights during any given month.

You might also consider home care, something that will offer the maximum flexibility in hours. Agencies also will guarantee you a specific shift, but you may be sitting home more often than not.

Good luck. Nobody ever chose nursing for the hours or the pleasant working conditions, and administration seems to be hell bent on making the worst out of both for us.

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · May 6, 2006

We do 12s. It allows me to work FT and go to school PT. I like being able to schedule a bunch of shifts in one week in order to get a lot of time off the next (without using vacation). I don't particulary like 12s but I certainly do not want to be at my hospital 5 days a week.

My ideal situation? I want to work part-time and get paid for full-time!:)

(for some odd reason administration is against this...)

allnurses Guide · May 6, 2006

My ideal situation? I want to work part-time and get paid for full-time!:)
(for some odd reason administration is against this...)

That is funny - on that survey/poll our admin gave us a few years ago I said I wanted to work 7-3 and get paid for 12 hours.

They didn't go for that either.

steph