I work 7a-7p on a busy ICU step down/cardiac unit. All day long we have countless orders to take off, discharges to do, admits, MANY more meds to give, cath lab patients to deal with (along with sheaths to pull sometimes). Sometimes I only have time for a 15 min lunch if I don't want to stay and chart until 9pm.
Then shift change happens, if I pass along one thing like a UA that the night nurse needs to get from the pt or an order that needs to be taken off that was written at 1730 I get annoyed looks, and they generally treat it like I haven't done anything all day. When in reality I've had 5-6 pts, a full admit to do, and have dealt with an emergency or 2.
On top of all that I get paid LESS than a night nurse who passes 2100 meds along with a sleeping pill to each pt then relaxes most of the night?
Rant over.....No diss to night shift, but if you haven't worked days in years you should learn to understand what we go through at times. I know it can be busy on nights at times, but sheesh, I think the night shift on our floor shops online most of the time.
I agree days can be busier what with bathing, countless phones going off and buzzers, and visitors popping in asking questions. That is why I don't work days - the money is crap and I frankly wouldn't get out of bed for the pay. But nights can be a different kind of busy - you still have buzzers going off all night, patients in pain, Dr's to call and consult, deaths to deal with, and there's less staff to deal with everything (why, I don't know how management works that out). The 10 hour nightshift I did a few weeks back I had no break either, which I don't mind if I'm charge nurse, but I wasn't that night - it was simply too busy to have a break.
Specializes in Give me a new assignment each time:).
The pay has nothing to do with whether it's busy or not. Most human beings I know are designed to sleep at night. When you work nights, the quality of day-time sleep is just not the same as night time sleep. It takes quite some time to get adjusted to day-time sleeping when you work night. Many night workers I know do get depressed very easily. You need sunlight. So the pay is for the sacrifice of health. Weekend pay a bit more because you are sacrificing you "fun" time for work. So it's an incentive to keep the night schedule staffed.
Some places require a person to work a couple of weekends per month.
But, for some, night is good because the are taking a class for a couple of hours a day, or spouse might be working day time, etc.
I have worked nights, my sleep pattern is now screwed up. Now I don't normally do nights but, I've become insomniac. I get tired very easily because I tend to stay up late. It's a health issue. Certain things are not worth the money
I have been working nights for 30 years. Jokingly, I have said the day folks SHOULD get the pay differential........three meals, endless visitors, more white coats and management than you could count, patients awake all day, surgeries, appointments, lab draws, AND all the lights are on!!! The atmosphere seems more chaotic at times and there are at least twice as many people (or more). You can HAVE IT!!!! That being said.....
We work against our body's natural rhythm. We are basically opposite the world when we work nights. True it MAY not be as busy on some units, on some nights. BUT, when it does hit the fan, there is ONLY the staff present to get through it with. There is no calling anyone in at 0300, when you have had the admission that puts staffing over the edge, a patient takes a turn for the worse and needs more monitoring/care, an elderly patient "sundowns", or whatever craziness decides to find itself occurring on nights. YES I know many of us do this by choice......but our bodies and families suffer the side effects. We are not asking for pity....but the monetary differential is just one small reward we get.
Work what you would like.....but I say nights still rocks after all these years. I might not say this if I was full time (I am only there three nights/week).
I work nights, I prefer it to days for the most part because of the less family members, and typically (but not always) less chaos. If the nurse that is relieving you is upset because you left a UA, it is not all nurses who should be stereotyped into that category, she is just a ******. I never have a problem picking up the things the day nurse didn't have time to do, because I usually do and this is a 24 hour job.
I have worked evenings and nights and I prefer nights. Every new job I've had always wants to orientate on days "just to know what it's like". Days is more hectic I'll give you that.....SOMETIMES. Let me tell you if days is having a bad day it carries over to the next shift. I have worked in places that the day shift got slammed and we had to pick up the slack just to catch things up. things finally slowed down around 1AM, but then IT decides it's time to do system updates. I would love for IT to shut the computers down on day shift just once and make them use the infamous "downtime" forms.
Contrary to popular belief hospitals are 24/7 you get admits, do treatments, give medications ALL Day and ALL night. A q4 hr med doesn't stop being given after midnight. I wish I would have been able to surf the internet and shop online all night, but I had to do my q 4hr vitals, give meds, admit patients, help cover when someone crashed, do the chart checks, do the pre-op checklists, etc. Oh and if I'm lucky I'll get a lunch break.
Of course this was when I had a job. I don't think I'll complain about small stuff like who's busier once I do find work again.
Specializes in Float Pool-Med-Surg, Telemetry, IMCU.
I used to work five days a week, midnight-8:30 am. My days off were Monday and Tuesday so you can imagine what kind of social life I had.
The stress on my body was nearly unbearable; I was sick 5 times in about 3 months and felt strung-out and like I wanted to cry all the time from sheer exhaustion. My lowest point came after I had to get some blood work done and my D-dimer came back slightly elevated. I remember thinking during my CT scan that if I had a pulmonary embolism at least I could get out of work and get a full night's sleep! I actually found the prospect of a pulmonary embolism more appealing than staying up all night!
So what if there is occasionally more down time and better pay on night shift? Night shifters pay dearly for it with their health and social life! Night shift workers have a higher risk of cancer, diabetes, thyroid issues, etc. I'm still trying to lose the ten pounds I gained working those hours.
Ugh; not looking forward to working nights again! The pay cut is worth it.
I work in LTC, and I've worked every shift. From a work standpoint, I would prefer to work the overnight shift over day shift anytime. I admit, I found it nearly impossible to sleep in the daytime, and noisy kids, neighbors, and insensitive phone calls from friends/work at 11 am didn't help matters. I was totally exhausted from night work; I always felt "off." Moreover, my former workplace didn't pay a shift differential.
However, on nights I didn't have to deal with admissions, family members, labs coming in, orders, dining room duty (which ate up almost an hour of the shift), answering the seemingly nonstop ringing phone, and managers finding new tasks for me to do.
What a common misperception. Here's the deal: I worked nights on a orthopedic/neuro/detox/medical floor. Often, baths were left for our techs, meaning they were tied up for 30-45 minutes at a time with one patient, while perhaps we were getting a admit, or having to answer lights, or trying to do more with less staff. people can't sleep in the hospital, so they think up reasons they need more. and families often want more at night or EXPECT to stay in the room, even though there is a roommate and there is no room.
The thing is: I'm a NURSE, same as you! whatever happens, is the patients get care. sorry if your days are busy or hectic, but suck it up and deal. I get more money cause I do with less and change my life to work nights. Perhaps if you budgeted better, money wouldn't be such a concern?(sorry but it burns me up.)
I have worked both 12 hour day and night shift in the ICU. Both of them are busy, but they are busy in different ways. There is no so thing as one shift doing more than another.
I understand the having your sleep schedule off, and not being able to adjust on days off. I am talking about the WORK that needs to be done. Anytime I have to pass anything off to nights they act like I'm a lazy nurse, when in reality I've been on my feet all day long.
I'm not here to start all this conflict. You don't need to curse at me or say I'm dumb, ignorant...need a reality check or whatever. Just chill people. Bring it down a notch.
And, all you ICU nurses out there kudos, I wouldn't like being an ICU nurse. I suspect no matter what time of day it is the ICU stays the same. Being as I've never worked there I wasn't really talking about you. Now you too can calm down. ugh...
I was totally exhausted from night work; I always felt "off." .
I can only work days because night shift does a number on my health. Plus, I don't function well between 4-6 AM.
Yes, days are comparatively more hectic, but patient care takes 24 hours, so night nurses are essential. Not everybody can work nights (like me), so I'm all for the night differential. It's pay that's well-deserved. :bowingpur
I'm still just a tech, but on a typical night shift I'll walk/run between 5 and 9 miles in a 12 hour shift (12 patients) - not exactly sitting around and shopping online.
I don't get to go to sleep with my day shift husband, even really on my nights off when I'm getting ready for night shift. And since I live in an apartment, I can't do much in the middle of the night except study and watch Netflix because anything else would disturb the neighbors. Then when I'm sleeping in the day time, I have to deal with all of the noise from the kids in the apartment complex.
I worked Christmas night, so I had to waste my whole Christmas day sleeping instead of being with family, and then get to work at night. I ruined my whole holiday for only 4 hours of holiday pay, when the shift, and sleeping for the shift took up the whole holiday.
If you need to do something in the day time, you have to rearrange your whole sleep schedule, which isn't as easy at it sounds. Day shift people never have to go in for a meeting at 1am when they should be asleep.
All of that being said, I do like night shift, and I fully expect to work nights for several years once I graduate, but I think I'm more of a morning person, and I definitely understand why we get paid extra on nights!!
Um, really? How is that any different than working a holiday DAY? Either way you missed the holiday. 7a-7p doesn't leave much time for family on Christmas either. So, I really don't get your point.
I was totally exhausted from night work; I always felt "off." Moreover, my former workplace didn't pay a shift differential.
carolmaccas66, BSN, RN
2,212 Posts
I agree days can be busier what with bathing, countless phones going off and buzzers, and visitors popping in asking questions. That is why I don't work days - the money is crap and I frankly wouldn't get out of bed for the pay. But nights can be a different kind of busy - you still have buzzers going off all night, patients in pain, Dr's to call and consult, deaths to deal with, and there's less staff to deal with everything (why, I don't know how management works that out). The 10 hour nightshift I did a few weeks back I had no break either, which I don't mind if I'm charge nurse, but I wasn't that night - it was simply too busy to have a break.