working two 18 hour shifts and one 12 hour in a week

[ben123]

I read on this site that a nurse was working two 18 hour shifts and a 12 hour shift every week. I believe the hospital was in orange county. If anyone knows of any hospitals that have hours like this or similar in the los angeles or orange county please reply. Thank you.

[suzanne4, RN]

16 hour shift, okay, but 18? Way too dangerous?

Especially as a staff nurse.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I have Monday through Friday off, then work two 16-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. I work 32 hours and get paid for 40.

[lowski]

I will work 2 18 and a 12 hour shift in a week and in a row. However, these are not scheduled but rather "open shift incentives". THey can be difficult at times but I want extra money. I would prefer 12 hours.

[lujological]

I am just coming off 2 years of 12 hour shifts.7 in a 2 week period.While I never did more than 2 in a row and enjoyed the extra time off it has taken a toll on my body.MY reward for 12 hour shifts-hypertension,diabetes,and an ulcer!AS nurses we need to learn to care for ourselves first so we are able to care for others; they are depending on us!

[tntrn, ASN, RN]

Oh, my! I don't want anybody working those kinds of long hours as my nurse. Especially after watching what sleep deprivation does to the body and the mind on 60 Minutes last week.

There need to be some laws passed about patient loads and nursing hours. Yikes!

[Skeletor]

I will work 2 18 and a 12 hour shift in a week and in a row. However, these are not scheduled but rather "open shift incentives". THey can be difficult at times but I want extra money. I would prefer 12 hours.

I can sleep uninterrupted for 18 hours, I don't know if I can work 18 hours:lol2:

[suzanne4, RN]

The 18 hour shift is a double with the lunches thrown in, am I not correct on this?

It is still considered a double by most counts.

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

I wish I had a reference, but sometime back I read of a study showing that a person working longer that 12 hours was impaired in judgement and alertness comparably to a person with a .08 blood alcohol. Not my nurse please! The law limits all sorts of people in the number of hours they work at a time: airline pilots, truckers, railroad engineers. Does our work require less alertness than theirs?

For a while, my hospital had a few travelers working 16s. Gave it up because of too many complaints from patients and coworkers. A person facing a shift that long knows that they have to save their energy to last, so they learn not to do anything too fast - not to jump up to answer that light, etc.