[Kendall]

Is it true that nurses usually work 3 days a week(12 hr shifts)? To me this seems weird to only work 3 days a week, but then again if it is a 12 hour shift then thats about 36 hours a week If this is true, could you work more that 3 days a week if you wanted to?
thanks
kendall

[Anonymous]

Yes many nurses work 3 12's. Many times those days are actually 13 hours in length. And with getting ready for work, driving to work and home sometimes those days can be 15+ hours. I, personally, like the 12's. Some people don't. If I get up at 0430 I want to put in a full day i.e 12 hours. If I have a long drive into work i.e >10miles I don't want to go into work 5 days a week and if you work your days just right you can get several days off in a row.

With the nursing shortage you will probably be able to get just about any schedule you like. Just talk to your nurse manager. Some places work 10 hours a day.

I think the amount of hours you work depends on what area you work in also.. Some areas require lots of heavy duty plain old fashioned physical work and you might only want to work 8's


Hope this helps

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[nursinghumor]

It depends on the facility but a lot of places offer 12 hour shifts. Personally I enjoy having four days off, specially round vacation time.

Lots of places let their staff work a combination of twelve and eight hour shifts, then fill gaps with four hour shifts as they can.

Depends on how well staffed a facility is. I've worked agency in quite a few places and it wasn't unusually for me to spend every four hours on a different unit "filling holes."

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[amgpn]

I work 3 12s and it is awfully nice to have four night off a week. Lots more time for the kids, etc. Occasionally, they even schedule it so that during a two week period, you work three on one end, three on the other, and have eight off in the middle, which is really nice during the summer.

[cassioo]

that's how I like to work 3 at the start and 3 at the end with the 8 off in the middle without taking any PDO time. My boss is good scheduling however you want in general and there are several I work with that don't want 3 in a row. When I do nights I'd rather do the 3 in a row and be done with it. It makes the sleeping easier.

[1mg.epi]

I do week end option plus one day. max in a row i can have is 4 days. In my younger days (Ha) 5 years ago I would do the same thing 6 in a row and 8 off.

[healing touch]

I love my 3 12's. If you are in the hospital setting, working 8 sometimes turns to 10, so you might as well work 3 12's and have more time off. Sometimes I can group my time so that I have to take very little leave for vacation. I have worked 5 days a week. I love 3 12's.