I have worked all 3 shifts in my career and I currently work Nights (nocs) and do not plan to ever leave it. I have worked in clinics, but primarily in inpatient hospital settings, so this is based mostly around the hospital setting.
Myths:
Day shift is the most "normal" and healthiest.
Night shift don't have much to do, patients sleep all night.
Typical schedules for day shift are 7am-3pm, 8am-4pm, 6am-6pm, 7am-7pm
DAYS. You get up at the crack of dawn, start work early around, get off of work halfway through the day if you work 8-hour shifts or early evening if you work 12-hour shifts. You may have some time to see your kids if they are getting ready for school and may even be able to drop them off before your shift. There is traffic on the roads as non-medical workers also start around this time. You may have to allow for extra time to find parking. When you get home, you may still have time to spend with your family. If you work 8-hour shifts, you may be able to pick up your kids from school or go to appointments. If you work 12-hour shifts, it is hard to make appointments on your work days, but if you only work 3 or 4 days a week, you should have days off for those.
You may open up if you work at an office or clinic, but a hospital is 24/7 so in that case, you just continue where night shift has left off. Your patients will have breakfast and lunch on your shift (and dinner too, if you work 12-hour shifts) and you will have patient family/visitors, interactions with doctors and other members of the care team (i.e. dietary, Social workers, discharge planners, OT, PT, ST, Clergy), discharges, patient teaching, and more. Make sure to check your orders frequently in case doctors have changed or updated them. Day shift is generally so filled with people and events that the time appears to fly by.
Typical schedules for pm shift is 3-11pm where the shifts are 8-hours.
PMs. (8-hour shift workers) You have your mornings free to run errands, go to appointments, and take the kids to school. If you have kids, you may see them in the morning, but oftentimes, they are sleeping by the time you get home. There is traffic on the roads because people are out and about during the day. You may have to allow for extra time to find parking.
In my opinion, this shift tends to be very busy in the hospital with both discharges and admissions. Your patients will b have dinner on your shift. You will have patient family/visitors, interactions with doctors and other members of the care team (i.e. dietary, Social workers, discharge planners, OT, PT, ST, Clergy), discharges, patient teaching, and more. Also, the potential of a lot of patient movement as downgraded patients move from higher level of care to lower levels of care (i.e. ICU to Tele/MedSurg, Tele to MedSurg).
Typical schedules for night shift are 11pm-7am, 6pm-6am, 7pm-7am
NIGHTS. You have slept during the day and are ready for your night shift. You arrive in the dark and during the winter, you may go home in the dark. Less traffic on the roads at the start and end of your shift. It may be easier to obtain parking. You may be able to get home in time to take your kids to school. Sleeping during the day may sometimes be hard with outside noise if you have noisy neighbors or live in a busy area. Some people find sleeping during the day difficult even under the best conditions. You may be able to put off sleep to go to appointments in the morning. It is difficult to do things in the middle off the day during your work stretch. You might be able to attend evening kids' performances or sports games before your shift.
This is the shift I worked for most of my nursing career. My husband worked days and by working nights, we were able to hand off childcare to each other. I slept while they were in school It was difficult when they were in preschool/kindergarten with half days - I was frequently late in picking them up. When I worked 8-hour shifts, I was able to sleep while they were school, pick them up, help with homework, have dinner with the family, and then go back to sleep again for a couple of hours before my shift. When I switched to 12-hour shifts, I would see them before I left for work and on my days off.
Many people think patients all sleep soundly and it is quiet at night. That may be true some of the time, but many times, it is far from it. Some patients experience Sundowning, which is a state of confusion which usually starts around the time the sun goes down and lasts until the sun goes up. This is not uncommon and these patients are not their usual selves and may exhibit behaviors such as confusion, anxiety, and aggression. This is something reserved for the night shift. It is interesting to get in nurses' report that someone is the model patient during the day and then turns into someone completely different at night; and they do not remember being that way! I am convinced that Sundowning had something to with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Patients still need to go to the bathroom, have pain, need support when they feel anxious (which can happen when they feel alone and their visitors have left), and a multitude of other things during the night. Night shift still receive admissions and we still interact with doctors and other persons of the care team as needed. There tends to be less ancillary staff available to help, making us more independent. Yes, there may be downtime and less hustle and bustle as compared to day shift, but night shift nurses are not sitting down with their feet up and playing cards!
We are blessed to have a job that has such great flexibility. We can cut down hours to work around your family schedule or pick up extra hours almost any day of the week. In the inpatient setting, extra hours may be available before or after your shift so that you don't have to work an extra day. If your regular job is not enough for you, you can pretty easily moonlight somewhere else.
In summary, you will have to choose which shift works best for you, your family, and your body. Not everyone is cut out for every shift. You will just have to try it out and see if it agrees with you.
Happy Nursing!
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