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Working Moms
Do you like working the night shift in a hospital??
I am a nurse, and currently work an hour from my home. My hours are 8:30-5ish, so I am away from home for about 11 hours, Monday - Friday. I cannot imagine keeping up these hours with a newborn baby. My son is currently seven weeks old, and I am scheduled to go back to work when he is 12 weeks. I am currently searching for a new job, and would ideally like to work three 12 hour DAY shifts in a hospital, but all that I am seeing available are 12 hour NIGHT shifts. My question to those of you who work nights in a hospital (as a nurse, nurse aid, etc): how do you like it? I know it will provide me with SO much more time at home with my son, but I am terrified that I will not be able to stay up all night three nights a week, or how I will feel once I am locked in to this job. I would truly appreciate opinions and advice from anyone who has worked the night shift!! I am thinking that no matter how bad it is...it can't be much worse than only seeing my son for about an hour, five days a week. I think that would make me pretty depressed. Thank you so much for your advice and input!!
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Re: Do you like working the night shift in a hospital??
I don't work a night job, but you will need to sleep when you're not working - so you'd end up needing to sleep during the day while your LO's awake, even you don't need to sleep the whole day, you will need to sleep some pretty signficant part of it. You might end up seeing your LO more than if you worked a regular shift and slept at night while he did too. You will also not see your husband if you switch to working nights.
Seeing your LO an hour a day is something a lot of moms and dads live with - esp. when your LO is very young and needs so much sleep. Its much harder on you than him and he will adjust to either schedule.
My best friend is a night shift nurse working 7p-7a. She said the pros of it are you get paid more and its generally less busy at night. Also for her it was a choice of either rotating days and nights or going to all nights (no all days option) so she said its easier to deal with the night shift when you're not flip flopping. However with the 12 hr shifts and having to sleep during the day she feels like she doesn't get any time with LO on days she works. Plus if you are working 3 days a week you still have to sleep the day before and the day after so it's still similar to working 5 days.
I am not a nurse, but I work pretty much the same hours as you do currently, with an hour commute each way. It's difficult but I get to see my DD from 6-9 every night. She takes long naps during the day and is able to stay awake later at night so DH and I get to spend time with her. It's not ideal, but I don't think it ever can be when youre a working mom.
Good Luck returning to work.
Hi, I work nights. 2- 12.5 hr shifts a week.
pros- higher pay, less daycare, actually more child-momma time
cons- days/nights mixed up, I've gained weight b/c I'm not getting consistent sleep.
it's nice in the early years b/c I had more time with the kids. but after 2 years of it, I started gaining wt and having bouts of insomnia and getting sick more often. I'm 3 years in and have been looking for a day job for a year. market is not good... even for nurses. hospitals have clamped down on hiring and nurses are working with greater pt to nurse ratios.
what I do. if dh is home, I sleep in until 1 or 2 prior to a night shift. if he has to work, I get up and then nap in the afternoon for 3 hrs. then go to work. if back to back shifts, I sleep all day between shifts. after the shift, I try to nap for 3-4 hrs , then get up so I can sleep that night. I try to bulk shifts around a weekend so I get stretches of a normal sleep cycle.
good luck with your decision
I'm a nurse and I used to work days/nights 7 to 730 am/pm 3x week for a few years. I started having problems sleeping during the day and was having PVC's and we had enough permanent night nurses, so I stopped the nights the past two years.
I am going back to 24 hours a week (two 12 hour day shifts). I will say that 12 hour shifts are the way to go, since you will have 4 to 5 days off with LO during the week. Here was my pro/con list to stay days:
Working nights pros: More money, less in childcare costs, less time away from LO when he is awake.
Working nights cons: Not being able to sleep during the day (and worrying you'll be so tired at night and make a fatal mistake), still needing a few hours of childcare to ensure some sleep during the day, being impatient with LO if I didn't sleep enough, physical toll on my own body.
I don't think I could ever go back to nights. If you really think you can sleep during the day, then I say go for it. But it is not easy. I'm sure you have done this, but have you thought about asking your nurse manager if 12 hour shifts are an option?
I'm sorry I dont have a more positive opinion for you. I'm sure you will figure out what is best for you and your family-its not easy.
So basically you would be sleeping only 4 hours per day??? That is not normal, realistic or do-able (you said you work an hour from home so that's sleeping 4 hours on a good day- you wouldn't leave the hospital till at least 7 30am or later ).
I would choose 100000 times over to work a regular week, have the weekends off and not to work nights. (I've worked a ton of crazy shifts as a resident, including weeks of night floats, ect and it all suckkkks)
I am an RN in an outpt. infusion clinic. I work 8-430 or 5 (mon-fri) with a 45min commute each way. When ds was young I hated it. I only got 2 hours with him in the evening. Now I am so glad that I stuck with it. No weekends or holidays are so great. Plus he was a terrible sleeper until 18months old and there was no way dh could have handled that alone.
* as another poster said the job market for nurses is getting pretty rough. If you are with a stable employer you may want to wait it out. The biggest hospital in my area is laying off nurses and that is scary. I like being where I have a little seniority.
My MIL works nights and she loves and hates it.
Pros: Better pay, only have to work 3-12 hour shifts
Cons: Sleep schedule is messed up
I rotate between first and third. I am on the wait list to be put on nights.
One thing to think about is that in reality if you do 12 hour days, you won't have any more time with your family then you would on nights. I leave around 6 am on days and get home around 830, depending what time your kids go to bed, they may not even be awake when you get home. It also depends on your sleep schedule. I personally don't sleep the day before i start my week of nights (i don't know anyone i work with that does), I try to take a nap but that is it. I personally don't feel like it's a lost day. I do sleep my last day, but try to cut it a little shorter than my usual sleep.
In my experience it is a more relaxed environment at night and I enjoy that. In reality my only con is thatyour sleep schedule is messed up. Will also definately take time getting used to if you've never done it.