Anyone's DH in shift work/nuclear field?

Re: Anyone's DH in shift work/nuclear field?

• duckiegrl member

  March 2012

  Hi! My DH just got his certification rather than his license. But shift work in general sucks. Hubby hates shift work, outages and basically the nuclear field. But he was on a sub before going to work at the plant and he says the he prefers the plant over the sub. I've only experienced DH's shift work during outages and whenever the plant scrammed and went offline. But to answer your original question/thought, I haven't met anyone really happy with their job in shift work - most are really tired and burnt out, but they continue to do it because it pays and it's what they know how to do. So, good luck to your hubby on his SRO license. It's a long training/class and apparently pretty hard from what I can tell. 

  

  
  

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• luvmygirls22 member

  March 2012

  Duckiegrl: Thank you for responding. My dh used to be in subs too actually. How funny. Yeah dh and I are contemplating number 3 but he is worried that if he hates it he would be stuck. What helped you two decide on a third and does your dh feel he is stuck? 

  
  

   

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• duckiegrl member

  March 2012

  My DH does in a way feel stuck but it's more because of his choice to become a nuke (in the military) rather than his choice to do the SRO training. The nuke field is very specialized and as you know, not everyone gets it and a lot of people don't make it. Every single nuke I know who has gotten out works at a plant in some capacity. Most are SROs, some (like my DH) are instructors. So in that respect, they are stuck working in the nuke field. Not a lot of job opportunities for guys who know all about nuclear reactors, kwim?  

  As for us deciding on #3, it just kinda happened. We never tried but we didn't prevent either. DH is from a family of 5 kids and I have 2 siblings so we kind of already decided that we would be okay with 4 kids. So really there is no rhyme or reason to the spacing of my kids other than that's when I was able to get pregnant.  

   Oh something to think about re: shift work. Since your kids are small, I dunno if you've come across this yet but if your kids are in activities your DH might not be able to attend certain things because he might be working or needs sleep. Since they aren't working the normal 8-5 job and aren't guaranteed weekends/holidays off, it makes it hard when the kids have activities. DD was super upset her dad couldn't attend to her very first dance recital (even though it was on a Saturday afternoon) because he was working. So We recorded it and showed him when he got home and he had to make a big deal about how proud he was of her.  So although shift work sucks, at least he can come home every day/night and you know he's safe. 

  

  
  

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• luvmygirls22 member

  March 2012

  I really appreciate u taking the time to give your input. Thank u very much. Not very many men are in the nuke field so it's nice to talk to someone who is going through the same thing. 

  
  

   

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• duckiegrl member

  March 2012

  Np.  If you ever want to talk more, feel free to email me

  anita dot truck at gmail dot com

   

  Oh and ps, I asked hubby this morning what he thought and he said he feels stuck because in the military he worked at such a high level that getting promoted was easy but now everyone he works with is of a similar caliber and so not one person really stands out. They all work hard and have a good work ethic. As far as happiness goes, he said it depends on the team you work with. If one guy is down, usually he'll bring down the rest. Apparently the these are the guys I know. Hubby's advice is not to become jaded.

  

  
  

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• luvmygirls22 member

  March 2012

  That means a lot to me to give me your email.  Thank u so much and I know I'll be contacting u.

  
  

   

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• mommy510 member

  March 2012

  My dad has done nuclear work my whole life.  Most of the time he has been on shift work. The changing shifts don't bother him.  My parents always had blackout curtains so that their room was dark, and their bedroom was at the opposite end of the house from our rooms so that we wouldn't wake him up while we played. He wasn't happy with his job at one plant that he worked for, but that was because management was a pain to deal with. If your husband doesn't have trouble sleeping at weird times during the day, he should be fine with the shifts.

  Side note: peak shift was hard when we were in school because dad would go to work before we got home and he wouldn't get home until way past bedtime. If he wanted to see us that week, he had to wake up before we left in the morning and spend a few minutes with us.
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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