Hospitals are open 24-hours, which means after the managers, social workers and other office workers go home for the day, the patients are still their in need of care. The day shift than tags in the night shift. Night shift is a different vibe. As someone that had prominently worked nights, I know all the pros and the cons to the night shift.
#1 Less staff and higher ratios
The day shift has gone home. The office workers typically work Monday through Friday and as the night shift comes in, they have been home for hours. Mostly, the amount of movement is less, by movement I mean patients coming in and discharging home. Later discharges still happens, and during the night the ED admissions fill in any empty beds. Typically, on most floors, the day shift discharges and admits patients, whereas the night shift mostly admits. Then add on the fact that day shifts deal with the doctors, family, social work and the executives making rounds.
#2 Less team members
Over night in a hospital, most of the non-patient care staff work in offices 9-to-5 Monday through Friday. Several positions, such as social worker there is one at all times in the hospital, but there may only be one with a focus on the ED and high priorities. Providers are always in the hospital, the teams of medical students, residents, NP, APRNS, and are now a PA or NP over seeing several teams of patients, while taking on more patients being admitted. We have less staff, nurses, transport, housekeeping, but also executives. It is rare to see the Director of Nursing in the middle of the night, and when you do, it’s a scheduled event. The hospital has much fewer people working than during the day shift.
#3 Bad sleep habits
It’s obvious when you work overnight, then you sleep either all day or not at all. There are several people who can’t work nights. A common complaint was they couldn’t function well, with a feeling of fogginess, excessive exhaustion with no energy even on days off. Night shift is definitely not for everyone. I am a night owl, I can wake up early for one or two days but long term I will and have over slept. Every night shifter has a different way to sleep. The night-shifter-and-night-lifers, they work at night to sleep during the day every day. On days off, they would wake up in the late afternoon to go out and run errands. The flip-flopper, they work throughout the night, take a nap, wake up for several hours and fall asleep at night. After the 3 12-hour shifts, people sleep all day, take a shortened nap, or stay awake. In the nearly decade of working nights, I have done it all. No matter which way you sleep and recover, sleep gets missed, interrupted by day-dwellers, and pushing against your natural circadian rhythm.
#4 A lost day or two
The lost days I am referencing to, I call my recovery day. The day after an overnight shift, no matter the type of person you are, you either sleep a day away or are exhausted. It was typical that I was completely useless the entire day, and I tried to schedule appointments, but I hated myself for it, because I was so tired. As a night shift, you lose an entire day after a full shift, and if someone gets scheduled every other day, or only one day off, then back to work. That one day off is a complete waste of a day that you can’t get anything done.
#5 Left behind from special food or events
Managers and executives work during the day. When anything positive happens in the hospital, such as a new accreditation or other accolade that includes a plaque for the hospital, they always hold the celebrations during the day. For nurse’s week, they give many of the special events such as messages, luncheons, and gifts to the day shifters. If you work for a hospital that gives equal opportunity to the night and day shift, count yourself as lucky. I worked at one hospital that would cater from local restaurants and ice-cream places for a few hours during the day and then at night. Since then, the last two hospitals I worked at didn’t give the same focus on both shifts.
#6 They hold training classes during the day.
You have the flexibility to complete a large amount of training on the computer. But there are always a few classes that need to be completed and the only times given are during the day. Simulations have been a common occurrence. That’s right, students. Even after school, take part in simulations and sometimes they go just as if you’re in school. As a day shifter, it’s pain to either attempt to go to the training during your shift or on your day off, but for the night people, their choices are to stay after a shift come in early for a shift or your day off. If the choices of times are not great, forgo sleep and come in.
I love working the night shift. I have for several years. But nothing is perfect, and sometimes you need to consider what your priorities are and decide from there.