4 Ways Nurses Are Avoiding Night Shift
As many of us do when we enter into the nursing profession, I thought that I would have to earn my stripes and wear those stripes as a badge of honor. I thought that exhaustion and staying up for days on end was what we did as nurses. It is just part of the job, right? This just comes with the territory. There came a point in my nursing career where I got really honest with myself and made the decision that there is no world in which trading my health for a career will be my reality. I will not be the senior nurse who has neglected myself, physically or spiritually, to work this job, to make more money, or to appease my manager.
I was a high school student when I took my first night shift position. I worked as a CNA during my last semester of high school at my hometown’s local nursing home. I would work 1800–0630, sleep until 1100, and go to my afternoon high school classes. At the time, I thought this was the cost of entry into being a nurse. A few years later, toward the end of my college career, I found myself working another night shift position—this time in the hospital as a patient care tech. This was when I knew night shift was not for me. There had to be another way. But what do you do when all you hear from professors and other nurses is that you must start in med surg, and you will start on night shift?
How do you avoid working the night shift?
Be More Open to Jobs
The first and most basic way you can avoid working a night shift position is to be more open to the job that you are willing to work. The more open and flexible you are, the more options will be available to you. I understand that some people prioritize a specific unit, specialty, hospital, etc., for a particular reason. Maybe you are preparing for CRNA school and you want/need that particular trauma ICU position at that inner-city level 1 trauma center, and they only offer night shift positions to new hires. That is where you come in—is this position and working night shift for X amount of time worth it? There is no wrong answer! The decision is completely personal and unique to you and your nursing journey.
This strategy goes for travel nursing, new grad nurses, nurses changing specialties, or any nurse looking for a job. The more specific you get, the more likely it is that you may have to work the night shift for a certain period of time.
Weekend Only Position
Working a weekend-only position is, in my experience, more difficult to find. I did not even know this option existed until about four years into my nursing profession! I had just accepted a job as a rotating day/night Surgical ICU nurse. I took this position because I was looking for something very specific, and this was the option that I thought I had. In hindsight, I likely could have found something else, but that is neither here nor there. I was a few weeks into my training when I was educated on certain nurses working a weekend-only position—some worked 24 hours a week (every Saturday and Sunday), and some worked 36 hours a week (every Friday–Sunday).
Signing the contract for this job meant I would work full-time day shift in exchange for all of my weekends. For some people, mostly people with children, this position sounds like a punishment. I enjoyed the perks of a significant pay differential, no night shifts, no administration, and an easier commute into work. There were some cons, but my priority was to not work at night. Options like this do exist—sometimes you have to get creative!
Mid Shift or Off Shift
This is mostly for the ER nurses out there: work mid shift! I have worked multiple mid shift positions—1500–0330, 1100–2330, 1200–0030. Mid shift gives you the best of both worlds because you can maintain a semi-normal sleep schedule, and you get to socialize with day and night shift! I have always felt an affinity for the night shift crew, but my body does not. In the ER, mid shift is typically the busiest shift to work, but you still get a little bit of that shift differential, and you are not totally disrupting your circadian rhythm.
Work Per Diem
This might be my favorite option of all. Working per diem is, quite honestly, the biggest flex in nursing. I understand that there are barriers to this and a lack of security for some people, but if the option is available to you and you really do not want to work the night shift, then this is an option. Working per diem means that you will be spending more time ensuring that you have enough hours to meet your financial means, and if you need benefits, you will be independently handling this. Again, this all comes down to your main priority. Are you someone who would rather have security and benefits in exchange for having to work nights? Or are you someone who would rather get a little creative in exchange for a more normal work schedule?
Working per diem can also be more difficult to get hired into if you do not already work for that organization, although not impossible. I have interviewed for and been offered per diem positions as an external candidate, but this was an ER job and I already had sufficient ER experience. This is not as feasible if you are entering into a new specialty, because you do want to be competent and proficient in the job as per diem staff.
Final Thoughts
Some people choose to work and stay on the night shift. And to those people, I thank you! It takes all different types of beautiful human beings to make this industry run, and nurses are the fuel that keeps the healthcare system afloat. This article is not to convince anyone how to navigate their own nursing journey, but to offer ways around depleting yourself and your health if you feel like you are suffering. I know many nurses who love the night shift. I know people who want nothing to do with the day shift. I am not here to convince those people to switch directions.
I am writing to the person who feels like their life is crumbling beneath them. I am talking directly to the nurse who feels like they have lost a piece of themselves to the system and is looking for ways back to themselves. From a scientific perspective, we are not meant to be awake all night—and especially not meant to be awake all night on a regular basis. The science and evidence support that this is detrimental to our health.
So you must ask yourself the same questions I asked myself:
- Is this worth it?
- Can I endure this and gain what I need to from it?
- Will this pay off for me in the long run?
- Is this more important than how I feel, and is this affecting other parts of my life in a negative way?
You deserve more, and you do not owe your life to this job. You can take care of people and be the best nurse you can be while still taking care of the number one priority—you.
🤔Nurses, are you team night owl or team “absolutely not”? Share your thoughts in the discussion forum below!
