Help for graduating student wanting to work nights, 7 on/7 off

[zackilsch]

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Hey everyone!

I am graduating in May, and I am in the early stages of interviewing with several hospitals in Milwaukee, WI. I just wanted to know if anyone could give me an idea of what would be a reasonable starting wage for this area. The position I am interested in is 3rd shift, 7 on/7 off; I have no past experience working at a hospital. I know I have seen on here and heard from classmates that Milwaukee is an area where they are hurting pretty bad for pharmacists, so I was wondering if that would work in my benefit for achieving a higher starting wage. Anything anyone could tell me would be great. Thanks!

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

Working nights is tough. At night, you're it. You're the clinical pharmacist, you're the supervisor, you're the director of pharmacy, and you're the tech when your tech is making rounds. Unless the hospital is so large that there are two 3rd shift pharmacists. When I was a DOP some years ago, I made sure my night shift pharmacists were highest paid pharmacists in the department. More than what I made and I felt right about it. Here are some things to consider.

• It will screw up your circadian rhythm.
• It will take you 2 to 3 days during your off week to get back to norm then have 2 or 3 good days off before you start worrying about getting back to work.
• Don't believe that you're going to have 26 weeks of vacation if you're doing the graveyard. 2nd shift (2pm to 11pm) 7 days on and off is not so bad.
• A lot of chit happens at night.
• I would personally never hire a brand new grad to do graveyard. If I was so desperate to do so, I would put him/her through a minimum 6 months of training before letting them loose to go solo.

Now, you're worried about the money part. There are games played by the hospital to minimize the overtime for 7 on 7 off folks. If you worked Mon-Sun, you would end up with a substantial amount of overtime one week assuming payroll period is from Sun - Saturday. And overtime pays 1.5X the base. So often, hospitals will structure week on week off Wednesday to Tuesday. This way, no overtime is utilized. Also, there are differentials for different shifts. The 3rd shift should command at least 15% hourly differential. I doubt the hospital will do anything different for you as far as the differentials go but you can still negotiate the base pay.

Make sure you go through a rigorous training if you've never worked inpatient. Because you have a lot to learn. A lot...

 

[fhx06]

Working nights is tough. At night, you're it. You're the clinical pharmacist, you're the supervisor, you're the director of pharmacy, and you're the tech when your tech is making rounds. Unless the hospital is so large that there are two 3rd shift pharmacists. When I was a DOP some years ago, I made sure my night shift pharmacists were highest paid pharmacists in the department. More than what I made and I felt right about it. Here are some things to consider.

• It will screw up your circadian rhythm.
• It will take you 2 to 3 days during your off week to get back to norm then have 2 or 3 good days off before you start worrying about getting back to work.
• Don't believe that you're going to have 26 weeks of vacation if you're doing the graveyard. 2nd shift (2pm to 11pm) 7 days on and off is not so bad.
• A lot of chit happens at night.
• I would personally never hire a brand new grad to do graveyard. If I was so desperate to do so, I would put him/her through a minimum 6 months of training before letting them loose to go solo.

Now, you're worried about the money part. There are games played by the hospital to minimize the overtime for 7 on 7 off folks. If you worked Mon-Sun, you would end up with a substantial amount of overtime one week assuming payroll period is from Sun - Saturday. And overtime pays 1.5X the base. So often, hospitals will structure week on week off Wednesday to Tuesday. This way, no overtime is utilized. Also, there are differentials for different shifts. The 3rd shift should command at least 15% hourly differential. I doubt the hospital will do anything different for you as far as the differentials go but you can still negotiate the base pay.

Make sure you go through a rigorous training if you've never worked inpatient. Because you have a lot to learn. A lot...

The night pharmacists I have worked with say 4 on/4 off is a pretty good choice. The two pharmacists would just switch off every 4 days and be fine with it. If someone needed to cover for another person, it can get a bit hectic but the dept. manager usually works well with their schedules if they want to take a vacation.

One of them worked 6 days in a roll, and by day 6, he looked completely exhausted. I'm not sure 7 days is a great choice if you've never worked in a hospital and don't really know what the workload is like.

Edit: quoted the wrong person but you get the idea.

 

[type b pharmD]

take melatonin, it really helps.