Max volume for 24 hour shifts

[cyanide12345678]

Hey, what do you guys think the maximum annual volume should be at a place to consider 24 hour shifts.

Who here has worked 24 hour shifts? What was the annual volume of the place? How many hours of sleep did you get on average?

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[Zebra Hunter]

Probably 10k for me. At 10k, you are averaging about 1pt/hr. This means more than likely you are seeing 2-3pt/hr intermittently during peak hours, and then a significant drop off overnight. I do not think it is safe to see significantly more than 1pt/hr for a 24hr shift because there will be inevitable shifts where you see 50 patients in a 24hr period, and you should want to limit that possibility as much as possible. You need to have time to sleep, otherwise your decision making skills will suffer.

 

[cyanide12345678]

Probably 10k for me. At 10k, you are averaging about 1pt/hr. This means more than likely you are seeing 2-3pt/hr intermittently during peak hours, and then a significant drop off overnight. I do not think it is safe to see significantly more than 1pt/hr for a 24hr shift because there will be inevitable shifts where you see 50 patients in a 24hr period, and you should want to limit that possibility as much as possible. You need to have time to sleep, otherwise your decision making skills will suffer.

Yeah I'm currently looking at a 9-10k volume place. Although they do 12 hour shift schedules, it's tempting to do 6 24 shifts to essentially limit number of days that i work to 6/mo. Basically would mean more time with family, more time to be present as my children grow.

 

[southerndoc]

Yeah I'm currently looking at a 9-10k volume place. Although they do 12 hour shift schedules, it's tempting to do 6 24 shifts to essentially limit number of days that i work to 6/mo. Basically would mean more time with family, more time to be present as my children grow.

You will burn yourself out quickly.

 

[Groove]

I think that's doable. 10K would be my upper limit comfort level and 12K a hard cut off. Averages are averages. That might average 3 slow months over the year and doesn't take into consideration a busy flu/covid season where you might have spurts of volume at a brisk clip. Try to get more data, busiest volume day/night, etc.. busiest month(s), etc.. Either way, that should leave you a few hours for sleep every night assuming that the volume drops off with a normal distribution pattern. Just be sure that's your preferred style. On paper, it can seem tempting to work only "6 days", but in reality it's 6 days and 6 nights away from home. Even with 12s, there's something to be said about coming home and crawling in bed with your SO and kissing your kid good night/morning. However, if you have a lot of outside work stuff to do and value uninterrupted time away from the family, then it might be right up your alley.

 

[mega_colon]

I work 24s, we see about 13k a year, but have an MLP during the day when its busier. Between 10p-8a I see maybe 1-3 low acuity patients and usually get a decent nights sleep.

Obviously some nights you get crushed but those arent usual. This is infinitely better than working a night shift, I feel like I havent work a night shift in ages.

 

[Angry Birds]

I've done it before and will agree with the 10-11k limit. I've done the six 24-hour shifts a month lifestyle. It was OK. Keep in mind that you need 2-3 days to recover after each of these, so it is not as amazing as it sounds. BUT, that was also because I was doing it at a place that was seeing around 13-14k, which could be the reason I was somewhat burning out from it. That shop phased out the 24's due to the increasing volume, which is why I stopped doing it.

Question: for those of you who have done this or are doing it, how was/is your pay? My understanding is that most of these shops pay a lot less.

Final assessment: if you can find such a job that does indeed pay well (or near the same level you would get at a bigger shop), it's not the worst of gigs. It feels good to be paid $200/hour to sleep. Having said that, it's not as great as it sounds, due to the recovery days.

 

[alpinism]

Depends on the hospital but generally speaking 10K is the cutoff for 24 hrs shifts.

At that volume its usually slow and steady during the day with more intermittent arrivals at night so that most people can usually sleep for a few hours between 12am and 6am. That being said in reality it can be highly variable and there will be definitely nights where you'll be running around all night seeing nonstop patients in addition to nights where you'll be sleeping all night seeing zero patients.

 

[cyanide12345678]

I've done it before and will agree with the 10-11k limit. I've done the six 24-hour shifts a month lifestyle. It was OK. Keep in mind that you need 2-3 days to recover after each of these, so it is not as amazing as it sounds. BUT, that was also because I was doing it at a place that was seeing around 13-14k, which could be the reason I was somewhat burning out from it. That shop phased out the 24's due to the increasing volume, which is why I stopped doing it.

Question: for those of you who have done this or are doing it, how was/is your pay? My understanding is that most of these shops pay a lot less.

Final assessment: if you can find such a job that does indeed pay well (or near the same level you would get at a bigger shop), it's not the worst of gigs. It feels good to be paid $200/hour to sleep. Having said that, it's not as great as it sounds, due to the recovery days.

This shop pays w2 at 215/hr plus benefits. Can split time with another 6k shop without change in income. To me this seems like the lowest stress job without a hit in salary.

I could do 12 x 12s, but if i live in great school districts for the sake of family, I'm looking at 40-50 minute commute. If i live in one of the best school districts, it's a 1 hour commute. Currently leaning towards best school district and less days of commuting

 

[Angry Birds]

This shop pays w2 at 215/hr plus benefits. Can split time with another 6k shop without change in income. To me this seems like the lowest stress job without a hit in salary.

I could do 12 x 12s, but if i live in great school districts for the sake of family, I'm looking at 40-50 minute commute. If i live in one of the best school districts, it's a 1 hour commute. Currently leaning towards best school district and less days of commuting

Yeah that's a good gig you have there.