Night Shifts

[SomeDoc]

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What would an average week/(or month) of shiftwork look like with regards to night shifts? I read this abstract on pubmed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10905646 , and it was somewhat helpful in breaking down tolerance levels for shift lengths, but I can't find a beakdown of the number of night shifts done per individual on a weekly/monthly basis. My guess is the answer would vary based on the practice setting (number of physicians, demographics, and level of department)?

 

[deleted109597]

Depends on the place. If you work 12s, probably half are nights. If you work 8s, probably a third. If you work 10s, it's likely between the two.

 

[kungfufishing]

In our group, we each work two 9 hour overnights per month. In addition, we each work roughly 3-4 late evening (6p-3a) shifts. The late evening shifts end at about 2 am half the time and stretch past 3 am once in a while - I've worked here 6 months and have needed to stay later once.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Ah yes, I remember those days (they were nights actually) in the ER. Nothing beats moonlighting and sleeping through your shift. The evening workload varies tremendously based on your location/setting.

 

[YOOOUK09]

I'm a little worried about working a lot of nights. Once I'm on a night schedule everything's all good. But shifting between nights and days really messes me up.

What options might there be for someone who doesn't take well to nights? Could you be a contractor? Work part time? etc?

 

[tybalt]

I'm a little worried about working a lot of nights. Once I'm on a night schedule everything's all good. But shifting between nights and days really messes me up.

What options might there be for someone who doesn't take well to nights? Could you be a contractor? Work part time? etc?

I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to find a gig where you work all nights (probably a little more difficult to find one where you work all days...) But what do I know? 🙂

 

[bartleby]

I'm a little worried about working a lot of nights. Once I'm on a night schedule everything's all good. But shifting between nights and days really messes me up.

Most places try to minimize swaps between days and nights, having it so that your nights are grouped and you only have to make the transition once a night or less. It isn't something you're expected to do every week.