Vet EM/CC Shifts

[SnowyRox]

For those of you in emergency medicine... what sort of shifts do the veterinarians usually work?

I was lurking in the human med forums (yeah, I'm that bored) and there was talk about the ER physicians working 3-5 12 hour shifts/week.

Is that the same at a lot of vet ER clinics or do vets usually work 8-10 hour shifts?

... I keep intending to shadow in a vet emergency clinic and never end up in one 👎

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[NStarz]

I 😍 ER. I was actually just looking at some job postings for ER/CC the other day to answer this same question. The ER vets at my giant hospital worked 4 10 hour shifts per week (they weren't O/N--they worked from 2-12a or from 8-6 or something like that). Our criticalists (boarded ER/CC) worked day hours until midnight or so (not sure how many shifts they worked per week). The interns covered the overnight shifts.

It seems like a lot of ER positions are 11-14 shifts per month. I've seen some where it's 7 days O/N, 7 days off alternating and some where it's 3 or 4 nights on and 3 or 4 nights off.

 

[CanHardlyWait]

At my previous ER job the shifts worked like this:
One doctor always worked M-F 8am-6pm, the hospital had just transitioned that year from an only overnight service to a 24 hr service. The day doctor was a newer grad.

The weekends (Sat, Sun and holidays) were split into 3 shifts, 8am-6pm, 11am-9pm and 6pm-8am. The doctors would rotate working overnights, weekend overnights, etc. Usually the weekend overnight doctor worked F, Sat, Sun and the weekday overnights were split among the doctors working the day and mid shift on that weekend.

Another ER vet I am friends with, who works at a different hospital, has a complicated rotating schedule. It repeats every 5 weeks, and cycles from working a week straight with a week off (3 nights on overnight 5pm-8am, one night off, then 3 more overnights, then a week off) to working 8am-5pm weekday shifts and having a weekend off.

 

[jmo1012]

at the small specialty place i worked at last summer, weekday shifts were 6p-8a with specialists during the day (no ER) and weekends 8a-8p/8p-8a. 3 ER doctors, 3 week rotating schedule.

the gigantic specialty center I shadowed at a ton had a boarded ECC person 8-6, a back up who took care of ICU in-patients, a resident 2p-12a (often stayed much later), and 2 interns over night (a primary ER and an in-patient who also did ER back up). this was the week day schedule, not sure exactly how weekends worked, but i think it was the same. the interns rotated through primary and back-up ER with 4 different schedule blocks and based on what you were assigned to, your nights/primary responsibilities changed.

 

[sunshinevet]

We have usually 3-4 vets on at once:
Weeknights
Intern - 5:30pm-5:30am
Senior vet (always a boarded vet) 5:30pm-whenever needed
Float vet: 5:30-3ish
Hospital Vet (experienced vet): 8pm-8am

So usually 12 hr shifts

Weekends we have a senior on q12hrs, (ie 8am-8pm, 8pm-8am), float 8am-8pm and 2pm-2am, 6pm-6am and hospital 8pm-8am. Plus interns (interns also do some tech duties).

They usually do 3-4 shifts per week 🙂

I like the idea of doing 3 12 hour shifts a week and having the rest of the week off! I'm such a "lifestyle" person 😎

The techs have it pretty good too (they do 12 hour shifts)
4 on 2 off, 3 on 2 off, 2on 8 off 🙂

Edit: we have medicine and surg during the day who take their respective patients for workup, monitoring etc , and if we have a true CC case in during the day (ie, vent case) our practice manager (a senior awesome tech!) and the business owner take care of it. But we try hard for things to go back to their ref vet - ref vets like it, clients like it.

 

[pumpkinsmom]

I recently started volunteering at an emergency/specialty center. I don't know all the details, but they are always open and there are always at least two vets there (not interns) 24/7.

They told me each vet works 3-4 shifts per week, each shift being 10-14 hours.

 

[SnowyRox]

Thanks everyone 🙂

Super helpful as always!

 

[PppermintTwist]

6am-6pm or 6pm-6am
Three 12 hour shifts...
Same for the techs

 

[psilovethomas]

The massive referral center in my area has 3 13 hours shifts/week, with interns doing most of the overnight work. I 😍 ER/CC, too, but I'm worried about how it will work into my life schedule- ie kids, husband, social life? Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[jmo1012]

The massive referral center in my area has 3 13 hours shifts/week, with interns doing most of the overnight work. I 😍 ER/CC, too, but I'm worried about how it will work into my life schedule- ie kids, husband, social life? Anyone have thoughts on this?

yeah i've thought about it a lot too. someone once told me that boarded ECC specialists have a fairly decent quality of life because they're usually working weekday daytime shifts (because they can)

 

[Emiloo4]

The massive referral center in my area has 3 13 hours shifts/week, with interns doing most of the overnight work. I 😍 ER/CC, too, but I'm worried about how it will work into my life schedule- ie kids, husband, social life? Anyone have thoughts on this?

My thoughts... won't have to pay for daycare if husband has opposite job schedule (daycare averages 15K a year 😱), and your 3 days off you get to do whatever. I personally think it sounds amazing lol. But I'm the type that likes to bust my arse for a few long days, and then have a few off.

 

[CanHardlyWait]

The massive referral center in my area has 3 13 hours shifts/week, with interns doing most of the overnight work. I 😍 ER/CC, too, but I'm worried about how it will work into my life schedule- ie kids, husband, social life? Anyone have thoughts on this?

I liked working long shifts and so having many days off per week, but once I started working overnights, it really had a negative effect on me. I basically felt tired and confused most of the time, except at work. This wasn't because I wasn't sleeping during the day either. It especially screwed me up when I would try and adjust to a day schedule on my off days in order to see my husband, friends, and to get errands done. Ultimately it wasn't worth it. Everything in my life suffered except my ability to handle medical emergencies and think clearly in the wee hours of the night/morning.
Just my experience, I know people who love ER, even working overnights, and wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

 

[sunshinevet]

My thoughts... won't have to pay for daycare if husband has opposite job schedule (daycare averages 15K a year 😱), and your 3 days off you get to do whatever. I personally think it sounds amazing lol. But I'm the type that likes to bust my arse for a few long days, and then have a few off.

I guess my thoughts on that are... sure you might miss out on daycare charges... but if your partner has an opposite work schedule it can make it REALLY HARD to see each other and maintain a relationship. I've done it, and you're like a tag team. Its not fun. Now my partner and I both work nights and its awesome. Also, don't forget that you need sleep at some point, so its not like you can come home at 8 and take the kids from hubby as he goes to work and look after them all day.

That said, I know many people who've had kids etc. And I too love working multiple long days and having extra days off. I cope pretty well with night shift, but I think 4 shifts in a row is my limit. By the end of the 4th 12hr, I am fried.

 

[PppermintTwist]

I liked working long shifts and so having many days off per week, but once I started working overnights, it really had a negative effect on me. I basically felt tired and confused most of the time, except at work. This wasn't because I wasn't sleeping during the day either. It especially screwed me up when I would try and adjust to a day schedule on my off days in order to see my husband, friends, and to get errands done. Ultimately it wasn't worth it. Everything in my life suffered except my ability to handle medical emergencies and think clearly in the wee hours of the night/morning.
Just my experience, I know people who love ER, even working overnights, and wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

Agreed. I do enjoy ER, and I dont mind the overnight shift itself. But wow does it affect your health.