Jump to content
APC Forum

Swing Shifts


nater

Recommended Posts

I am back on night shift this weekend after working days almost exclusively since the first of June. I have more coffee in me than I should. Anyone else up?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i work a mechanic's schedule but always up late. not healthy i know but i just have a hard time sleeping at night and more inclined to run out to the workbench at night than during the heat of the day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been pure nights since June, and nearly pure afternoons with occasional nights for 6 years before that. I prefer the night shift.

 

From what I have read, changing shifts is worse than consistent sleeping schedule, even if I sleep 8am to 4pm. I still get 8 hours of good sleep.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not had a consistent sleep / wake cycle in over 12 years. My current schedule is the most "normal" I have had since graduating high school. I mostly work days, 0600 to at least 1800 but often later. I still work night shift from time to time which is also a minimum of a 12 hour shift. Fortunately, I rarely have to work 24+ hour shifts. Before I got the job I have now 2 years ago, I worked a 24 on, 48 off rotation and frequently worked 48+ hour stretches. 72 hour shifts were not uncommon, I was forced to work 96 hours straight once. Sleep is allowed in between calls, but it is impossible to get a good rest.

 

It really is a shame that those of us in the medical field end up coping with chronic sleep deprivation while preaching healthy habits to our patients. We work long hours, swing shifts all while trying to stay alert to avoid mistakes and ignoring the numerous studies which show the health risks of such unpredictable schedules.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a night person, always have been. I do my best work in the small hours. I found it very difficult to keep an 8 to 5 schedule when I was working and now I'm retired I generally run 11am to 3am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i feel just about any schedule can become routine once repeated enough...

 

I currently wake up at 5 am (leave the house at 6 am), and get home at 7 pm... I don't use an alarm clock or carry a time piece. At any given time during the day, I could tell you exactly what time it is, within thirty minutes.

 

 

I don't sleep nearly as much as I used to, but if I could pick my schedule, I bet it would look a lot like Pete's 11 am - 3 am routine. Especially if I still lived out west, there's nothing better than that dry night air out there.

 

 

Living on the east coast now, the night time is a damp miserable place, filled with noisy frogs and other creatures... :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try working a schedule that is completely the opposite every couple of days or when the hours you sleep are unpredictable, if you even get uninterrupted rest at all. You can get used to fatigue, but that is about it.

 

One can get used to any schedule that is consistent. Working straight nights has never been an issue for me. My ideal time to be up is probably 10a - 2 or 3a. If I get 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night, I am in good shape.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I work afternoon all the time, I actually prefer it because I'm not a morning person at all. I always feel tired in the morning regardless of how much sleep I get. I do find that I need something to help me sleep, be it Benedryl or whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try working a schedule that is completely the opposite every couple of days or when the hours you sleep are unpredictable, if you even get uninterrupted rest at all. You can get used to fatigue, but that is about it.

 

One can get used to any schedule that is consistent. Working straight nights has never been an issue for me. My ideal time to be up is probably 10a - 2 or 3a. If I get 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night, I am in good shape.

 

that sounds terrible... is it always like that for everyone in your field? Or do you eventually "get to that point" where you can get the "good hours"??

 

I can't image helicopter pilots having those crazy hours...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Psychologists have written about and/or studied sleeping habits. I got the gist that we are not meant to be nocturnal. I have quit a few jobs because I was told working nights would be short term. Their idea of short and mine was a little different I guess. When I was younger I did many years of different shifts to help support 'the cause". Not any more, I simply refuse any offers. After I survived a pretty serious layoff I'm not scared to do without for a bit anymore and would simply quit if I needed/wanted to.

 

We pyros also seem to congregate on weekends. That was another thing that lead to my demise. I originally looked for a job where weekends were somewhat optional when I needed to get to a shoot. It took a few jobs to settle in after the layoff. Work sucks and pyro is cool, such is life. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dan,

 

Standard shifts for EMS are generally the 24 on 48 off like many firefighters or else a 12 hour shifts on a 2-2-3 rotation. This is 2 days on 2 days off and working every other weekend. My usual start time is 6am, and that is considered to be a desirable shift in which you have to be a veteran to get. Nights and less desirable hours tend to get the rookies or else senior medics who want a different schedule for some reason.

 

A big exception is our flight crews. You need to be experienced to be picked for the job. Nights and days are rotated due to the hours required for NVGs and to balance out the risks and mission types at night. Our pilots rotate days and nights too, for the same reason

Fortunately, our director lets us pick our schedules as long as everything gets covered. As a group us medics, the nurses and the pilots have agreed on different rotations so we can all meet the requirements for the position. The pilots work 12 hours, 7 days on and 7 off. The flip days and nights and have a private bedroom so they get the sleep required by the FAA.

Edited by nater
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mother was a paramedic some 30 years ago... for what it's worth she LOVED it when the shifts were 24 hrs and they had a "home base" Then they changed the schedules to 12 hrs. and made everyone start going to the nearest base or whatever it's called. Ruined it for her. Young kids at home, went from working 3 days a week to lots more depending on the schedule. It didn't help we lived an hour away from where she worked in Wichita. She sure tells the stories like those were the happy days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hated 24 shifts. Working 2-3 days a week was nice, but the place I worked used some loopholes in the laws to take advantage of us. We were only paid 16 hours a day, because they did not have to pay for sleep time. However we could not leave the base and with multiple crews on the same radios, we were constantly being woke up by the tones.

 

Now I work 3 days one week and 4 the other in my pay period; every hour I work is paid, like it should be. I average 50 hours a week and am actually home more and paid for more hours each week than my old schedule. If I had to commute, I would probably prefer to go back to 24 hour shifts. Our second air base is a hour and 20 minute drive each way for me. I rarely have to go out there, but once I get cross trained for flight, I will. 3 days in a row with that commute gets hard too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think working nights would be more interesting/fun... nothing good happens late at night!

 

 

My commute is typically 5 hours a day... 2.5 hours to work, 2.5 hours home. If I time it just right, and the planets all align, I can get home sometimes in 2 hours 10 minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think working nights would be more interesting/fun... nothing good happens late at night!

 

 

My commute is typically 5 hours a day... 2.5 hours to work, 2.5 hours home. If I time it just right, and the planets all align, I can get home sometimes in 2 hours 10 minutes.

 

Working nights in a hospital is fun! Even as IT, every call I get is an emergency for someone. Also, I sometimes see the cops with patients... either protecting or escorting them.

 

One reason I like nights is my 1/2 hour commute instead of 1.5 hours. saves over 2 hours per day of my life I can spend doing other things... like day(night)dreaming about pyro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember we were visiting Orlando about 12 years ago, and my wife and daughter both ended up with pneumonia somehow (double pneumonia for my daughter)... so we ended up at some hospital there. It wasn't more than 20 minutes until the paramedics dragged in some guy hollering up a storm... and all I could hear was people yelling "gunshot this, gunshot that". I peeked out the little curtain to the hallway, and low and behold, some guy literally covered in blood.

 

It was better than tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've rarely done night shift. However I've done two jobs and worked from 7am till 9pm. That was in the "Decadent 80's" when I was younger.

 

Weather it's good or bad can depend on how old you are. Ok for a short period, but not sustainable the older you get.

 

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...