AIBU to ask why emergency services staff work 12 hour shifts?

[Cuppaand2biscuits]

I'm just watching Ambulance on BBC 1 and appreciating the incredible work of our paramedics.
Just wondering why in such a physical and emotionally exhausting job do they work 12 hour shifts?
Same in midwifery, nursing, police etc.

Yeah me too

I think it’s to do with continuity of care, particularly in nursing/midwifery so that the patient and nurse can form a relationship. It can be very emotionally draining though but same can be said for doing it 5x a week in 7.5 hour shifts rather than 3x 12hr shifts

Lots of factors! But I also think, on the who, staff prefer longer shifts as they work shorted days & it is cheaper/easier for the nhs to have 2 shifts per day to sort than 3.

Cost and hours. There was an attempt a few years ago to change to a 3 shift pattern (I.e. 8 x 3 rather that 2 x 12) in hospitals but staff unions kicked off about it as members prefer the 12 hours shifts on balance as the working week is then compressed into 3-4 days rather that 5.

Lots of factors! But I also think, on the whole, staff prefer longer shifts as they work fewer days & it is cheaper/easier for the nhs to have 2 shifts per day to sort rather than 3.

It’s cheaper. There used to be 3 overlapping shifts and they cost more money. Also staff often prefer longer shifts as it means you can work fewer days, commute less so save money and time, have more of a life instead of constant changes between earlies, lates and nights. That shift ‘pattern’ was also tiring.

I think continuity of care, but it's definitely not cost effective to have a half hour handover and safety brief for a short shift. Plus the sheer amount of work that needs to be done. Someone mentioned above 3x 12 hour shifts; There are regularly people doing 4/5 such shifts a week, I say all this as nhs nursing staff. It's beyond exhausting.

Policing don’t generally do 12 hours shifts as far as I know. They do early, late and nightshift. I’m not aware of any forces that only do day and night shifts.

Although I’m in the police and I do 9 or 10 hour shifts.

I'm a paramedic: I don't know if all ambulance services operate in the same way, but in the one I work for staff voted between 8, 10 and 12 hour shifts, and 12 won by a large margin. It means you get all your week's work done over a 3 or 4 day period and then have the benefits of 5 days off. Given the frequency of late finishes (getting stuck at a job until well past the end of your shift) it makes sense to limit that occurrence to a few times a week rather than work 5 consecutive shifts that should be 8 hours but end up being more like 9 or 10.

It's for continuity. From 8 to 8...you are there from breakfast to bed and vice versa in night shift. 3/4 days in a row. Often elderly or sick people are confused and anxious and having tha same people looking after you all day can ease that

I love long shifts, in my opinion continuity of care is better, there are less handovers and lots of people enjoy working only 3 days most weeks.

I used to finish at 21:30 and have to be back for 07:00, now I finish at 19:30 and have a relaxing evening. I also do much less unpaid overtime. I have never left an early shift on time and used to get in early for late shifts to try and park and catch up.

The job is stressful, the hours don't necessarily change that but long shifts give me the best work/ life balance.

It's very individual though and I know lots of people that aren't keep on long shifts.

I’ve done them in the past, also done short shifts. It’s preferable to do long days. It’s better in terms of patients getting continuity of care, as staff organising your day (I found I felt like I got less done!) and I’d much rather work 3 long days than be there 5 short shifts. I remember being on short shifts and my pattern worked out that I worked 13 days in 14! You feel like you’re there all the time, bearing in mind most professionals who do them are covering weekends and nights as well.

Not all do, some Trusts have a mixture of 10 and 12 hours shifts. It is mainly due to costs, 2 lots of staff per day, only need 1 vehicle between them.

I prefer working long days, when we changed them we for something like an extra 24 days off a year. We are having our shifts changed and we are generally all against shorter shifts.

I work in the nhs and much prefer 12 hour shifts. It’s not a job I feel I could manage 5 days a week. When I worked as a junior doctor I would start around 7am and was meant to finish at 7pm but was usually walking out around midnight, sometimes later to quickly get a few hours sleep to be back for handover at 7am. That’s not something that is sustainable for 5 days a week with the stress so I prefer a condensed week to get a long enough time to recover in time for the next shift and obviously have a life outside of work.

Lots of staff prefer longer days. My sister does, as she gets more days off per week.
My mum however also works in the nhs (about 20 miles from where my sister works and they have early, late and night shifts at her hospital. Which are about 8hrs long.

I thought it was from those old studies showing that someone doing 8 hours only has the middle part properly productive and the start and finish are wasted productivity. So a 13 hour shift with a few hours lost either side, means management get their money's worth a bit more. Forget that the workers have to survive without loo breaks and even drink let alone food half the tome!

Depends on role in nursing, they have some doing shorter daytime shifts to cover specific periods but most I know work 3x 12.5 hour shifts per week with an extra shift if money is tight

Often because it's nice to have more days off

And I'll be honest once you are there it's not really much harder to do the extra couple of hours - have done both shorter and longer shifts as a midwife.

A long day is often easier than doubling back from a late to an early (so end at 9.50 start at 7) and it's easier than when you do on calls and in and out - it sounds silly to say but in many ways I find it easier to start at 8.30am, be called straight away (we do get a 2 hour gap to enable us to have food - we didn't used to) and then work till around 3am (so 15 hour shift) then be called after 45minutes sleep and be expected to be on top form for another 7.5hours - or be in and out of bed - that KILLS me

I preferred to work long shifts and get my hours done and have days off in a block rather than work shorter hours and have a day off here and there.

Police officer here , I do 12 hour shifts , as do a number of departments now in my force . Personally speaking , it works for me because my commute into work is about 2 - 3 hours either way , so no matter if my day is 8 hours , or 12 hours long , it still means I can’t do much else with it . Therefore it means I spend fewer days at work . In theory . At the moment I’m doing a fair amount of overtime , so my weeks in the last 6 weeks or so have been 72 hour weeks and another 30 or so travelling , but it is what it is .

I know its not the same but security is usually the 12hr shifts as well. However we have all signed out of the working time thing so we can end up doing 15/16 nights in a row of 12hrs.

Thank you so much for your interesting responses and for the wonderful dedication you give.

When I was working in the NHS, I preferred 12 hour shifts. It meant less time commuting overall, three days working, so three lots of goodbyes to my DC. Then 4 days off, which feels really good after the first recovery day, when you are unable to do very much at all.

I really tried to get all my shifts in one go and was mostly able to do this.

There was one killer couple of weeks though, where I worked the last three days of one week, then the first three of the next. I was on my knees when that was done!