shift work advice

[frazzled74]

i am a nurse working 3 12 hr shifts a week days and nights,i like my job (but dont want to be there longterm) i find it difficult juggling work and home, and dh finds it difficult doing school runs etc and getting to work on time. there is a job going that i like the sound of, but it is permanent nights, 7 on/ 7 off. do any mums do similar shifts? plus side is that i would always be there fo school drop off and pick ups (sleep 9-3),the job is walking distance and every other week would be sahm.down side is working 7 nights in row and not being at home overnight. any views? please?

I used to do 7 nights in a row, followed by 6 off at the end of a 5 week pattern (of different shifts also). It was scrapped eventually as (If I remember correctly), it takes 4 or 5 weeks for your body to recover from one week of nights....therefore, you never really recover from the nights before you start again....so it's a no-no for health.Saying that though, it was the best for me childcare wise.I could stay up long enough for the school run and be back up during the day before hometime.

thanks for that, do you think its worse doing 7 on 7 off than it is to do day, night, one off, day, night etc? as at moment i feel completely exhausted, i leave house at 6am/6pm and get back 8.50am/pm because of travel, i never seem to catch up.

Is it legal? at our nhs trust you can only work 2 x 12 hr shifts in a row unless its nights then you can only do 3 x 12 hr shifts in a row.
Ive never done it, but know I couldnt, that whole week would be spent with me feeling like shit and dreading the next 7 nights ahead

I think a more permanent 7 on 7 off will be better than chopping and changing. My problem with nights would be that I would keep getting up too early, trying to fit more into the day as I felt guilty about laying in bed all day....so would get up at about 11am or so,after 4 hours sleep.It was so bad for me.I have dreadful sleep patterns now after 14 years of shift work.Try it out and see if it fits with yor family...tiredness might be a good trade off for convenience, less travel,etc

they not 12 hour nights, 9 hrs so i think legal. I dont think i would do it longterm but would be good to do til dcs a bit older, then will look for something more 9-5 ish.thanks for advice, i will go for it and see.

I did 7 on 7 off for 18 months. I loved the week off, and tbh the week on just flew by.

I was put back on days when I was diagnosed diabetic and my blood sugars where all over the place (I think research has proven that people who work nights are more prone to diabetes).

I've just spent three years doing permanent nights to work around childcare (nurse too), and I'm just about to go into a 9-5 part time community job as DD will go to school soon.

I coped with the tiredness, because you make yourself do it. It is a sacrfice though and I cried when I got my new job - with relief at not having to do any more nights and feeling permanently tired anymore. I feel like a real person again, but that is just my experience.