Shift work with family

[copperrose]

Ask the hospital HR dept. They might have a list of facilities or have some program worked out. You aren't their only employee with small children. Ask your friends, neighbors. Do you have a house of worship? Ask them. Talk to the local day cares. Can your kids be dropped off there? Is there a local YMCA or boys/girls club? Some of these places have day care and school transportation. There are resources you have to look for them. My daughter went to a YWCA program that picked her up at school and took her to their facility.

[stella blue]

I would suggest talking to HR and see if they have any overlapping shifts. My daughter worked noon-midnight. There are also shorter shift available in some hospitals-like 4 hrs at a time to cover busy times.

[Anonymous]

Yes, get creative and try to arrange some contingency plans. Neighbors, friends, etc. Or try to get different hours, as has been suggested above.

If it's too hard, though, you might just have to wait til the kiddies are older.

I wish you the best and congratulate you on your achievement.

[PWhite]

When my daughter was very young, I worked evening shift.

This required a babysitter for a couple of hours until my husband, a teacher, came home from work.

I was with her during the day and he was with her during the evening with that "afternoon gap".

Of course this was years ago, and I am astounded to think that institutions needing Professionals have
not come up with better solutions today.

[scabs]

My kids are young but when they are of school age I am going to work 11-7pm , nights suck but at least i will be home if there is an emergency and i can get my kids on and off the bus as well as do homework with them. If your husband is home at night you could also do 3 7p - 7am shifts that is usually considered full time. And there is always the dreaded baylor shifts but sometimes if you wnat to be home durring the week you have to work durring the weekend. Also a lot of big time hospitals have clinics within the hospital so that you get payed the same and get all the benefits but you work a 8-5 work day. Hope this helped. and congrats on getting your RN!!!

[TabbyM]

I know I can't be the only person out here with this problem. I have been an LPN for 19 years and just got my RN. Now I want to go in the hospital, I have no previous hosp experience. The Problem is: I have small kids that need to get on the bus/daycare. My husband leaves at the crack of dawn and goes on call q 5 wks. All they have out there for me is shift work 7a-7p 45 min from my home. I have no family to rely on FOR ALL THE TIME. My job now is M-F 8-5. So what do I do? The only thing I came up with is wait till my kids are old enough to fend for themselves then get my feet wet. Just hope in 5 years I have the guts to do it. Any advice??

[noc_owl_]

That's one downside to nursing, the hours are terrible for people with kids and not a lot of family/friends to rely on. My family lives too far to be of any help, and everyone else I know works like I do. My husband had to make some changes in his schedule to accomodate mine, so he picks up from daycare. One thing to remember is that you will only work 3 days a week if you are doing 12 hour shifts, so there is not always a need for full time daycare.

Keep looking for a solution. Good luck, and congrats on getting your RN!

[PaulaJo]

Firefighters work 24 on/48 off, so for years I worked everyday Hugby was home. Hard on the marriage, but wonderful for his relationship with the kids. It used to drive me crazy that because I had an odd schedule people thought I was 'part-time', for years I never had more than one day off at a time, unless I used vacation days.

[Peachy Keen]

You're facing the same dilemma I am. I am a single mom with a 5 y/o son who will be starting Kindergarten this fall. His bus pickup is 7:05 and I am not going to leave him home alone, especially to get all his school stuff, lunch, and lock up the house when he leaves. I'm trying to find work in an office but am having no luck. Check different daycare centers; one by my house is open 6a to midnight. It's hard to leave them there so late at night, but extended day care centers are designed for this very purpose. If my day care would take my son to school in the morning I'd go for the hospital route, but they won't drop off, so it's M-F 8-5 for me. Good luck, and congrats on your RN. I plan to bridge over when I start working and can pay for it.