One of the many considerations of nursing jobs is just how many hours a nurse will work per day. It is widely believed that nurses will work many hours and will not be compensated for it. Or, some believe that they have strange schedules that are often too hard to handle. While this can be true, it really doesn’t have to be. In fact, nursing jobs often are stressful and require a lot of hard work even with minimal hours.
One reason that many nurses are working longer hours now than they used is the simple fact that in most cases, nursing positions are available to the point where there is a shortage. Nursing jobs are available across the country and often when positions are not filled, or are not filled with qualified individuals, there is the potential that the nurses that are there will work longer hours and even overtime hours. Yet, nurses are also fairly compensated as their state provides for.
Yet, what you may not realize is that nursing jobs also provide a lot of flexibility to those that do work them. For example, some nurses may prefer to work schedules that fit their needs outside of the job. They may work just nights or work days. Some work weekends while others don’t.
In most case, nurse’s shifts will run from a standard eight hours up to twelve hours at a time. This allows some to work a shorter day later in the week or even have three days off instead of just two. Or, some will even work a full 36 hours within just three days a week and have four days off a week. Still, if you are looking for only a part time job, then some nurses work part time, too.
There is a great deal of flexibility in place in many fields, in others there is less. If you work in a hospital, there are more hours where nurses will be required to be on staff while in a doctor’s office, this won’t be the case. The environment that you work in as well as the specialized field that you work in will determine the hours and options that you have.
Nursing jobs, for the most part, are jobs that require a nurse to work the standard 40 hours per week. If you need something different, though, you are likely to find it available to you.