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Are Nurses able to choose their own hours due to demand or is that incorrect?

I've been thinking about different jobs I might want to pursue and was wondering the number of hours required and how flexible they are.

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Rita’s Answer

Although I’m not a nurse, I don’t believe you can choose your hours.

Most of the time in the hospital you work 12 hour shifts and work 3 days a week so it usually ends up being 40 hours a week. The hospital is open 24/7 so it’s very difficult to make a schedule if all nurses can pick their schedule. No one would work holidays or night shifts.

If you work in a clinic it’s the hours the office is open.
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John’s Answer

Maya - Shifts can vary depending on the setting. Offices typically work an 8 hour day while hospitals need to staff 24/7. Within a hospital, different departments may utilize different staffing schedules depending on their needs. While start / stop times can be very flexible, most places have 8 or 12 hour shift options. That being said, I have seen a department supervisor or manager use people in 4-6 hour blocks to help in their busiest time of day. My wife is a PACU nurse and for a couple years she worked five 6-hour shifts per week from 8am-2pm. The answer to your question really will depend on the type of setting (office vs. hospital), how much you want to work, and in which specific department you work because all of these things play a role in how leadership addresses staffing to best fit their needs.
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Lorraine’s Answer

Hi Maya,
I have had a lot of flexibility in my nursing career to work as little or as much as I want to. I think the flexibility of work hours for nurses depends on several factors such as where you live, your nursing role or experience, and the healthcare facility. There are some facilities that hire full-time only. There are others hat hire part-time or as needed. Most healthcare staffing offer flexible hours.
Overall, nurses' ability to choose their hours and work-life balance would be better if they have adequate experience, knowledge, and skills that allow them to work in various clinical settings or roles.
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Susan’s Answer

Nurses that schedule their own hours are referred to as per diem or locum tenem employees. This type of position is either an employee of the hospital (per diem) or an agency (locum tenem). There are advantages to this type of position in that you are in charge of your schedule and earn a higher pay. The disadvantages are you pay for your own health insurance and may not have the ability to work as much as you want or when you want do to staffing needs.
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JOHN’s Answer

Hello:

Two articles that may help in deepening your wisdom of the scheduling pros/cons of this pursuit of position.

https://nurse.org/articles/nurses-three-days-a-week/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/typical-nurse-schedule

Grateful for your roads.

God Bless,

John German
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Megan’s Answer

Pretty much you can work as little or as much as you want. All types of facilities, all types of shifts, full time, part time, prn or per diem. Agency Nursing for sure is set up like that but the downside is you may work several different places that have different electronic system’s different policies different co workers. I don’t like that uncertainty so I prefer to work for one company if your full time you have to commit to 3 12 hour shifts but again you usually get to pick the days.
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