Working nights

Re: Working nights

SmegSlayer — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:05:33 GMT

I loved locuming and am considering going back to it again. Because I have M.E. and SAD nights are a big no-no for me so when I locumed I was able to have in my contract no night work.

i did nights at one of my training practices (1 night every week 5-9:30am)- although sleep was possible it really didn't agree with me- I became very depressed and put on loads of weight. The local cinema was over the road from my flat (I could see what was on from my bedroom window) and in 2 1/2 years I never went because I was too tired.

Re: Working nights

Victoria Nielsen RVN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:47:07 GMT

Thanks Sam :) Yes I will sign up for locum work. Will be experience to add to my CV and experience :)

Yes, I applied last week so hopefully will hear something from them in due course. Thanks so much Sam.

Re: Working nights

hobbits — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:07:45 GMT

Hi Vicki,

I replied to you on the other thread so didnt see the point in repeating ;-) We will be sad that you have decided not to join us - but as POHM (hopefully I have those the right way round! ) said it is important that you do what is right for your health. Nights really arent for everyone - or for those people it is right for - it isnt always right forever. S.O know that and do take pains to make sure people get support and understand if it doesnt turn out to be right.

Hopefully you will enjoy the locumming - def sign up on the locum list for Hemel as well as often clinics dont open completely fully staffed. If you do have any questions later on then you can always PM me, otherwise good luck for Dick White ( I know a vet who used to work there)

sam

Re: Working nights

Victoria Nielsen RVN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:21:13 GMT

Yes, I may consider that. Well my health isn't that bad, I've just got a very bad cold at the moment and I had Glandular fever in the summer last year but I'm now fully recovered. I'm just looking for a more challenging career and considered Vets Now, but yeah, I have approached them about locum work so probably will do some work for them in the future.

Many thanks for your contribution,

Regards,

Vicki

Re: Working nights

Louise B — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:46:42 GMT

[quote user="Caro Laithwaite"]

(hope vets now doesn't shoot me for loosing them a possible nurse.. they can blame POHM instead)

[/quote]

LOL - I don't think they would be that petty at HQ! They know as well as anyone that nights aren't for everyone. That's one of the reasons that they hold these recruitment events - to give people a chance to find out if they might like working OOHs.Its not in their interests to employ people who won't like nights as it costs a lot to recruit staff.

Been a while since I was a manager in one of their clinics but when I was it astounded me how much went in to ensuring new starters started well - we used to have to do an induction for them pre-working in a clinic, they worked a day in the host practice to familiarise themselves with host practice policies and they went to HQ for a full week's training in emergency medicine, VN policies, meet HQ type stuff and a week's worth of evening social events and hotel accom, not to mention all the usual costs like uniforms, xray badges, etc. New staff weren't cheap!

If your health isn't brilliant at the moment then Vets Now (or any other clinic) probably isn't the right place for you at the moment anyway. Because of the small team size (1 vet, 1 nurse, ?1 receptionist) the rest of the team always feel it (more in my opinion than day practices) if someone is off sick because you cannot work a member of staff down so somebody else has to come in and work their night off!

If it might be something for you in the future why not approach them and ask about occasional shifts/locum shifts? That was how I started out with them in 2003 which gave me a chance to see if I liked it before committing too heavily. I was a student at the time but I did go on to join them as a fulltime nurse a few years later which is something I probably wouldn't have even considered had I not already known them. It gives you a chance to get to know the team too without feeling 'on the spot'. As a locum if you don't like the team you can walk away without having to give a reason other than 'sorry, I am fully booked at the moment' so its a good way to find out if its the right team for you before joining fulltime

Re: Working nights

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:08:16 GMT

Well l hope all goes well for you. Yes if your health isnt great then days probably are best till you are sorted but never say never

(hope vets now doesn't shoot me for loosing them a possible nurse.. they can blame POHM instead)

Re: Working nights

Victoria Nielsen RVN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:08:41 GMT

Hey,

Many thanks for your replies, thanks for taking some time to write Carol. Very much appreciated. I probably won't go ahead after much thought as my health isn't in the best condition at the moment and I do like my sleep! To cope with the change from days to nights, I doubt I would cope with it very well, so have decided not to continue with the interview process. I have applied for a day position with Dick White Referrals, so hoping I will hear from them in due course :) Fingers crossed.

Many thanks for your stories, it has helped me to make a justified decision.

Regards,

Vicki

Re: Working nights

Louise B — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:03:19 GMT

Hi,

I have worked nights. I actually enjoy working nights but I won't work odd night shifts for emergency clinics any more (I will only work a decent block of shifts e.g. 7 in a row) because, as Caro points out, your clock needs time to recover/adjust. If you get a rota pattern where you only work one or two nights in a row, then have a couple of nights off, then back on, etc you will find that you never feel like you have recovered from working before you are back on. That said, I type this as a single person who wants decent time off to be able to go away, get stuck in to other activities, etc. Mothers of children seem to prefer shorter blocks of shifts as it fits in better with the kids. If you have a partner it also seems to work quite well for them childcare wise.

I wouldn't rule out nights but, if you suffer from depression, be careful as working nights + the disrupted sleep cycle can both exacerbate the situation - and make sure you eat properly. I found the same as Caro - I tended to eat on the go/eat junk which didn't help.

Most emergency clinics are not as big as Petmedics or Glasgow/Nottingham Vets Now. Most that I have worked in (circa 15 now) have worked on a one vet/one nurse basis (+/- receptionist) this has some implications:

* Getting to practice schedule 3 can be difficult as you find you hold, the vet 'does'. This can be a real problem in my experience but navigatable dependent on workload and the vet you work with.

* You must like/respect the person you work with as it you don't you will hate your job very rapidly.

* Your job is particularly susceptible to changes in staff. I.e. if a new vet starts that you don't like you are fairly screwed. Likewise, if the pratice has to work on locums for a bit you will find you job very stressful as you will effectively 'carry the night shift' hopefully just the admin side (showing the new start how the computer works, what the protocols are, etc) but, if the locum is bad, you can end up in a very difficult position!!!

* Very long shifts might be more pay/get your hours down quicker but shifts that are 6pm - 9am (or variations on that depending on emergency clinic company) are very hard going - particularly if you have to commute any distance as it is physically not possible to get a full 7 - 8 hours sleep during the day then. The 6pm start also means driving through rush hour traffic to get to work - which can cause problems. For me personally I manage best on shifts that are 8pm - 8/8.30am and find that to be just the right length. Others may disagree though.

For all that I enjoy nightwork and actually prefer emergency clinics to regular clinics. I am not currently working nights as I have to fit in my work alongside my studies and I cannot cope with the rapid switch between days/nights very easily (i.e. work fri/sat night and then work days 9 - 5 monday/friday) so all days are better for me. However, otherwise I would work them again if I had decent blocks of shifts and a compatible 'other' life. I currently work at Vets Now Glasgow and I love it. I could find locum work in a GP practice locally (within 5miles drive of my house) but I choose to do a 110mile round trip (and a poorer hourly rate!) every other weekend as I love the team and the work there so I guess that is a endorsement in itself for emergency work!

Good luck with the interview. Hobbits on here is a senior nurse at one of the Vets now clinics so she could probably chat to you more if you PM'd here.

Re: Working nights

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:12:15 GMT

Sorry for ramble hope it makes sense l am tired

Re: Working nights

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:11:44 GMT

Sorry got home last night and fell asleep was to tired to write. Thanks Claire wondered where that thread was. (2nd one)

I had a fairly long break from work/nights over xmas and since coming back onto night cover l am worse than ever. Since about 2nd week in January my average sleep has been 2 or 3 hours continuous night or day (depending if on or off shift) I have had 2 long good sleeps during the day of 7 hours unbroken.Not had any good nights sleep. Have had some short cat naps time. And did one section of 31 hours no sleep followed by 3 hours. That was a couple of weeks ago.

Bear in mind that l have been doing this for coming up to 10 years now and the advice is 2 years.

If you can get some sleep on a sleeping shift which l think vets now are? that should help all mine are non sleeping. Ok you may not always get sleep in but you are often able to.

It takes time to settle into the night and helps if you like the dark, l do.

At first it seemed great to have 4 days off every 4 days instead of 5 days then 2 off with odd weekends but you get to realise that the 4 off you will want to end up sleeping. I have been speaking to a new person taking over the 22:00-8 shift and she is looking for more free time. I hope she gets it but in all honesty everyone l have spoken to who does the 4/4 says they loose their lives after a time. If you have longer between shifts it may help on the other hand you do longer shifts (week on week off) so l don't know.

It is better than swapping between days and nights to do just continuous nights.

Your eating goes to pot some people are able to have decent meals at night l find l am a snacker. Sandwiches, pizza not good things. l eat my main meal in the evening with hub. Just as you would on a day shift though you need food partway through a night shift and "good for you food" never tasts nice.

Your body temperature will start to drop from around 1am and we turn the heating up. Then day shift come on and moan that it is so hot. It would be their body is working normally. By the time they get up they are all regulated we are not.

My problem is that l enjoy it. I hate knowing l have to go into work. I loath going to work. I enjoy the adrenaline once l get there of not knowing what's coming in next. I am depressed at the stupidity of the general public and how they let their animals suffer. So it looks like for now l will continue but l need to get my sleep pattern sorted or l will be in big trouble health wise.

I have 200 emails on my machine to deal with the majority to reply to, but at moment know l wont do it. Hope by the end of next week or week after to be on top of them. Would help if l wasn.t dealing with my mother and her neurosis as well as my dad in the nursing home.

I think structure in life may help but never been good at planing if you can plan your life then it would be a lot easier.

However until you try the nights you won't know if you like them or not so give it a go ... what have you got to loose?

Re: Working nights

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:05:04 GMT

am at work will post later when l get home at 23:00 or so am on mid evening shift today

Re: Working nights

Claire Cameron — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:03:10 GMT

I used to work 3 nights, then 7 days off, 7pm until 9am. We could sleep if we were quiet. I used to find taking fruit to eat rather than snacking on sugary foods helped and grabbing a couple of hours sleep before my first shift helped. Very different environment to which I imagine VetsNow will be like...

But, the following links may be of some use to you

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/6593/64955.aspx#64955

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/5838/56544.aspx#56544

Caro is a regular on here she does nights, she'll be your best point of contact

Good luck

Claire