Which Specialty do you want & why?

[chinaski]

Quote: Originally Posted by scarah

I think it depends on life demands too. I know several nurses who choose to do permanent night shift ( crazy talk if you ask me!) because it means they don't have child care issues, can pick the kids up from school etc. As much as shift work makes me tired it also has advantages - like being able to get to the post office, be home for tradies, run errands during business hours.

I think it also depends what sort of nights you're doing. The nights I've worked as a doctor certainly haven't been too compatible with life - starting at 8pm and working through till 9am for seven days in a row doesn't leave much time to do much apart from sleep, eat and work for the week you're on. No errands get run as a rule! I too know a lot of permanent night shift nurses - they (very wisely) tend to be pretty selective about where they work, and ensure their conditions are top-notch (eg scheduled rest breaks during shifts) before committing to the job. The flipside of the "days off" run does indeed prove popular amongst some people, however. They can still have it - shift work is appalling.

I think ED and crit care's true appeal for many trainees isn't so much the shift work, as it is the opportunity for part time training. The shift work doesn't hurt as much when it's done at half time, and the lack of patient continuity in these specialties lends itself well to part time arrangements (much moreso than specialties such as medicine).

[scarah]

Quote: Originally Posted by chinaski

The nights I've worked as a doctor certainly haven't been too compatible with life - starting at 8pm and working through till 9am for seven days in a row doesn't leave much time to do much apart from sleep, eat and work for the week you're on. No errands get run as a rule! I too know a lot of permanent night shift nurses - they (very wisely) tend to be pretty selective about where they work, and ensure their conditions are top-notch (eg scheduled rest breaks during shifts) before committing to the job

Ohh 8pm to 9am HURTS! Most nursing night shifts are 9pm to 7:30am so far as I know and no more than 8 in a fortnight unless they want to pay you OT but a run of 5-8 in a row is pretty common. Some specialist units do 12 hour shifts where it differs, not quite sure on that ins and outs of that. As for rest breaks... I think two half hour breaks is pretty standard if it's not a busy night, never heard of anywhere that was quiet enough to get substantially more.

Personally nights in general sound like torture and I avoid them like he plague (benefits of being casual), but some people like them (wierdos).

Quote: Originally Posted by chinaski

I think ED and crit care's true appeal for many trainees isn't so much the shift work, as it is the opportunity for part time training. The shift work doesn't hurt as much when it's done at half time, and the lack of patient continuity in these specialties lends itself well to part time arrangements (much moreso than specialties such as medicine).

Indeed, part time training is very attractive. I did notice that ED allows for that