# overnight or day shift?



## nick Joseph (May 7, 2015)

which do you prefer? I do not understand how anyone could possibly like the night shift, I did my second one , and it's terrible .. You're up all night then go home and sleep in the light of day, to your next shift ( well me anyways ) I prefer the day shift 100000000% more , how about you guys


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## Flying (May 7, 2015)

Oh come on, you at least enjoyed the commute right?


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## squirrel15 (May 7, 2015)

Once adjusted, I've always loved nights. Commute sucks since its with traffic both was, but having no traffic while working is a joy. A good four hours sleep can get me through a 12 hour shift, and then sleep like a baby when I get home afterwards. Or a two hour nap on shift and i can stay up for a while at home and get my four hours. 

It's a cycle that works well for me and I usually feel more rested and I have all sorts of time to get anything else done that I need to do. Those first two-three weeks of readjusting to nights sucks though.


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## nick Joseph (May 7, 2015)

ehh commute never bothered me i live so close like 8 mins from the station ..


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## DrParasite (May 7, 2015)

worked nights for 5 years.... great for the single person, sucks on your social life, often get a night differential.

if I have a choice, I would never work a night shift full time for the rest of my career.  I like my 24s, and I like my days and I wouldn't mind doing peak load (8am to 8pm, noon to midnight, etc), but working nights full time, well, the recovery to go back to a day walkers schedule is rough, and once you are on a normal circadian rhythm you go back to nights.


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## BASICallyEMT (May 7, 2015)

Not having to deal with traffic is nice. Depending on what shift you are on you can sleep (listed to the radio with your eyes closed) in between calls. I work nights on a CCT unit and we average 1 call a shift.


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## Angel (May 8, 2015)

I like nights, so long as I'm not going back and forth between days and graves. Sucks we don't get night pay though


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## Generic (May 8, 2015)

When I worked 12s, I loved everything about the night with the exception of the sleeping pattern. The calls were different then in the daytime. The staff at the EDs were generally cooler. Less overall pressure. Generally, call volume was less. Eventually, I had to switch to days due to the sleeping pattern. Now, I am on 24s.


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## epipusher (May 8, 2015)

Worked nights for about 10 years now. As a family man I love it. Tiredness aside I have every "day" off. I never miss a childs sporting event, medical appt or a school function.


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## Tigger (May 8, 2015)

As a young person, overnights destroyed my social life. So do swing shifts, but at least you're around a bit during the day. When I worked 19-7 I was usually up at four, which is not much time to do anything useful.


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## johnrsemt (May 11, 2015)

I loved night shifts;  now on 48's; but I can still switch to nights in 1 day.  then takes 3 weeks to switch back  which sucks when I have a bad night sleeping;  cause then my body wants to be awake all night forever


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## medicaltransient (May 11, 2015)

Night shift all the way. Less traffic better calls. Less admin to deal with. 
There are no problems on nights that red bull can not solve.


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## medichopeful (May 11, 2015)

I absolutely hate nights shift.  Evening is my favorite shift.  Currently working 1630-0100, and I'm liking it a lot!


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## rescue1 (May 11, 2015)

Day shift 100%. I work 7a to 7p. Beat traffic both ways, my social life isn't destroyed, and my caffeine intake remains moderate.
Also day shift is way busier, which is also a big plus for me.


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## johnrsemt (May 12, 2015)

Never had a problem being busy on night shifts.  911 or private services.   Of course on Private services there are less trucks so runs are split between less crews.
  When I started nights we had 2 trucks on:  We talked management into putting 2 more crews on the street, telling them that if they give us the extra trucks we would make them busy within a few weeks.  4 weeks later they had to put 2 more crews on nights.   Dispatch stopped refusing runs, and we stayed busy.
  Odd thing is opposite night shift was only doing 2-3 runs a night (12 hours, 2 trucks);  our night shift was doing 8-12 runs with 2 trucks.  Management started recording phones; and turned out other crew/dispatcher was refusing 8+ runs a night.  Suspended dispatcher and crews for 3 days; and wow run volume increased by ALOT


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## TattooedNay (May 12, 2015)

Overnight shift, 100%. I am not a people person. And yes, people say "You are in the wrong field if you don't like people". Here's the thing; I am not talking about my patients. I am talking about my day time co-workers. I am talking about all the annoying banter, rumors and drama that comes with downtime during day shift. I prefer having one partner, sleeping in an uncomfortable cot with the sweet sweet sounds of police chatter in the background. Even if it's busy, I don't mind it. Roads are safer and everything just seems still. Let's not forget that all the rubberneckers are sleeping. Plus I don't care for the sun very much.


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## Tigger (May 13, 2015)

Agreed. Working at night is just easier. People move more efficiently and talk less, both things I am a fan of. 

At one of my part time jobs, the fire department is in charge of every scene by city charter. During the day, there are certain crews that love to flaunt that aspect. The officer takes a command role on a simple sick party, the fire medic is the operations division chief, stuff like that. At night all that goes away so everyone can go back to bed. I love it.


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## RefriedEMT (May 13, 2015)

This is why I love part -timing so I can pick and choose when I want to work whether a 24hr shift that I might get 3-6hrs sleep during or something as little as 6,12,18hr shift. Also I find the best way to deal with keeping my sleep on the right schedule is even if I only get 1-2hrs sleep in a 24hr shift, i stay up the remainder of the next day. So I would work 8am-8am then stay up till at least 10pm-12pm that night so i would go to bed dead tired and get a good 7-9hrs sleep keeping my sleep schedule where it should be, not that difficult. Another thing I love about working at a fire dept is the one I work out of doesn't wake you up right off the bat with loud toning but all the lights in the building turn on and you get a quick report of the call which to be honest the lights turning on is enough to wake me up.


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## AtlasFlyer (May 13, 2015)

I'll second the love of part-time and being able to pick and choose and do daytime or nighttime or whatever shift may work. I have to coordinate my schedule with childcare so that makes it hard but I love being part time and I'll do nightshift whenever I can.

Like others have said, the number of people out and about is fewer, traffic is so much lighter (especially downtown). I've never had a problem with day shift management like some have, but being part-time I don't get into the drama and gossip like full-timers do. I'm just not around it enough to know everyone involved nor care. At all. Nights can be fairly busy of call volume, but still "quiet". I like it.  Though I know it's not for everyone.  I also hate the beating, blinding sun, and get massive headaches without sunglasses... so closing my mylar-lined blinds and sleeping during the day and being out in the moonlight is awesome.


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## Ensihoitaja (May 14, 2015)

Nights. The reasons have mostly been said- no traffic, it's not hot during the summer. Also, night shift differential is nice, too!


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## Run with scissors (Jun 2, 2015)

i hate night shift.  been at it for 5 years. i feel tired all the time. even when i get enough sleep.


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## ZombieEMT (Jul 1, 2015)

When I was single and had no kids, I love night shift. Call volume was generally slower and the calls more serious. The traffic was also always in the opposite direction. If I needed to do things during the day, I could. I was usually able to make up for sleep on night shift, vs running all day on a day shift.

Things changed a lot with kids. I have two small children, and nights just did not work. I would get home at 0630 and the kids were up by 8. I was very rarely able to get sleep at all during the day, and hated sleeping when home, because then I don't get to see the kids. This meant the only sleep I could get was at night. One busy shift, and I was screwed. Night time also became the only alone time my wife and I had, so not being home took that away.

In the end, I landed a shift that I love. I currently work from 18-02 Sunday through Thursday. Its an awsome shift. Its back to the nights like I loved, but I can still come home and spend some time with the wife, plus sleep before the babies get up. Its also kind of nice to work an 8vs12 because my current FT spot is a busy squad. This shift is specifically awsome because I have off all day Friday and Saturday and don't have to be back until 1800 on Sunday. Essentially a three day weekend, every week.


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## TransportJockey (Jul 2, 2015)

If I have to work 12 hour shifts, I absolutely love the night shift. Teh only shift I like better was my 11-2300 shift I had for a bit at a hospital I worked at.
That said, my preference is still 24 hour rotations.


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## Chewy20 (Jul 2, 2015)

10-2200 and 11-2300 is awesome. Hoping to jump on those soon if I cant get two 24s


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## Run with scissors (Jul 2, 2015)

Dang, who does those hours?


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## Chewy20 (Jul 2, 2015)

Lot of places


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## JefferyLebowski (Jul 3, 2015)

nights. As a Basic working for a private, days get their asses kicked hard. my first day was a day, and we pulled 13 calls and were held over for 2 hours . at night, we pull between  4 and 6. I have time to finish my reports, and to sleep or read or do whatever i want. the calls are more varied, interesting, and there are higher chances for basics to go on a 9/11, and the dispatchers play favorites less. 

I live opposite normal people, though, and my company offers no differential.


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## cruiseforever (Jul 4, 2015)

I like day shifts, 0430-1630.   Get home the same time rest of the family gets home.


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## evantheEMT (Oct 25, 2015)

I've been doing the night shift 3 years now and love it. Imo it better than the day shift.


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