overnight or day shift?

nick Joseph

Forum Crew Member
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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
 

squirrel15

Forum Captain
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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.
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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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.
 

BASICallyEMT

Forum Lieutenant
Premium Member
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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

Paramedic
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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
 

Generic

Forum Crew Member
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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.
 

epipusher

Forum Asst. Chief
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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.
 

Tigger

Dodges Pucks
Community Leader
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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.
 

johnrsemt

Forum Deputy Chief
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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
 

medichopeful

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

rescue1

Forum Asst. Chief
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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.
 

johnrsemt

Forum Deputy Chief
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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
 

TattooedNay

Forum Crew Member
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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.
 

Tigger

Dodges Pucks
Community Leader
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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.
 

RefriedEMT

Forum Lieutenant
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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.
 

AtlasFlyer

Forum Captain
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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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