Student Nurses how many shifts do you have?

Hiya

I am a 2nd year student nurse just about to start my 3rd placement. I was wondering if anyone knew how many shifts they can make you work in a row? We have to do 30 hours a week to make up our required hours but I have been put down to work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday which totals 55.5 hours.

Is that allowed? It just seems quite a lot in a row.

What do other people have to do?

Thanks

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

davey jones

oops edit, 55.5 hours is more than you are required to do. its also more than eu directive. are you sure that isnt mostly two weeks worth of hours.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 2

DuncanMono

Fri, Saturday and Sunday are part of week 1, monday, tuesday and wednesday are part of week 2

Reply 3

L3mon

Don't think there is anything against working that much in a row.

Say the new week starts on Monday.
You were off Mon - Thurs then worked Fri - Sun
New Week
You worked Mon - Thurs and off Fri - Sun.

Reply 4

sunshinebuttercups

Thanks. Well I'm working Monday to Thursday then have the Fri, Sat, Sun off then working Mon then Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs ( then haven't been told next shifts) so yes they are part of 2 weeks but I was wondering regardless of thinking in terms of weeks how many consecutive days/ hours you can work without a 24 hour break? Just I know by the 7th day after being on my feet all the time I won't learn much as I'll be too tired. Fair enough if I was a counted member of staff but as I am supposed to be there to learn it seems counter productive. Awel will try be extra nice to them and convince them otherwise.

Reply 5

Otter71

I guess all experience of the types of patterns some wards like is good. You'll be fine just hope its better next time!

Reply 6

InArduisFouette

it sounds like the pattern just aobut fits the EWTD

"Daily rest - a break between working days
If you are an adult worker you have the right to a break of at least 11 hours between working days. This means as an adult worker, if you finish work at 8.00 pm on Monday you should not start work until 7.00 am on Tuesday.
Weekly rest - the 'weekend'
If you are an adult worker you have the right to either:
an uninterrupted 24 hours clear of work each week
an uninterrupted 48 hours clear each fortnight"

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10029451

in certain circumstances some trusts will attempt to make use of the compensatory rest rules on a regualr basis - as strict adherence to the EWTD and to not giving people lots of shifts together can result in the (unpopular for some ) situation of 'split days off' being very common ...

in terms of student nurses - are these working patterns being used to cover deficiencies in staffing or is it just a straight follow of your mentor's working pattern ?

if it appears to be covering deficiencies in staffing, a discreet word with your personal tutor and/or the link lecturer for the placement area may be in order...

in terms of the OP's specific situation what length of shift are you referring to and what are the shift times ... also how many hours are you meant to be doing on this placement ...

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 7

InArduisFouette

davey jones

oops edit, 55.5 hours is more than you are required to do. its also more than eu directive. are you sure that isnt mostly two weeks worth of hours.

average working hours are worked out on a 17 week period per the EWTD

working hours for pay or rota purposes are often averaged over 13 weeks

in terms of the hours required on a placement that depends on course structure as some HEIs count placement weeks as 37.5 , while others count 30 and offer either a directed study day or a day in uni for the 'fifth' working day in the week, you then also get some HEIs who have 2day / 3 day split as the normal model of placements right up to the last couple of placements

Reply 8

Triplet1

I'm at Cardiff University. We have to work 37.5 hours a week on placement and we aren't allowed to do over 45 hours a week if we have to make up shifts!

Reply 9

smilee172

I was really concerned by what you posted about breaks - my shifts finish at 9pm and start 7am the following day. But on closer reading it sounds like there's a different set of rules for hospital shift work.

Exceptions to the regulations

Your working week is not covered by the Working Time Regulations if you work in the following areas:

* jobs where you can choose freely how long you will work (such as a managing executive)
* the armed forces, emergency services and police are excluded in some circumstances
* domestic servants in private houses

The rights to breaks apply differently to you if:

* you have to travel a long distance from your home to get to work
* you constantly work in different places making it difficult to work to a set pattern
* you are doing security or surveillance-based work
* you are working in an industry with busy peak periods, like agriculture, retail or tourism
* there is an emergency or risk of an accident
* the job needs round-the-clock staffing (such as hospital work)

Reply 10

InArduisFouette

the 'round the clock staffing' clause is variably enforced, there are issues with trusts taking the mickey with it plus pay bill issues, hence the reason more and more trusts are working 12 /12 patterns and attempting to encourage people to work long days ( often the biggest block is ward managers until their ability to fill rotas while finding reasons for staff not to do long days becomes an issue)

Reply 11

amyamy

Thats horrendous!!!

We have to do an average of 37.5 hours per week but we're not allowed to do more than 48 a week even if we're making up hours, and we're definitely not allowed to work more than 5 days in every 7!!

Reply 12

Happy Insomniac

Original post by amyamy

Haha, I wish my trust was like yours. The ten-day-stretch is not uncommon where I work. So happy since I switched to two days a week for uni. It was starting to kill me, haha.

Reply 13

amyamy

Original post by Happy Insomniac

Haha, I wish my trust was like yours. The ten-day-stretch is not uncommon where I work. So happy since I switched to two days a week for uni. It was starting to kill me, haha.

Ouch!

and thats not my trust, its the uni who make that rule! I have to say I am grateful to them for that haha!

Reply 14

RAPSTER

I find the breaks the worse for shifts especailly 7 to 3 , becuase yoyu can't have dinner type stuff cos its to early, 9/10 ish
Then nothing until you finish.

Break for 30 minuites

Reply 15

Happy Insomniac

Original post by RAPSTER

I find the breaks the worse for shifts especailly 7 to 3 , becuase yoyu can't have dinner type stuff cos its to early, 9/10 ish
Then nothing until you finish.

Break for 30 minuites

You have your break at 9/10? How odd. Every ward I've been on has the break on the morning shift at either 12:30 or 13:30, with a 10 minute break for a cuppa mid-morning.

Reply 16

InArduisFouette

Original post by Happy Insomniac

You have your break at 9/10? How odd. Every ward I've been on has the break on the morning shift at either 12:30 or 13:30, with a 10 minute break for a cuppa mid-morning.

we have our breaks at either 1045 or 1120 but that is because of the nature of our unit and the number of people who require assistance with eating (spinal injuries unit)

Reply 17

Happy Insomniac

Original post by zippyRN

we have our breaks at either 1045 or 1120 but that is because of the nature of our unit and the number of people who require assistance with eating (spinal injuries unit)

Yeah, we have to feed a lot of people (elderly/continuing care). A lot of the support workers work short shifts without a break and finish at half 1, so they tend to do the feeds, so it works out ok.

Reply 18

RAPSTER

Original post by Happy Insomniac

You have your break at 9/10? How odd. Every ward I've been on has the break on the morning shift at either 12:30 or 13:30, with a 10 minute break for a cuppa mid-morning.