All this talk of "night shift".. Who ARE these people?

[SoCalDem]

Nurses' Aides


Waitresses


Hotel staffers


Office cleaners


Grocery Store/Big Box store Night crews


Inventory crews


Truck drivers


Firefighters


Police


EMTs

Factory workers


Bar employees


Fast food workers


........................................

What do all these people have in common?

MOST of them deserve a lot more pay that they get. Other than the unionized workers , most are grossly underpaid and often rely on tips to make ends meet.

Registered nurses are paid a lot more than nurses' aides, but anyone who hase been in a hospital at night, knows that there are very few nurses even there at night, and the ones who are there, are often bogged down with so much paperwork, that's about all they have time to do.

People who work at night, mess up their circadian rythyms and often are more susceptible to disease, and when they "should" be sleeping during the day, they find themselves kept awake by normal family demands on their time..and annoying phone calls, so they get far less sleep than they should have.

Night shift people are also often,people who have OTHER jobs in the day time too..and often "get by" on 3-5 hours of sleep squeezed in..here and there..whenever they can..(sometimes behind the wheel of a car :scared:..)

Just the words "night shift", are enough to send shivers down the spines of many older workers, who understand what those words really mean.. They mean no family time, no sleep, shortened time frame for household tasks, and spending days off...asleep..

Unless you have worked the "late shift", you have NO idea how hard it is to work those hours..

TV & movies portray the "normal worker" and the normal workday as 9-5, well-dressed, happy and adequately well-paid...The norm is far from it.

In MY years of working all kinds of jobs and all kinds of hours, I found the "night" work the WORST of all...and even though I have not "worked" in 10 years, my sleep pattern is permanently disrupted..even with no time clock to punch, and no surly boss to answer to ..


This link shows just some of the salary ranges for the jobs above..
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_salaryrangejob_10.html

[Captain Angry]

1. "They must just want to sleep in"

"They must not like light"

"They're anti-social"

Some of the things I've heard about night workers. Try tech support in the middle of the night. The fewest resources are available to you, but they're generally the biggest problem cases since it usually means the customer is experiencing downtime with their equipment.

I'm not sure who was talking about night shifts, but it is a thankless job and can be pretty harsh when your family runs on the normal day schedule.

[Iris]

19. That's a horrible assumption.

My dad worked at night b/c it paid a premium and he had 3 kids.

[Captain Angry]

20. As did many of the people I used to work with.

That 3rd shift premium made working worthwhile since the pay without it didn't pay the bills.

[SoCalDem]

21. The shift I hated MOST was 10-7

not enough time to get anything done in the AM, and after a 57 mile commute at the end of the day, no time there either..

[Captain Angry]

23. That's 10A - 7P?

I worked 9a-6p a lot, and had similar problems. Nobody opened up early enough to get into the bank, and most government offices were closed by 5, so leaving early wouldn't get me in the door either.

[SoCalDem]

24. yup 10a-7p

and sometimes 11-8..almost as bad

My "usual" was 4:45AM to whenever I finished doing the books..usually around 11 am..but the 57 mile commute on both ends of that gem of a shift, left me a zombie most of the time.. (I am a night person, so I often did not sleep before I left for work)

[Skittles]

31. I actually don't like light and am anti-social

:D

You are correct about it being thankless though - I cannot tell you how many times I have had to attend an acoount meeting at 2 oclock in the afternoon - can you imagine the howls of horror if a 2:00 AM meeting was suggested? HELLO PEOPLE - THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR US NIGHT WORKERS.

[SoCalDem]

34. My friend used to call me in the morning and say "you were STILL asleep"

and I would tell her exactly that.. MY 9 AM is her 1 AM... Now she knows better than to call me before noon :rofl:..or I might just start calling her at 1 AM

[Skittles]

35. friends who do that to me

on my nights off I go bang on their door at 02:00 A.M. screaming, "Are you STILL asleep???" - cures them of that bad habit very quickly. My friends know they are always free to call me on "those days" in an emergency - but for nothing else. :D

[question everything]

2. Emergency workers, fire and police

and when you add teachers you have groups of public employees whose service we value but we are not willing to pay them decent wages.

[SoCalDem]

4. Thanks for reminding me.. I added them. n/t

[sandnsea]

3. My son is a union grocery store checker

Who makes, I think, $9.00 hour. After 2 years. He has health insurance, he pays for it too. The union keeps the bottom from completely falling out from under these folks, but it no longer puts them ahead the way it used to. Grocery checkers made more 20 years ago, in real money, than they do now.

[SoCalDem]

6. I was one..and in 1995 I made $16.70 an hour

FREE medical (none came from my check)..triple time on holidays double on Sundays..

The "tiered pay scale" hurts the younger ones coming in under new contracts:(

[Breeze54]

7. My son is a non-union grocery store customer service/deli worker

and closes up many nights well past when the store closes.

He's been employed part time there for the last four years and went full time last June
after he graduated high school and is barely making $9.75 per hour and has no benefits
although he has accrued over 1,000 hours of vacation days. But he can't touch them
because he's not "full-time" yet even though he works 40+ hours a week! :grr:

[Breeze54]

5. Gas station attendants, police, firefighters... soldiers...

[iconoclastic cat]

8. Tech support, customer service, community college teachers...nt

[Mz Pip]

9. I worked the night shift

in a factory one summer. It was tough. My dad sort of made me do it so I could see what my life might be like if I didn't get a college education. I was lucky and was able to get that education. But those three months on an assembly line were definitely harder than any of white collar jobs I had later on.

[dysfunctional press]

10. i worked nights at a reservation center for united airlines...

that was back before india started building call centers, and before united went thru bankruptcy tho...i don't know how many people united still has doing it 24/7 stateside.

it's a different world, when you get off work at 4am.

[Extend a Hand]

11. I do tech support 2nd shift

and we have a 3rd shift too.

[Skittles]

30. IT night shift here - one of only two shifts

:D

[varkam]

12. I'm a sleep tech!

I've worked nights now for 4 years, two of those while going to college full-time. They say night shift work takes a few years off your life...I believe it.

[Skittles]

32. it's not night shift that does it

it's having to put up with day shift crap that kills us :D

[trashcanistanista]

13. ME!!!! Hospital Lab Tech.

I like having every day off and I like working without bosses. Mars can attack, and you can be assured that the boss won't answer their phone or come into work on a night shift.

[earth mom]

14. Ever work the graveyard shift? Both dh and I have. It's the absolute pits.

The last time I did, I swore up and down I would never let a company own me like that again! I've worked for myself ever since.

Most service jobs these days are modern day slavery. :grr:

[Breeze54]

15. Parents of newborns and teens!

;)

[fed-up]

16. I did family daycare (also waitressing/bartending)-son was recently taxi dispatcher nt

[Blue_Tires]

17. i've had two night jobs in the past, and loved them

well, i didn't always love the jobs themselves, but i did like the hours...but then again i've never been one of those early risers...

[Iris]

18. song for this thread - Day Sleeper by REM

[lonestarnot]

22. Left out postal workers. Union and pay isn't bad.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

25. Varying shifts will mess with you too.

I work in the restaurant business, and will open one day, close the next, or maybe have a split or mid shift. I have also had days, occasionally, where I've been there from open to close, depending on forecast and staffing. It's very tough to keep a straight schedule on anything, much less sleep. Luckily, I have an employer who is very flexible if I need to take time off for family or personal reasons, so it's not as bad as you'd think. And I have full health benefits, short-term disability, and life insurance through my work, so I'm luckier than most. The money is good, too, so that's a bonus.

[MountainLaurel]

33. Amen

I'm a librarian who worked part-time for over a year, not by choice. Because I was the PT, I got all the crap hours here and there when we were busiest. My body clock was always confused: Some days I had to be at work at 9 a.m., some days at 10, and some at 2 p.m. I had to start taking my medications at night because I never had enough of a routine before work, so I'd forget them.

[Horse with no Name]

26. Totally off mark remark about the nurses

The RN's STILL take care of patients--even at night.
In fact, nowadays, hospital staffing RARELY gives you nurses aides and staffs strictly with licensed nursing personnel because it is cheaper.

I have worked the night shift for years as a nurse. I know what I am talking about. The reason I work nights?
I can actually spend more time with my patients to make sure that their needs are addressed during the day when there aren't endless doctors, interns, aides, meals, visitors as distractions.
The night time is when patients are MORE concerned about their well-being because there is a lot of time to think.
Trust me when I say...contrary to popular belief--patients do NOT sleep at night.

We work harder without the benefit of added help. Our paper work is definitely NOT the focus.

[SoCalDem]

27. That's good to hear.. When our son was in the hospital for weeks at a time

the nurses always complained to me ablout how understaffed they were and how the hospitals preferred the lower wage people..

It;s comforting to know that's changed.. :)

[Horse with no Name]

29. Shame on THEM for portraying our profession as such

No patient should EVER be told that the hospital that they have entrusted their care or their loved ones care is short-staffed, even when they are. It contributes to unnecessary worry that the patient does not need.
I have worked at two of the most prestigious children's hospitals in the country with both being Top 10.
They did not use ANY lower wage people--including LVN's OR Aides. Strictly RN staff.
I hate that you had what sounds like substandard care wherever you were. Rest assured--most Children's Hospitals do NOT function that way.

[LeftCoast]

28. Night RN here as well. You speak the truth!

We have much less help. 50% fewer nurses aides. No lift team. AND we get to have a screwed up schedule for our non-work lives.

[Art_from_Ark]

36. You haven't really experienced the Great American Workplace

until you've done the swing shift-- working all three shifts during each four-week period.

[SoCalDem]

37. The grocery business is notorious for goofy schedules

When I worked it, it was not uncommon to schedule people all over the clock

Because of the way they structured things schedules, we often ended up working 10 days straight before even a day off..and just as the threshhold of 35 hrs a week for 6 weeks, making fulltime mandatory, they would throw in a 20 hour week..so the 6 wks would start over..


a sample of some schedules I worked (until I was "promoted" to the 4:45AM start time)

Th 5A-1PM
F 11-8P
Sa 7A-1P
Su 2P-10P
M 10-7
T 6A-noon
W 6P-midnight

[Art_from_Ark]

38. Wow, that's even worse than the swing shift!

Holy mackeral! You have my sympathy!

[SoCalDem]

40. add a 57 mile commute to both ends and see why I burnt out at the 10 yr mark

commuting in S Calif :grr:

To make it by 4:45 am, I had to be in my car by 3:15 am...

[Art_from_Ark]

41. And here I thought I had had it bad

working in a local swing shift factory with rednecks who slashed my tires!

[BulletproofLandshark]

39. I spent 8 years working a 12-hour night shift

It was only 3-4 days a week, but working 8PM-8AM is enough to put a strain on anyone's life. I work at the same job, but now I work from 8AM-8PM, and it feels like my whole world changed for the better. I see my family more, and I don't spend my first day off sleeping it away. But where I work, at least we get a 6% bonus over base pay for working nights. A hell of a lot of people in this country aren't so lucky.

[ellisonz]

42. Airline employees.