Carlton and Russell don't see any merit in rotating shifts. Russell sees it as a hardship, especially for single mothers. It's difficult to get a baby-sitter in the middle of the night. At her hospital, the bargaining unit has managed to limit the amount of rotating that is required. The nurses who work days can be rotated up to 50 percent of their time and evening workers up to 25 percent of their time.
Night nurses work permanent shifts.
She acknowledged that so far nurses have not had to rotate up to those amounts. These same nurses also have the option of working every fourth weekend instead of the standard every other weekend, and they are first to be scheduled off for Christmas, Hamilton said. At the time, nurses were being rotated randomly to all three shifts during their four-week schedules. Even nurses who wanted to work nights were being made to work day shifts, said Parks-King, a staff nurse on a rehab unit and local bargaining unit chairperson. There are nurses who want to work nights, and there are younger nurses without children who want to work evening shifts.