Photo: Mike B

Is 12 hour shift legal?

12 hour shifts are legal. However, the regulations generally require that there should be a break of 11 consecutive hours between each 12 hour shift.

rcn.org.uk - Working time and breaks | Advice guides | Royal College of Nursing

Why is a Steinway so expensive?

The various models of Steinway pianos vary in cost largely due to increases in overall size. A larger model requires more wood materials and action...

Last updated Jun 27, 2018

How much does Key Caps cost?

Original keycaps are expensive, even by the already premium standards of mechanical keyboards. A designer set can cost anywhere from $70 to over...

Last updated Mar 16, 2020

Promotion

Rest breaks during a shift

You are entitled to a minimum break of 20 minutes when your daily working time is more than six hours. This should:

be uninterrupted

be away from your workstation

be during working time

not be taken at the start or end of the working day

not overlap with your daily rest.

The regulations are silent on whether a rest break is paid time but the RCN recommends that the break should be paid. Check your employment contract and/or policies to find out if you can leave your workplace during a break. If you are unable to take your breaks due to unsustainable pressures on staffing please see the section above, regarding how to raise concerns.

What if I'm the only registered nurse?

If you are the only registered nurse - and therefore in charge - you must stay on the premises during your shift. You should be paid for this. If you work in a care home, the registering authority will revoke the home's registration if there is no qualified person on the premises. As a nurse, you are bound by your NMC Code and owe a duty of care to your patients to ensure their safety and manage risk. You are professionally accountable for your acts and omissions and you must be able to justify your decisions. If current working patterns or unsustainable pressures on staffing means that you cannot take your breaks (for example, where you are the only nurse), these working arrangements need to be reviewed. If you are in this position, contact us for further advice.

Daily rest breaks

You are entitled to a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24 hour working period. This time may be taken over two calendar days. Where this is not possible, you must be given “equivalent compensatory periods of rest” or “appropriate protection”. 12 hour shifts are legal. However, the regulations generally require that there should be a break of 11 consecutive hours between each 12 hour shift. We believe that no shift should be longer than 12 hours, and that a 12 hour shift may not be appropriate for all nurses. 12 hour shifts should be considered in the context of both patient safety and the physical and psychological demands of shift work.

Weekly rest breaks

As a minimum, you are entitled to an uninterrupted rest period of at least 24 hours in each seven day reference period. This is in addition to an 11 hours daily rest period. Your employer can average the weekly reference period over 14 days. In a 14 day period, your employer should provide either two uninterrupted rest periods of not less than 24 hours or one uninterrupted rest period of not less than 48 hours. Where this is not possible, equivalent compensatory rest or appropriate protection must be given to you. On average, all workers should receive 90 hours rest per week. This does not include breaks during working time which are additional. If you work in the NHS, 27.19 of the handbook states that all employees should receive an uninterrupted weekly rest period of 35 hours (including the eleven hours of daily rest) in each seven day period for which they work for their employer. Where this is not possible they should receive equivalent rest over a 14 day period, either as one 70 hour period or two 35 hour periods.

What are membrane keycaps?

A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose "keys" are not separate, moving parts, as with the majority of other keyboards, but rather are...

Last updated Dec 16, 2021

Is 53 too old to learn piano?

“Learning piano has no age limit. In fact, activities like learning piano can stimulate the brain, increasing the ability to recall information....

Last updated Jul 27, 2020

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Promotion

Do doctors have rooms to sleep in?

An on-call room, sometimes referred to as the doctors' mess, is a room in a hospital with either a couch or a bunkbed intended for staff to rest in while they are on call or due to be.

en.wikipedia.org - On-call room - Wikipedia

On-call room

An on-call room, sometimes referred to as the doctors' mess, is a room in a hospital with either a couch or a bunkbed intended for staff to rest in while they are on call or due to be. In the European Community, the 2003 extension of the working time directive to junior doctors and the ruling that on-call time counts as working hours has resulted in the introduction of shift work for hospital medical staff, thereby eliminating the requirements for on-call rooms.[1][unreliable source?] A similar change in hospital working hours for interns was implemented in the United States in 2011, but senior residents continue to do 24-hour call.[2] Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education regulations require that residents on call be provided with "adequate sleep facilities" which are "safe, quiet, and private."[3]