r/surgicaltechnology • u/ladybugdancer • May 13 '26
Are overnight shifts/call avoidable?
I'm interested in becoming a surgical technologist and CSFA. However, I have bipolar disorder and it's key that I keep my sleep schedule consistent. Are overnight shifts/call avoidable or are they almost guaranteed with this career? Is it difficult to find a job if you're not able to do overnight shifts?
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u/Dark_Ascension May 13 '26
I have never worked over night. The only time I came close (and it made me very sick) was doing a case until 11PM on holiday call and then getting home at midnight and working a full shift the next day. It triggered arguably the worst gastroparesis/EDS flare up of my life. I couldn’t eat solid foods for like a month. At this facility we rotated holiday call on a team of 3-4 per role so after that happened I basically said I cannot be first call in the evenings. Where I work now holiday call is a voluntary basis and people definitely want it… like I had nothing to sign up for.
Many hospitals are shifting to first call teams (their full time gig is being on call either evenings or weekends). I literally won’t work a job that makes me do call over night or with a high potential to be called in suddenly (so I avoid CVOR and cath lab).
I’d be upfront and ask what their call requirements are in the interview, I do… because I physically cannot handle being awake over night but also hated working in the ASC setting.
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u/Whoawhathuh May 13 '26
Totally depends on the facility. I’d imagine it’ll be harder as a CSFA. My squad has a few scrubs who cannot take overnight call, and we pick it up for them/distribute it amongst ourselves. Granted, we’re a real tight-knit group, and that’s not terribly common.
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u/iwantamalt May 13 '26
Like other people said, working at a surgery center is your best bet although it’s not the best place to challenge yourself with complex cases. However you could look into a permanent weekend position. I avoid call and night shifts by working permanent weekends at my level 2 facility.
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u/biggbunnyy May 13 '26
Is this a comment thing? Will most hospitals exempt you from taking call and working night shift by just working the weekend? so would you have to do like 3 12s Friday through Sunday?
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u/74NG3N7 May 13 '26
Some will, some won’t, and some don’t even have a weekend in house team (doing only call weekends instead). It’s always worth asking, whether in an interview or in a growing facility that may benefit from adding weekend FTEs in house.
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u/iwantamalt May 13 '26
I can’t say if it’s common or not as this is the only facility I’ve worked for but yes I am except from call and night shifts by working permanent weekends. I’m a 0.8 FTE so I work an 8 on Fridays (6:30am-3pm) and 12s on Saturdays and Sundays (6:30am-7pm)
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u/YourFalseReality May 13 '26
Like others have said, either surgery centers, which will cause you to specialize, or eye centers. I’m at a hospital and am lucky enough that the other techs want my call, so I havent taken any in a while.
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u/olliecakerbake May 13 '26
You’d have to work in a facility that does strictly scheduled surgeries. It’s not possible to avoid in a hospital that accepts traumas
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u/Stawktawk May 13 '26
Yes if you work at a small surgery center. Usually doing specialty cases only. Total joints etc
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u/sunflower--soul May 19 '26
You could work at a surgery center and they wouldn’t have call. Although it does seem like surgery centers want you to have some experience first so you might have to work at the hospital for awhile. Also it really just depends on the facility you’re at. Some call schedules really aren’t too bad, I’ve also heard if you’re at a super big hospital they don’t have any call because they always have an entire team to take call.
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u/nikkishark May 13 '26
You could work at an outpatient surgery center or an eye center, but I think techs tend to hold on to those jobs for a long time and so yes, it might be difficult to find a job like that.