NurslyDuPont Schedule Explained: The 4-Week 12-Hour Rotation
The DuPont schedule is a 28-day rotation of 12-hour shifts that alternates between days and nights: 4 nights on, 3 off, 3 days on, 1 off, 3 nights on, 3 off, 4 days on, then 7 days off. Over four weeks you work 14 shifts, average 42 hours a week and get a full week off every month.
Want to see it on your own dates? Open the 12-hour shift schedule generator with DuPont, pick the day your cycle starts and print the whole year.
The DuPont pattern
Step by step, one cycle looks like this:
| Block | Shifts | Days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nights | 4 on |
| 2 | Off | 3 |
| 3 | Days | 3 on |
| 4 | Off | 1 |
| 5 | Nights | 3 on |
| 6 | Off | 3 |
| 7 | Days | 4 on |
| 8 | Off | 7 |
Then it repeats. The 7-day break at the end is what makes DuPont popular: you get a full week off every four weeks without using any vacation time.
The schedule is named after the chemical company DuPont, where it became widely known. Today it’s used in hospitals, police and fire departments, manufacturing plants and other places that need people around the clock. In nursing it’s less common than Pitman or self-scheduled three 12s, but some units use it for rotating day-and-night staff.
How four teams cover 24/7
DuPont is built for four teams. Each team runs the same 28-day pattern, starting one week after the previous team. On any given day, exactly one team works the day shift, one team works the night shift, and two teams are off.
Unlike Pitman, where teams often stay on fixed days or fixed nights, everyone on DuPont rotates between days and nights. That’s both its biggest strength (shifts are shared fairly) and its biggest weakness (your body clock keeps switching).
Hours, days off and weekends
| DuPont (12-hour shifts) | |
|---|---|
| Cycle length | 28 days (4 weeks) |
| Shifts per cycle | 14 — 7 days and 7 nights |
| Average hours per week | 42 |
| Shifts per year | about 182–183 |
| Days off per year | about 182–183 |
| Longest stretch on | 4 shifts |
| Longest break | 7 days |
| Full weekends off | up to 2 every 4 weeks, depending on the start day |
Over a year DuPont gives you the same number of shifts as Pitman. The difference is how they’re grouped: longer stretches of work, then one long break instead of many short ones.
DuPont and overtime
The average is 42 hours a week, but almost no week is actually 42 hours. In the US, overtime is usually counted per 7-day pay week, and with DuPont pay weeks swing a lot. If the cycle starts on the first day of your pay week, the four weeks look like this:
That’s 48 hours of overtime every four weeks — about 625 a year — including one 72-hour week with 6 shifts. Where the cycle falls in your pay week changes this a lot:
| Cycle starts… | Pay weeks (hours) | Overtime a year |
|---|---|---|
| On day 1 of the pay week | 48 · 72 · 48 · 0 | about 625 h |
| 1 day later | 48 · 60 · 48 · 12 | about 470 h |
| 2 days later | 48 · 48 · 48 · 24 | about 315 h |
| 3 or 4 days later | 48 · 36 · 48 · 36 | about 210 h |
These are hours over 40 in a 7-day week, assuming every shift is 12 paid hours. Some employers use a 14-day overtime period instead (the 8/80 system that US hospitals are allowed to use), and union contracts can have their own rules — so check how yours counts it.
Example, before differentials: at $40 an hour, a 72-hour week pays 40 hours × $40 = $1,600, plus 32 overtime hours × $60 = $1,920 — $3,520 for the week. Night differentials raise both parts, because in the US they’re included in the regular rate used for overtime (how that works). To run your own numbers, use the nurse overtime calculator.
Pros and cons of the DuPont schedule
Pros
- A full 7 days off every four weeks — time for travel, family or rest without using PTO.
- Never more than 4 shifts in a row.
- Half the days of the year off.
- Day and night shifts are shared equally between teams.
- Long-term planning is easy: the pattern repeats every 28 days.
Cons
- You switch between days and nights every week or two, which is hard on sleep.
- Week 2 is heavy: 3 days, 1 day off, then 3 nights — 6 shifts in 7 days.
- After the 7-day break, coming back to 4 nights in a row can feel rough.
- Pay weeks swing from 0 to 72 hours, so paychecks can vary a lot.
- With only one day off between days and nights, it’s hard to fully recover.
Making the night–day switches easier
If you’re on DuPont, the switches are the part to plan for:
- Going into nights: on the day of your first night shift, sleep in late and take a 1–2 hour nap in the afternoon.
- Coming off nights: sleep only 3–4 hours after the last night, then stay up and go to bed at a normal time. That resets your body clock faster than sleeping all day.
- On the single day off between days and nights, treat it as a transition day: stay up a little later than usual and sleep in.
- Protect the 7-day break for real rest at least some of the time. It’s what makes the heavy weeks sustainable.
DuPont vs other 12-hour schedules
| Schedule | Cycle | Avg hours/week | Days & nights | Longest stretch on | Longest break |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DuPont | 28 days | 42 | rotates | 4 shifts | 7 days |
| Pitman (2-2-3) | 14 days | 42 | fixed or rotating | 3 shifts | 3 days |
| 4 on, 4 off | 8 days | 42 | usually fixed | 4 shifts | 4 days |
| 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off | 8 days | 42 | rotates | 4 shifts | 4 days |
| 3×12 (self-scheduled) | 7 days | 36 | varies | varies | varies |
You can compare any of these on a calendar in the schedule generator.
Common mistakes with DuPont
- Counting the cycle from the wrong day. The pattern only works if everyone agrees on day 1. Write down the date your cycle starts and keep it.
- Expecting 42 hours every week. Plan your budget around the swings — one week can have no shifts at all.
- Booking appointments in week 2. It’s the busiest week of the cycle. Use week 4 instead.
- Forgetting overtime. If your pay stub shows less overtime than your hours, check how your employer defines the overtime period.
Questions
How many hours a week is the DuPont schedule? 42 hours on average: 14 twelve-hour shifts over 4 weeks is 168 hours. Real weeks range from 0 to 72 hours depending on where the cycle falls in your pay week.
How many days off do you get on DuPont? 14 days off in every 28-day cycle, including one 7-day break. That’s about 182–183 days off a year.
Is DuPont a rotating schedule? Yes. Everyone works both day and night shifts: 7 days and 7 nights per cycle, in blocks of 3 or 4.
Do you get every weekend off on DuPont? No. You get up to 2 full weekends off every 4 weeks — one of them inside the 7-day break — depending on which day of the week your cycle starts.
What is the difference between DuPont and Pitman? Both average 42 hours a week with 12-hour shifts. Pitman repeats every 2 weeks with short 2–3 day breaks and is often fixed days or fixed nights. DuPont repeats every 4 weeks, rotates days and nights, and saves the time off for one 7-day break.
Put your DuPont schedule on your iPhone
In Nursly, open Add Shift → Rotations and build the 28-day cycle once: Night ×4, Off ×3, Day ×3, Off, Night ×3, Off ×3, Day ×4, Off ×7. Choose the date your cycle starts and generate the next 4, 8 or 12 weeks. Every shift appears in your calendar with its pay worked out, including overtime and night differentials, plus reminders and a shift alarm.
Prefer paper? Print the DuPont calendar from the schedule generator or download the free printable 2027 nurse shift calendar.