Yes many nurses work 3 12's. Many times those days are actually 13 hours in length. And with getting ready for work, driving to work and home sometimes those days can be 15+ hours. I, personally, like the 12's. Some people don't. If I get up at 0430 I want to put in a full day i.e 12 hours. If I have a long drive into work i.e >10miles I don't want to go into work 5 days a week and if you work your days just right you can get several days off in a row.
With the nursing shortage you will probably be able to get just about any schedule you like. Just talk to your nurse manager. Some places work 10 hours a day.
I think the amount of hours you work depends on what area you work in also.. Some areas require lots of heavy duty plain old fashioned physical work and you might only want to work 8's
Hope this helps
WR,,, three commas for Becca