Why nurses work 3 days a week (and feel like they were hit by a truck)

I just finished working three 12-hour shifts bedside nursing in a row. Phew, I survived!

You’re probably wondering why am I being so #extra to ONLY work three days a week but if you ask any nurse, three 12-hour shifts in a row is the devil. My family just doesn’t understand why four days off a week is still not enough. Working 0700 to 1930 or 1900 to 0730 – there is not much to do in between shifts.

Sleep, work, eat, sleep.

Some nurses will throw in time for exercise or happy hour. On a 3-in-a-row stint, chores get tossed to the wayside and dinner is often takeout (unless you get yourself an Instant Pot). My hubby, as much as he cleans and tries to cook (bless his heart), can’t be Mom. Nightshifters like me will sometimes forego sleep for a doctor’s appointment or a party on the weekends. The average sleep I get between three 12’s is 15-20 hours. So, my boys must be patient when mom wants to sleep 12 hours on the TGIF.

What is nursing like, you ask?

On my oncology unit at the hospital, we are the difference between life and death. I have to remind myself that my patients are in the hospital because they have to be there. We don’t have nursing assistants so we do it all: we pass medications, give blood, hang electrolytes and antibiotics, check blood sugars, coordinate off-unit tests and scans, give baths, make beds, ambulate patients, turn q2 hours, hang chemotherapy, manage those chemotherapy symptoms – all while emotionally supporting the patient and the cast of character family members through the cancer diagnosis and beyond. Multiply this workload by three patients. Sometimes it is more a juggling act at the circus than a hospital. Maybe it’s a tightwalk rope? My unit worked hard to get us a 3:1 nursing ratio and even then, a nurse just doesn’t have enough bandwidth. It still appalls me how other states don’t have nursing ratios!

It is a longstanding joke that nurses don’t get pee breaks and sometimes, that’s the reality. In fact, my first week of nursing clinicals in nursing school, I not only got a urinary tract infection but a more serious kidney infection. I learned the hard way to never hold my pee. Welcome to nursing, my bladder said!

Why do nurses work 3 days a week? 

Simple: For the promise that there is 4 days off.

In a predominantly female career field, historically this schedule was introduced in the 1970s to appease the newly working mom. It is still a popular shift for the working mom nurse and some of my solo coworkers even travel leisurely without taking time off by strategically setting their schedule to do so. I also have coworkers who live in other states and commute into work because they don’t have to be here 5 days a week. There has been research on the safety of the 12-hour shift and the debate between 8-hour vs. 12-hour shifts rage on but the 12-hour shift is not going away any time soon.

I love being a nurse and I love being able to work those hours. Night shift, no doubt! I don’t particularly like 3-in-a-row but I do what I gotta do. By working nights, I feel like I can be a SAHM and relatively not miss out on 50% of the kids’ functions – I get to do dropoffs and pickups; school functions; homework; and a meal around the dinner table. Then, I go to work right after. A lot of the moms on night shift do this for the exact same reason and we’re grateful for this option. And it’s definitely not for everyone…just ask any dayshifter. I pride my I-survived-newborn-twins for my nightshift sleep prep.

So, next time I look like a zombie; be kind. I’ve just carried someone’s world on my shoulders.