colleague does not want to take day off

Nurses General Nursing

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I worked with a colleague who is in her 60's who seems has a lot of energy. She said she loves to work and would not want to take days off if she could. I asked her what makes her motivated to work everyday. She said jokingly if you see your bills that gets you kicked out of bed. She is hyperactive at work and she could work 12 hours all week without taking days off. I can get exhausted at the end of the day just like everybody else and working long hours is not my cup of tea. Is there something wrong with her? Is that an indication that she may be manic or ADD?

I worked with a colleague who is in her 60's who seems has a lot of energy. She said she loves to work and would not want to take days off if she could. I asked her what makes her motivated to work everyday. She said jokingly if you see your bills that gets you kicked out of bed. She is hyperactive at work and she could work 12 hours all week without taking days off. I can get exhausted at the end of the day just like everybody else and working long hours is not my cup of tea. Is there something wrong with her? Is that an indication that she may be manic or ADD?

if ONLY i had that much energy. Everyone's energy level and tolerance is different. just because she can run circles around most of us, does not mean anything is wrong with her. May just be the way she is and has always been.

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I do like the fact that Grn Tea tries to look at both sides of the coin and gets you thinking a little bit. If it wasn't for her comment I think the discussion would have petered out long ago.

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I would say work ethics isn't in a percentage of all people in all ages, not just the youngens!:)

That is very true. Think I am just disgruntled because I have been going through babysitters left and right who typically are in their early 20's who no call no show, know the hours ahead of time but consistently call me to ask if they can go home early, or show up late without calling. I know babysitting isn't the most lucrative job in the world but what's going on with having responsibility? The older sitters always seem to make it on time. Hate to stereotype but with age usually comes maturity...but not always.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I read it several times, and I disagree. Just because you think it's so doesn't mean it is.

Some people are workaholics. That's just their nature. Personally, I would be more suspicious of someone who called off all the time.

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What do you care whether a coworker wants a day off?

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OK, this is a joke, right...

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Some people say work ethic, some say work/life balance. Working all of the time doesn't make one nurse better than another. Now working ON TIME is a different matter. Those tardy so and so's have it coming...

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Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

When I was charge nurse, I had a fellow nurse who LOVED to work. She was always filling in when we had a need and never called in sick. Whenever we were short-staffed we called her first because we knew she never said no. It was awesome!

And then tubex after tubex of Morphine went missing. Yep, she was willing to work because it gave her an opportunity to divert more meds.

I'm not saying that's the situation here. I've also worked with nurses that had endless energy and were just great nurses who loved what they did everyday.

I don't get either side. I love nursing but I really love my couch & my DVR, too.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I worked with a colleague who is in her 60's who seems has a lot of energy. She said she loves to work and would not want to take days off if she could. I asked her what makes her motivated to work everyday. She said jokingly if you see your bills that gets you kicked out of bed. She is hyperactive at work and she could work 12 hours all week without taking days off. I can get exhausted at the end of the day just like everybody else and working long hours is not my cup of tea. Is there something wrong with her? Is that an indication that she may be manic or ADD?

She may possibly be manic or have ADHD.

Or she may be telling the truth and really loves her job. Not every nurse turns out bitter about work.

IMO, whatever is behind her drive doesn't matter as long as she's what she needs to and not endangering herself or anyone else :)

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The more you do, the more you can do. If she keeps busy, maybe it keeps her going. I work with people who could be her grandchildren who constantly complain of being tired, etc. etc. I had more energy when I spent more time at the bedside. Now that I am more admin, I feel less motivated for exercise, etc. Rather than being mentally ill, she may be way more healthy physically and mentally well than all of the folks who are having their FB time interrupted by work. She also said she has lots of bills. She may want to take care of things like paying off her home or other debts before she retires in 5 or 10 years. That is certainly smart. I do not mean to sound mean, but truly work and enthusiasm are good things. I hear tons of complaints about student loans, but few newbies who jump for OT. I get it. We are all tired and overstretched to some degree. Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet and do what you need to take care of your business. She may feel lucky to be able to work and meet her financial challenges. Many older people are not doing well financially. It also sounds like she is happy. That is a little something we should all try to latch on to.

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Bills=payments=needing to have enough money coming in.

To retire. Or to pay off a mortgage. Or her sports car. Or the parent plus loans for her kids. Or to spoil her grandchildren.

Or perhaps you are surrounded by entitlement in the workplace that this is a foreign concept of NOT finding anything to complain about.

My Mom is 70, my Dad 80. Both are active to the point of not being able to catch them at home. Friends, fun, golf, walking....and my Dad works still. In construction. Like he has for 60 years. My mother keeps the books. Plus their 9 grandkids and one great grand keep them moving too. Much like all of their friends the same age.

There are older people who are positive and energetic. Maybe it will rub off...

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My Dad is 79 and he really does have more energy than I do. He's retired, but he volunteers as much as possible and still wants to keep moving, doing, seeing.

This just happens to be the way certain people are wired. When I was planning my wedding, my Dad recognized that my fiance was the same type. He told me that if I couldn't accept marrying someone who loves to work all the time, then I should re-think marrying my fiance because he would never change to any significant degree by being nagged, and then we would just both resent each other in the long term. My DH still always made time to be there for me and our kids, but he always fills every spare moment. He rarely just sits and watches TV, reads novels, or makes quiet time for himself. That would drive him crazy.

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