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Discussion

Ideal work-life

For those of you who consider your work and your lives balanced, please tell us about what you think makes this happen. For the rest of you, please tell us what you think you're lacking. Please be positive, I'd like to learn from this. What have your workplaces done in the past to help improve employee worklife? What has and what hasn't worked? What do you see as the ideal solution to improving worklife for those in healthcare?

***If there is a clone of this thread around somewhere I appologize, I lost my original thread somewhere in cyberspace :)

Featured Replies

Win Lotto!

Work 2 days a week for the social aspect.

One day a week for charity or community organisation for free.

Two weeks holiday 4 X a year.

Learn to wipe the smug look off your face.

I have in no way acheived balance, as is evidenced by the panic attacks that hit me about fifty percent of the time when I have to go to work. I work three twelves, but I commute 45 minutes each way; I feel like I have not nearly enough time with my two kids, who are nine and six, and they cry half the time when I leave for work, even tho I am leaving them with their loving father. I would like to work one day a week, but this will never happen as I am the main breadwinner in the house, and will be, most likely forever. :rolleyes: This stress is freakin' killing me, but there is nothing to be done, really. (Wow, that was a downer..)

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Having experienced some serious imbalances in my work/family life, I think I'm in good shape now that I work 32 hours a week (4 8-hr. shifts) and am able to leave work AT work, instead of bringing it home with me and being on call 24/7 as I was when I was in management. It was tough going for a long time: through the years of nursing school when I was working, going to school fulltime AND raising young children, then when I was working 2 part-time jobs while actually learning how to be a nurse, and then when I went into LTC management........in the meantime, my kids were growing up, my DH was floundering in his career, my social life became nonexistent, and even when I was at home physically, my mind was always at work.

Finally, in December of 2002 I flamed out.......I was so depressed and wiped-out that I actually got fired. Then I had to have surgery to fix some of my female problems, and the forced sabbatical made me slow down and re-examine my life and my goals. I'd made money, sure. I'd gotten fairly high up the career ladder, especially for an associate's-degree nurse, and that was OK......but at what cost to my family and my mental health?

So now I'm back to being "just" a staff nurse, with no responsibilities other than taking care of my patients and doing my job the best I know how. OK, I'm on a couple of committees and am considered a leader, but when I clock out and leave the building for the night I'm just me again---a woman, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend. I go home to my big, old-fashioned country house in the woods, where all the really important things are.......my family, my pets, my soft warm bed, my comfortable furniture, and my peace. :)

I have scaled back a lot lifestyle-wise and am now only working perdiem nightshift. (one or two shifts/weekends). It enables me to be home w/the kids more, while they are growing up and need me.....

I stay out of work politics and management. I do my little staff nurse job and enjoy the relatively little stress it has as compared to managing or being in charge all the time (although I do charge some shifts, as a rule I don't). Call me lazy, but I LIKE THAT!

I enjoy being a SAHM mom on weekdays....I enjoy cooking for them......being here. I home school my kids. I enjoy our dinners as a family every night, except on those weekends nights I work. I enjoy our little jaunts to the small lake nearby to go fishing and pinicking for the day. I enjoy watching my grass grow while they run thru the sprinkler on it.....

For me, this is bliss and balance. Work stays at work, and home, well it's HOME to me.

I have scaled back a lot lifestyle-wise and am now only working perdiem nightshift. (one or two shifts/weekends). It enables me to be home w/the kids more, while they are growing up and need me.....

I stay out of work politics and management. I do my little staff nurse job and enjoy the relatively little stress it has as compared to managing or being in charge all the time (although I do charge some shifts, as a rule I don't). Call me lazy, but I LIKE THAT!

I enjoy being a SAHM mom on weekdays....I enjoy cooking for them......being here. I home school my kids. I enjoy our dinners as a family every night, except on those weekends nights I work. I enjoy our little jaunts to the small lake nearby to go fishing and pinicking for the day. I enjoy watching my grass grow while they run thru the sprinkler on it.....

For me, this is bliss and balance. Work stays at work, and home, well it's HOME to me.

All I can say is, I REALLY envy you! (I know, I am not supposed to envy, but I can't help it!) I doubt I will ever get to a point where I can spend as much time with my kids as I want; right now I am working on getting some acceptance with where I'm at right now.

Unless I actually need the extra cash, I never do overtime. I work 36 hours a week (3 12's) and that's it. I learned not to be guilted into overworking myself because that's when I start to get burned out. I cherish my days off and enjoy myself during that time. Then when I'm at work for my regular shifts, I'm in a good mood and happy to be there rather than sick to death of the place. The unit won't fall apart just because I'm not there!!!

Switching to 12 hour shifts has helped me too. I go bowling, do yoga, have friends, take care of the dogs, read, etc. and have a balanced life.

I'll have to think about what my employer has done to improve worklife. What kinds of things are you talking about? Recruit and retention?

I'm in a bad mood right now about work. :)

I like to think that I am pretty balanced...I enjoy my work and my free time. I don't have any children so that probably makes balancing things easier though. I work 36 hours a week and lately have been picking up one extra shift a pay period. I work full time nights and my husband works 8-5 full time days...so they days that I work we just see each other in passing. The schedule works well for us though because my husband enjoys having some free nights to himself to watch movies and play video games :) I also enjoy th people that I work with, they are like a second family of sorts...In my spare time I work at my husbands shop with him (mostly so I can see him....), work out, go motorcycle riding with people from work, clean, whatever I need to do...

I think that I am just pretty laid back. I don't really have too much to complain about. I am young, I have nice things, a good job, a fabulous husband (who could take some destressing classes though)...I guess I just try to do things that make me happy-and having a good balance is one of those things. I am sure that when we try to have kids, some of that balance will get thrown off a little- but I still think that we will be fine...we always are...guess I'm just a little idealistic-but I like it!

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