Is it a good idea to work 5 days straight (12 hours shifts/day)?

Katie71275 · Feb 12, 2014

I've worked 4 days straight, and yes I have noticed that you get taxed pretty heavily. Sanity wise, I prefer my 3 days(and max 4) but depends on what you have going on in your personal life (married, children, etc).

Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2014

2 things, it is up to the individual person as if they can do it. ( I personally do it all the time), secondly overtime wages are taxed AT THE SAME RATE as regular wages. There is not a special tax rate for OT wages. The IRS considers all wages earned as just that, wages and are taxed at the individuals tax rate. They do not care if it is overtime or regular time.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 12, 2014

Agree with above, your true tax bracket is based on your annual adjusted gross income, not what you made in a given week. Your weekly deductions are based on how you set up your exemptions.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Feb 12, 2014

Research indicates this amount of hours is dangerous and some industries strictly prohibit it. It is sorta like being drunk. You really are not in a position to judge your level of impairment.

caliotter3 · Feb 12, 2014

I successfully worked six days/12 hr shifts for more than a year, but my employer would not pay me overtime. Because of that experience I avoid such situations now. I felt it necessary to agree to this arrangement in order to be employed, but I ended up leaving the employer anyway.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 12, 2014

Hi nurses! Some of my co-workers have done this before, but at the end of the 5th day they look so tired. Do you think it is worthy? Some of the older nurses say that after the 4th day everything is lost in taxes. Give me your opinion in this matter.

Is it a good idea? No. I've done it, though, in order to free up five days straight to fly 1000 miles to deal with my parents' issues every six weeks. I've done it to get some time off for a vacation when medical issues burned through all my PTO. If you have a good reason to want to stack your days to get some time off, go for it. But working 60 hours in five days just to do so -- not so smart.

1fastRN · Feb 12, 2014

NO, three in a row is killer. Four in a row and im a zombie!

KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2014

Depends on why you are doing it. I wouldn't if the 4th and 5th shift weren't OT. When I was a new nurse, I had the opportunity to work as much OT as I could handle at a very fair wage too I must say. I worked 4-5 12's a week on the night shift for a year. The goal was to pay off my student loans, and pay off my car. After that I was debt free and have been debt free ever since.

However I would never do it for straight time or if my employer scheduled me that way without my permission. One think that is fact though is on your 5th 12 your patience is very thin and sometimes I wonder if that is fair to the patient.

anon456, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2014

It's not safe. Studies done on nurses have shown (and of course I cannot find the studies when I need them) that each 12 hour shift you work has more risk of making mistakes. I would also hate to be on the road with you when you were driving home.

Just not worth it.

If you have to work that many hours, try to break the days up into 2 and 3 so you can sleep in on that third day and rest fully.

HyperSaurus, RN, BSN · Feb 12, 2014

How many days off in a row do you get afterwards?

Morainey, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2014

No. Such a bad idea. The most I will work is 5 days in a row and I only do 8s and by that last day I am experiencing serious compassion fatigue and I either get very surly or very giddy.