Why do some nurses do this? And why are they allowed to?

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maybe it's just me.....but can anyone explain to me why a nurse would want to work nine twelve-hour shifts in a row?

this is a staff nurse i'm referring to, and she was telling me how much overtime she has on her checks....something like forty hours of overtime (i'm assuming they pay every 2 weeks.) :uhoh21:

why on earth would anyone want to do this? what's bad is that by doing these kinds of hours, she is setting a precedent for all the other nurses on the unit - in other words, if she works sixty hours a week management will probably say "well, look at so-and-so, she works sixty hours per week, i guess the other nurses can do it, too!"

there are only a handful of staff nurses left, the rest are agency/travel nurses. there's no difference in this ms floor than any other. i'm wondering if this is the reason they can't keep staff.

they have one or two nurses willing to work constantly, so they expect the others to.....and no person in their right mind is going to want to work those hours, at least imho, unless they have some sort of emergency financial crisis.

i just don't understand some people.....lol.

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Yeah, and how much was taken out in taxes? The thought of it scares me...eeeek!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

My peers can work all the overtime they choose too, and many do. That doesn't bother me a bit. I choose to work only 3 12-hour shifts a week (and not in a row either, I can only handle 2 12's in a row. LOL), and that's my story, no matter what management says. Sometimes, when I need the money, and I feel like it I work overtime, when it's my choice.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

i work with quite a few nurses that do that. not uncommon where i work. i don't think management expects everyone else to work like that, but i am sure they feel lucky to have her. i work with a nurse that told me she has worked as much as 180hrs a pay period. she says she does it because she truly just likes to work and she likes having big paychecks (of course). she would work 5 16hr shifts and the remainder would be a 8 hour day. she did this between 2 hospitals. the most i have worked in one week was 65 hours and i was exhausted. i don't know how they do it. i like to have a life outside of work :)

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.

As an aency nurse I worked for two years averging 6 12 hour shifts a week ( and this was big city ER/ICU's). Would I do that now, Probably not, but I did pay cash for my house and have my daughter college all the way through grad school payed for without loans.

It's all a matter of perspective. And the taxes taken in most cases is an urban myth. There are a couple of break points were you move into a new tax bracket, but as long as your planning for that, then there is no problem.

Now as a DON, I do have to watch my employees, because for some people who aren't able to sleep well during the day, working that many night shifts is an invitation to disaster. Med errors and things like that rise when your tired.

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The obvious reason is money and if it does not endanger the patients I say go for it. Some people, however, subscribe to the theory that they work three days a week because they can't make it on working just two. :rotfl:

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I read a couple of other bulletin boards including some for travelers. I know some travelers will not take an assignment unless there is guaranteed minimum of 48hr/week, but they prefer 60hr/week. It is about the money and I don't see there is anything wrong with that. I've worked with people who can't handle three 12's and I've worked with people that regularly worked 48 or more hours a week for weeks on end. I am about to start a run of six 12's in a row (to give me more extended vacation. I've done four or five 12's in a row before but never six, we'll see. . .

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a recent study showed (quoted in Nurseweek magazine) showed that nurses who work evenb 3 twelves in a row are more likely to commit errors due to a lapse in judgement. She is wearing her body out. I doubt she will be able to keep it up long.

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Specializes in Home Health Care,LTC.

Does she have any kids or family?? I wouldn't do it I have a life outside of work that needs my attention to no matter how much I like my job. My family comes first. Just me.

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Occasionally I will see some nurses do this....huge amounts of OT...it is because they need to. They are workaholics, need to please management,or have huge bills to pay off, they have also have their personal reasons. (one coworker was in a bad marriage)Rarely do they do it without someone suffering or picking up the slack.They either fall asleep on the job, or kids and family are calling the unit all the time because they're lonely, etc.

But management loves a workhorse for the facility don't they? They love martyr nurses.

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All I can say is the money is nice. I've done it between 2 jobs. On my primary job I work 4 ten hour days so I'm off three. On those three I worked another job 2 or 3 of those days per week, 12 hour shifts. The money is nice. You do pay alot more in taxes, but I still came out ahead. I'm single, no one at home but me and my dog, so I have the freedom to do it if I want to. However, after about 2 years I got very tired and I quit the part time job. I know my limit. I may go back sometime in the future. It's not like I NEEDED the money, but it was nice to build up my bank account, and to get some extra things I wanted, that otherwise I couldn't have gotten without doing that. That's why I did it. Also, as a person gets older, up in my age range, 50's, a person can boost their Social Security earnings, and when a person retires they can draw more Social Security. I know of several older nurses my age, 51 and all the way up to 62 or 63 who are doing it, mainly to build up their Social Security. I think it's the last 3 to 5 years of your working time just before you retire that really counts towards that. That's what I've been told.

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All I can say is the money is nice. I've done it between 2 jobs. On my primary job I work 4 ten hour days so I'm off three. On those three I worked another job 2 or 3 of those days per week, 12 hour shifts. The money is nice. You do pay alot more in taxes, but I still came out ahead. I'm single, no one at home but me and my dog, so I have the freedom to do it if I want to. However, after about 2 years I got very tired and I quit the part time job. I know my limit. I may go back sometime in the future. It's not like I NEEDED the money, but it was nice to build up my bank account, and to get some extra things I wanted, that otherwise I couldn't have gotten without doing that. That's why I did it. Also, as a person gets older, up in my age range, 50's, a person can boost their Social Security earnings, and when a person retires they can draw more Social Security. I know of several older nurses my age, 51 and all the way up to 62 or 63 who are doing it, mainly to build up their Social Security. I think it's the last 3 to 5 years of your working time just before you retire that really counts towards that. That's what I've been told.

I think working OT is a personal choice. There is a RN who works many hrs of OT b/c her husband is going to law school and she has a family to support. I am planning on working at least an extra 8 hrs per week once I am done with orientation b/c I lost a significant amt of $$ when I changed careers and went through an accelerated BSN program. I think working OT is a personal choice and as long as it is not mandatory (which it isn't at the institution I work for) nor compromises pt. care then I say more power to those who want to work it. Just my 2 cents.

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