Why working just 3 days a week is exhausting

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

I saw this article on Huffingtonpost a friend on facebook had posted about what it's like working 3 days a week as an RN. I always imagine myself working 3 days a week as an RN. The author mentioned curling up in a dark room under a blanket recovering from physical and mental stress from the 3 days of work. I'm not saying it's a joke, just the thought of working 3 days and going through what an RN has to do within those 3 days and what they know does sound stressful. I also read in there that dreaded word you all hate to hear, "charting". I wonder. Can CNAs or Nurses bring a notepad of some kind to help them with charting later if they have to do the old school method? Like if you come in and a patients monitor for breathing assistance isn't working and you and another RN have to scramble around it to get it to work and keep an eye on a patient from dying, or medication, or CNA isn't available so you do their job a little bit for the patients quick request, and then before you move on you quickly document on your notepad? To kinda make your charting later on in the day a bit easier? You know, quick few notes?

Why Working 'Just' Three Days a Week As a Nurse Is Utterly Exhausting | The Huffington Post

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Working three 12 hour shifts can be utterly exhausting, this is true. It should not incapacitate you for the rest of your life, however. It's just a job. Go home from your shift (every shift) and practice some self care. Drink a glass of wine and take a long, hot bath, walk your dogs a few miles, go running, put on music and dance your heart out -- whatever it takes to "work off" the shift. At the end of the last shift, you can take longer to decompress . . . sleep in late, read a novel in bed, or get up with the sun and run your favorite route. And then live your life. If you absolutely cannot do anything but curl up in the dark shift after shift, week after week, perhaps some counseling will help. Most of us do just fine shaking off the stretch of bad shifts and enjoying our days off.

[Jules A, MSN]

I wonder how old the author is. Ducking for the tomatoes that will inevitably be thrown my way and speaking only for myself as someone who has always worked overtime at multiple jobs, starting in my mid 40s, the 12s and 16s have been kicking my butt. I still do them but my recovery time is way longer than when I was younger. FWIW I'm still in very good physical shape for my age, eat healthy, normal weight and work out etc. Fortunately I am forcing myself to accept the age related changes that are inevitable and will be retiring before I'm gazing off while mouth breathing at the nurses station.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I wonder how old the author is. Ducking for the tomatoes that will inevitably be thrown my way and speaking only for myself as someone who has always worked overtime at multiple jobs, starting in my mid 40s, the 12s and 16s have been kicking my butt. I still do them but my recovery time is way longer than when I was younger. FWIW I'm still in very good physical shape for my age, eat healthy, normal weight and work out etc. Fortunately I am forcing myself to accept the age related changes that are inevitable and will be retiring before I'm gazing off while mouth breathing at the nurses station.

Somehow, I don't think the author is older than us, JulesA.

[Jules A, MSN]

Somehow, I don't think the author is older than us, JulesA.

Yeah probably not because she'd have had to have walked the earth with dinosaurs, right?

I should have clicked on the link to the article, taken a peek at the young girlie in the picture and answered no. I have consistently worked 40+ hours, rarely did 8s and didn't find 3or4 12s or even 16 hours at a clip all that draining until I became a woman of a certain age, lol.