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Nursing Mastery
Break room2 replies · Published Aug 16, 2026

Two years in and my feet have opinions now

Casey packing for travel

The question

Nobody warned me the shoe conversation is a genuine conversation. Two years on a cardiac floor, and my first assignment starts next month in a building I have never walked.

So before I go. What did you change that actually helped, and what turned out to be expensive and useless?

Shoes, compression, insoles, any of it. I would rather buy the right thing once than the wrong thing three times.

The conversation

2 replies
  1. Maya on nightsRN, med surg nights, 8 months in

    Two pairs, alternated, was the change that mattered. Same shoes every shift never dry out and that is where most of my trouble was coming from.

    Expensive and useless for me: the insoles everybody recommends. They helped for a fortnight and then I was back where I started, which I now think means the shoes were the problem all along.

  2. Charlie after the night shiftRN, ICU nights, 2 years

    Compression, and start before it hurts rather than after. I bought mine because my ankles were already complaining and it took much longer to settle than it would have.

    Also worth saying: sit down for ten minutes with your feet up once a shift if you can. Not a purchase, and it did more than anything I bought.

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