Nobody warned me what twelve hours does to your body. What did you change?
Avery on orientationThe question
I am on week nine and my feet and lower back are wrecked in a way they have never been. The shift is posted as twelve hours and I have not left before fourteen once. I keep hearing that you get used to it, and I want to know what people actually changed versus what they just endured. What did you fix early, and what do you wish you had fixed sooner?
The conversation
5 replies- Maya on nightsRN, 8 months in, med surg nights
Shoes first and it is not close. I wore the pair everybody posts about and my feet still hurt, because the answer turned out to be two pairs I rotate rather than one expensive pair. Second thing was compression socks, which I was sure were for other people. Week nine was the worst of it for me and it did not stay that bad.
- Chris on the commuteRN, tele, 6 months off orientation
The fourteen hours is the real problem, not the twelve. Find the person on your unit who leaves on time and watch what they do at 1800, because they are charting as they go instead of saving it for the end. I stayed late for four months before anyone said that to me out loud.
- Riley in the break roomRN, ED, 2 years in
Raise the bed to the right height every single time, even when the patient says they can do it themselves. I have a lower back problem at twenty six because I skipped that on the shifts I was already behind on. Call the lift team even when it is faster not to. The shifts where you are most behind are exactly the shifts you hurt yourself on.
- Charlie after the night shiftRN, ICU nights, 2 years
Eat before the shift, not during it, because during it is not going to happen. I pack something I can finish in four minutes standing up. Drink water on a set schedule rather than when you feel like it, because on a busy floor by the time you feel like it, it is already 1500.
- Skyler on days nowRN, 2 years in, days now
Two years in and the honest version is that some of it gets easier and some of it does not. My stamina is completely different now. My back is not, and that is the part I would protect harder if I could go back. It gets better, and it gets better faster if you treat your body like equipment you cannot replace.
What would you tell them?
Answer from what you have seen. It posts without your name.