The Shift That Never Ends : What Happens When Nurses Don't Slow Down
The Shift That Never Ends : What Happens When Nurses Don't Slow Down
If you've ever left a shift too tired to even think, this one's for you.
Not to tell you what to do but to remind you that you're not the only one running on empty.
In nursing, time is everything. Seconds matter, for meds, for vitals, for lives. But somewhere along the way, that urgency starts bleeding into everything we do. We rush through charting, meals and even our own thoughts.
Then one day, the alarm goes off, and your body just says, "No more."
Burnout isn't just feeling tired. It's when the light you always had for this work starts to flicker. Studies show that more than one in three nurses feel this way, emotionally drained, detached, or just running on autopilot. It's not weakness. It's a signal.
When you go from shift to shift without truly resting, your body stays stuck in "fight or flight" mode. Your heart never slows down, your mind never stops scanning for the next call light.
And eventually it catches up:
- Snapping at people you love
- Forgetting small things you'd never forget before
- Feeling numb or detached
- Waking up exhausted no matter how long you slept
The truth? We don't need a research study to tell us what our bodies already know, constant stress changes us. We teach this and see this in our patient all the time.
You don't need a perfect morning routine or an hour of meditation. Sometimes it's just one quiet minute, literally 60 seconds, to breathe and remind your self you're still human.
Try this:
- Walk out to your car with a coworker.
- Sit in your car before heading home.
- Exhale like you're letting the whole shift go with it.
- Hand on your chest, whisper ( or scream) " I made it through."
This may sound simple or cheesy, but you never know until you try. Even if your first attempt is half-hearted or out of spite, you're still creating a ritual and helping your body and mind relax.
The Healing Shift
That's what this space is for, learning to refill before we run dry. Whether it's a candle, a cup of tea, a song in the car, or a quiet breath before walking inside , it all counts.
I'd love to hear from you:
What does your post-shift routine look like? What helps you come back to yourself after the chaos? Share your story in the comments, your experience might be exactly what another nurse needs to read tonight.
Because every second still matters, especially the ones you give back to you.