The Truth About Working Three Days a Week While people may think it’s great to work only three days a week, the truth is that having four days off every week might not be as interesting as it sounds. Nursing is a mentally and physically exhausting career, and nurses who work three days a week have 12-hour shift days, which sometimes extends to 14-hour shifts. Advantages of Working Three Days a Week ● Shorter Work Week Working three days a week means you have shorter work weeks and more days to enjoy time with your family and friends. If you have a long commute, a shorter work week means fewer hours spent on the road. ● Desirable Balance Between Work and Personal Life One of the biggest benefits nurses experience because they work three days a week is a better balance between work and their personal lives. Having four days away from the job and its stress gives you some time to enjoy your personal life. Studies have shown that smaller work weeks translate into reduced absenteeism, better staff morale, and less staff turnover. ● Better Care For the Patient In this profession, communication errors occur at shift changes and they can sometimes put the patient’s life at risk. With longer work hours, only two shift changes are required per day as opposed to three. Therefore, patients will benefit a lot from the continuity of care. ● Flexibility With four free days at hand, you may find it easier to attend a second job and earn more money. With a large amount of free time at your disposal, you can also volunteer in a meaningful way or indulge in different household work. Disadvantages of 12- Hour Long Shift ● Fatigue With extended work hours, fatigue sets in over a period of time. Working for more hours per day means that you will lose your focus at the end of the day and make errors. Symptoms of fatigue start showing from extended workdays and you may experience poor concentration, sleepiness, increased susceptibility to illness, weariness, and irritability. If you don’t stop and rest, these symptoms can become overwhelming. ● Reduced Productivity
Long working hours often proves to be counterproductive. According to a study, it was proved that productivity was increased for only 3 to 4 weeks for every additional 20 hours of work before turning negative. As a nurse, if you work consistently for long hours, you will eventually start falling behind. Productivity declines with more working hours. ● Patient dissatisfaction Nurses working long hours become less responsive to the needs of their patients. This has been directly related to fatigued nurses who experience burnouts working long hours for three days a week. Nurses may also experience a burnout if there is inadequate nurse-topatient ratio, which can cause nurses to lag behind on their duties. ● Neglected Social Life When working for a 14-hour long shift, it becomes difficult to maintain a healthy social life. With a hectic work schedule and extended work hours, one’s quality of life can reduce. Three-day work schedules can occasionally stop you from socializing, which can harm your social life in certain instances. ● Health Hazards You must have heard the old saying, “Hard work won’t kill you”. Well, it seems that we should think twice about it, as working long shifts can cause health hazards. Depending on the lengthened work hours and the area where you work, you can be exposed to serious health hazards. Please follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest and Twitter