Too much working

I don't know how all of you 40 hour a week folks have any energy left at the end of the week. This week because of my schedule, I worked 48 hours... that meant two twelve hour days, one day off in the middle and then another two. Today I am so tired!!!
I could blame it on pregnancy which probably is sort of legit but mostly it is probably because of the type of work that I do. I don't think my job allows for a lot of down time that possibly is more common in other lines of work. To give you an idea, this month our manager is having us document whether we get our legally required breaks. The norm for a twelve hour shift on our unit is one half an hour break and one fifteen minute break. The fifteen minute break is seen as a bonus. If you are lucky to get that in the break morning then you are probably having a pretty good day. By law however we are supposed to have three fifteen minute breaks and one unpaid half an hour lunch. This new proposal by our awesome manager (she rocks) is not unreasonable at all..we probably should be in line with labor laws. But the nature of our work makes the thought almost laughable. The talk amongst staff about having that many breaks is interesting...we don't think it is possible. Which in my mind brings up an entirely different discussion. Do we not think we deserve breaks? Are we a group of martyrs?
The labor laws are not new laws. Some staff have worked in the hospital for their entire careers and have most likely known about the fact that they are working too much and have done nothing to change it. Nine times out of ten if you ask a nurse if he or she wants a break and they just have too much to do they will say that it isn't worth it because they will get so behind and feel worse when they come back. I know nurses are not alone in this lack of break land. I think physicians often lack breaks as well or don't have them at all. But I wonder if it is worse in the U.S. When I talk to my nurse friends in Canada, they seem to have more regimented break schedules. I wonder if this increases good patient care or are patients left needing things but the nurse is gone on a scheduled break. A lot of times I think it comes down to needing more staff which is a complicated issue that involves budgets and staffing allowances and issues that many times forget about the actual reason why we are nursing people....we want them to get better!!!
Despite my fatigue, I left work yesterday with a really good feeling. I am so proud of the work that I do...and even though it can be a really hard job that often is not glorious or one which entices the 'wow' factor, it is so important. If you don't have a good nurse, you are screwed. Twelve hours of hell with Nurse Ratchet is bad enough but when you are sick, it is even worse. I have to say that I have met very few Nurse Ratchets and the staff that I work with are an incredibly smart, creative and dedicated group of people.
No picture for this post...just words