Wife's Working Too Much

[KrazyRon]

My wife is a nurse at a local hospital emergency room and she is working too much! She works what she is supposed to and then when someone calls in sick, the supervisor talks her into staying! That's a 12 hour shift and then another 12 hour shift on top of that. That's only if she is off the next day but still, she is working a lot of overtime and the kids are really missing her. I know she is expected to cover some of the times when someone is off but all of them. I think she's being too soft and allowing them to talk her into it. She's a great ER nurse and I know they just ask her because they know she'll do it. How can I convince her to quit so much overtime? The money is not good enough for her to continue because they take out so much more in taxes, so we aren't getting anything out of her working so much.

 

[WallysBunch]

Talk to her about how much you ALL miss her. I was always a sucker for overtime too because I wanted my family to have bigger and better until my wife explained that I was missed at home and they needed ME more than they needed the money.

 

[Howard]

My wife is a nurse too. The thing about nursing is that the welfare of the patients is so ingrained as a professional value. Some places will hold it against nurses if they don't stay. It's a fine line they walk sometimes.

 

[Kenny]

There are legal implications here as well. As a nurse if someone doesn't come in to take your place you cannot leave. You will lose your license and probably be arrested for endangering patients. When she is asked and given the choice though she should say no.

 

[youngdad]

If she works a 12 hour shift of her own and then another 12 hour shift, that's 24 hours straight. That's much too long for anyone and by the time she gets home, she probably just wants to go to bed. I think talking to her and letting her know how much she is needed at home is what I would do.

 

[Zimmer]

Simplest answer, that everybody else mentioned already is tell her everything you just said. Pulling 24 hour shifts is not a really healthy way to live anyway, so she should try to get out of them when possible.