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Comment by stickfigure | Hacker News Reader

On your next hospital visit for life-saving care, I'm sure you will be comforted to know that nurses (in the US) typically work 12 hour shifts and they're on their feet the whole time.

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Nurses work 3x12 shifts to reduce the number of times patient care is handed off. If everyone worked 8 hour shifts you’d have 3 handoffs per day and a minimum of 3 different people caring for the patient. With 12 hour shifts you have only 2 handoffs per day and can have 2 people trade off on patients if their schedules line up.

I’m sure it varies by location, but my nurse friends only work 3x12, giving them 4 days off per week. Working 12 hour shifts is much more acceptable when you have more days off than days spent working. They’re virtually unavailable on days they work, but then they’re off traveling or having fun for 4 days, some times more if they combine their days off back to back. My close nurse friend routinely takes week long vacations without actually taking any time off at all.

This is true, but IMO doesn't refute the point, it just makes me concerned about care quality. Were there any studies that showed that the long, grueling shifts are actually better or is it simply this way because it's always been that way and change would be hard and expensive, and because "my grandma walked up hill to school both ways, so young people can too"?

Who said it's gruelling? In the case of the rover, it's not year round, it's when they are preparing for a launch. Also, you're on HN, so surely you have heard of flow.

And doctors doing 24h shifts. At least in the NICU my kids were in.

One of the many reasons I'd never live there. I'll stick to places with better labour laws thanks.

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