Sample size of 1, but my gf blames forced overtime. Being legally obliged to stay for an 8 hours shift after finishing one has a way to drive you to depression.

I would pay more to go to a hospital where I know people are actually well rested. My last few hospital stays have been saturated with clearly agitated staff (doctors, nurses, reception) who were putting in minimal effort, and clearly didn't want to be there, and I can't blame them given the conditions that they're being forced to work under.

This is in the US, and I can't figure out why the Department of Labor hasn't cracked down on the medical industry yet. It's really horrific, especially because these are the people we're supposed to be relying on to keep us healthy and safe.

How hard is it to enforce 8 hour days 5 days a week? Every other industry has figured it out.

To be fair, most industries don't have evening and night shifts and a supply mismatch, most nurses want to work the day shift, it's harder to find candidates for evening and night.

At least at my local hospital, it's not just overtime -- regular shifts are 12 hours even when everything is normal. That's nuts.

That's a little bit different and not as detrimental though. It's actually an incentive for nurses because they get to work fewer days. Instead of doing 10 8 hours shift every two weeks they'll do 6 12 hours and basically get 8 days off every 2 weeks, which is pretty interesting from a free time perspective.

My gf did both and while she was tired after 12 hours, overall I think she preferred it.