Close to a burn out at work

[mary_poppins]

Hi all.

In May, it will be a year since I've started working in a nursing home. The work is pleasant (I do night shift, which is easy) and the patients are sweet and loving (some are nasty, some aggressive but very few). However, this month the roster looks terrible. They have made me work about around 70 hours a week (they usually give us less hours but because the company is short-staffed atm, we are all now doing extra work without even being asked I am not happy that I wasn't asked about this. In the contract it is stated that we need to work a minimum of 38 hours a week (ha ha) but I have never worked that little.

I feel overworked and close to a burnout. Some staff from the night shift has quit and I guess we need to cover for them but how is this my problem?

The salary is not great (it's not a low salary but it can be better for what we do) so I can't say I am greatly compensated.

I have only two free days a week and I can't even send job applications during that time because I need to rest and recuperate the lost hours during night shift. Management is not empathetic. If I have a problem, we can't go to anyone to complain, HR is non-existent or doesn't care.

No bonuses for working over time, no thank yous, no appreciation for the hard work we're doing. I used to work extra hours and no one expressed any gratitude about that.

Anyway, if anyone was in my situation, how did you handle it? Did you quit before or after you got a better job?

I'm literally crying rn because I had a hard shift last night and can't sleep now due to extreme tiredness.

[walking on broken glass]

I am so sorry, mary poppins! This sounds exhausting, both physically and mentally. No wonder you feel so low and disheartened.

Do you have a union you could bring this to? Is it possible to take a sick leave for a couple of days to recuperate and do a proper search for other jobs?

[Laurie]

I've also struggled with setting boundaries at work, and it can feel like a huge double standard when others take time off, but have a tough time adjusting when I take earned PTO. Marry_Poppins, this sounds like something impacting other coworkers also. How are they coping? Maybe all of you can work together to try to get management to hire additional staff.

[Lookin 2 B Free]

Wow, Mary Poppins, is that even legal? I haven't been in that situation.  But I have heard of people setting boundaries with the schedule makers or administrators and saying "This is what I am willing to work.  I will not work beyond this."  Sure, they get mad.  It seems unlikely they'd fire someone for that given they're already short staffed. At least that's what I've heard.  I've also heard in those situations that people start calling in sick or not showing up.  People who are used to taking care of themselves seem to take care of themselves in these situations.

[mary_poppins]

Update:

I feel better. The management decided to schedule less shifts because people were complaining. For ex, I have only three shifts this week. I still want to quit but will wait until I have a job ligned up. Thx everyone for your answers.

[Rebel13]

That's great news! I hope things continue in a positive direction.