Time Off in Nursing: How to Use it and Why it Matters

Feeling torn between patient care and your own recovery? We dig into the real-world playbook for nurse PTO and RTO—what they are, how they accrue, and how to actually use them without guilt, drama, or burnout. From unit-level policies and state rules to the fine print managers forget to mention, we unpack the strategies that help you protect your time, your energy, and your sanity.

We walk through practical scheduling moves that turn a three-shift week into six or seven days off, compare the tradeoffs of stacking shifts, and explain when RTO stretches your rest versus when it backfires. You’ll hear candid stories about cashing out PTO (and the tax surprises), the hidden costs of “just push through,” and the hard-earned lesson that rest isn’t a luxury—it's career insurance. We also explore how holiday rotations, request windows, and equitable rules keep teams safe and morale high, and why “get it in writing” can save your vacation.

From the leadership side, we talk about modeling healthy boundaries, applying policies consistently, and building a culture where time off is respected, not resented. If you’ve ever wondered how to plan mental health resets before you hit the wall, how to combine PTO and RTO for mini-vacations, or how to navigate fairness when everyone wants July or Christmas, this conversation gives you a clear, humane framework.

If this helped you think differently about your time, hit follow, share it with a colleague who needs the nudge, and leave a review so more nurses can find it. Then go submit that PTO request—you’ve earned it.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And PTO On The Table
• 1:10 What PTO Is And How It Accrues
• 3:10 Policies, Fine Print, And Getting It In Writing
• 5:45 PTO vs RTO: How To Stack Time
• 9:10 The Burnout Tradeoff Of Stacking Shifts
• 13:45 Night Shift Schedules And Circadian Reality
• 17:40 Smart Combinations Of PTO And RTO
• 20:45 Scrub Hacks: Strategic PTO Playbook
• 26:20 Hoarding, Mental Health Days, And Balance
• 30:40 Fairness Around Holidays And Equity
• 36:00 Cashing Out PTO, Taxes, And Burnout Lessons
• 41:00 PTO As Survival, Not Luxury
• 46:00 New Managers, Guilt, And Modeling Rest

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:00

Hello, and welcome to NursingLike 101. We're so excited to have you here with us as we dive into the world of nursing, sharing real stories, practical tips, and a little fun along the way. I'm Christopher.

Colby: 0:11

And I'm Colby. Together, we're here to talk about all things nursing, the lessons, the laughs, and the things no one warned you about in nursing school.

SPEAKER_04: 0:20

And today we're talking tackling something every nurse needs but hardly ever feels comfortable taking. PTO.

Colby: 0:27

That's right. Paid time off. You've earned it, you deserve it, and we're going to talk about when to actually use it without guilt.

SPEAKER_04: 0:33

Because let's be honest, in nursing, sometimes taking time off feels harder than picking up a double. So let's start from the top. What even is PTO?

Colby: 1:12

It's basically your earned time off that you can use however you need. Vacation, personal days, sick time, depending on your facilities policy, of course.

SPEAKER_04: 1:20

Exactly. And the key word here is earned. PTO usually builds up the longer you work. So those hours add up with every shift you survive.

Colby: 1:31

And most places lump it all together these days, one big PTO bank instead of separate vacation and sick days.

SPEAKER_04: 1:37

So when when did you realize your PTO was like something that accrued? Did you like know about PTO when you first started?

Colby: 1:45

Oh yeah, definitely. I think that was like a I mean, I knew that I accrued it. Every job that I've ever had, I've accrued it, which is nice. But of course, without like with the exception of traveling, we didn't accrue PTO. The comp some companies do offer that, but my travel company didn't. So you would just like schedule the days off that you wanted into your contract. But yeah, I knew that I I definitely got that understanding immediately. I was like, all right, I'm accruing. It was the first job that I ever earned like that benefit. So that was pretty cool. How about you? Did you have a different like was it always lump sum earned, accrued, automatically given?

SPEAKER_04: 2:23

Well, I mean, I didn't have many jobs before being a nurse, and really and truly I was uh I was a home health aide prior and did we accrue PTO?

SPEAKER_03: 2:37

I have no clue.

SPEAKER_04: 2:38

I don't think we did because I technically was a I wasn't like full time, so I had benefits, but I it wasn't maybe I did accrue some PTO. I don't remember. I it's probably I probably did. I don't know. But I rarely used it, so it was just like I don't know. I I really don't know.

Colby: 3:03

Yeah, it was a while ago. I think I I feel like you'll find most of the time in hospitals it's an accrual thing. But a lot of times if you work like in a private practice, like office setting, outpatient surgery, priv like mostly private practices where you're gonna find a lot of differentiation where you you automatically and also we learned recently there's state laws that kind of mandatory things too, which we didn't realize. We were talking about that the other night. But yeah, I mean it you just you have to you have to be aware of what your benefits package is. It's gonna differ a little bit for everybody.

SPEAKER_04: 3:35

For sure. If you're new to nursing, check your policy because every hospital handles PTO differently. Some require a year before you can use it, and others that you dip in early. Yeah. And interestingly enough, our health system does allow you to dip into it early.

Colby: 3:53

Yeah. I just was looking into that when I took the Kronos, which is our timekeeping class for managers. And we can take they can tap into into I think they get an advance of 34 hours, if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_05: 4:07

That sounds right.

Colby: 4:08

Yeah. That that we can kind of give in advance. They get the advance if they have something that's planned when they start their job. But it has to be the in the way to use it, you have to have the vacation planned like when you accept the position. Right. Yeah. So it's not like it's very tricky. There's a lot of loophole, there's a lot of uh small, small word jargon that you need to be aware of. And I mean fine print is what I'm looking for. For sure. That's the word I was looking for.

SPEAKER_04: 4:36

Yeah. And one thing in in terms of like interviewer, you you probably should ask a little bit about what PTO looks like in terms of your unit that you're working for. Or I mean, I guess really and truly, just anywhere you're working. It doesn't even have to be a unit. And so like make sure that you're just paying attention to wherever you go. Like it is it's important. Like it's your paid time off.

Colby: 4:58

Yeah. If you know you're gonna have a vacation coming up and you're starting a new job, it's something you want to get like in writing. In writing specifically. Like a lot of times people are like, oh yeah, well, they told me it was okay. And then flash forward, it's through two weeks before your vacation, everything's booked, you have your flights, you've paid all this money, and they're like, We never said that. So get it in writing.

SPEAKER_04: 5:22

And I I think sometimes it might feel like they were being malicious and they like did not want to do like give you the time off. But people are your managers are humans too, and they forget. So putting it in writing helps you remember.

Colby: 5:39

Yeah. It's a paper trail.

SPEAKER_04: 5:41

It is a paper trail, and it's important.

Colby: 5:42

It is.

SPEAKER_04: 5:43

And you know, we just recently had one of our hiking group friends deal with that.

Colby: 5:51

Yeah, so it can happen to anybody. Yeah. Okay, so there's paid time off, but there's also requested time off. So here's where it gets fun. RTO and PTO, two totally different things.

SPEAKER_04: 6:05

Right. RTO blocks your schedule without actually using PTO hours, which means with smart planning, you can get more days off without burning your time bank, your PTO time bank.

Colby: 6:18

Yeah. When you work, when you if you were lucky to work the 12, three, 12-hour shift schedule, or even like a four, 10-hour shift schedule, you can block your schedule and kind of use requested time off or like use it. We also have use something called unavailable. So you can block your schedule so that you can use work the days that you want and stack your shifts and then get more days off in the middle and not use your PTO.

SPEAKER_04: 6:44

Yeah. And, you know, it's one of those there's an importance in being able to use RTO or like asking for time off because it allows you to ensure that you can go to a little vacation without having to use the PTO. But I guess my question would be with RTO, like make sure you're there's an importance in using PTO. Like you should use PTO. And RTO is good, but do you ever feel like RTO is as good as PTO? Like, do you do you think there's for your mental health mainly? Like for rejuvenation and stuff like that.

Colby: 7:25

Yeah, I think it's it's really it's a really fine line, right? So like you still get days off, but you're still working the same required amount of hours for that is like what your job description entails. I think it it's and I did this for years. When I worked night shift, I would work three, be off one, then work three more shifts, and then I would be off for six in a row. And it was a way I never had to use my PTO. And instead of using my PTO, our our healthcare facility allows us to cash out some PTO twice a year, a certain amount, not everything, but I would bank up so much PTO and not be using it that I would cash it out so that I could pay off student loans or credit card bills or whatever when I was really poor. So it is that the best way to do it? No, I really I I don't think so, but is it a good way to do it if you if you one don't want to waste your PTO? Well, I wouldn't call it a waste, but if you want to like save as much as you can and use it for different reasons. Now I think I agree, I see what you're getting at, and I kind of agree with maybe you're just asking the devil's advocate and asking the question, but I don't, I don't think, I truly don't think, and I can speak for experience having done it, that when you stack your days up like that to get days off also stacked up, you're usually burnt out the first two days. You can't do anything, anyways. Or or or you're just muscle and pushing it through and being like, all right, I'm going on vacation. Um and I did this. I like worked six days in a row basically, and then gone and went to the airport, got on an airplane, like flew to Mexico, stayed there for four or five days, then flew back, then came back, and then immediately had to go back to work.

SPEAKER_05: 9:05

Like, yeah, that's a lot.

Colby: 9:06

Was that my smartest move? No. But was I like 22 and like having a good time? Yes. What could I do that today? No, probably not. Not without being absolutely miserable and like having like a 40-hour sleep debt. But when you're young and you have so much energy, go for it. Yeah, but also be careful because you're gonna encroach on burnout really fast.

SPEAKER_04: 9:28

Yeah, I I mean, I I was one, I mean, obviously, I rarely use PTO. So I love a good old fashion working on Monday, Tuesday, or excuse me, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday of the first week, and then Wednesday, Thursday, or excuse me, Thursday, Friday, Saturday until last week. I mean, you know, that you get I wish I knew.

Colby: 9:56

And six days.

SPEAKER_03: 9:58

Okay, thank you.

Colby: 9:58

Yeah, because that's what I would do. Oh okay. I would work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, be off Sunday, and then I'd come back and work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And then I would be off until the following Thursday. And then work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, off Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It was a lot. It would be like six days in a row, almost. You know, it'd be broken up by one day.

SPEAKER_04: 10:22

You could work Monda excuse me, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which is seven days. Seven days off.

Colby: 10:33

Then you come back and you have to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

SPEAKER_04: 10:36

But then when you can work whatever amount on the other week, you like you don't have to do Saturday, Saturday, but I work night shift.

Colby: 10:42

So I just wanted to get my night shifts out of the way and be a night shift person for a week, and that way I could with the flipping back and forth, like because I wasn't there's a lot of ways you can do night shift. This is kind of now we're getting off on a tangent, but for me, what worked best was staying as staying in the night shift like mode for that week while I'm working. And then I don't I didn't like to be a night shifter really. Like I I enjoyed being a day walker. And so when I wasn't working, I was up and at them at like, you know, seven o'clock in the morning and spending the entire day awake. Where a lot of people I I not a lot, but you know, they're like I said, people do it differently. People I knew who just kept a night shift schedule all the time. And they always and you always slept during the day, regardless whether you were working that day or not.

SPEAKER_04: 11:31

I was awake when the night was awake.

Colby: 11:33

Yeah, and I I didn't want to do that. I'm more social than you than you are.

SPEAKER_04: 11:38

But the thing is, I got up at 4 p.m. And most people, if they wanted to hang out, it was usually between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. So I still hung out with them around that time. And actually I was a lot more awake than I would have been if I was to be in day shift, at least in my opinion.

Colby: 11:52

Aaron Powell Well, everybody works differently. Like for me, I was awake at 7 a.m., had a coffee, I was ready to go. Like it was if it was my last, if I worked the night before and it was my first day off, I'd go home and I'd take a nap till like 10 a.m. And then I'd be up from 10 a.m. and get right back on a day shift schedule. And I'd be fine. I'd I could do that for years. Could I do that today at 33, almost 34 years old? Probably not. But at 23, I could do it like nothing.

SPEAKER_04: 12:17

I wonder what like scientifically, what's better for you.

Colby: 12:22

I think keeping as much of a regular schedule.

SPEAKER_04: 12:25

Circadian rhythm. Yeah. So mine would be better than yours would be better.

Colby: 12:29

Mine would be like second option. And then like what would be like absolutely the worst option would be to like working like a flip, like a schedule that flips is all flips multiple times throughout the week.

SPEAKER_05: 12:40

Right.

Colby: 12:40

Like it staying for like one week and then going back. Like as much as regular as you can be is better for your body.

SPEAKER_04: 12:48

Well, I'm glad I could do that.

SPEAKER_03: 12:50

That was a bad on my back.

SPEAKER_04: 12:53

Um Yeah, I mean I I I I to your point and what I was trying to get out and was kind of hinting at is Using RTO is good and it allows you to have those moments of like relaxation and like I said, six, seven days off. But make sure that those six or seven days off are not going it's not to the expense of you being burned out on those six days together or those three like if you if you say to your manager or if you say to most people I can't do three days in a row, you probably shouldn't do this with the RTO.

unknown: 13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 13:43

I mean, I don't want to work with you if you're gonna be crotchety and like you know, like but it's true. Like I and honestly, are you going to be safe for patients? Like, is there a reason why you're saying you can't do three days in a row? And is it because you're you're fearing that you would be a detriment to your patient? If that's the case, please.

Colby: 14:06

Yeah, don't let yourself turn into nurse ratchet at the expense of of your patients and coworkers. Just use your PTO. That's that's why you get it as a benefit. And that's why you I mean, that's why you originally worked the hours you worked, you earned it. You earned it, so you should use it.

SPEAKER_04: 14:23

Aaron Powell And I mean you can still use your RTO in conjunction with your PTO. Like you can say, I can work Monday two man, I can't get the days right. I can get I can work Sunday, Monday and take a PTO that week. So you get you work two days that week and then don't come back until I wish y'all could see my brain fizzling out.

Colby: 14:50

You work Sunday, Monday, you don't come back to the following Friday, Saturday.

SPEAKER_04: 14:55

Right. And take Thursday as a PTO.

Colby: 14:57

Yeah, and you that's only using two PTO days. Yeah. You can really work it as like all kinds of combinations. Who's like you could do that and then take three days the next week and then take only two days the next week and come back like almost four weeks later, and it's awesome. Like the really you have such a working a three, 12-hour schedule or four, 10-hour schedule, like the flexibility with how much time you can get off with using like a very small amount of PTO and and and utilizing RTO at the same time. That that combination, that combination is like a winning lottery ticket.

SPEAKER_05: 15:32

Yeah.

Colby: 15:32

When you when you can work with the system both ways, exactly. That's Chef's kiss. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 15:37

It's truly all about learning the system and making it work for you because burnout doesn't come with a morning light. It really doesn't.

Colby: 15:44

Sure doesn't. Just gonna smack you in the face.

SPEAKER_04: 15:47

And you're done.

Colby: 15:48

And you're done. All right. It's time for scrub hacks. Those quick practical tips that make surviving your shift a little easier.

SPEAKER_04: 15:55

Because let's be honest, anything that saves time, sanity, or stress deserves a round of applause. Or at least a coffee break.

Colby: 16:05

Yeah. So how to use PTO like a pro. We just talked a little bit about it, but today's hack is all about being strategic with your time off because you earned it and you gotta use it wisely.

SPEAKER_04: 16:16

Let's break it down.

Colby: 16:18

All right. Plan in advance. Submit your PTO requests early, especially around the holidays or summer months when staffing gets tight. And a lot of your lot of your units or departments may have a time period where they open up PTO requests for big for around big times where a lot of people want to request PTO at the same time to make it most fair.

SPEAKER_04: 16:40

Yeah, or either either do that or they might have like legit hol we've we've talked about this before, holiday groups. Scheduling, yeah. You kind of know at least what holiday you're gonna work, but you are uh allowed to well, one thing that I started implementing on the in the clinic that I manage now is that only one what is the I wish I would have read it before talking to about this. It's like one or two nurses per holiday, like big holiday, summer or winter, to and it's like a rotation, so that not everyone is getting to be able to be off two weeks right before Christmas and then also take Christmas off.

Colby: 17:31

Because uh I mean I'm making a face because it's a problem in my current department and it'll be a problem I have to tackle.

SPEAKER_04: 17:41

Yes, and that wasn't yeah, but you know, it it is a problem not only in my unit or clinic, but you know, Colby's and it I'm sure is something that is dealt with in a lot of different units and clinics, and probably just jobs in general. Like people love their holidays.

Colby: 18:04

Yeah. There's you know, certain times of the year where people don't want to be at work, can't blame them, me either.

SPEAKER_05: 18:09

Right.

Colby: 18:09

But we have to it's our it's our job as management to make sure that it's fair for everybody. Everybody gets free and equal chance to have the opportunity to take time off.

SPEAKER_04: 18:18

As equitable as we can.

Colby: 18:20

As equitable as we can. We love that word equitable.

SPEAKER_04: 18:25

And but it all it all boils down to making sure you submit your PTO early. Yes. And allowing just make sure that the manager makes that equitable decision so that either you are able to take that PTO or that person that asked for it first, or you know, like you you decided to work for that manager and that that unit because I hope that you believe that that manager unit is where you're supposed to be. So that you've got to trust that they're gonna do the gonna do you right.

Colby: 19:01

Yeah. All right. Number two, use RTO to your advantage. Build mini vacations between schedule blocks, but keep yourself in check.

SPEAKER_04: 19:11

Ooh, keep yourself in check. Why? How?

Colby: 19:14

So that you're not using RTO and then burning yourself out, like we just talked about.

SPEAKER_04: 19:19

Oh, oh, oh. Of course.

SPEAKER_03: 19:20

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I mean for sure. And and I'm about to make a hot take. Okay. And we'll we'll talk about this more later. But PTO in my mind is meant for two things. Vacation or if you're on your deathbed.

SPEAKER_04: 19:51

Meaning seriously like seriously sick. You didn't you don't actually get a uh a person sick. I say that. Because I am not one to be like, oh, I'm gonna take a mental health day. I think you should, as a responsible adult and nurse, you should be able to plan those out ahead of time. Unless in once again, unless there is some tragic thing that happened, I I don't think you should take PTO for mental health.

Colby: 20:24

What? Okay, agree to disagree. But also you're saying you're saying to plan your P plan your mental health days out in advance, which is still using your PTO.

SPEAKER_04: 20:32

Yeah, plan it.

Colby: 20:34

You're saying don't just call out.

SPEAKER_04: 20:35

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Colby: 20:36

That's different.

SPEAKER_04: 20:37

Well, but no, no, it's not because you people are like, I'm just using my PTO. Prepare the others.

Colby: 20:42

You know, like Oh, I was gonna get into this. Hold on. Okay, anyways, don't hoard it. You can't use PTO after you burn out. Schedule a regular reset days before you hit that wall. And that's that's what you're getting at.

SPEAKER_05: 20:53

Yeah.

Colby: 20:53

Yeah, exactly. The way you said it makes it sound like you're being super tough about it, but it we're all in agreement. I think you should schedule schedule days off. You know, you you see you you worked like three months and you didn't take any time off. You check the the PTO that's availability in in your bank account, basically is what I'm gonna call it. And then a lot of units can show like we keep track of it so you can see like what PTO is available that week, because we will limit how many people can be off at the same time. And if you see, oh hey, it looks like there's like 24 hours of PTO available that nobody claimed. Let me let me request it and see if I can get it off because you know I really could use some days off. Like it's better for everybody if you plan ahead. But I also support a mental health today. I mean, sometimes people wake up and they just had like the worst succession of shifts of their life and they're like, I can't go back in. And you know what? I get that. If you need to call out and you call out, we'll figure it out. Don't abuse it, but yeah. And then do you want to share four and five?

SPEAKER_04: 21:54

Sync with your team. So communicate with your manager and coworkers so your time off doesn't leave them drowning. Teamwork keeps morale high. And I mean it goes back to I think what it what we're trying to hint at is like you don't necessarily have to ask your team if they can you can take PTO off. But I mean your manager is going to make sure that it's balanced and you're not like trying to if you s if you see that there are supposed to be three techs on that day and two have already, you know, asked for P2 PTO off, then don't make the manager tell you no. Yeah. But come on. Like really.

SPEAKER_02: 22:35

Because the answer's gonna be no it's gonna be no.

SPEAKER_04: 22:38

And we don't like saying no. It's not like we are sitting here like, oh yes.

SPEAKER_02: 22:43

Let me say no.

SPEAKER_04: 22:45

Woohoo. But we definitely want you to just be responsible and and look ahead. Know your policy. Some hospitals wipe unused PTO at the end of the year. Don't lose it because you were too selfless to take it. Ooh.

Colby: 23:03

Yeah, that's true. I and I think again, I think most hospital systems have kind of switched to to get away from that kind of thing, but still a lot of private practices run things a little more traditionally, and that is the possibility. If you don't use it, you lose it.

SPEAKER_04: 23:20

What did our hiking gang friend say about theirs?

Colby: 23:26

Oh, they work their schedules out west are very funny. Well, there's only one hospital system, I think, that still does it. They have to work It was only that one. I think so. They really have to like work four shifts. They have to like work an extra I don't know. We would I would I have no idea how to explain how, but it was really weird.

SPEAKER_04: 23:44

Aaron Powell And from from what uh we were understanding that particular hospital you only got was it Oh and the their accrual was a lot less. It was like eight hours for everyone.

Colby: 23:55

I think it was less than eight hours. Oh, yeah, maybe that's what it was. It was eight hours a month instead of eight hours every pay period, like we do. Yeah, they accrued it a lot slower and they also had to work like a random extra shift in like a four-week period. Very strange the way they did it, but apparently their that that set healthcare system is making a change, so they will no longer be doing that.

SPEAKER_04: 24:16

Did she did she say that? The schedule.

Colby: 24:18

The schedule, but not about the accrual rate.

SPEAKER_04: 24:20

Oh okay, okay.

Colby: 24:21

Yeah. But PTO doesn't stand for prepare the others.

SPEAKER_04: 24:26

Right. It's paid time off, not potentially time optional.

Colby: 24:31

And that's your scrub hack for the week because we work smarter, not harder.

SPEAKER_04: 24:35

Exactly. If it saves you five headaches and one meltdown, that's a win.

Colby: 24:40

So before we were in we were in leadership, how did you use your PTO?

SPEAKER_04: 24:46

Never.

Colby: 24:47

I was gonna say pre-made line does not.

SPEAKER_04: 24:52

Yeah, no, I never used my PTO. And that was actually one thing that my manager was like, you really need to take PTO.

Colby: 25:02

Yeah, you work yourself like a dog.

SPEAKER_04: 25:03

I I don't ridiculous. No, I don't work myself like a dog. A dog doesn't work at all, actually.

Colby: 25:08

Yeah, actually this guy over here, he's not working at all.

SPEAKER_03: 25:13

But no, it I do understand the importance of not I was okay with using RTO.

SPEAKER_04: 25:23

But my mental fortitude is different than most other people. And I think it allowed me to I mean, it's kind of like Colby was saying, we were able to cash out money or you know, PTO.

Colby: 25:40

That was a huge incentive. That was a huge incentive for me to use RTO over PTO because I wanted to be able to cash it out when I was when I was just a poor, poor young lady.

SPEAKER_04: 25:49

But real and truly, when you think about it, it I mean it it does help at the moment, but in taxes wise, it could really hurt somebody.

Colby: 25:56

Yeah, if you're not smart, yeah, definitely don't like try and cash out like 300 hours at once because that will definitely come back and kick you in the pants come April. But but if you did it, you know, if you were you had like a good, I would I think I was really good at at finding the balance of using RTO, using PTO, and still caching stuff out. Like I was I was pretty crafty with it. I didn't do it a lot. I definitely worked a lot. I definitely worked, there was a time period before, like around year five, six of my nursing career where I was picking up extra like right before COVID, like maybe the year before COVID. And I was working like 60 hours weeks because they also had this like incentive program where if you signed up for like five extra shifts, you would get a thousand dollar bonus after you worked them all in in like a six-week period. And that was a hype way to get money back in the day. So I would be busting my tail to do all of that. And but but caveat asterisk on the on the end of that.

SPEAKER_04: 26:54

Did I burn She raised her hand?

Colby: 26:56

I did. I said, but I did burn myself out really bad. Like there was a there was a good solid amount of time where I felt so burnt out in healthcare. And I think I'm I'm still climbing out of that hole right now. Yeah, it it was, it's not the smartest thing to do. I'm like, yeah, you you really have to find the balance and take care of yourself because it's it's so easy to get to to get down that that go down that hill and just like get stuck down there and just like hate everything about your job. So you just you have to just stay in tune with yourself and make sure that you you are taking time to recharge.

SPEAKER_04: 27:39

Yeah. And I mean, it it goes back to what I was saying last episode. Like there's an importance in being able to like take time and be retrospective and introspective in who you are as a nurse, and to really just take the time to like say, what what do I feel right now? Like is this sustainable at this present moment? And how is it going to feel in the next like two months, two weeks?

Colby: 28:10

Like if you'll keep this up.

SPEAKER_04: 28:12

All those things. And I I I think that's I think that's growth to be able to realize that in before you get to a point where you're like, I'm I'm done. Because we we want you to be sustained and be able to sustain yourself throughout your career. Like this is a great career to be in. And PTO is one way to be able to keep that going.

Colby: 28:38

Yeah, find that sustainability in it for sure. I think it it's it's wild how early in your career you see PTO as a luxury, but later on you realize it's survival. Yeah. You really have to especially especially these days. Like now I definitely look back at it where I was I that balance, like talking about it right now, I offers a lot of reflection for me. I think nowadays I'm like, okay, this is I need this. I need this. And I I revel in it when I get that time off. It's been a it's been a little bit since I've transitioned to the new job. And I feel like a lot of, you know, the holidays just came and a lot of people spent time with their families around the holidays, and I didn't get to do that this year because I worked all of the days around each individual holiday. I am I'm looking forward to being able to take time off soon. And I don't have anything on the books yet. So I'm I'm about ready to sit down and take a look and see a plan ahead. What can I plan ahead?

SPEAKER_04: 29:37

Right.

Colby: 29:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 29:38

I mean, you have a whole new year now.

Colby: 29:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03: 29:41

Which it is important. So now that we're in management, using PTO hits different.

SPEAKER_04: 29:50

There's there's a little bit more planning and more delegation and sometimes more guilt.

Colby: 29:57

Exactly. That's exactly what I'm dealing with. You don't want to leave your tween your team short, but you also can't lead well if you're running on fumes.

SPEAKER_04: 30:05

It's that balance and modeling self-care while you're while still keeping coverage stable.

Colby: 30:10

Yeah. I think it's it's also like it's that balance, it's also that mental balance. And I you probably you don't struggle with this. I don't even have to say probably. But for me, it's like I being so fresh in management. I I have that like that fear still of like I know what people said about past management that I worked under. Not that I said these things, but I know what people said, like, oh, they're always on vacation, they're on vacation again, they took time off again, like we're here busting our tails. And I'm like, it almost makes me a little bit scared to be like to take PTO. Like I feel like, you know, I've only been in this role since November. That doesn't mean that I haven't been working my tail off because I have been, but it's like, is it too soon for me to take any time off? Like I I feel like it's not it would I feel like it would be a little bit j I think it would be judged if it if I was taking time off too soon. So it's very it's so my my schedule has been jam-packed, my personal and and career schedule has been jam-packed right now because I don't want to take any time off. It's such a transition going from working three days a week to working five eights and trying to find the balance in everything I used to do in my life for the last 11 years and continue doing it in in a much smaller amount of time for my personal my personal activities outside of my work.

SPEAKER_04: 31:36

You know, is it actually a a smaller amount of time?

Colby: 31:40

Yeah, because I would have whole days off.

SPEAKER_04: 31:42

Yeah, but I yeah, I get it. But if we were to think about it, you have forty-eight hours in the weekend.

SPEAKER_05: 31:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04: 31:52

And then you don't have to go in until eight o'clock.

Colby: 31:57

I go in at seven seven thirty, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 31:59

Seven thirty.

Colby: 32:00

Get out at four thirty.

SPEAKER_04: 32:02

And so you have four thirty to nine. I'm assuming you go to sleep at a normal time. So that's four and a half hours Monday through Friday, which is five. That's twenty hours there. Yeah, I guess it is less time.

Colby: 32:17

It's less time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 32:18

Okay. Sixty-eight hours.

Colby: 32:20

Yeah. So it's it it it's not that much less time. I mean, that's enough time to get things done. It just it feels a little more jam-packed these days than I don't I don't have as much free hours that didn't have any plans. I don't really have any free hours that didn't have any plans these days. So when I do what they get I they don't last very long. Like somebody asked me to do something and I'm like, hmm, where can I squeeze that in? Okay, here's that hour. Even even doing the podcast today, it was like, okay, where can I squeeze this in this week? Because I have like a I I do have like a long weekend plan this weekend. So it is it is tricky. It is very tricky.

SPEAKER_04: 32:59

So are you taking PTO this weekend?

Colby: 33:00

I'm leaving Friday after work.

SPEAKER_04: 33:02

I think after management. So uh one thing, and uh I can hear Terylyn saying it now. So last year, and I think all of y'all might remember if you listen to this podcast. I had what did I really actually not have that on the card? Let's see. Oh, I don't have it anywhere. Did I use it two years ago?

Colby: 33:26

I think it was 2024.

SPEAKER_04: 33:27

What? Really?

unknown: 33:29

Yeah.

Colby: 33:30

25 was a whirlwind.

SPEAKER_04: 33:32

Oh my gosh, where did it go? Okay, so two years ago I had take 40 hours of actual PTO. Wow, that was two years ago.

unknown: 33:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_04: 33:46

I swore that was last year.

SPEAKER_02: 33:50

Okay, so reality check.

SPEAKER_04: 33:52

Wow, yeah, that really threw me far loop. And so I, you know, taking actual 40 hours of PTO. And I did do that. I did do that. This year.

Colby: 34:03

What did this year? Oh, what what's your goal for 2026, though? What did you say? Is it 80?

SPEAKER_04: 34:08

No, yeah, this year is 80 hours of PTO. So doubling what I did in 2024.

Colby: 34:13

Because you have to make up for what you didn't use in 25.

SPEAKER_04: 34:16

Yeah, because I did not make well, I'm trying to think.

SPEAKER_03: 34:20

My Canada trip was the 23rd through the 27th.

SPEAKER_04: 34:27

So 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. I had to take some PTO there.

Colby: 34:32

Aaron Powell I th but didn't you leave like on a Wednesday? You think you took one maybe Wednesday, Thursday, Friday?

SPEAKER_04: 34:38

And I think I ended up still doing some work from the hotel in Canada.

Colby: 34:43

Mm-hmm. Probably in the airport.

SPEAKER_04: 34:46

Oh yeah. I know I do remember doing that because I legitimately was sending emails in the airport. And then New York was just two days. The 14th, the 15th, and then 16th.

SPEAKER_05: 34:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 35:00

Cause I left on we left No, we left early 14th.

Colby: 35:04

7 a.m.

SPEAKER_04: 35:05

Yeah. And then we came back late 16th. So it was three days. And I didn't do anything then.

Colby: 35:11

Oh, but I thought oh yeah, it wasn't the middle of the week. I thought it was a Sunday. But yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

unknown: 35:16

Okay.

Colby: 35:16

But that's not 40 hours. So you still have to have time to make up.

SPEAKER_04: 35:22

Oh, for sure. But I you know, I say all of that it because it it's one thing that I really do struggle, but I I harp on so much with other people. I'm like, you've got to take PTO. I'm like, you you've got to do it.

Colby: 35:36

Hypocrite.

SPEAKER_04: 35:37

Well, yes.

Colby: 35:39

Okay. Oh, I'd love to do this.

SPEAKER_02: 35:41

Remember, every finger that you point, there's three back at you. Every time you tell someone to take PTO, remember there's three people pointing back at you.

SPEAKER_04: 35:51

Three more. Three more fingers. I'm just gonna do like this.

SPEAKER_02: 35:54

Yeah. Just like a whole hand. Careful how careful the angle that one.

SPEAKER_04: 36:00

Oh yeah. Oh no.

SPEAKER_02: 36:04

I don't think you should do that, actually.

SPEAKER_04: 36:06

Probably shouldn't. But yeah, so a after management, I'm learning that I do need to take PTO.

SPEAKER_02: 36:13

We have to be we have to be good example setters.

SPEAKER_04: 36:16

Yeah. And yeah. Good leaders use their PTO and encourage their teams to do the same. If you never take time off, your staff won't feel like they can either.

Colby: 36:33

I think that were perfectly wraps up that section.

SPEAKER_03: 36:37

Yep. Make me feel bad.

Colby: 36:43

All right. Well, as management, we do have to observe staff PTO habits. Have you ever noticed patterns with how people use or don't use their PTO?

SPEAKER_04: 36:52

Well, I know how people abuse PTO.

Colby: 36:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 36:56

My goodness, I know how they use abuse PTO and RTO.

Colby: 37:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 37:02

Both.

Colby: 37:02

It happens.

SPEAKER_04: 37:04

But some nurses save it for big events, others never take any because they feel guilty.

SPEAKER_01: 37:09

Yep. Or like you said, it's the opposite. And the ones who there's ones who burn through it like Starbucks gift cards.

SPEAKER_04: 37:15

Boom. The key is balance, regular rest, planned resets, and time that's truly yours.

SPEAKER_03: 37:23

What's the word Well the worst I've seen, let me let me I'll start this. The worst I've seen is that how do I say this? There people pay attention to not only their schedule but every other person's schedule. Especially if it's someone that they might not necessarily prefer or like.

SPEAKER_04: 38:08

And you know, most people on a unit they have good conversations and and they'll have conversations not even knowing that they're saying information that could be used against them.

SPEAKER_03: 38:22

And next thing you know, there is somebody that's wanting to be off for one day. But because they said something and in earshot of what somebody else could hear, they lose that uh opportunity.

Colby: 38:49

Yeah, there's definitely some you have keep things close to your shot your chest, people. Yeah. There's I mean that's the that's the that's human nature, right? Like not everybody's gonna get along. There's you know, there might be a bad apple in the bunch or whatever analogy that you want to use. Like I think it sucks because it takes away, you know, like the do I do I want to have these like close personal relationships with people? Right. Do I want to be able to talk about my life and what's going on while I'm at work? You know, you know, because you work with your coworkers. We've talked about it before. We become very close with them. Sometimes we spend more time with them than we do our families, and then more than likely. Yeah, and then you know, there's just you know, not everybody gets along, and that's you know, that's just part of life. But then then it can turn into something else. Like, oh yeah, yeah, yep, I believe that it happened. I can imagine that it did. That's it's very tricky. I think that's a tough one because it's like, well, that other person asked first. I'm like, that's something that you have to to deal with. And, you know, I guess make a choice about you ha like I said, gotta keep things close to your chest and decide if you really want want something, or just make sure that, you know, if you're sharing information. Do you really want to other people to know that information? And not and I don't mean just the person that you're telling. You need to think about the greater scheme of things. And you know, that sucks and that says a lot about a culture, and maybe there's some things that need to be fixed. I think there's always room for improvement in workplace settings. So that might be something that needs to happen. But I think, yeah, that's that sucks. I don't know what else to say it.

SPEAKER_04: 40:29

Yeah, it was bad. And it, you know, it was it was like they do. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I didn't. You know, like I thought it's like I don't know.

Colby: 40:40

Yeah, that's kind of uh out of my hands. Like, I can't help that they asked for the certain days off before you could come in and ask for them. But I do have to say, like, with the exception of like in previous like in my previous role and my pu previous jobs, I think my unit, while it wasn't my favorite way to sign up for PTO, it was a very fair system. And so it was just like we were all we just accepted it. We had late fall, they would open up your 2026 vacation requests. There would be three rounds, and the first round would be like request your most wanted two weeks, and you can ask for two weeks at a time. So that's it. And so most people got their summer requests in first, you know, because everybody once usually wants to take summer off. And so, and if there was a and it's first come, first serve. So the email goes out and it's like at midnight on the 21st. And so I mean, day shift, it, you know, it has to, you know, it has to be equal for night shift and day shift. So if you think about it, like it gives the night shift people the opportunity while they're awake to do that. And then, you know, if day shift really wants to be cutthroat about it, they can wake up at 12 o'clock in the morning and send their email out.

SPEAKER_04: 41:52

Or you could draft that and schedule it.

Colby: 41:56

Not a lot of people know about scheduling emails. Well, but that is a thing. So welcome to that little tidbit of information that could change, change your way you sign up for PTO on my old unit next year. But yeah, so like everybody would get it in. And then if there were multiple people that requested the same week and it went over the amount of allotted like nurses are allowed to take that much time off that week, they would say, like, hey, we don't have any more PTO offered on that week. There is X amount of PTO offered like the week before or the week after, and like, would you be interested in either one of those? But it's still something you have to, you have to, you know, it's quick. You got to reply fast because somebody else could have, you know, also requested that. So, and then after everybody had their first round picks, then we would do a second one, and then we would do a third one. And then, of course, there would be leftover PTO available in different months of the year. And then we would just look ahead, you know, we schedule ourselves out six weeks at a time, and we would look ahead if there, you know, before we signed up and was like, oh, you know, I wonder if I can sneak these 24 hours and like I I have the PTO and it's open and let me just send an email. And our our administrative assistant would look at it and say yes or no with with the guidance of our managers. So it was super fair. It didn't, it sucked sometimes when you when you didn't get, you know, your email in first. I had been, I've been denied vacation during a certain week that I really, really wanted, but it's it is what it is. You get it in first or you don't.

SPEAKER_05: 43:23

Yeah.

Colby: 43:24

And I think that it really, I mean, as far as around holidays and around summertime when those big PTO request time of year happens, like there has to be some kind of rule or guidance around it. It can't be a free-for-all. Because then it gets into the point where, like, for example, there is a there's a situation going on where there was an individual who requested off time off around the holidays for 2026 at at the holidays on 2025. And like there's no real rule around it that you can't. But I don't think it's very fair for everybody else who's not even thinking about Christmas 2026 when it's Christmas 2025 right now and they're living in their moment. But next year when they want to go see their family and they can't because someone else got asked. So I just like, I'm like, we got to get some kind of rule around here so that there's like a fair opportunity for everybody to have the thought cross their mind and then decide at that moment, no, I I don't want that time off. Or yeah, I've been wanting, you know, Christmas week off for two years, but I haven't been, you know, been able to do it. Yeah, I haven't been able to do it because during Christmas itself, I'm I'm enthralled with Christmas and I'm living in the moment or whatever, you know. So there's definitely some conversation to be had and some some system to be put into place in my in my area.

SPEAKER_04: 44:45

Yeah. And I think it, you know, this is and this is a little like aside, as a a manager who's or like someone who's been in management for a couple years now. You gotta stick with it. Whatever you decide as a manager to to make as a like guideline or guidance or whatever you want to call it. You have to be consistent. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, you gotta be consistent. And it I mean that's even that's down to the little little thing of that one day slips into where it would be wrong. You have to deny the whole thing. Or it'd be like, I can only give you up to that day. Which as a manager, it's really frustrating because you're like I could just really just give you this day and it'd be fine, hopefully. But you want to be able to be looked at as equitable. And my manager would always say, What do you do for one, you have to be prepared to you have to be prepared to do for all.

Colby: 45:56

And you know, that's and the reality is you can't you can't do it for all. That's why there's rule there around a specific day or what what have you for a reason. Yeah. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_04: 46:09

So yeah, and I mean, I've seen people try to take three, four days four weeks of PTO, you know, they have it, and I'm like I mean and it all it all depends on what your health system says. Like if if you're able to take it off, then you know, technically your manager might not have grounds to be like, nope, can't do that. Um and you know, good for you if you have that amount of PTO to take off a whole month.

Colby: 46:47

Yeah, I could never.

SPEAKER_04: 46:50

Well, I mean what? That's you probably could. Oh yeah, I can.

Colby: 46:53

Yeah. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_04: 46:55

160 hours, yeah? I forty is one week. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could definitely do that. Which is why I'm taking 80 this year. That's why.

Colby: 47:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 47:11

I can do this. Good old 80.

Colby: 47:15

We're harping a little bit, but it's all it's all true facts. I mean, the key is balance, right? Regular rest, plan resets, time that's truly yours. You you do have the right to to earn it to use it, what you earned. But it's just all about balance. Can't pour from an empty cup, and and you can't chart on one either.

SPEAKER_04: 47:33

So all right. Class dismissed. That's all we're wrapped for today's session of Nursing Life 101.

Colby: 47:40

We hope this episode reminded you that rest isn't a reward, it's a requirement.

SPEAKER_04: 47:46

Take your time off, enjoy it, and come back refreshed. Nursing is demanding, but it shouldn't take everything from you.

Colby: 47:54

You can find us on Twitter slash X at NurseLife101, life is spelled with a Y, Facebook at Nursing Life101, or Instagram at nursing underscore life with a Y underscore 101.

SPEAKER_04: 48:06

Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review. And tell us how you spend your PTO using hashtag nursingly f e recharge.

Colby: 48:17

Until next time, take care of yourselves, your patience, and your peace.