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Burnout has silently become the baseline for too many shift workers—especially those in healthcare and emergency services. You're waking up exhausted, pushing through gruelling 12-hour shifts, barely eating properly, and your sleep is completely disrupted. When did this become normal?
In this raw, unfiltered conversation, I'm addressing the dangerous reality facing countless shift workers who've normalised their depletion. Drawing from decades of experience coaching hundreds of frontline workers, I outline the subtle warning signs that your body and brain are sounding alarm bells: emotional numbness at work, constant brain fog, unhealthy coping mechanisms like sugar cravings and alcohol dependence, and the sad reality of cancelling personal plans because there's simply nothing left to give.
The brutal truth? No one is coming to rescue you. Your management won't, the system won't, and even caring managers don't know what to do. But there is hope through five actionable steps: getting honest about your situation, prioritising proper rest, fuelling your body correctly, setting boundaries by learning that "no" is a complete sentence, and connecting with others who understand. Small, consistent changes can create momentum toward recovery before you're forced to rest through illness or complete breakdown.
Don't wait until you hit rock bottom. You deserve more than just surviving between holidays. If this resonates with you, reach out for support at ahealthyshift.com, join our Facebook community, or follow on Instagram. Share this episode with colleagues who need this wake-up call—because your health is non-negotiable.
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ANNOUNCING
"The Shift Workers Collective"
https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective
Click the link to learn all about it
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YOU CAN FIND ME AT
COACHING
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Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
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Episode Transcript
Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to
be.
Welcome to a healthy shift.
My name is Roger Sutherland,certified nutritionist, veteran
law enforcement officer and 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers, using
evidence-based methods, to notonly survive the rigours of
(00:28):
shift work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and wellbeing so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show and welcomeback to another episode of a
Healthy Shift podcast.
I'm Roger Sutherland and today Iwant to have a real
(00:52):
conversation, just you and me,because I'm seeing something
happening far too often, andit's honestly pretty disturbing,
and especially in ourhealthcare and frontline
emergency services, butespecially amongst you nurses.
Too many of you have madeburnout.
(01:14):
Your baseline Exhaustion hasbecome your normal, and this is
not okay.
So let's talk about it.
You wake up tired, you'repushing through a 12-hour shift,
sometimes even more, and you'regiving everything that you've
got to everybody else.
You're barely eating properly,you don't have time to think
(01:36):
straight and sleep.
Well, we all know that.
That's just completely hit andmiss.
Tell me, how familiar does thissound?
How are you going catching upwith your friends, and what
energy are you giving them whenyou actually do?
See?
Here's the thing when you livelike this long enough, it starts
to feel normal and it graduallytakes hold of you.
(01:58):
But it's not, and if you don'tdo something about it, it's
literally going to get worse andthe impact on your health is
going to be massive.
So let's talk about some of thewarning signs, the quiet ones
that creep in when you'rerunning on empty.
And here is what I hear and Isee all the time.
(02:22):
Remember, I've coached hundredsof shift workers and it's funny
because majority of them haveactually been frontline and
nurses in particular.
And this is some of the thingsthat I hear.
You snap easily at people andthen you feel guilty later on.
Put your hand up, you get tothe stage where you feel quite
(02:44):
numb at work.
You've got nothing left to giveto the patients because you
can't even give to yourself.
You're just going through themotions, you wake up and then
you feel dread.
I've got to go to work againevery single day and that's all
it is.
And you're just hanging out andworking for those holidays all
(03:06):
it is.
And you're just hanging out andworking for those holidays.
Your brain feels foggy, youforget things because you just
can't focus.
And here's the clincher as well, and a really good warning sign
you actually crave sugar,energy drinks.
You can't go to bed withouthaving a wine, or while you're
cooking dinner, or just have awine in the evening just to get
through the day.
(03:30):
Your digestion, your gut, isplaying up.
You're either eating nothing oryou're eating everything in
sight, and this digestion issuecan come from severe stress.
Without you even realizing it.
Everybody's looking for whatdiet it is, or what they're
actually eating, or to eliminatethings.
How about you?
Eliminate stress?
(03:50):
It's the actual best thing toeliminate from your diet full
stop stress it's the actual bestthing to eliminate from your
diet, full stop.
And then the other thing, andthe saddest thing that I see, is
you cancel plans because you'vejust got nothing left to give,
there's nothing left in the tankat all, and you end up just
sitting at home and doingnothing.
Now, these are all signs thatyour body and your brain are
(04:13):
starting to sound a real warningalarm, but we get so
conditioned to it that we justsilence the alarm and we just
say, oh, it's just shift work,no, it's not.
This is actually leading toburnout and if you keep ignoring
it, it will break you, and thenyou will be forced to rest,
(04:36):
because what's going to happenis it's going to have an impact
on your mental health.
It's going to start to have,it's going to have an actual
impact on your physical health.
Your body will start to breakdown and this is when we end up
with massive problems aroundsickness, with cancers, with
cardiovascular disease, heartattacks and stroke.
(04:57):
Have a look at some people thathave been doing shift work for
a long time.
Do they look healthy?
It will take hold of you.
And look, I get it.
I've been there dragging myselfto the last shift before a
holiday.
How often Surviving not living,but just surviving to get to
that holiday.
But here's the truth, and I saythis with the utmost care to you
(05:20):
no one is coming to rescue you.
Your management won't, thesystem won't.
Your manager might care and askyou how you're doing, but they
don't know what to do.
But they are also very, verystretched.
This is on you, and if you wantto change, then you have to be
(05:42):
the one that has to make it.
So what you need to do is youneed to actually sit and think,
and here is five steps that Iwant you to really think about.
So let's talk some action.
Get brutally honest withyourself.
Sit down, give yourself sometime to actually stop and think.
(06:04):
It'll terrify you, but it'ssomething that you've got to
address.
Stop pretending that you areokay when you're actually not
Name what it is that's actuallyhappening.
I'm burnt out.
It's not a weakness, it'sactually just awareness, and
once you're aware of it and youput a name to it, then you can
(06:24):
get the help that you actuallyneed.
Number two is to respect yourrest.
Sleep is not a luxury.
I know you think it is, butit's not.
It is literally the foundationof health.
You must prioritize stress.
You must prioritize your winddown routine.
You've got to ditch thosescreens.
(06:46):
They're causing you moreproblems than you actually
realize, and I hate to say it,but you've got to cut that wine.
You've got to cut that alcohol.
It's causing you furtherproblems.
I've got to tell you, since Igave up drinking alcohol, I've
never felt better and it'samazing when you look back on
the impact that it was actuallyhaving on you.
(07:08):
You're always battling with thatweight, that mum-tum, those
chicken wings.
You're always battling with it.
So get consistent with yourbedtime.
Cut out that weight, thatmum-tum, those chicken wings.
You know you're always battlingwith it, so get consistent with
your bedtime.
Cut out that alcohol and if youneed, then we can help you with
that.
The next thing you've got tofuel your body Junk food and
(07:28):
caffeine spikes will not sustainyou.
I know you think, oh, I'm ashift worker, I've got to eat
junk food and I've got to be oncaffeine.
It's going to catch up.
You need protein, you've got tohave fiber, and what you do
need also is we need to learnabout slow burning carbs, low GI
foods, because small changes goa long way.
(07:52):
I've lived it, I coach it.
It makes a massive difference.
You've got to also setboundaries, and that is my point
four.
You don't need to say yes toevery shift or every favor or
every time someone calls andasks you.
Learn to say no and understandthat no is actually a full
(08:14):
sentence.
No, you don't have to justifyit, you don't have to say
anything else.
All you've got to do is justsay no, end of story.
If you satisfy the obligationsof your normal shifts, you don't
have to do the overtime, youdon't have to keep turning up.
You don't have to do the doubleshifts.
When someone rings you and asksyou for a favor or some help,
(08:35):
it's okay to say no, becauseyou've got to look after you as
well.
And the next one is the lastone.
Number five is to connect andactually speak out, because
burnout absolutely thrives insilence, and I mean that.
Talk to a colleague, have achat with a friend, talk to a
(08:56):
coach.
You can approach me, I willchat with you.
Do not isolate yourself,because this is diabolical and
you need to sit there and have areally good look at yourself in
the mirror.
And what are we looking at andwhere have we actually gone?
Because it's going to get holdof you.
Look, I'm not here to scare you, but I'm not going to sugarcoat
(09:20):
it either.
And if you're listening to thisand I'm hitting a nerve, you
need to act.
You deserve much better thandragging yourself through life
completely depleted.
And let me tell you somethingthat I wish that someone had
told me a lot earlier, and thatis don't hit rock bottom before
(09:43):
you start to make a change.
Start now.
Make one small shift, thenanother.
It's not about going on somemassive diet to lose weight.
It becomes overwhelming andyou'll lose it.
What you need to do is just putsimple habits in place, and
this is literally how I coach,because I know the other way
does not work.
(10:04):
Simple habits start to gainmomentum until you just don't
even recognize yourself.
If you need help with this, thatis literally what I'm here for,
is what I do.
You do not have to do it alone,but one thing that you do have
to do is take the first step now.
(10:26):
If you need help with this, youcan approach me on social media
at a healthy shiftcom, or youcan literally go to the Facebook
group, which is A Healthy Shift.
You can go to Instagram, whichis at underscore sorry, at A
underscore, healthy, underscoreshift.
There are millions of ways toreach out to me and I am more
(10:50):
than happy to try and help youthrough it.
I come from empathy, compassion.
I can help you with thisbecause I do also have the
understanding.
So don't let it take hold of youand ask yourself if the life
that you're living now isactually normal, or whether it
(11:11):
is because you've accepted it asyour new normal and it's not
you at all.
Don't just hang out for yournext holiday, because you'll get
to the holiday and then you'regoing back to it and you're
going to go back to the sametoxic rubbish, right?
So keep that in mind.
All right, that's it.
That's my chat today.
Let's get to the bar and go andhave a drink, all right?
(11:32):
Well, it's going to be a zeroalcohol, but let's get to the
bar and have a drink.
All right, well, it's going tobe a zero alcohol, but let's get
to the bar and have a drink.
So, thanks for listening to AHealthy Shift.
And if this episode stirredsomething in you, share it with
a mate who you know that needsto hear it as well.
And if you do want that,support, guidance or a community
that gets it, come and find meat ahealthyshiftcom and until
next time, take care of you.
(11:53):
Until next time, take care ofyou, seriously take care of you.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
It would also be ever sohelpful if you could leave a
(12:13):
rating and review on the appyou're currently listening on.
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshiftcom.
I'll catch you on the next one.
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